We don't use this TV.
It is not our TV.
We are a TV-free house.
And proud of it.
There are times, however, when I would really enjoy having a TV at home. Such as when the Steelers are playing (in the AFC Championship game!!), during the summer Olympics, and when I need either 15 minutes to get something done or K needs 15 minutes to unwind/cool down.
We do allow K to watch youtube clips and short videos from Sesame Street; however, we cannot leave her alone in front of the computer in order to get something else done. The computer is just too tempting to touch with all of its buttons (the most appealing of which is the on-off one at the top right of the keyboard). So when K is watching a clip on the computer, one of us is right there with her protecting our computer from harm.
QUESTION: what do we do when K needs to calm down? Or when we need 10 minutes of time to get something done without interruption?
ANSWER: we pull a chair up to the sink and give our little girl a sponge, some soap, and a handful of items to clean.
What can I say? Our little girl loves to play in water; she loves to wash; she loves her bubbles.
She would spend the entire day on her tip-toes washing dishes, cleaning the sink and playing in a small steady stream of water from the facet if we'd let her.
We have to cut her off from this activity. The timer on our oven is my best friend. I set the number of minutes she can play at the sink and when the timer goes off, she reaches up and turns the water off. This week we've had to really limit her time at the sink (resulting in having to come up with alternate activities, which is hard) because all the water play has led to severely chapped cheeks and chin.
Yes, in addition to washing the dishes and sink, she also washes her face and arms. Hence the snowpants with no shirt on. This allows for proper arm washing space without getting a clean shirt drenched.
And, yes, she stands on her tip-toes the entire time she is at the sink even though she is tall enough to reach the water and soap on flat feet. The tip-toes are needed, however, to reach the bottom of the sink when it needs to be washed.
Our water bill is slightly higher these days as a result of K's water play; however, the extra dollar or so to that bill does not compare to paying $75-100 per month for cable or direct TV.
I'll take the water play, clean sink, and sanitized toddler any day!
3 comments:
Smart idea! I wonder if Ben can vaccuum. . .
We'll probably go back to being a cable-free house again soon too. (Though not TV. Ours is HUGE, and Josh loves it). You may get to see the AFC championship anyway if you have rabbit ears. You can at least listen to it online through WDVE or other radio stations. That's what we do much of the time, since the networks always show Baltimore.
Little L is the same way! She love to "help" on the kitchen. We have a TV but no cable. We hooked a computer to our flatscreen, so that I can show L. Youtube and Netflicks short clips.
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