Watching Television
First of all, let me state first off that watching television with children is impossible. Unless, of course, it happens to be something they want to watch. In which case, they'll be sitting still and you will suddenly have consecutive minutes to get to one of the 43 things on your to do list. But then you'll be in the middle of one of those things and the show will end. The only thing to do in order to cross off what you started on your to do list is to put on another show they want to watch. But that will get you into a vicious cycle of never ending Barney videos and getting things off your to do list, and besides, it's not good for your kids to watch too much tv, anyway.
So... I decided to actually watch television while the children were awake. First, I turned on the TV Guide Channel to see if there was anything remotely interesting and non brain rotting to watch. I had to immediately change the channel as the commercial running on the upper half of the screen was not something children should see until they're say, 21. Even then I'd question it, based on the grounds of good taste. Joan is so catty.
Channel surfing proved equally elusive, since I had to surf past the kids channels. Each time I surfed past another cereal commercial my eardrums were blasted with, "no, Mommy! I want to see that!". Finally I settled on the discovery channel, with an interesting program featuring space. My middle child put his hands over his eyes during the take off scene, and my oldest kept up a running commentary punctuated with occasional questions like, "how many stars are there?" and "where do the stars go during the day?". My youngest was behind me, pulling on my hair.
I detangled my youngest's fingers, told my oldest, "nobody knows", and got up to reassure my middle child that he didn't have to be scared, it was just a tv show. My youngest vigorously protested the loss of weaving materials, my oldest asked, "how come?" and my middle refused to be reassured. I changed the channel.
My next choice proved equally inappropriate. While Emeril got out his signature frying pan and started sizzling something I can only dream of producing on a day when there are no children in my kitchen, my oldest decided to take a spin around the living room, my middle son covered his eyes when he heard, "BAM!", and my youngest got into my hair again.
I gave up and turned on Barney.
So... I decided to actually watch television while the children were awake. First, I turned on the TV Guide Channel to see if there was anything remotely interesting and non brain rotting to watch. I had to immediately change the channel as the commercial running on the upper half of the screen was not something children should see until they're say, 21. Even then I'd question it, based on the grounds of good taste. Joan is so catty.
Channel surfing proved equally elusive, since I had to surf past the kids channels. Each time I surfed past another cereal commercial my eardrums were blasted with, "no, Mommy! I want to see that!". Finally I settled on the discovery channel, with an interesting program featuring space. My middle child put his hands over his eyes during the take off scene, and my oldest kept up a running commentary punctuated with occasional questions like, "how many stars are there?" and "where do the stars go during the day?". My youngest was behind me, pulling on my hair.
I detangled my youngest's fingers, told my oldest, "nobody knows", and got up to reassure my middle child that he didn't have to be scared, it was just a tv show. My youngest vigorously protested the loss of weaving materials, my oldest asked, "how come?" and my middle refused to be reassured. I changed the channel.
My next choice proved equally inappropriate. While Emeril got out his signature frying pan and started sizzling something I can only dream of producing on a day when there are no children in my kitchen, my oldest decided to take a spin around the living room, my middle son covered his eyes when he heard, "BAM!", and my youngest got into my hair again.
I gave up and turned on Barney.
posted by Kirsten at 3:13 AM
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