MFTV

It stands for MOTHERS FOR TV. I don’t need a nanny. I have the television. Dr. Phil says toddlers should be limited to 90 minutes a day. I found this to be somewhat liberal compared to what some “experts” say about toddlers and the amount of tv they should view. According to one website, children under 2 should watch no television at all.

My first daughter, on her first Christmas received the Jay Jay the Jetplane action-figure set (even though they were for age 3 and up, I HAVE improved on giving toys that are AGE appropriate). This is because she loved the program, Jay Jay the Jetplane. Starting at 6 months, I would plop her on her blanket in front of that or other equally educational programs so that I could have some alone time. I also thought this time promoted independence for her. She would tune in and out of her show and play with her toys alone. This half hour or hour of entertainment would allow me to cook or clean or relax without her.

Then it got a little more intense. I worked in an off-broadway show for about 7 weeks or so. It meant late nights every night but Monday, and my baby liked to wake up early. I would “wake up” enough to change her diaper and give her breakfast, and then I would let her watch the Wiggles, twice (this was a DVD). This would allow me about 1 hour and 45 minutes of sleeping on the couch. She was 12 months old.

After that, when she was about 16 months old I contracted viral meningitis. After a week of quarantine in the hospital-not sure exactly WHO was taking care of her….I was home, couch/bed-ridden for another 4 weeks. During those 4 weeks I think my daughter was invited on about 3 playdates, the rest of the time, it was the two of us, and guess who watched her? Yup…Noggin. It is a commercial-free cable station that plays non-stop favorites from 6 am to 6 pm. The TV stayed on ALL DAY. This is the ONLY way I would have gotten through this very difficult time.

Now I have become more aware of tv-viewing as I have learned how impressionable she is. I try to avoid stations with commercials, so that I can avoid the “I wants”. Daughter #2 is almost 9 months old and shows little to no interest in the television.

However, I am in general not opposed to television; after all, my daughter has learned a lot from tv:

• Sign language for the word Turtle
• Armadillos like to dig
• The melody from the 3rd movement of Dvorak’s “Symphony for the new world”
• Spanish words: Rojo, Verde, Azul, Hola, Adios, etc.
• About Soccer
• Chinchillas
• Animals in general (I am NOT an animal person….and would not think of introducing animals to my daughter, unless they are on her dinner plate)
• Hanukkah
• Elephants eat peanuts (though I am not sure if this is true)
• Greek Gods
• Bert’s favorite food is oatmeal
• Running is a form of exercise

And the list goes on. Nowadays I am requiring that my daughter “earn” her tv time by first reading a large stack of books. The first time I tried this I said she had to get through as many as she could by the time the timer dinged (I set it for 22 minutes—nothing scientific behind that). When the timer went off she was actually disappointed and proceeded to finish her entire pile, making her total reading time over an hour. I don’t think that television-viewing has had a negative impact on my child. It has opened her mind to subjects that might not have entered yet, challenged her brain, sculpted her imagination, and still she loves to read, pretend, sing, and socialize. I am the new president of MFTV.

My fave TV shows/DVDS:

Max and Ruby: Some people can’t stand Ruby’s voice…I LOVE IT.
Boobah: Ladies, it will hypnotize your child
Elmo’s Happy Holidays: It is Elmo’s world, Super-sized!
Wiggles, Wiggly Safari: The crocodile hunter and his family are featured, so cute.
Disney Princess Sing-alongs: The best of the Disney princess movies, let’s face it, if you have a toddler girl, you know about the Disney princesses.
Eebee’s Adventures: The newest in infant videos….made for babies, toddlers love it too, and it encourages interactive play between them.