I got a roku for our anniversary, and OH MY GOD, I love it. For one, I can watch Airline (as I mentioned), but it's also nice to have some kids stuff on there for those times when we just need a movie to watch. The day I got the Roku, we checked out Ratatouille (eh) but Milo & Otis is just a cat and a dog playing with every other animal you can imagine, and she loves animals, and to help reset her clock I played the first 13 minutes of Annie, and she loved the Kids N MUSIC! And the Roku takes out of the tv guilt equation two things — advertising (either within the viewing of the movie, or when we leave the house –there is no cobranded Annie bratz doll, or Milo & Otis shoes), and schedules. We don't schedule tv, and we don't have cable, or a DVR, or even a VCR hooked up, but the bigger she gets, the more trouble she can get into on her own, and there are times when a few minutes of uh, zen, are appreciated.

So far, Ing's tv watching is 20 minutes of Arthur in the morning (on PBS) as there's a gap between when I leave the house and when Dave is done getting ready, so she gets a cereal bar and cup of milk and some aardvark, and on Saturdays and Sundays, Sesame Street is on from 8-9, and that is mama & daddy's coffee waking up time. We can't sleep in anymore, but we do take our time 'waking up,' with the help of Jim Henson. Since the discovery of AFV two weeks ago, AKA "Guys all fall down show," she's liked that, and Dave has instituted a family cuddle and viewing of AFV for about 20 minutes before bathtime, because Ingrid LOVES it, and it's kind of a nice way to end the weekend.

I still tend to feel guilty about tv, and maybe the Roku will now make me lose all my "I have no cable" street cred, but it is a damn cool device.