"It's Like Preschool on TV"

I always promised myself that I would never let my child watch television, especially with all the articles out there that state it causes ADD, childhood obesity, etc. But, unless you are a "super mom" and your child is the most angelic being out there, it is virtually impossible to get anything done around the house without allowing a little bit of TV watching. What's important is to be aware what programming you are allowing your child to watch. For myself, I only let James watch shows that are educational. Luckily there are a vast number of those out there now so we aren't just limited to Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers, like our parents were.

I am lucky enough to be a stay-at-home-mom, which allows me to work with James on his alphabet, shapes, colors, etc. But some of the shows that he watches really help to reinforce the things we teach him, which I find awesome. Thanks to "Team Umizoomi" he has more easily learned the different shapes and numbers (and not just 1-10). It's even introducing him to addition, which I believe he's starting to pick up a little. In the "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" episode shown below, they were teaching 3-D shapes like, cubes and pyramids and to my surprise he could name all of them!

I know it's better to just teach him these things and reinforce them myself, but let's be honest, unless I have a whole staff to manage my household that just isn't realistic. So mothers if you allow your child to watch television, don't fret over it. As long as you use educational programming (and there's TONS out there) they will be fine. I have a sneaking suspicion that those "professionals" that write all of those articles against allowing your children to watch TV, either don't have children or have significant amounts of money for a nanny to keep them preoccupied.