Our church meets on a Sunday afternoon, so last night, while everyone was rushing off home to watch the finals of Master Chef (:)) we rushed off home to watch the debate between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott!
Boring some might say, but this excites us around here:)
Ron and his family are so into politics that on his frequent phone calls to them (they live interstate) politics is sure to rear it's head into their conversations!
Being married almost 16 years to him, I've become quite interested in it too!
In fact being able to understand and follow politics has enabled me to better obey the scriptures about praying for our leaders and those in government.
Rebekah also watched the debate with us, as did she watch the world soccer cup with Ron, even waking up early some mornings with him:) I was wondering how much of it (the debate) she truly understood but it's funny, she was pretty attentive almost the whole time!
We then got her to bed and watched some of the finals of the Master Chef show....but boy I was glad she was in bed because I don't think I would have liked her seeing some of those commercials they aired in the breaks!
I know some of my friends and family watch it with their kids, I need to ask them what they do when the commercials come on.
With us usually when we say "close your eyes" Rebekah knows it's because we don't want her to watch / see something inappropriate either on a billboard or tv etc. Not that we watch commercial television much around here, it's usually the ABC.
Talking about the ABC, Rebekah watches an hour of TV each day - that is her allotted time, and she usually watches half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening. She only watches the kids programs on the ABC, in fact she doesn't even know that there are other kids shows on other channels, shhh...it's a secret:) She has no idea that hi-five is on channel nine! I've kept that a secret from her for two reasons, one is I don't personally like that show and secondly I don't want her influenced by the commercials that come on!
I have read about the damages of TV to young ones etc and while I agree that too much TV is not good for their little brains or bodies, I find that I need this break from her during the day.
A lot of people would think that having an only child is easy and yes, while they are right in some aspects, I find that our relationship is also more intense as we are usually home by ourselves for about 12 hours in the day while Ron is at work! Just the two of us:) I wouldn't have it any other way but I've had to come to peace about this situation of letting her watch TV so I can have a break during the day.
I know some families have no TV at all and while ideally I would like Rebekah to not watch TV this is what we've come to do in our home:)
What do you all do?
14 comments:
I watched neither show! ;)
Rosemary, I used to make my children cover their eyes during the commercials also. Now, they are old enough to govern themselves, but we still have a strick standard on what is allowed to be watched in our home.
I don't watch TV, as I find very little of interest on it. My hubby likes to watch the occassional football telecast. Father in son in this house, always watch the State of Origin together ;)
Politics? Well, for me, I am not that interested really. I find them all as bad as each other. But, I do pay enough attention to understand what is happening etc. My father was always into politics and was even a member of a particular party. My mother supported the opposite party and made for very interesting times in my home, whilst growing up! lol
I enjoyed reading a bit more about your family!
Bless you!
Rosemary, I watched 15 mins of it before I left the room and did something else. Those 15 mins were dull and expected so had little interest in hearing more. The two leaders only talked about what they believe the public want to hear so both sat on the fence. I also work at Parliament House so get enough politics each day to last me a life time. I have written a piece on politics for tomorrow, from a slightly different angle.
As to TV - I grew up in a house with no TV and it wasn't until I was 20 did I watch one regularly - then I had to learn rubbish from good viewing as I had never been taught it and I watched some really bad movies. I also watched non-stop, addiction. Balance is the key - a little at the time, sharing the viewing together, watching documentaries that are sources of discovery and showing your children what is good and what is bad and why. Preventing a child from not seeing a TV only makes them curious - talk about the news when something comes up that is questionable (when children are older). I was shielded all my growing years and that wasn't necessarily a good thing either. Many parents who believe in strict shielding of their children have never lived in that environment themselves so often don't have a clue what it is like from a child's viewpoint.
My 2 cents worth!
