This is partly a vent, partly a request for some support.
Three days ago, the TV again went into the basement. I have no idea when I will bring it back up. Here is why I put it down there.
My daughter is almost 4 and wants to watch it all the time. She'd even ask to come home from doing something fun to watch TV. She'd tantrum if something she wants to watch isn't on and beg me to make it come on. Or she'd throw a fit if I told her no more TV for now because she's watched enough. I was spending half my energy just dealing with the TV issue. She'll turn on the TV to just see what's on and then beg for one show. Then one more and one more..... Mostly she wanted to watch Spongebob but she also likes Special Agent Oso, Caillou, and Noddy.
Part of the issue, aside from the tantrums, is how ingrained TV became in her life. She's a mostly happy kid who loves to sing. She'd sing songs like, "Caillou's Rock and Roll Band" from that show instead of imagining her own band. She sings TV themes. Her imaginative stories revolved around Spongebob. She used to be pretty self-sufficient. After watching Oso, which is about this stuffed bear helping these kids do things they've declared they can't do, she suddenly can't do anything anymore.
The sad irony is that for years before I had her, I was TV-free. When I was 7 months pregnant I moved to a place with free cable and later found that it was nice for those long days when I'd be home alone nursing a newborn. Well, 4 years and several moves later, we are not back to TV-free and now I'm wondering if I can get it out of her system. The last several days have been tough but she's asking less and less for the TV and finding other things to do. But she did ask for TV earlier. She was upset when I said no but she got over it. So now what? I feel like a mean mommy but it was getting horribly out of hand.
Thanks for reading this
:
Three days ago, the TV again went into the basement. I have no idea when I will bring it back up. Here is why I put it down there.
My daughter is almost 4 and wants to watch it all the time. She'd even ask to come home from doing something fun to watch TV. She'd tantrum if something she wants to watch isn't on and beg me to make it come on. Or she'd throw a fit if I told her no more TV for now because she's watched enough. I was spending half my energy just dealing with the TV issue. She'll turn on the TV to just see what's on and then beg for one show. Then one more and one more..... Mostly she wanted to watch Spongebob but she also likes Special Agent Oso, Caillou, and Noddy.
Part of the issue, aside from the tantrums, is how ingrained TV became in her life. She's a mostly happy kid who loves to sing. She'd sing songs like, "Caillou's Rock and Roll Band" from that show instead of imagining her own band. She sings TV themes. Her imaginative stories revolved around Spongebob. She used to be pretty self-sufficient. After watching Oso, which is about this stuffed bear helping these kids do things they've declared they can't do, she suddenly can't do anything anymore.
The sad irony is that for years before I had her, I was TV-free. When I was 7 months pregnant I moved to a place with free cable and later found that it was nice for those long days when I'd be home alone nursing a newborn. Well, 4 years and several moves later, we are not back to TV-free and now I'm wondering if I can get it out of her system. The last several days have been tough but she's asking less and less for the TV and finding other things to do. But she did ask for TV earlier. She was upset when I said no but she got over it. So now what? I feel like a mean mommy but it was getting horribly out of hand.
Thanks for reading this
:
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