Mum guilt - anyone else???

[MrsRV]

So I've now accepted that there is a huge amount of guilt that follows having a child - I feel guilty about everything!

Anyway, tell me its normal to stick cbeebies on & let your 20 month old DD play alone while you just sit in your bum for a bit?

I'm 13 weeks prego & we are in solitary confinement (day 5) as DD had hand, foot & mouth. We've done drawing, long walks, playing, building, reading but TV is always on in background - she doesn't always watch it but when I see her sitting there quietly immersed in the tweenies or something I just feel so bloody guilty. Not quite guilty enough to interrupt of course & I'm sure I was plonked in front of the TV for my entire childhood!!!

Please tell me to SHUT UP & get a grip.

Dear MrsRV- SHUT UP. Get grip. - there, did that help?

Fwiw we did not have a telly when dc were little. And however closely I look at them I cannot see that they have grown up in any way different or superior from their peers: they do not appear cleverer or less annoying or better at concentrating or less hooked on popular entertainment or indeed anything at all. Ds and his mate are pretty indistinguishable: I often wonder how we manage to sort them out at the end of the day. So if we had hoped to achieve some great educational goal (as opposed to just not getting round to buying a telly) we would have been disappointed.

What a lovely post Cory.

MrsRV your current situation sounds hellish! It sounds like you're doing extremely well. The only thing you should feel guilty about is neglecting to pat the telly lovingly and telling it how grateful you are for its invaluable support every time you go past it. IMO

Hope not too much longer in confinement.

Mine spent most of half term in front of cbeebies due to ill health, laziness, bad weather. DS thought it was the best holiday ever the bugger

I feel guilty about loads of things. I get worried I'm stuffing up their lives and that I'm crap mum and that they are going to look back on their childhoods and think "gah I'm glad that's over" . I don't know why I feel like this though because as DH points out they are all seemingly very happy!

My DD1 chose not to watch tv for her first few years. She simply didn't like it much to my frustration when I needed a break. She's now 16 and glued to her iPad or trashy American sitcoms every minute she can be. It makes no difference in the long run.

It's better to have you rested and in a good mood than restrict her TV and you feeling irritable because you're tired.

"chose not to watch tv for her first few years".

Wow!

Wow!

Nothing to do with my parenting. She just found it boring. Being glued to my side was more fulfilling apparently

We've been housebound all week as both DS' (23m and 11w) have chest infections. I think we've watched Meg & Mog on DVD about 500 times, and CBeebies has been on most of the week. I'm telling myself that as long as 'nothing but telly' isn't the norm we'll be ok!

I had a clingy DD too. I remember her shouting for help from the top of a slide when she was 2.5. The same slide that crawling babies were happily negotiating by themselves!

We didn't get a tv till I was 11. I love telly now and watch loads and did throughout all my teenage years.

I agree with Cory!

Oh - my sympathy to muppet too.

I think you just can't win with the guilt thing, my dd wasn't interested either for the first couple of years as couldn't leave my side/ sit still long enough to watch and I used to think I should be encouraging her to be more independent. now she is happy to watch certain things over and over again and I've got guilt about the amount she watches!

My DD was 20 mths when I was 13 weeks preg with my DS! I had severe sickness. She watched Cbeebies a huge amount. Only way to get through the day.

FWIW she has just started school and is doing really well. No evidence of being harmed by 4 mths of serious TV time!

You've done other stuff with her so what's the problem? I don't see why you feel guilty.
It's not like she was watching Jeremy Kyle all day.