Do you have the tv on in the background all day when you are home ?

[IcandothisactuallyIcan]

I don't and my DH says I'm weird as whenever he gets home he puts the tv straight on.

So I'm at home with our nearly one year old all day. DH says I'm the only mum who doesn't watch daytime tv in the background whilst playing/looking after DD.

I didn't have the TV on with my older DS either, although he had daily some tv time everyday once he could focus on it (so from 18 months onward maybe.) My DS had a speech delay and my DH says it because the house is so quiet due to no TV. I of course I do talk to the kids. I do however look at my phone for texts and MN a bit , but try not to all the time, so I guess that's the modern reading a book whilst looking after the kids. He could be right that I'm unusual. I suppose I've never thought to have the tv on and only put it on for the kids to watch stuff. I hadn't considered having bargain hunt on whilst playing cars. Maybe I'll try it for lockdown 2, instead of going out and having occasional company.

The people who have it on for all waking hours, do you turn it down or off if you have people over?

How do you decide what to watch? Do you change channel throughout the day? Why is tv better than radio if it’s just for background noise?

Interesting thread OP.

I see lots of people have the radio on all day how is the tv any different.

I agree with a pp that 'TVs make me want to watch them if they're on'. They sort of draw your eye.
And for me there's a difference in the quality of the sound of a TV and radio (I don't mean quality as a value judgement; you know what I mean). Radio I can quarter-listen to while still focusing on what I'm doing, but I find TV sound draws my attention more.

Would never do that.

We don’t have a tv licence either because like a pp we moved into our house, the aerial didn’t work and we didn’t think it was worth getting sorted because let’s face it, TV doesn’t exactly add to your life. We just keep the TV set for DVDs and sometimes hooking up a laptop for Netflix.
I think the bigger surprise for me is that so many people feel the need for background noise! I wouldn’t be able to concentrate while wfh if the tv or talk radio was on. I used to listen to classical music in the office to drown out people’s conversations but that’s about it. I do like to listen to music in the evenings but I like to actively listen to it, rather than have it on in the background. My dad is a huge music fan and often has it on while pottering (sometimes radio through the tv) but I’ve never heard of people having the tv on dawn to dusk for the sake of it

I listen to an audiobook while wfh :)

@AnneLovesGilbert usually I will pick a long movie or series on a streaming service that I have already watched 10 times so really have no interest anymore. I can't cope with music as to me that is too distracting if I need to read or do something as I will just end up listing to the music and my brain starts daydreaming

@Usernamenumber999 is that not distracting? I would be too focused on the audiobook

I agree IntermittentParps. I can generally cook, or do the ironing etc quite happpily with the radio on, but if I had TV on and it was something interesting I would get distracted and at best fail to complete the task in hand or at worst burn the house down.

I think it's because TV invites you to look at it - that's its purpose after all - but it's comparatively easy to listen to something whilst looking at something else. That said, like a PP, I find the spoken word distracting so I tend to only listen to music. Its the same when I am driving. I wouldn't listen to a radio play in the car as I'd be scared of losing concentration. I do like to sit and really listen to music whilst doing nothing else too, but on the whole don't find music as distracting as words or sound as distracting as images. And if I am doing something that I really need to focus on I need silence. For instance if I am driving in bad weather or trying to negotiate an unfamiliar city in busy traffic I always switch the radio off. But my DH prefers talk shows to music when he's driving as he says it makes the time pass more quickly on ling drives, and I know other people who say background noise helps them concentrate rather than distracts them. I guess we are all different.

I'm a radio or podcasts person . Different things need different levels of concentration though so I pick accordingly.

No - listen to R4 or R5 quite a bit.
DP doesn't like TV much but insists on "listening" to something (radio, podcasts etc) at pretty much all times which is more than I do.

@lovepickledlimes sometimes I find myself pausing it depending what I’m doing but some parts of my job are just copying information from one source to another so you can kind of do it on autopilot.

I don't know why some posters think that radio is superior to the TV? If you're not physically looking at the TV and it's on in the background it's no different to the radio - just background noise.

I have a friend who has the TV on all day but absolutely no volume, it's on mute. Now that, I don't really understand.

No but I sometimes use TV as background when I have a tricky piece of work to do. Judge Judy is great for that. Radio is too interesting for working. Both are good for ironing.

No but I am more inclined to have it on all the time than DH is. The TV is always on in my parents house.

No radio on most of the day though. But not the tv. My parents never put it on before 6pm when I lived at home and that's stuck with me...

No. I really hate background noise. Music is ok sometimes but not constant tv or radio. I wouldn’t be able to hear myself think!

If the TV is on I’ll watch it!

Excessive screen time is very detrimental to speech and language development as babies/young children need to hear and see you communicate with them. White noise from tv and you looking at TV are unhelpful.

Children watching wall to wall tv are less likely to develop motor skills, hand eye coordination, imaginative play etc.

Easy for me to say as I'd rather dig a trench than watch homes under the hammer etc.

However if you're struggling and it really helps then whatever gets a parent through.

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe

I don't know why some posters think that radio is superior to the TV? If you're not physically looking at the TV and it's on in the background it's no different to the radio - just background noise.

I have a friend who has the TV on all day but absolutely no volume, it's on mute. Now that, I don't really understand.

Radio is designed to be listened to. So when you do listen you are getting the whole story they’re telling, you don’t miss huge chunks because you weren’t looking at the screen. The cadence and rhythm are different and you rarely get loud sudden noises.

God no I can't bear it. I sometimes put a programme on when I'm cooking too keep me company. I do have the radio on lot though, and that's usually discussion.

@eng306060 while I do agree to some extend that it can be true I do think it also depends on what is watched and how it is watched. For example I used to happily draw while watching tv or put on a play using my toys with the tv in the back ground, or think of stories while watching it. But the fact that the tv was on in English the whole day meant I was able to pick it up very fast and was close to a fluent speaker within only 2 years though I lived in a none English speaking country.

Same with Japanese. I watched some kids tv shows in Japanese and though I do not speak it I understand little bits of it etc

BoomBoomsCousin, I do see what you mean about 'missing chunks' because of the visual aspect but it also depends on what you're listening to.

For example, I can be in the kitchen listening to Agatha Christie or Midsomer Murders in another room and, because I know them well, I know the plot and enjoy listening to them without watching. Kids TV I tune out of but inexplicably pick up the annoying 'tunes' and can't get rid of them, they get embedded as ear-worms. I suspect I'm not alone in that one.

I can understand the appeal of background noise if you're on your own at home, I just don't see why some people are sniffy about the medium.

I was brought up with no tv (eighties) and there's nothing wrong with my speech - your DH is talking absolute rubbish!

We might have breakfast news on for a bit in the morning and then it's turned off until the evening for specific programmes. I listen to Radio 4 and 6 Music when I am doing chores.

Radio is on from 7am-8am then 12pm-1pm.

TV doesn't go on until 6pm, then off at 10pm.

No kids though.

Radio is designed to be listened to. So when you do listen you are getting the whole story they’re telling, you don’t miss huge chunks because you weren’t looking at the screen. The cadence and rhythm are different and you rarely get loud sudden noises.

Surely that depends entirely on what you're listening to and watching?