Television Time!

Television.The very word itself can bring about all sorts of mixed feelings from parents. Some loathe it while others love it. As a single parent with a very busy schedule, my son and I watch television sporadically, but when we do watch, we watch together and we have fun! What makes our viewing time meaningful is what we watch as well as how we watch it.

I was introduced to television when I was about three years old. I remember watching Sesame Street on the local PBS station. My mother stayed home with us and our daily schedule consisted of waking up, eating breakfast, watching Sesame Street, playing in the backyard until lunch time, taking a nap, waking up, playing in the room with my brother and sister until dinner, eating dinner, taking a bath, and going to bed. Although we only watched Sesame Street during the week, Saturday mornings were a different story! We lived for the Saturday morning cartoons (this was before cable and the Cartoon Networks that offer cartoons 24/7). So every morning after our bowl of Count Chocula, we'd race to the living room and wait for the Sid & Marty Kroftt Super Stars and the Hanna-Barberra Cartoons to start. We loved Land of the Lost, Electro- Woman and Dyna-Girl, Lidsville, and HR Puff-N-Stuff. I also remember a cool show about kids in a junkyard band with their over-sized friend, Fat Albert. Sunday evenings the entire family would gather in front of the television and watch Wild Kingdom, the equivalent to today's Discovery Channel, and the Walt Disney Hour. This was a special time for the entire family to come together and enjoy quality programs.

TV Today

Cable brings many more choices. As Fry, the character frozen in the year 2000 and thawed out in the year 3000 in the animated TV show, Futurama, so eloquently puts it, "What kind of a world is this when you have 5,500 channels and only 2,000 have anything good on?" as he channel surfs from the couch. Parents have to be aware of what their children are watching all the time. With so many channels to choose from, it can be a difficult thing to do. Hopefully you will find some helpful information and discover shows you never knew were on that your entire family can enjoy.

Talking About Television

When my son began watching television at age 3, I made sure I watched with him. I had him watch videos and Sesame Street. As many children do while watching Sesame Street, he soon started talking back to the television (the popular show Blue's Clue's also encourages this behavior as a learning tool).

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic