Let the Brain-Rotting Begin!

So, I have a confession.

My kid watches TV.

I know, I know.  The AAP and AMA and all of those other acronyms recommend "NO TV before age 2".  And really, I understand why.  I've read the studies.  I know the research.  I know it's bad.

And, truth be told, I was very judgy about it pre-Miles.  I couldn't understand why a parent would allow their precious tots to 'plug in' at such a young age.  I mean, really, when you think about it, it's only two years.  You can avoid it for two stinking years.

Umm.  No, you can't actually.  Not if you want to keep your sanity.  Because it's one of those little facts that every mother spouts, and every non-mother rolls her eyes at: Having a child 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, who is entirely reliant on you is hard.


It started off innocently enough.  I would turn on the TV while Miles napped in my arms as a newborn.  He wouldn't let me put him down, so I had very little choice in the matter.  It was either watch TV or die of boredom as he spent his eighth hour in a row in my arms.  Besides, I told myself, he's asleep.  And he's too little to really understand it anyway.  No big deal.

Then, as he became more and more aware of the world, it became easy to justify just a few minutes of TV every day.  He was always playing.  He hardly noticed it.  And I had earned a break.  Right?

Now, at thirteen months, he knows how to turn the TV on and off, how to change the channel, and how to ask us to find him a show or a movie.  And all too often, this is the sight at our house:

That's not to say that it's on all the time, or that it's really on all that much at all.  But it's on a lot more than never.  I'll just chalk it up to being a Bad Mommy.