To think kids watching tv is a bit of a waste of their life?

[Amykins35]

My daughter is 5 and her father and I are separated. When she has contact, she usually watches at least 5 films over the course of a weekend. On the other hand, here we used to go to the cinema on some of my weekends before her baby sister was born and that was the only thing she watched. We didn't even have a TV at home until 4 months ago. In the winter we had a film night on my Fridays where we baked cakes then snuggled on the sofa with teddies to watch a film and eat our cakes. But now the weather is finally brightening up we'll be going to the park/walking the dog/playing in the garden on those Fridays and so she probably won't watch anything here til next winter.
I read a few weeks ago that kids in the UK watch an average of 3 hours tv per day and that makes me sad as I really do think its a waste of their lives. Also, I don't understand where people find time for their kids to watch tv - my daughter goes to bed much later than her friends but we still run out of time to do everything she/we wanted to do. A typical day is:
7.30: she wakes up and gets ready while playing with DD2
7.45: breakfast
8.00: leave to walk/scoot/bike 2 miles to school

After school:
I usually drive to collect her so we can pop home for a snack before after school activities which usually finish at 6. She then plays/draws/reads while I cook tea, tea usually finished by 7 when we walk the dog, back home for homework, bath, stories and bed usually around 8.45.

There just isn't time in the day for tv and I don't understand where people find the time for it. If DD isn't doing an activity she likes to trampoline/paint/have tea parties etc after school and I think the amount of TV she watches at her fathers is a waste of his contact time. Before I get flamed and told my DD needs to rest and relax which may be why she watches TV at her dads - drawing and listening to stories are relaxing too. My DD never asks to watch TV here even if worn out - which is very rare indeed! AIBU to think watching TV is a bit of a waste of children's lives when there are so many more fun things they could be doing?

Allowing your poor child some chill out catch up time even

Oh, and chill-out time for me consists of reading, too...and plenty of Mumsnet when DS is napping!

If we never watched the TV I would have deprived my son of the joys if walking round the house with a blanket to the darth Vader tune.

PoohBearsHole, I don't know if that's directed at me, but my son has taken after me and gets cabin fever if he's at home for more than a few hours. He likes to be outside as much as possible, even if just dragging a stick along a fence at the park. He takes a two-hour nap at home every day, and most late afternoons we are indoors doing stickers, books etc. which he's happy to do with or without me.

I can see how TV might come in handy if you have a child who doesn't like to entertain themselves.

Mumsn et is still a screen

Just because there is a tv on doesn't mean we don't do activities

Oh, I know. I just don't use the computer around my son.

I actually don't think TV is bad. I watched Windy Miller etc. as a young child, and will, in time, introduce television, and can't wait to watch films, such as Mary Poppins etc.

It could be because I'm in the US, and it is drilled into you that TV for the under-twos is detrimental. I have a dozen mum friends, and only one lets their young toddler watch TV or use an ipad.

Without CBeebies I would be unable to have a shower before breakfast.

Personally I find the sound of an unwatched TV one of the most depressing in the world but it seems others find it somehow comforting. On a recent thread about things that happen on TV/films that never happen in real life someone mentioned viewers turning the telly off at the end of a programme. I thought "what's weird about that?"

Anyway telly's great for what it is but I wouldn't want a child to spend all their time in front of it any more or less than I would want them reading, playing football, practising a musical instrument or doing maths exercises. Only one of these activities is routinely criticised however.

I would never allow my children to do their homework while having the TV on. But then I'm bonkers anyway because my four-year-old goes to bed at 8.45 and I like David Attenborough

"It could be because I'm in the US, and it is drilled into you that TV for the under-twos is detrimental. I have a dozen mum friends, and only one lets their young toddler watch TV or use an ipad."

Ahem. How has that been working out for the US?

PoppyAmex, probably not so great in other regions, but here in my NYC bubble, the mums I know are anti-screen, at least for toddlers, and when their kids get older they either cave and buy their kids every gadget known to man, or they stick to the no-screen rule in earnest.

I hope to achieve a happy ground, but I really hope, more than anything, that my son continues to love the great outdoors, and TV is more of a last resort source of entertainment on a rainy day.

In any case, children's TV over this way is diabolical.

Nope stopgap, read my previous post, all aimed at the op.

Apart fom mumsnet is a screen.

My dc love entertaining themselves and it is possibly because the have background music/tv etc when I am busy doing something else. In fact it has been noted by others tt dd is particular good at entertaining herself, she is imaginative and loves to read. She may have been like that anyway. I don't think that you need to do tv time when they are really small like your dc stopgap but school is very tiring, if I tried to do activities at the ops level every day I would have a meltdown child. She knows herself and when she is tired. If she wants to watch tv to chill out the ths is fine by me, she reads with me before bed, she isn't neglected and as I say she has learnt other things from tv.

