Not All Television is Bad for Your Kids
I'm not advocating that you let your television become your care provider for your children, but Nick Jr. in particular is one station that seems to be going above and beyond when it comes to appropriate content for your kids. It's far from perfect, of course, and it's not even close to a suitable replacement for spending direct human-to-human time with your kids. But some of the programming found on Nick Jr. is very educational and strikes the proper tone for children who are just old enough to start to understand the things that are happening on the television.
Even though neither of our kids watches much television, it is often on in the background as they're playing and we'll often stop when a nice song is playing or at the beginning of an episode of a show they know. On Nick Jr., their tagline is "It's like pre-school on TV." That's probably a bit of a leap in terms of what's actually going on. A more appropriate tagline is probably something like, "Much better than the cartoons and inappropriate content you were watching at this age." Any parent who has sat through an episode or seven of Dora the Explorer or Blue's Clues understands that these shows are making a concerted effort to deliver educational and entertaining content for children.
Even if you don't like the shows themselves, it's hard to argue that their intentions are not in the right place. Many children are drawn to the relatively calming rhythms of those types of shows and sometimes a five-minute television break can be just what everyone needs to reset and resume another area of active play or a new task.
In our home, we've got an exceptionally early riser on our hands, regardless of what time he goes to bed. Our son is typically out of bed around 5AM to start his day and I'm typically the one that spends time with him alone until the other members of our family stir to life between 6:30 and 7:30 AM. So for at least 90 minutes - and often longer - I need to have something to do with my son to pass the time. Whatever the activities, they must be quiet so that we don't wake anyone else up. We have our morning chore of taking the dogs out and waiting outside with them while they relieve themselves and I always encourage that he sit and eat a decent "first" breakfast sometime between 6 and 6:30AM.
Often times, however, when I'm trying to focus on the clock under the television to see that it's only 5AM, I'm comforted to know that when I turn on Nick Jr., I've got back-to-back episodes of Maggie and the Ferocious Beast waiting for us. And while the show title might sound a little iffy, the fact is that it is probably my favorite of all the kid shows that I've seen recently. It's not the interactive experience that Blue's Clues, Wiggles or Dora offer, but it's just a pleasant, child-friendly look at an imaginary world and generally a fun little show.
The show's laid-back content seems to help ease my son and I into the day at such a painful hour of the morning. We'll typically watch the first ten minutes or so together on the couch, curled up under a blanket and laying on the throw pillows. After the ten minutes, he gets up and will start to play with his trucks or with his sister's toys and soon we're off to playing on the floor and reminding each other that we have to be quiet so we don't wake anyone else up.
Because we don't really restrict any use of the television in our home, neither of our kids really have too much of an interest in it. As I mentioned, it's present, but it's really not at all what they're interested in. For us, television is just kind of the white noise in the background that offers an occasional respite from the rigors of the day. It's working out so far.
