Just wondering about my Radio 4 addiction and if it might be bad for 20 month old DD. Any thoughts?

[norktasticninja]

I tend to have Radio 4 on all day most days, I enjoy it. Since I've had DD I find something on listen again turn it off if there is something with an unpleasant or disturbing atmosphere on, but other than that it's never occoured to me to censor it at all .

DS (6 weeks) seems to find it calming and it's doesn't seem to bother DD either, but she's 20 months old now and understands quite a lot. After something DP said last night I'm wondering if I should stop listening to it so much. I'd certainly never randomly leave the television turned on when she's around but I'd never considered that wall to wall speech radio might also have negative effects too. TBH if I've thought about it at all it's just been as another way of normalising English (DD's bilingual and we live overseas).

What do you think? Is it a Bad Thing (repeated news etc)? Do I need to cut down? I really hope not...

Oh yes.Count Arthur Strong.That is dismal.

Thank God for Newsquiz,Just a minute and ISIHAC (RIP Humph)

That's exactly what DD does: she laughs in a forced manner -- har har har during the comedies.

DD hums the Shipping Forecast

oh god YES about count arthur strong. and sodding meanybox.

hiya fattie!

My dd has a better grasp of who's who in The Archers than I do.

oh Aitch I LOVE moneybox! And You and Yours. I like to listen to it as a contrast to the news - on the one hand things it can seem like things are so grim, and on the other there all these people in Surrey with enough time to fret about the exit fees on their ISA and what to do with their grandson's trust fund .

It's like a Radio 4 version of that Julian of Norwich quote - all shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well. As long as you don't buy shares from a man cold-calling you from Nigeria who promises 110% growth.

i find the presenter's voice utterly creepy. plus i am profoundly jealous of the people who phone in, to a poisonous degree. the only time i liked it was when the iceland banks went down, then i was very sympathetic, so long as people had lost EVERYTHING.

I worry that me listening to Radio 4 all the time will make dd uncool. My parents were quite young when they had me and had Radio 1 blaring all day long, which has left me with a geeky encyclopedic knowledge deep and enduring love of pop music, which is a Good Thing, I think.

I'm too ancient to listen to music radio any more, though, so dd just listens to R4 droning on when she's at home.

Though I was happy to find she'd been dancing to Boney M at nursery today

i was brought up on r4, it has made me very geeky. true story.

I despise You and Yours and have developed an irrational dislike of winifred Robinson. I don't know why

well I was brought up on a mix of Radio 4 and Fairport Convention - so I am not sure what that makes me.

Whatever it is, it's probably uncool.

I'm afraid my r4 listening was inculcated by my nerdy parents.We have a weird radio battle in our house.Dp is a music geek and cycles between 1,2 and 6.If I am in the kitchen I alter it to my beloved 4 or if I am feeling daring I go to 7.My children will be very confused.

I've had radio 4 on ever since dd1 was born (almost 10) and used to bf in the middle of the night with the world service on very low. The only time I turn it off is if there's something in the news that I don't want the dc's to hear.

At the weekend my dh had the dc's in the car and aparently they begged to listen to Sorry I Haven't a Clue every week - we were so proud .

DC's are also well up on music, so radio 4 doesn't stop them being cool.

we have the following split;

Radio 4 (me and DH) 70% of time
Radio 7 (mainly me) 10% of time
Radio 6 (mainly DH) 10% of time
5 Live (entirely DH) 7% of time
TMS on longwave (mainly DH): 3% of time

I wouldn't subject her to 'thinking aloud'/'thinking allowed'? that man is such a creep!

TsarChasm - they canned the sea shanties a while ago, I think and there was a [very civilised, naturally] uprising

Botbot, I was about to post the same thing. I can remember feeling really sad as a teenager when my parents swapped R1 for R2.

I, however, am a R4 addict, so little Ff will never know the joy of having cool parents. Bloke has eclectic and strange music taste, so the poor little thing has no hope.

Oh has it gone Habbibu? It was a totally surreal collection of music. Especially at that time of day.

MoneyBox is one of the few programmes I don't much care for. It's that Paul Lewis chap...he says 'Ooo please do ring in. We're happy to answer your queries'. Then people phone in and he seems quite contemptuous of them. I still listen to it though cos the advice is handy

Talking of BBC comedy (this is a very weak link - apologies..!) has anyone been watching Getting On with Jo Brand. Very funny

You see?R4 is cool!If I had not listened to it from my WC/LMC roots I would never in a million years have produced the word "Inculcated".(Though I did study English as an A Level)

Lol at 'very civilised uprising' A sort of quiet fury? So quiet no-one really noticed I expect.

That's right. I love R4 and have it on in the kitchen until dh arrives and turns it off. Ds1 often picks words out and asks me about them or understands something like "Obama" [I made him watch the inauguration] or "Georgia" and we have a giggle about it. And we're always listening out for my sis who's a journalist, so that's fun, too, especially if we've just seen her that day and she heads off to a late shift that we hear at tea-time.
Have even lived elsewhere in Europe (pre-web radio) and insisted on having it on with terrible reception to get the Today programme, just so I could shout at the radio in France as well.

One of the indicators, apparently, for M15/M16 to take action is if The Today Program isn't broadcast at 06:00. Obviously something is wrong. I take comfort in that

Really Ilovemydog?! That is so interesting. (yet another random thing for me to vaguely worry about)

Oh ILMDAMO that is so British.

No Today programme= end of civilisation as we know it!

That has made me chuckle.