Help me break the TV addiction! - Page 2

[BrittneyMarie]

im definitely a tv addict, but im on the couch with my 3 month old sleeping on me a lot during the day. by the time shes a bit older i plan on getting rid of it

[east carolina]

Originally Posted by darcytrue

We have cable t.v. in our home and we homeschool. I'm not afraid to place limits no my children and want t.v. in my home so I refuse to get rid of it just to keep my kids from watching it. They can be taught to limit themselves.

My children had limits placed on the t.v. watching beginning when they were very little. For this reason they have never wanted to watch t.v. in excess. In fact, it's never on during the day and at night we watch maybe 1-2 hours of t.v., no prime time in our house either. Then on weekends we are usually too busy for t.v. but watch movies sometimes and then the usual 1-2 hours at night on weekends. I believe that placing limits on t.v. is healthier than just taking it away. Your children will grow up and eventually their friends and other relatives will let them watch t.v. in their homes. I figure if they have limits placed from an early age at least they won't seem weird to other people when they go crazy once being placed in front of a t.v. at some point in their lives.

I really appreciate this post. We don't have a TV--we have a widescreen monitor with a mac mini hooked up to it and internet access But DS is so into watching movies and stuff on youtube and ends up watching everyday, or almost. Sometimes he'll watch for an hour, sometimes two (or whatever the movie length). I don't want to move the computer into the bedroom because I need to work on my translations, which I often do at night when DS is sleeping. Also, since we do have family movie nights, it makes sense to have it close to the couch. There are no other rooms to put it in, we live in a 2 bedroom apartment. On days when he goes to preschool it's so much more manageable, but no that he's home everyday he talks about watching something from the moment he gets up and it can be a real struggle to convince him that watching time is over. But my goal is not to get him to watch at all, it's to get him to learn how to watch responsibly and know when it's time to stop.

[RosieTook]

Going cold turkey is definitely the way to go...I've found the first day or two can be tough, but soon my girls don't even notice, and they are the same ages as your kiddos. We recently moved to a place with free cable, and got sucked into the addiction again, but now we've unplugged it again, and we're not plugging it in until the Olympics.

I let them watch movies on the computer on occasion (they're watching Doctor Who right now, actually) but not much. An hour or two every few days usually kills their cravings, and it's totally manageable. Not to mention, they think it's special. They have no problem entertaining themselves, as they have lots of toys. Now and then I have to suggest something to them, but not often.