This morning, Elliott held his bowl of oatmeal up to his mouth to drink it (it was kind of runny) and he said..."just like Satske".
Satske is a girl who lives in Japan. We know about her from a movie we love to watch. That's what got me thinking about this.
There is a lot of TV guilt out there and I want to alleviate some of it. Here is the thing: if you are reading this blog, then you are a most certainly a mindful, caring parent who probably does NOT have to worry about the amount of screen time that your children are getting. And yet, being who you are, you DO worry. (That is actually the unhealthy part-giving yourself such a hard time.)
If you are parenting your children every day, then they are receiving lots of play, meaningful interactions, opportunities for learning and discovery, time in nature, a balance of quiet time and active time, play with one or two friends, solitary time, reading, creating and imagining, and most important of all, an abundance of loving attention from you.
Spending some quiet time in front of a carefully chosen movie without exposure to advertising and commercials is not only FINE, but perhaps even HEALTHY (oh my...did I really say that out loud?).
You are actually allowed to offer a movie or some computer time. It feels best to do this when the movie enables some other need or value to be met, so by all means be conscious about it.
Most of all, let go of the enormous cloud of guilt and worry. You are doing just fine.
Here are a few NPC approved movies for you. We recommend watching in other languages, too!
This version of Charlotte's Web
Spirited Away-We haven't seen this though it has been recommended for older kids.
We also recommend One More Story for computer time and Storynory for listening on the computer.
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