OMG my child’s a TV addict!!!

I was one of these parents who thought their child wouldn’t watch much television; that if he did it would only be for an hour max. I guess I was naive when I thought this was a possibility. It occurred to me over the weekend that my child is now in fact a TV aficionado. I can’t pinpoint when his fascination with TV took hold (it’s a recent phenomenon) and nor can I envisage it leaving any time soon.

The first television experience he had was when he was about 18 months old and we put on the Baby Einstein DVDs. He wouldn’t really sit and watch them as such (just stop in front of the TV every now and then), but nevertheless they were on in the background and he seemed to enjoy them.

I would say though, that his first 'real' television experience came when we put on the DVD, "Finding Nemo" (just before he turned 2 from memory). He actually sat there and watched half of it (his attention span at the time wasn’t long). Next came the Wiggles ("Wiggle Bay") , with "Toy Story" (both 1 and 2) arriving soon after. One day, for variety (lets face it, watching these movies over and over again is enough for any parent to lose their wit), we turned on the children’s channels’ on pay TV and that was it.

Generally, his tastes don’t vary; you could count on your hands what he likes to watch, much to the dismay of Trevor who is the one more likely to be sitting in the lounge room (especially in the morning). He likes to watch the SAME shows over and over again (courtesy of the Playhouse Disney Channel and DVDs) and when you try to suggest he watch something else – forget it! Similarly, when his shows are over and we try to commandeer the television back, there are often tantrums and wayward behaviour (although sometimes, if he is in an obliging mood – i.e. we have forewarned him – there are no troubles).

I never thought it possible that Byron would sit still for an hour or two at a time. Even more impossible to consider was that he would be quiet doing it. Of late, when he is watching his shows he sits motionless, not a word spoken (unless it is a theme song or a scripted part of the show). To elicit a response to a question for example, you have to ask him 2 or 3 times.

For the record, I would rate the following shows and DVDs to be his favourite:

1. Little Einsteins (Disney) (by far the flavour of the month, especially since I purchased some DVD movie episodes from the USA)
2. Stanley
3. Pingu
4. Rolly Polly Ollie
5. The Bear in the Big Blue House (but only in the morning – for some reason he doesn’t like to watch it if it is on in the afternoon)
6. Toy Story 1 & 2
7. Finding Nemo
8. Wiggles

I would be lying if I didn’t enjoy the ‘quiet’ time; the freedom to get stuff done (like cook dinner and check emails). Whilst I never envisaged my child watching as much television as he does, the fact remains that he does. All I can do now is monitor the quality of television he watches and to a lesser extent the amount he watches. At the moment he watches approx 2 hours a day (his shows) and these are limited to pre-schooler children's shows.

Byronisms of the day:

"Mummy, I am getting really good at counting my letters"

My sister asked Byron to say the alphabet. In response he said "OK, Alphabet"