To wonder how our parents generation coped without childrens tv

[anicegreentea]

I know its not the ideal parenting strategy. But i have toddler and baby and often find myself wondering how my mum coped when baby is grizzling and toddler is bored!

Another difference is music - it's so easily available now, and so cheap. My parents didn't get a record player until I was in my teens and, appart from listening to Radio Luxembourg, music on the radio was rubbish. I can't remember when Radio 1 started, I think when I was in my teens. One of my childhood memories is listening to Four Way Famiy Favourites, anyone else remember it.
On the subject of children having more freedom, my OH remembers staying with friends of his mother when he was 8 in London and spending whole days going round the London Underground, alone.

I am never drunk
I am occasionally very gently inebriated.
During these rare episodes my perceptions are subtly enhanced; everyone I encounter appears to be superbly, ethereally beautiful, regardless of age.

Including youmarried.

Until I look in a mirror !!!

Before TV there was radio - complete with 'listen with mother'.

Ah yes, the Sullivans. I used to come home from school for lunch too and the opening credits where the boy pulls the cap down over the other one's eyes them runs off was my signal to finish up my banana sandwich and cup of tea, take my Trio and head back.

I remember being about 4 (I can't have been any older as we moved house when I was 5) and my Mum and her mate locking me and her mate's son in their garden (so no access to the house) and going into town for the afternoon. We were told if we needed anything to shout over the fence to "Auntie Vi Next Door" who would let us in for a wee or a drink. We were there for bloody hours, and when we got back, John had wet himself and I had had a shit in the garage, because Auntie Vi had gone down the shops!

OK, so children's TV existed 40 years ago, but it was only on from about 4:30-6pm on weekdays, and then as I got older, from 9-11:30 on Saturday mornings!

I read, played outside, built things with Lego or Plasticene, or wound up my little brother.

Parents shut doors and told us not to disturb, shushed and slapped more and started getting drunk at 6pm

I remember an hour of childrens' TV between 5 and 6pm and Watch with Mother for a short time earlier in the day. Playing outside and reading took up much more time. I don't ever remember wishing there could be more programmes for children.

i can't imagine coping without kids tv. dd is one, she drive me to distraction with her lack of sleep, and at 6am i am very grateful for kids tv while i try to pull myself together - like right now, and get a cup of coffee or 3.

OP asked about 2yos. When my mother was 2yo, during WWII, her 20yo sister was at home to help run the family, and the sisters were close then although not again until adulthood.

I was minded by nannies so presumably, as paid staff, they didn't put the telly on too much. Also we lived on the beach in a sunny benign climate, not like rainy cold Britain.

When we lived in a Bangladeshi neighbourhood 10 years ago, I sometimes noticed 2yos out playing for spells, minded by cousins or older siblings (only, no adults). So there you go, traditional child-rearing practices if only you know where to look. Also, at home there were so many other children about to play with, typically, and telly only available in a non-household language, that I doubt those children watched much TV, either. Probably different now, I bet there's a satellite Bengali channel now with some children's options, even.

Just thinking, I probably did watch 3-5+ hours of TV/evening when I was 2yo, because I only slept 6 hours/night, and my parents couldn't cope otherwise. I can remember regularly going to bed at 11pm when I was 4-6yo and the boring news came on.

Day time TV, after about 8am, was deathly dull.

We didn't have a TV when our dc were little. If they grizzled, they grizzled. We didn't have one when I was little either.

In the case of a poorly toddler that you have to keep company anyway, I would have just have read or sung to her/him. Did a lot of singing with dd in particular. Not sure I'd find that harder work than having to watch children's television tbh. At least you can do something about the quality.

When I was 2 I had a 5 year old sister, we were just plonked in our room and told to play whilst Mum went downstairs and ran the pub. From roughly the age of 5 we were chucked out after lunch and told not to come back til dinner time. All the other kids were out though, the older ones looked after us.

I remember watching a lot of Disney films on video on boring Sundays.

This wasnt 30 ears ago either, it was the early 90's!

Oh God, the things we got up to, i shudder to think of it when I look at my 4yo DD.

Friend (born '66) says she can clearly remember being left to mind younger siblings when she was bout 4-5yo, while her mom went shopping for an hour.

Oh wait, now we're back on the "AIBU to take my children to the boring shops" thread, lol.

Slightly off message but when DS was a baby we decided we wouldn't have a "video" because it would dumb our children down intellectually.

When I was in hospital after having DD our TV blew up - it was ancient; MIL was staying and to keep her happy and coz we had a leaflet through the door DH rented an 18" TV/Video combo and the man came the next day with it.

whispers>also whispers

As one o f teh generation of children of that period:

We played outside in all weathers

We ran errands for our parents - going to the local shop with a list of things to buy

We would call round to knock on the doors of froends to see if they wanted to come out to play

We would go to the library - chose some books and take them home to read them - I could get through at least 6 books a week in those days

We went to the park

We would go for long walks in the fields (alone or with friend)

We would play in the stream - make dams

We would call in at the local farm at milking time and feed the calves

My only TV viewing was Blue Peter on (Tuesdays and Thursdays???) .

I really feel sorry for many of today's children who are parked in front of telly.

I remember some fairly trippy TV programmes in the early to mid 80's. Chocky, children of the dogstar, letterland etc. But it was not back to back and we never missed all day TV because we had never had it.

Trippy progs? - You should have seen 'the Singing Ringing Tree'in the 70s.

That was effein weird!

We used to get children's programmes made outside the UK e.g. White Horses about Yugoslavia or Robinson Crusoe.

I can even remember a very young John Craven doing Newsround. we had Aunty Val and John with Shep on Blue Peter.

Much better than the current children's stuff.

We used to watch tv. And one of my favourite memories of my early childhood is sitting in the kitchen every day, while my mum prepped dinner, listening to Listen With Mother. I'm still in my 30's, so not THAT long ago. No, really!!

Singing Ringing Tree! It was brilliant, and so weird.

We didn't get a telly until I was about 11 and I was the youngest so my siblings would really have had a whole childhood without it. We just entertained ourselves. Lots of imaginative play in my case.

No telly now here either although my 4 are allowed half an hour on the computer each after school on a Friday and then we watch something together on DVD or iplayer at the weekends. Not sure whether it makes it more into 'forbidden fruit' though so they won't be able to regulate themselves later. I just can't bear to see them endlessly lounging around watching stuff when they could be doing something more interesting.

It is harder when they are at home all day though and I guess there isn't anything wrong with popping something on for half an hour in the middle of the day if you need a break. We used to go to the park a lot and mine are all close together so had each other for entertainment which made it a bit easier.