TV: How much do you allow?

[Judy Trickett]

I don't allow very much TV at all. It's not because I am anti-TV. In fact, I think there is a lot of value in TV for little kids.

BUT.....I want my dckids to know how to PLAY TOYS and be otherwise able to SELF engage and not be constantly stimulated by external entertainment in order to be happy.

In my early days I let the kids watch more TV than I do now. I also felt I had to entertain them all the time and those kids did NOT know how to just play on their own. Unless they were entertained they were constantly whiny or unsettled.

Once I learned that you need to teach kids how to SELF entertain by not giving them any "freebie' entertainment value then they can free-play for hours should you need them to. And the other great thing about that approach is that when you also need them to focus on YOU they are more than ready to because you are 'special' entertainment.