School ended for Oliver yesterday, making today our first official day of summer vacation. Typically, this would find me scratching my head over what I can do with them ALL DAY.
We have the pool and the YMCA – but that really only covers two or three hours at a time. And playing outside can’t be an all-day event in Washington, DC heat…
So it goes without saying that television time is inevitable. They enjoy a snack and some AC while watching a cartoon or two. And I’m able to clean up and MAYBE even get in some computer time.
Until this summer.
This summer, I decided that we would try something absolutely insane (for us…for me). An idea that in previous years would make me laugh, roll my eyes or simply say, “good luck with that.” Or all three.
I unplugged the TV and told the kids that it’s broken.
This has nothing to do with any negative opinions about television. I’ve always had a fondness for the idiot box. I watched an ungodly amount of TV growing up and think back with nostalgia on the days when you would settle for whatever you could find on the six or so available channels. How else would I have seen every episode of The Facts of Life and Laverne and Shirley?
Yes – I watched a lot of TV…but I also read more than any of my friends and still managed to spend hours of each day playing outside. My brain didn’t rot and my imagination didn’t suffer. I am not anti-TV.
And I’ve never felt like the constant stream of DVDs, Netflix on demand or PBS Kids programming has ever negatively affected my own children. They don’t sit drooling in front of the television – they play. And given the option, they would pick playing outside over any favored cartoon. If anything, TV has given them all kinds of new information via Sid the Science Kid or Dora-Dora-Dora Can’t IGNORE YA! As annoying as children’s programming can be – most of the current preschool genre shows are pretty educational.
But here is my current problem: For a while now, Oliver has been picking up the dialogue and gestures presented by the characters in the shows he watches.
It started with Thomas and Friends. Can I tell you how many times a day he says something in a British accent? And while it’s super cute – it’s not exactly normal. Especially when he’s saying things like, “Nonsense! I am very cross, indeed.” I’d say that on any playground in America, that’s just asking for an thorough ass kicking. Indeed.
And it’s gotten worse since we put Netflix streaming on our Wii and they now have access to all kinds of cartoons like the Pink Panther, Tom and Jerry and the more recent, Pingu. At least he was using actual words when he was emulating the locomotive inhabitants of Sodor. NOW he’s starting to use cartoon postures and gestures (and worse – weird noises) to communicate.
I am not raising a mime. If this is what the TV is doing for his language development right now? Then we need a break.
And I also think George could do with a little less time on the Wii. It makes him aggressive and obnoxious. I’m not going into detail – but take my word for it – George needs a break too.
So…no TV for a while. It’s been three days, and surprisingly, not all that painful. No one has died of boredom or driven me to drink (well, no more than usual). I think we may all actually survive my outrageous act of hubris. Only time will tell.
Another rather bold (for me) move I’ve made in the the past few days is to nominate a few of my posts for BlogHer’s Voices of the Year. Like everyone else, I’ve had friends offer to nominate posts for me, but I liked the idea of doing it myself. They can say, “just send me the links and I’ll nominate you,” but if I’m the one actually selecting the posts…then I say just do it. Claim it. Own it.
Where’s the shame in that? Even if no one else thought my writing was worth anything – I did. And that’s certainly worth something.
I actually submitted three of my posts. One in the category of Life (which is vast) and two in Niche (one of which probably wasn’t best categorized by “niche” – but too late now). Ironically enough – I couldn’t come up with something for Humor. From this blog which I had originally started as a humor blog… I guess I’ve raised my standards for funny.
Besides, the idea of standing on a stage reading a humor piece to the sound of deafening silence? I may be feeling bold…but I’m not feeling suicidal! I thought it was best to stick with a few un-funny submissions.
So there it is – I’m starting the summer with some bravado. I’m I’m triple dog daring it to just try to get the best of me. I’m seeing its heat and torpor and raising it a water balloon fight.
And all on a low carb diet. I’m out of control!
I may be chasing kids around the pool for hours on end and running endless laps at the YMCA to buy them some time in the kids’ gym – but hey, I’ll be super thin.
Or just too tired to notice that I’m losing my mind…
It’s going to be a long ten weeks.
You ARE funny! And if you read something funny up on stage I'm sure the entire audience would roar with laughter! But you'd still be able to hear me above the crowd. :)
So glad you're having a good start to the no-tv summer. Go you! Our summer is not off to such a spectacular start…but I'm hoping it improves!!!
I'd listen to you read the phone book!
Good luck with your submissions.
I can't do NO TV because that would mean NO TV for me too. :)
You're really inspiring me. I think that we might need to do this.
The British accent my little one is picking from her Granddad but I also know where the Spanish is from (Dora!) and we live in an area where French is usually spoken :)
Great blog: I really think that the cake is simply a vehicle for the icing.
You could enter this post in the humor category!
Oh I'm proud of you. I'm on the committee for the Life category. I just got a spreadsheet of oh 165 posts to read and judge. Ha. I'm looking forward to seeing which one you picked.
On the TV? I get it. I think if mine were home all day, I'd seriously limit it. As it stands they are at day camp all day, so they maybe see half an hour to an hour at night.
The dude has the stomach flu, so it's been all tv all the time around here. Even I'm getting sick of it. Haha!
I SO wish I could pull the broken TV move on my boys (and, I'll be honest, my husband) for the summer and a good portion of the winter, too. Heck, you know what? I'd be good with a TV that's only tuned to what I wanted to watch (alas, that's sometimes "Toddlers and Tiaras"…), but the simple fact is, they're all too old and wise and would be totally on to me. All that said, though, summer vacation here is closing in on the third week, and I've definitely threatened the removal of their iPods, which they use to play games, more times than I can count. The last time, I think I used the words "drive way," "steam roller," and "then you'll know I'm serious."
In the meantime, here I am on my laptop… ;)
we are watching tooooo much tv around here. jake has made it his default. get outside and play, already! next week i'm going to be tougher! i would love to hear you read anything on stage!!!!!!!
cracking up over the british accent, b/c i feel as if i spent a lot of time on the island of sodor as well.
Oh, my fingers are crossed for you, Kate! When do you find out?
And enjoy your summer. I can't believe it's almost July. I wish summer lasted for at least six months!
I'm so glad you submitted your writing! And proud! I hope your gift gets recognized and chosen. Keep us posted.
A long TEN WEEKS?
I'm just trying to recover from the last 181 days!!!
ha
Kate, I dided laughing over Oliver and the Thomas impersonations….you could easily have your own sitcom or reality show and it would be waaay funnier than what's out there already! Your writing is excellent and I am glad you had the chutzpah to nominate yourself. You go girl! My prayers are with you for the Summer! xo
You are very, very brave. I'm not sure I could quit kid TV cold turkey. As for VOTY – I can't wait; it would be beyond exciting to see you up on that stage!
Love that you submitted a post! Can't wait to hear about that!!
And as for TV – I'm a big fan of shutting it off. My kids aren't allowed to watch TV during the week anyway. Only on the weekends. And only if I know exactly what they're watching – because my 8 YO is a tad sassy and I know that she thinks the way she talks is fine because she hears the teens on TV.
Looking forward to seeing you SOON. I'm there in just over 2 weeks!!!