Before I had kids I was pretty sure that I would not allow my kids to watch more than, say, 1 hour of TV a week, or something along those lines. Errr, not even close. As I write this Carlitos is watching Caillou (a current favorite). In fact, it is the only reason I am able to possibly write this right now. During this episode I also managed to finish printing up the birth announcement envelopes, so, uh, you should be getting those soon. (Heads up – they may arrive at the same time as your Thank You card. Please don’t take offense. This is life with two kids.) (Update: I started writing this post this morning, so as you read this and then look at the clock, NO, my 2-year-old’s bedtime is not midnight.)
I actually feel a lot of guilt that I allow him to watch TV, even if it is only educational shows like Caillou, Sesame Street or Team Umizoomi. The topic somehow inevitably comes up when speaking to other moms and I have noticed that most moms I have met since moving to New York say that they don’t allow it.
Hmmm. Well, this is awkward. Now I feel like a crappy mom since I just admitted that I do allow it. I really am a good mom. I swear!
Would you like to see my pictures of my two boys and I at the zoo? 
or the beach? 
How about of Carlitos reading in his ‘Reading Nook’? 
His latest attempt at writing out all of the letters of the alphabet? 
Oh, oops, wrong photo…
Seriously, I beat myself up over letting him watch TV, but I am not quite sure how stay at home moms do it without allowing any TV. Because, all joking aside, I really do take my kids to the park, playground, zoo, aquarium, botanical gardens, museums, beach, library, gym class, swimming class, and even to cooking class in Spanish, for crying out loud. We do arts and crafts, we read, we play with cars, we play with trucks, we play with tractors (you get the idea), we do puzzles, we bake, we paint, we have playdates, we play ‘school’ (his idea, not mine – I swear!). And there are still blocks of time when I find myself worn out and need a break, and quite honestly, feel as though he just needs a break too. So we turn on Team Umizoomi (even though their songs kind of make me want to cut my eardrums out). And you know what? In some ways these shows have made our son even smarter than we are! The other day my husband and I were watching with him and they asked what a certain shape was. Well, my intelligent husband and I both yelled out the answer: MOON! at the same time as Carlitos yelled out “CRESCENT!” We both froze, looked at him, looked at each other and burst out laughing. Of course, our son was correct. Our 2-year-old. Oh, yes, crescent. We were just testing you, Carlitos! You passed. Good job.
Suggested Cross-Exam for New York parents who claim that they don’t let their kids watch TV (or even that they don’t own one): What do their kids watch on their computer?
When I first moved to New York it seemed that everyone had the same 20-minute commute. From the Upper West Side, Park Slope, Bay Ridge, Hoboken, everyone had the same account: “Oh, the commute is fine. 20 minutes.” I think the same root cause is at work here: self-delusion.