do childrens of LP's watch more TV than those with 2 parents do you think?

[BellevilleRendezvous]

I think ds has too much TV. I give in to letting him watch it because it is just easier to know that he is happily engaged with that when I am having a shower / making tea / doing chores.

Am wondering if it's just a fact of life of being a lone parent and I should cut myself some slack here. But ....

... he is 3.3 and watches 60-90 mins in the morning and 60-90 mins in the evening, always CBeebies or NickJr (but without the adverts). So min 2 hrs a day and on a bad or busy day 3hrs. That is too much isn't it? + [ bad parent emoticon].

dunno, don't have tv, is certainly not compulsory for lone ps! I think that is too much, but I am a Luddite when it comes to passive entertainment
If you yourself think it's too much, it probably is

that sounds pretty similar to what my daughter watches/watched. I haven't noticed any bad impact on her - she is lively, intelligent, popular, not aggressive, etc, etc. We rarely spend all day in doors watching tv, I try to make sure we go out and do something active but when I am doing housework or desparate just to sit down with the newspaper and a coffee, I have no problems whatsoever with her watching TV. It has saved my sanity. I don't think I could be a LP without TV, or I would be a much more stressed and unhappy LP.

It's about balance isn't it? TV all day, every day = bad but TV mixed in with other stuff and keeping him entertained while you get on with what you have to do... can't see the problem.

I think mine would watch LESS tv if I were single

the main times for them to watch it are the times when dh and I want to have a chat without them, when we haven't seen each other all day

ah thanks Spero, good to know I am not alone. newspaper and coffee = exactly it, TV is the only thing to ensure a few minutes without being nagged or jumped on!

I've cracked on the morning tv - let DS watch a dvd of Pingu or Postman Pat or whatever (we don't have digital) while I'm getting showered/dressed. Otherwise I simply CANNOT get us both dressed and fed and out by 8am. Have decided it's simply a fact of life and I need to suck it up. Actually, the thing that annoys me most is that I can't have Radio 4 on in the morning! Am a Today prog addict.

Seriously, don't beat yourself up, though. Worse things to worry about, etc etc

oh the TOday programme ... fond memories of that. I do have it on at breakfast but don't actually get to listen to it. DS obv does though as he will occasionally say "what does executed / raped / murdered mean" at which point I have to turn it off anyway.

i read some newspaper report of 'research' that claimed all 'screen time' was equally bad and young children should have no more than 1/2 hr per day... I find this very hard to believe.

My dd will probably have quite a lot of screen time during the week; some of that on the CBeebies site where she is playing games, colouring etc, some we pay on the Wii together and beat each other at tennis, some we watch a DVD together and talk about the story and whats going on... some of our happiest times have been watching a Disney film together.

I think a lot of anti TV stuff is misplaced snobbery. People who are insecure about their intelligence or their chilidren's intelligence insist on limiting or banning TV altogether which I suspect will make it seem a lot more alluring to their children.

I am however v glad that my daughter has just moved up to CBBC. I find a lot of stuff there really entertaining and we have both learned a lot, especially since Horrible Histories.

Not that much of her screen time is purely passive it would seem... maybe that makes the difference (apart from coffee and newspaper time of course when extreme passivity is required....)

hmm I am going to ignore that research Spero - I do think that passive TV watching isn't great if there is too much (ds asks constantly for "more TV" which worries me) but interactive stuff as you describe is fine surely. It's a fact of life that our dcs will grow up with computers and screens in the way that we just didn't (assuming you are over 30 that is!).

can he work a mouse? why not also have him play on cbeebies website ? or do p[aint proigramme etc.

for when you in other room eg shower - tv is prob easiest - but other times he could also draw near you etc?

if you worried about him clicking other stuff download ZAC browser -it isnt jsut for chidlren with autism - and it provides safe link to cbeebies website

www.zacbrowser.com/

hgaving said all that my son learned to read and spell and do colours from cbeebies and as others said cddc has loads of good stuff on

I can assure you I do not suffer from misplaced snobbery or insecurity about intelligence - blimey! what an insulting generalisation
I just don't like tv
no prob with dvds or computer

I too don't have T.V. though that's because I'm a tight bugger rather than a snob. My kids get enough Horrible Histories off the iPlayer. I also expose my kids to maybe not so suitable material such as DVDs like Futurama,

yes, is the cost too

ds can't seem to get the hang of the mouse - any tips on that? he would love to be able to have the computer all to himself!

you can get child friendly mice in bright colours with easy to press buttons
not that I ever bothered, sheer desperation motivated ds to conquer it

ah BellevilleRendezvous! DS too young to ask qs about the radio yet (2.6yo) but he picks up on the odd word here and there - will be pootling around with his cars or whatever while Evan Davis is saying "blah blah blah City of London blah blah" - at which point he pops up like a meerkat and says "London! London, mummy!" before returning to ground-level.

He did say "I like the news, mummy" very seriously the other night, which I feel is progress of a kind. I quite like Bagpuss myself, though, so it's not all one-way traffic

thanks ninah, will look for one of those if ds doesn't get the hang soon. I suspect he will go the same way as yours, he is so keen on the screen!

Not sure, my kids watch less than a friend of mine who is married. the rest, I don't know... but I'm out and about just as much as anybody who is with somebody so is there a link? has one been suggested?

I reckon if there's a link it's between the household income and the number of hours tv watched... which would sound reasonable. But I don't think it can be pinned specifically on a single parent, iykwim.

I worried a bit about this too. As a working single mum with a dog to walk there just isn't the time in the morning to get him involved in something (and to keep coming over when he asks) and get out the door without TV).Also because we got up so early he'd be exhausted after school and would just flop.

However I would say that now he's older (6) and I feel happy to let him out with his friends without me, it is less of a problem. I think we'll still want it when school starts in the mornings but he can see friends when he's bored rather then resorting to the sofa.

I my experience friends of ds (who is an only child) watch more tv.