An Argument FOR Children's Television

I'm just gonna go right out there and say it. I love children's tv. Not for me (although it is pretty entertaining), but for Owen. And he loves it, too. I was 100% anti-tv before I had and when I first had Owen- I even went out of my way to find a school that did not have a tv in the building (his school link is on the left there and they are wonderful). I read all the articles and books and definitely did not want a fat, mush brain type child. But, someone- I think it was Lisa Banks- gave us a "Barney Goes to the Farm" video. Owen was really into animals (still is) and that's where it all started. He loved to watch the farm, animals, sing the songs and Barney was so darn educational and fun (for an odd purple-ish dinosaur). He watched about 15 minutes of it a day from the time he was about 9 months old. From there, we've expanded out into other tv shows, but Barney is still a favorite. I feel a little bit better about admitting this since Owen is over 2, now- the age when doctors/ people in general allow you to not feel guilty any more about your child watching tv- but he did watch it before then. I'm sure Harris will even get more exposure since he loves to hang out with his older brother.

Here are some good guidelines about watching tv that I agree with (and we do most of them):
http://www.babycenter.com/0_tv-watching-guidelines-for-toddlers_11746.bc

Owen normally watches about an hour a day (20 minutes in the morning and about 40 in the afternoon). This is my lunch pack time, dinner prep time and overall get things ready time!
His favorite shows are (these are in order of importance- and they rotate):
1. Barney
1. Little Einsteins (notice they are both #1- this is a tie- Barney went first because it was his first love and is alphabetically first)
3. Mickey Mouse
4. Wonder Pets (his parents' absolute favorite- I hate that it has gone down in the rankings recently)
5. Dora (this was a kick for a while, but has kind of faded)

There are other shows that randomly pop up, but these are the best.
We record all these on the DVR and have them handy for everyday watching and/ or "emergencies" e.g. getting ready for church.

Here are the thigns that Owen has learned from this educational programming (notice I am not endorsing your child watching COPS or anything of the sort):
1. He bursts out into song or choreographed dance like Barney and friends do- much to his parents' amusement.
2. He knows all animals and their sounds (and dances for several- ducks, elephants, monkeys)
3. He's picked up fun catch phrases: "What are we going to do?", "Oh Tooooodles!" and "This is ser-wee-us" come to mind.
4. Problem solving skills (okay, maybe this isn't quite perfected, but all the shows do teach that- with an eerily similar theme for about every show.)
5. Best of all, he hugs and kisses us every night (like Barney does) and sings the I Love You song.

Long live the TV!