August 12, 2007

Why is glaze good enough for donuts, but not for the eyes?

So, I was all set to write a whole rant on the Baby Einstein video scandalous shocker thingie, but seriously - these two gals do such a far more eloquent job of it. Why bother?

Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I'm going to chime in with my 2 Lincolns..........In short, I think it is silly that a parent would depend solely on a video to teach their child. But as an entertainment option? I don't see an issue with it. I've said it once, I'll say it again - it's all about balance. Just as I wouldn't want to see my kid sitting and reading books all day or running around outside all day, I wouldn't really want him to do any ONE activity all day long. He's up for about 11-12 hours a day. A few television programs here and there are just one small part of that day. These past few months have been hard - I was sick for much of them and then after birthin' Anjali, was laid up. So, yes - Arun has watched his fair share of videos. Am I happy about it? No, of course not. But it doesn't mean that we've just always plugged him in the front of the television. Often, I am sitting with him while breastfeeding Anju and narrating the action for him. Or I'm in the kitchen, getting things done and still talking to him. The television doesn't have to be a boob tube.

I should also add that I do appreciate having a video as a reinforcement for things that we are already working on - For example, I really, really liked how Baby Newton fit in when we were working on shapes - Arun's eyes would light up because they were doing the things he already knew, but they were animated and different than what I was drawing myself or pointing out in a book for him. In the same vein, the alphabet and counting segments on Sesame Street are his favorites - sure, we work with numbers and letters on paper and puzzles, but he appreciates watching some dancing numbers, too. And we live in Kansas - if we didn't have the miracle of video, how would my kid ever see a panda or a whale in action rather than just a photo on a page? And finally, when mama needs a little somethin'-somethin' from daddy it's Baby Noah to the rescue. You don't mess with THAT.

Speaking of somethin'-somethin', remember the condom found lurking in a drawer a little too late?? The same one that had we been able to find it on October 16, 2006 our sweet baby girl would not be here? Yeah. That one.

It's been put out of its misery. Poor bastard.

5 comments:

meno said...

Might be time to buy some new ones. Condoms i mean, not videos. :)

Monkey McWearingChaps said...

I've always been somewhat skeptical about surveys where the participants are asked to describe behaviour-it's so difficult to phrase questions so they aren't leading, and then on top of that, to gauge the veracity of how people assess situations. I'm not saying people *lie*, but that memory is very faulty (lots of very very interesting situations with police lineups). Is that really how the survey was conducted-because that is the sense I get from the posts at AlphaMom and then my BS-metre goes way up. It's kind of like the same BS study that woman used for the Tripping the Prom Queen book. I do agree with the premise-but I'm sort of leery of methodology that asks people about how they feel...and then extrapolate to a conclusion.

Still, if it's in a journal it must have passed peer review..but...eh. Maybe TV is teh eveel but I'd prefer showing me 100 children observed over the course of a year.

Christy said...

We watch baby Einstein and Seasame Street and Blues Clues. Oops! Porgie doesn't watch them all in one day, but I can assure you she watches at least one everyday.

Damn, you are crazy lady! I didn't have sex until Porgie was like 6 months old.

Christy said...

And then I got pregnant.

Anonymous said...

Ok, laughing like crazy at Christy.

Now. Here's my rant. PUHLEEZE. A video is not going to kill your kids. Like everything else, say it with me:
MOD. ER. RATION.

I am all for parental involvement, but there's no denying the appeal of video or music to help kids develop.

Oh. And woo-hoo! On the you-know.