TV & Movies

There is a lot of debate surrounding TV watching for children. How old they should be, what they should watch and how much time. I'm going to be honest: we watch a lot of TV. I love TV. I love having shows to watch. B and I have a handfull that we watch together which include Weeds, The Walking Dead, American Horror Story and Survivor. We each then have shows we watch separately  B loves any sporting event and I love trashy reality TV. It's how I relax.

What about Logan? I've aways been open with TV around him. His attention span has always been short with TV and movies, until recently. He can easily sit through episodes of Word World and Sesame Street. During the week, he doesn't watch very much TV. Maybe an hour, at the most, usually before going to bed. We all winde down together, he drinks some milk, we snuggle and then it's off to bed. On the weekends, however, we camp out. Especially since most days are -0* outside, we make it our job to not do anything outside. Instead, we stay in making pancakes, nachos, and pizza while watching movies and episodes on Hulu on Netflix.

Everything Logan watches is appropriate. He is obsessed with Word World. The show is genius. He knows so many different sounds of letters and it's wholesome entertainment. When we're not relaxing on the couch, we play hot wheel cars, trains, jump on the bed, throw balls for the dogs, and build legos. Sometimes we even ride the tricycle around the kitchen since it's still so cold to be outside.

All this to say, we let our weekends be our respit. The moderations go out the window and we spend time as a family. Especially with my being pregnant, I am so physically and mentally exhausted from my work week that I cannot imagine doing anything else. Plus, all the snuggle time I miss out during the week with Logan is made up for on our weekends. He helps me fold laundry, make the pancakes, and made my boo-boos (migraines) feel better. I'm okay with all of this and that is all that matters.

What is TV watching like in your home? What do your kids enjoy and how do you moderate it?

***There is no room for judgement in the comments.***

that one time...at the movie theater

A few months ago I wanted to take Logan to see The Lion King in the movie theater. I didn't for several reasons, the biggest being I wanted B to come with us and it just never worked out. So instead, B bought the movie and we've watched it at home.

For Christmas, I was given the choice of picking from five options what I wanted from my employer. I picked the family day at the movies. They rent out the entire theater, pass out snacks, have balloon animals, family pictures, hot chocolate...we couldn't wait! Yesterday morning we got up early to find six new inches of snow outside. Perfect movie day weather! We all dressed semi-nice for the family photos and off we went.  We arrived just as the doors opened, grabbed our snacks and popcorn, and headed to the theater. Happy Feet 2 was the movie I picked for us. Logan still has a very short attention span for TV and movies and I knew he'd last at least a little while with this one. We were so excited. I cannot say that enough because what happened was so not on our radar...

We settled into our seats and B went to go get us hot chocolate. I stood in line with Logan so he could get a monkey from the balloon animals lady. He was being so good. All morning, though, he'd refused to eat. I offered applesauce, which he had two bites of, and two animal crackers along with lots of pedilite juice. B returned with our drinks and the trailers began. We got a booster seat for Logan and he was sitting so proud in his chair. He loved moving his drink around to the cup holders and was in a great mood. He sat on my lap for a few trailers and then I moved him to his seat just before the movie started.

Not 10 seconds later I heard him coughing. He's had a cough for a week or two now, nothing serious. And it happened. His cough turned into full out puking. He puked all over himself, into my purse, all over me and B and the stairs as I was getting out of the theater as fast as humanly possible. He finished up in the trash can and I almost started crying. B went to tell someone and I took Logan to the bathroom. I stripped him down to his diaper and a white tee he had on under his sweater which was still dry. I rinsed his clothes out in the sink and put everything into a trash bag. B went back into the theater to gather our things and when he came out I asked how bad it was. He said the guy in front of us, whom Logan had barely missed puking on (how, I honestly don't know!) and he was laughing at the movie. The smell though, oh man the smell! It was so rank. Ugh...

B went and pulled the car up. Remember how I said it had been snowing? Well it had stopped but it was still barely 25* outside and Logan was half naked. I wrapped him up in my coat, which was vomit-free, and loaded him into the car. And that was the beginning of a different kind of family day. We waited in anticipation to see if Logan was truly sick and if we'd be cleaning up puke the rest of the day. Thankfully, it was just a fluke. We actually think Logan got motion sickness from all the movement on the screen, the loud speakers, etc. Needless to say, we will not be going back to the theater with Logan for a long time.