I watched some of the debate too! But I was pretty distracted by the graphs they had at the bottom with male and female viewers' opinions. I found I'd watch that more and miss what was being said. I was also distracted by Julia Gillard's lip gloss--no really. I found it way too sparkly for a political debate. Hey--image is important in these types of things and I was surprised that none of her advisers noticed that! Sorry if that makes me shallow! :)
As for the TV thing, Ava and Nate either watch dvd's or the ABC Kids stuff. When she watches MasterChef with us, we mute the commercials and change the channel when something we don't like comes on. That's one of the reasons we had her watch it online alot--not nearly as many adverts!
Hey Rosemary, My son & I watched the last final of Masterchef and we were very excited about it too. Joshua loves to cook and desires to be a chef and I love cooking too. I couldn't even tell you what any of the commercial ads were for Joshua & I were discussing Masterchef through the breaks.
I totally agree that too much twaddle TV dumbs our kids down, but my kids love documentaries about animals, cooking, gardening and the planet. I don't like to shelter them from evolution, we let them hear what the world says and then prove to them in Gods word why it is wrong. My husband has alot of knowledge in this topic and teaches our kids creation science, it's awesome.
My kids alos love cartoons like tom & jerry, and ABC, so a daily limit is a standard around our home too.
Great post. xxx
Jo, I think you made a great point about not shielding too much as they get older. I have friends who, like you, weren't allowed to watch at all. And then, when they visited my house as kids and when they grew up it was ALL they wanted to do! Balance is definitely key. :)
And Rosemary, I can imagine how intense it would be all day. You do a great job! I allow more than an hour a day, so well done! :)
Hi ladies!
Thanks for all your comments!
Amanda and Jo, I know what you mean about politicians and politics:)
I can't get away from it over here, lol!
Jo, sounds like you have a very interesting job!
Interesting comments about shielding our kids too. Yes, I think balance is definitely the key and I was also glad to hear from you Jo as someone that grew up without TV, it was good to hear your personal experience!
Sarah, I'll need to check out some stuff on creation science too, I've been talking to Ron about how we will need to teach Rebekah about that stuff at the right time!
Amy, you are too funny - I didn't even notice her lip gloss, but then again I was watching it on the ABC, so maybe their cameras took the gloss off her lips:) also, they didn't have the tweets going on the ABC....see...another reason to watch the ABC:)
Amy, I think another channel had the tweets, the one you were watching had graphs I see. Didn't read that properly the first time:)
lol Politics makes me bad tempered. I didn't watch either show.
I still call out to Ditz [who is nearly 15] to shield her eyes from inappropriate material. Mind you, she'll also yell, "Don't watch, mum!" if something I'm viewing turns grotty. Nothing like accountability to make you reasses your viewing habits. lol
Ganeida, Ditz sounds fun and cheeky:) on the other hand, you have trained her well!
Maybe I should come and spend some time at your house. I don't always 'get' politics.
I try to understand what's going on and have a general feel, but when there's some kind of conversation centered around this country's leadership, I'm often on the outer. And, of course, there are always those with whom you NEVER raise the topic!
Yes, you're right alecat, there are some people I never would discuss politics with:)
Rosemary, when I wrote my last post over here (http://danielandclara.blogspot.com/2010/07/homeschooling-integrating-learning-into.html) I was hoping you'd come on over and share how you integrate schooling with life... so if you have time, please do come over! :)
You asked what others do regarding TV.
We don't have a TV, and I don't think it's because we're sheltering our kids in a negative way. However, having working in marketing, I know how powerful advertising is (even ABC advertising and merchandising).
Because we are a commercial-free zone -- no TV, no radio, no junk mail, I don't think our kids know ANY brand names.
We talk about the ads and billboards we see. They understand that they are supposed to feel hungry/thirsty/want a new car, etc. And that knowledge is power.
We have a scheduled screen time on Sunday afternoons to show something (via the computer) -- a movie or some Skippy shows.
This is enough for us.
Lauren, thanks for chiming in and sharing what you do at your place:)
I don't think we could live without a TV or radio here:)
We (dh and I) love watching the late news, documentaries and some other good shows when they are on!
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