To TV or not to TV, that is the question...

OK, so I know of some mommies who are anti-TV when it comes to their babies, so the child gets no exposure whatsoever. Which is fine for them.

But in our household, we are very pro-TV as a form of relaxation, entertainment, white noise while I'm doing dishes, etc. Sometimes I have even caught myself watching on TV a movie that we OWN THE DVD OF, just because it's on. And I can even tell which scenes were edited for TV, so yes, we, as a household, probably watch too much.

But we're not monsters. We are attempting to put our child on a different path. We found a learning system that we like, the Your Baby Can Read DVDs (thank you much, Grampy and Nana), and we let him watch one other program from PBS Sprout, called the Pajanimals.

We chose the Pajanimals because we were children reared on the Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock, and the Pajanimals are another Jim Henson production that is focused on the preschooler and getting them to go to sleep, and we are very pro-sleep in this house.

The YBCR DVDs are supposed to teach Little M patterns in words, and although he is not showing signs of reading just yet, he is mesmerized by the kids on the show, and even whips his head around to the TV when the theme music starts.

However, from a young age Little M has shown a fondness for watching the TV, even when his shows are not on. Even when NO shows are on. There have been many times I have been trying to breastfeed and he's got his head bent around to he can see the TV screen, even though the TV is off.

But there is good news...his interest in the cats has overtaken the interest in the black screen of the TV. Well, it's not good news for the cats, because he's also close to crawling, so they'll have to redouble their efforts to avoid his chubby little hands, otherwise they're looking at lots of bald spots.

So while we don't park Little M in front of the TV for hours, we do let him spend about 1/2 hour, twice a day, learning to read, and watching puppets sing about going to sleep. And that is how we're answering the question.