No TV school mornings

[woollencats]

DS1 (8) gets up at 6:20am 7 days a week no matter what time he goes to bed. He finds the remote and watches his favourite show. I get up at 7am. Then his brother (7) gets up at 7ish (they share a room) and he then wants to watch something as well whilst he comes round (not a morning person) so they carry on watching whilst I have my coffee and make breakfast.

I am going to hide the remote tonight as I think DS1 is waking to watch it. He struggles to play or read indoors for long. He loves active play in the garden and TV is the only time he sits down for more than 5 mins inside.

AIBU to ban it on school mornings and put the radio on? I have done it before but have slipped back into old habits!

We leave at 8:30am.

Also piano practice in a Morning - your neighbours all must love you 😂

My son can only watch tv before school if he's completely ready with at least 15 minutes to spare.

I can probably count on one hand the number of times it's happened. We have the radio on for background noise usually.

I have 2 like that.

DD is like Linda Blair in a morning.

DS is like that bloke in Friends who sings “Morning is heeeeeere” 😂

Oh 100% no tv in the mornings. We were allowed TV once a week on Sundays as children and I think it was good for us.

The the tv before school needs to stop. And probably before homework too.

but dont hide the remote. You explain no tv in the morning and enforce it. If youre hiding the remote, then you are not the person with authority in your home. Your 8 year old should not be deciding what he does.

I agree no morning tv.

It’s my one absolutely non-negotiable rule!

Don't hide the remote.
Tell them.
Tell them why.
And tell them it is not up for discussion

Good god. Why fight these small battles? DS used to get up and watch tv from about 6:30. Bear in the big blue house. He loved it. Why would you remove that joy from his life. He is a perfectly useful adult now.

I agree with this. This fury about TV makes people sound unhinged

It's just never been an issue or a suggestion here, so no removing of joy at all 🙄Plenty of time for telly. We have a lovely relaxed morning with plenty of time for breakfast, chats etc. It's never come up but personally I hate the thought of a TV screen in my face first thing, would never have had it muzelf growing up.

Obviously, YANBU. It baffles me that anyone would watch TV in the mornings, but for children it's a definite "no".

Seriously why? What is wrong with you? How can you care about this crap? Why have you no confidence that most children grow up just fine with very few rules and very little intervention? I never wanted more for my boy than two A stars, 2 As and a science degree from a Russell group university. Which is exactly what he got. On his own, with bugger all non negotiables or rules from me. But hell if I'd made his childhood really miserable maybe he could have gone to Cambridge!

Don't hide it, he will have the expectation of watching his TV and will get incredibly stressed if he cant find it (as would you) and be really angry with you. Explain that as of next Monday or tomorrow or whatever it wont be there is the morning and this is why. He may argue with you but he won't feel tricked.

Mine go downstairs and watch tv at 7 and then it goes off when it’s time to have breakfast and get dressed at 7.45. It’s our routine and doesn’t cause any problems. They get to do a bit of what they like and I get a shower/cup of tea in peace. They then have an hour to get ready for school

No tv's have ever gone on in our house before school/work and my sons are 14/12.

There is nothing wrong with a parent enforcing a rule. It is their choice. You may not agree but that doesn't mean there is something wrong with them.
Your kids may not have needed many rules. Other kids do.

I think that's fabulous but some children need more limits than others. If I said nothing to my ds, he'd spend the day on the couch watching TV or on his switch. Even with a few hours of it, he'll still ask for 5 more minutes and let me just finish this etc. He's a give an inch take a mile type so I have to have limits. It would be great if we could be free and easy with all, as I can with DS2 but some kids are just not made like that!

Some people on here are wound incredibly tight. I used to love watching a bit of tv in the mornings before school. It had absolutely no impact on me academically, socially or otherwise. I even had a tv in my room, but then there were no other devices/screens available in the dark ages.

I wouldn’t be bothered, but if you think it’s affecting your kids negatively then set the boundary. Although I think you need to tell them
that the rule is no tv before school rather than hiding the remote and leaving them frustrated.

@Somanycats

you’ve decided I have an incredibly restrictive regime based on saying on one non-negotiable rule is no TV before school…ok then…let’s do no more about your capacity for reading comprehension

Did none of you watch The Big Breakfast whilst getting ready for school?

Best comment ever 😂

Never understood the need to sit and watch mindless television in the morning. It’s not necessary.
Television sets in a child bedroom is also a bad habit. It’s not doing them any good at all.

No gaming/ TV before school here as like yours OP he was waking up earlier and earlier. I'm not strict at any other times, pretty much has free reign. Once I stopped the TV in morning I ended up having to wake him!!

Honestly do what works for you OP. I have to wake my daughter in a morning and she watches tv whilst eating breakfast, I have no problem with this. And shock horror my kids have tvs in their rooms.

The lies I read on here acting like angel parents it's beyond laughable.