Painting color has commenced. I am now in lockdown in the downstairs, because watching it dry (SHUT UP) was killing me. Because it dries darker, I keep thinking that it’s going to look streaky, so I did a second coat… but then the drying cycle.. well, you know? Do you? It better be okay, because I bought the Duration Home blend at Sherwin Williams and I LOVE SW, and loved EverClean, but Duration is supposed to be the improved EverClean. So, yeah. Whatever. We started with the lighter, top color, and I hope it looks okay and dries okay. When the wall is all wet, it looks GREAT, It’s just the drying thing making me worry. Thus, grounded to the 1st floor until it has time to DRY.
So, another thing to ponder: Television. I have watched very little TV since I got back from NYC, by choice. I watched Brat Camp, as I said, and the Family Guy last sunday, and when I was at my folks house I watched a LOT because there is a tv with satellite in the guest room, and they went to bed early, and their internet lines are all fucked up. I watched the Daily Show (swoon) and Airline, and a thing on the best beaches in FL (And our favorite from April was #4, whoohoo!), and a LOT of Discovery Health Channel. Other than that, nothing. I turned on the news the day of the London bombings, but that’s it. It is a conscious effort, for sure, because I know that if I turn ON the tv, I will get sucked in and lose whole days to the thing, So I haven’t turned it on. That, coupled with an IM discussion with Jeanne about TV placement/rules, had me wondering — what do you do when it comes to TV?
For us, we have three. One in the living room, one in our bedroom, and one in Dave’s fort downstairs. We don’t have cable, but have bunny ears in the LR and Bedroom. Dave’s fort has the best technology, but he uses it for watching movies and the occasional PS2 game.
I bought the vanity chest for the bedroom in part because it could hold and hide the tv. (It also had greater volume for the same price, which I liked, too) Having a TV in our room is nice, but it isn’t necessary, and it certainly doesn’t dominate our bedroom activities. I watch it when folding laundry, ironing, or when I’m home sick in bed. We occasionally watch the 11 oclock news, try to watch SNL up there, and sometimes I’ll watch a 10 o’clock show in bed. That’s the extent of our bedroom tv use. I don’t foresee adding tv to any other rooms, not the dining room or kitchen, and certainly not our kids bedrooms — but if they are ever sick, I would not be opposed to letting them watch some PBS in our room, because basically, that’s what I got growing up.
Anyone else have any rules for TV? Do you think it dominates more of your time than you’d like?
We haven’t had cable since March 2004 and we only had it before that because it was included in our rent. Rabbit ears are all we need to get PBS and one station for news if there’s some major crisis.
My most recent TV viewing was 10 minutes of local news about two weeks ago to see where all the black smoke was coming from and before that, I watched one inning of the Red Sox in the World Series.
During the school year, the kids get no screen time between lunch and dinner. Last week, I let my 11 yo watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition…the first network TV she’d watched in at least four months.
I’ve never liked TV or movies…there are just too many other things to keep me busy!
p.s. besides, who needs TV when you have books?!
I used to watch 4 or 5 hours of TV a day up until mid highschool. Looking back it seems really weird that I just did that every day, but eh. Then I went to work at a summer camp for 3 weeks straight and when I came home TV was just too WEIRD after spending so long in the woods amusing myself by like, making fire. So I haven’t had cable since then, ten years ago. I broke down and bought a TV a few years ago so I could hook up my super nintendo (heh), and we watch DVDs and videos sometimes now. The internet has totally replaced TV as my glowing box obsession, so I’m not sure if I’m actually ahead on that count, but at least the internet is sort of interactive. That’s my excuse anyway.
I hope you’ll be posting pictures of the bedroom (After it is DRY of course!)
Heh. You were watching paint dry.
We don’t do TV in the bedroom, at all. Because we have cable, we watch way more tv than we should – it seems to be on all the time. Once the cable is cancelled I expect that to change, and we’ll probably only watch the Simpsons and Gilmore Girls.
Maybe I am wrong, but I am pretty sure that the parents who face the decision to send their child to ANY type of therapeutic program, STRUGGLE with any choice they could make.
Chances are, the youth who may need that type of intervention are not in a situation where the family is able (for many reasons) to wrap their arms around that troubled child. Sometimes, even the best children, raised in the most stable environment, by the most loving, intelligent parents, cannot make the best decisions for themselves. And sometimes the child will NOT ALLOW a family member or friend IN to help. The physiology of a teenager?! Sometimes we need to be grabbed firmly but lovingly by the shoulders, and forced to see, or shown where to look. Sometimes we don’t have friends or family who are capable of doing that. It is unfortunate, but a reality.
In a perfect world, there would be perfect people. There would be no negative outside influences on our children. There would be no damn television. There would be only things that we would allow our children to see, hear, or read. We would be able to decide for them what is good, bad or indifferent. Removing all sense of self discovery. They wouldn’t have to worry about making mistakes. They wouldn’t have to be bothered with learning from those mistakes. They wouldn’t have to worry about all that growth that happens by experiencing, and learning from their mistakes. They wouldn’t have to feel the strength, ability, or satisfaction that comes from making a good choice, or correcting a bad situation.
hmmmm. . .. . guess that doesn’t sound all that perfect.
That sounds a whole lot like doing the opposite of what we really want for our children. (who will someday be adults).
Even bad situations can be beneficial. They teach us what NOT to do, or what not to do TWICE!
For myself. . . .I had to fall in the same hole at least 50 times before seeing the freaking thing, and then another 50 to figure out some basic skills. . like bridge building. But that’s just ME. The completely UN PERFECT adult that my parents allowed me to become. But that first time I realized there was a hole. . .. . I felt aware. When I built a bridge, I felt empowered. My parents. . . .well, like a LOT of kids, I refused to listen to them. Not because they were bad parents, it was just who I was. The stubborn, unbalanced, too much power, not enough brain to deal with it, teenager that I was. I’m aware, now, of how much breath holding they did. . .
And thankful they did. It allowed me to become the person I am. . . . . They STILL worry, as parents always do, but they know how capable I am of building those bridges, so they don’t worry TOO much. . .
OK, I guess that my point in all of this is that we do the best with the tools we have. . .my parents parented they way they knew how. I coped the way I was shown, and allowed. BUT, sometimes, those tools aren’t enough. So, standing back and criticizing, or judging how people use THEIR tools isn’t all that fair.
Certainly when you have yet been faced with that. . .
Perhaps energy is put to better use acquiring new tools of your own, and strengthening the ones you have already. Because, someday, you too may have to face the same struggle as the other parents. No matter HOW GOOD you are. How stable, aware, open, loving. . . . . I have learned through very valuable experience that feeling like I have THE answer leads to drinking a LOT of water. . . . .
To wash down all that crow, of course.
And Gretchen. . . if you should find yourself someday stumbling around the children’s room at 3am in the dark, looking for a receptacle for the TV, while your husband sleeps. . . please know in advance that you are not letting them down, or a bad mother, or lazy. . . . .
Its the meaning an the value of the time we DO spend with our children that counts. . . . . .The time spent dancing in the kitchen to Laurie Berkner, the games of SORRY, the countless, “because I said so’s”, the bedtime songs and stories, and the impromptu nursery rhymes. . . . .The lessons we teach them, and the people we allow them to meet, learn from, and become. . . .
That weak moment you may have, when you are sleep deprived, emotional, or trying to get a piece from your hubby. . . .. . . is NOT going to melt their little brains!
Take care. . . . .. . . .
From an anonymous lurker