I know there are a lot of TV Free Households out there, and I think that is awesome and I can completely understand the desire to not have a television. It will never be my choice though. I love my TV oh so much. I love 30 Rock. I love The Weather Channel. I love Spongebob Squarepants. I love it when I'm sick in bed and there is "nothing good on TV" and I find myself watching something trashy and genital warty like Rock of Love or something smart that I've seen a thousand times like The Hunt for Red October. In case you're not following me, I love my TV.
When it comes to what my kids watch I would probably be considered liberal, perhaps even too lenient, by most. My son is allowed to watch just about anything he wants, including raunchier shows like The Cleveland Show or Family Guy. We allow this because my son is a good kid, he can be trusted to not repeat things he hears on TV, and also because we usually watch these shows with him and have no problem discussing some (ahem) unsavory things that may arise. Say what you want about junk TV, but it definitely opens the door for communicating about topics that may not otherwise come up in everyday conversation. Well, at least not everyday conversation with an almost 12 year old.
Of course my way with the boy doesn't work as well with the girl. I made the mistake of letting her watch South Park because I thought for sure she wouldn't understand it, get bored after five minutes, and then fall asleep. Well, my plan backfired and now I have a preschooler running around the house singing "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo." Yeah, not my best work as a mother. There are going to have to be a different set of rules for the girl.
This isn't to say that our household is completely lawless when it comes to television. Even I have my limits:
*I hate the Disney Channel. HATE IT. I hate the phony and unrealistic children, teenagers, and families that abound on that channel. I hate the nauseatingly fake chasteness of Hannah Montana. And don't even get me started on The Jonas Brothers and their purity rings. Barf. I mean it. BARF. It's not that I've ever banned the channel, I've just always passed right on by it when looking for something to watch, and for the most part the kids do the same.
*I hate how Nickelodeon airs shows over and over and over again. For instance, there is a show on Nickelodeon called iCarly. It first aired on September 8, 2007. I don't doubt that I've seen certain episodes 20+ times. Sometimes I'll see the kids watching the same episode for the second or third time in a week. This is about the time I turn off the TV and tell the kids to go find something to do.
*Aside from checking out the weather, I don't watch TV during the day. It's just far too much of a time waste for me. All it takes is one episode of Law and Order to suck me in and the next thing I know I've sat on the couch for five straight hours, having left only once to open a can of garbanzo beans for lunch.
*We cancelled our digital cable. This decision came after I realised the only thing we were watching were Nickelodeon cartoons, albeit on a different channel, that we had already seen dozens of times. Yeah, well worth the extra $20 a month.
*Personally, I try not to just flick through the channels watching crap. If there is nothing on that I really want to watch, I turn the TV off and read a book.
I have to admit that what originally prompted me to write about television was that I keep seeing the commercial for the FLO TV Personal Television. In case you haven't seen it, it shows a boy about preschool age locking himself in the bathroom at home with his personal television. As much as I love my television, I think it's deplorable that a personal TV is being marketed to small children. Why does a child, who is at home, need to barricade himself in the bathroom to watch TV? ( I won't even begin to rant about the fact that the kid is watching The Fairly Oddparents, a Nickelodeon cartoon that's on at least twice a day!)
Which brings me to my final rule:
*No portable TVs and, aside from the occasional video clip, no watching "television" on the computer.
So, now I want to ask you, do you have a TV (or TVs)? If so, are there rules in your house as to what can be watched and when? If you don't have kids, do you have personal rules about your own TV viewing? Of course, no judgements here, I'm just curious.
I'm almost done with The Lovely Bones at which point it will be passed on to
Although I like that idea, I kinda wanted to take it up a notch. Plus, I didn't have an old towel. So, I sewed my top onto my old bathmat. I should mention that the old bathmat didn't have a rubbery back, it was a reversible one similar to 
And folded over the edges twice to conceal all the seams and to make a border:
I didn't come up with that idea on my own. I originally saw it on a floor mat project in 
*Very easy project. I worked on it on and off for about two days. All things considered, it probably took about 3 hours.
I want to stress that before Sunday no one in my family liked tomato soup, but somehow this version won them over. I think the BLT's put them in a good mood.
Except for the above mentioned substitution, I pretty much stuck to this 
Prepubescent boy humor:
The girl's shadow here seems very 
We stayed outside for a large chunk of the night. When we finally went inside, the kids were calm and the girl fell asleep immediately. We may have to do this more often.
The girl would come home from school wired and what little one-on-one time I had with her was unenjoyable. I felt as if we were both missing some great opportunities to bond.
So, we are settling into a new rhythm around here. We've played, done some learning activities, and vegged out in front of the tv. As I type this out, she's in the other room playing independently, which I love. Already it feels as if the days are less stressful. I'm excited about our new routine.
Unfortunately, the dog doesn't share my enthusiasm.
In the above photo, the girl is talking to and "looking" at her imaginary friend Kirby. (This, of course, caused another mother in the swing area to eye us strangely.) 
We don't always take Sadie on these outings because she is somewhat anti-social. She basically spent the entire time walking the perimeter of the fenced area trying to find a way out.
The adventure ended when Rufus the un-neutered Bloodhound showed up. This is not the first time he's cut short a trip to the dog park. His owner, who I might add appears to be slightly off his rocker, says that Rufus just "wants to play." I liken this statement to one made by a rapist insisting that his victim "was asking for it." My girls are not interested in the way Rufus "plays."
The peppermint bark has been made. The above picture represents all that's left. I'm glad it went over well because now I don't feel obligated to eat it all myself.
I'm tickled that my youngest is excited to learn to read. Not to play favorites, but the boy was a bit of a drag in this area.
The blue one is for the girl. The houndstooth one is mine.
I feel as if the pictures don't do them justice. They're gorgeous in person. The girl refers to her box as her "secret box" and it's filled with special items like her Princess cell phone and my old makeup. 