Also we don't live in a town so to do activities and museums post school would cost a fortune and take loads of time meaning the dc wouldn't get a good meal or be able to focus on the activity.

They don't spend all weekend watching tv, they do lots of free things and playing too. They are outside 99% of the day but if they want to sit down for 5 mins then fine by me!

I don't think it is fair to say its rubbish and ll tv is bad, you mus be a bad neglectful parent, which the op is eying about her ex , I think the poor child must be worn out for her contact weekends!

Honestly, it's just luck that your dd gets up late. Whether my ds goes to bed at 5pm or 10pm, he gets up before 7am every day .

I'm jealous that your dd plays in her room while you shower. I use CBeebies then because toddler ds would be climbing bookshelves/'cuddling' the baby/unloading the clean laundry onto the kitchen floor otherwise.

I don't think you're unreasonable to have an opinion. Mine is that TV is fine, but I'm not going to post the minutiae of my typical day because a). it would be boring and b). It would look like I was smugly trying to show how my routine was better than everyone elses c).there's quite a lot of squabbling involved in my day which I use the telly to distract from.

People do things differently. The end.

Coffee, doe you child go to school by any chance?

Dc2 would happily survive going to bed at 8.45 on some nights, dc1 not a chance, she'd have gone to bed by 7.30 if I attempted to do that! And she would have put herself there!

I live David A so don't find it weird!

And stopgap, the us imports on the satellite channels are hideous so I don't blame you for not utilising them!

LOVE

One very good reason not to get an iPad, TYPING

My dd bakes, walks, goes dancing, gets to Rainbows, and reads but loves tv. You cannot entertain them 24/7. There are so many cakes you can bake or books to read you cannot possibly fill all day every day. I had a tv in my room from 8 (I am 36), I watched loads of sat/sun morning tv bu used to play out and swim a lot. I cannot think how ts affected me, I have a good MSc degree and feel I did ok. My dd btw has ASD so is a farly visual learner, tv has helped her so much educationally. I bought a mr men phonetics DVD a couple of years ago when pregnant with ds and had horrid morni g sickness. She certainly knew her phonetics at te end of the summer holiday on starting foundation

:o at the idea that it's only for kids who can't entertain themselves. DS is too bloody good at entertaining himself, that's half the problem!

I think TV use is only an issue if they aren't also doing other things during the day, or if they're watching inappropriate programmes. My 2.5 yo has walked the dog, been to the playground, had two meals with me, played with his train set, cars and keyboard, had a nap and helped me look after his baby brother so far today. He's also watched an hour of telly (because he was up at 5.30) and will watch another 60-90 mins later. I think that's fine.

The above makes it sound like he walks the dog by himself. While that would be bloody brilliant, he's probably a bit young yet.

My ds3 (6) watches tv when he comes in from after school club at 6pm. This is to let me wash the breakfast dishes and get some dinner on the table. Occasionally he plays outside but he has normally been playing out, along with art and craft and baking at AFC.

I finish work early one day a week to take him to a sports club. He then watches telly when he gets in as dishes and dinner still need to be done.

If I had a nanny he wouldn't need to watch tv.

We watch maybe a film a week, normally on a Sunday night. My son will then spend the whole of the week re enacting parts of the film.
He does not spend hours re enacting parts of a book that we are reading though.

Oh god, who cares how much TV your or any other child watches?

How about you worry about your kids, I'll worry about my kids and you stay the hell out of my house and my private life completely?

Or, to put it more succinctly, DFOD.

You parent how you want to OP and let others do the same.

Your way is not necessarily better though.

No, the youngest is at nursery. But I doubt she will go to bed earlier from September. My older two also don't need much sleep, and they get through the day fine. It's pointless putting her to bed earlier, as she will only lie there awake and eventually come downstairs again. When she is tired, she stays put, looks at a few books and goes to sleep.

lol, at the the comment regarding tv only being for kids who can't entertain himself. My son can entertain himself, that's the bloody problem!! If the tv wasn't there then I would never have time to cook decent dinners for him or at least give the place a 5 minute spruce up without him getting into something he shouldn't be. Doesn't matter how much he loves tv though he will always choose to be outside than indoors. I always try and take him out in the morning, or he has playgroup, he's then home for his nap and then will usually be taken out again late afternoon even of its walking up the road up the shop.
Besides, I had sickness on Tuesday and if I didn't have the tv then I wouldn't have been able to let myself recover so I was back to normal the next day as I would've been chasing after my son all day trying to get him to put his mind to something and give me a few mins peace.

Dunno -my kid watched plenty of tv when a pre schooler and I credit it with his great use of language. If left just to talk to me he wouldn't have half the vocab he has now as I'm just not that interested in donosaurs, mini beasts etc.

He loves tv and also loves playing alone and making up dialogue type stuff. Suits him.