I think that motherhood brings with it the tendency to worry constantly that you are somehow going to damage your children. There seems to be a gnawing fear at the back of my mind that in 20 years, Lindy in particular, will be discussing my parenting flaws with a trained professional. One of the things I feel slightly embarrassed about is the amount of time I allow my kids to spend watching the television. I often rationalize by telling myself "Hey, at least it's PBS and not Maury Povich!" but it doesn't always eliminate the doubt...especially when you hear child psychologists blaming a large portion of youth angst on the fact that their parents left them to be raised by the television. Aaaaahhh!
But today I feel I had a small triumph. I was braiding Lindy's hair, getting her ready for the day, when we randomly had the following conversation:
Lindy: "Dinosaurs lived on the earth a very long time ago."
Me: "That's right...please hold still."
Lindy: "Then they all went away because the paleontologists killed them."
Me (to myself): "Did she just say 'paleontologist'?"
Me (out loud): "Is that so?"
Lindy: "Well, the paleontologists didn't actually kill the dinosaurs, they are just the people that find their fossils and glue their bones together to stand up in museums and stuff. It's pretty amazing."
Me: "Where did you learn about paleontologists?"
Lindy: "Sesame Street."
Me: "NICE!"
4 comments:
Seriously! I suffer from the same guilt...but whenever Jace busts out with some Spanish I always try to give myself a pat on the back for letting him watch so much Dora! LOL!
I worry about the exact same thing!! Constantly. (As the TV is on in the background...) Some of the stuff that they say does impress me though, so it can't be that bad!
Double NICE! I often wonder how mom's did it back in the day when TV wasn't in every home. How did kids self entertain in the winter? and how did the moms ever get anything done????
AMEN!!!!! I so do not care how much time my children spend in front of the tube. Tessa learned all of her colors and shapes from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! Do I feel bad? No way!
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