Seriously, PBS?!

For more than a year (nearly two, I'd say), I wouldn't let Grant watch a lick of TV (barring the occasional PBS show on my Kindle while traveling). And I'm here to tell you: It's not an easy task with television literally everywhere you go. But the end result was a kid who is able to play independently with his trucks or books and be perfectly happy for quite awhile (like QUITE awhile people - it's amazing!) - not to mention the benefits set forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics... And seriously, what is gained from having to shove the iPad in your kids face at a restaurant? Man, nothing is more irritating than seeing that. How about you just don't go? Or do like we do, and only go out to lunch if you're bringing the kid. I understand and agree that nobody at that restaurant wants to hear your kid screaming, but it's pretty sad to see them shoveling food absentmindedly in their face as they watch yet another epoisode of whatever the heck is playing. I digress... (Feel free to light up my email, friends, but you won't change my mind.)

Anyway, about 8 months ago we started letting G watch TV. Mostly because we had no other way to corral him any more while I showered and he'd sit on our bed and watch a PBS show while I got ready for the day. Worked like a charm! And bonus, his vocabulary skyrocketed (not convinced that the two are connected, but it happened, so I'll offer credit where it may be due).

So, he developed an affinity for Caillou, a bald Canadian 4-year old with the whiniest voice on the planet. Whatever, he liked it, it was pseudo-educational, fine. Until the day we saw the episode about the monster. I mean seriously, it's a kids show! Why on Gods green acres would it be necessary to make an episode about a thunderstorm, a monster (presumably in a tree) and Caillou needing to be so scared he hid in the closet? The point of the show was that monsters weren't outside, but that didn't stop my kid from latching on to the word, talking about monsters constantly and suddenly becoming afraid of the dark. I've spent WEEKS trying to explain that monsters aren't scary, that they're pretend and whatnot - to NO avail.

As you might have guessed, we broke up with Caillou.

Then Daniel Tiger, the cutest little cartoon spin-off of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood had to go and do an episode in which Daniel is afraid of a shadow. So then I had to spend another 2 weeks explaining why shadows are actually super awesome. He bit, at least, but seriously PBS?! You know little kids are watching. And while I've got you here, thanks for the goblin on SuperWhy the other day - which at least was mentioned in synopsis of the show.

So now we've broken up with TV almost completely, again. Which is fine, because G had another thing coming if he thought he was going to get to watch TV with the new baby in the room anyway. I've decided though that we'll do a family movie night on Saturdays, and even though Erik is away, G and I started this a few weeks ago with the Rugrats Movie. Not so surprisingly at this point, there were a few scary parts, but if G noticed them he didn't let on.

And my mom volunteered to send me all our old VHS movies from when we were kids, which I 'spose I'm going to have to preview for God-knows-what might send G into a tizzy. But even Nemo has a scary part (not that I was a kid when that came out...) and it's impossible to say what is going to alarm Little G.

Maybe I'm being overprotective, but it's not like TV brings much to the table anyway, so why should I spend 45 minutes each night discussing shadows and why monsters are only at Caillou's house? But honestly, PBS, lets reign ourseles in a little, shall we?

And if you have any movie recommendations, I'd love to hear them!