Z and the TV

Ok, so my friend Danielle is having a contest for a $25 gift card for Build-A-Bear, and to enter, all I have to do is write about my child's TV habits. Here goes:

When Z was little, I hoped to keep him from watching regular TV as long as possible. He was too little to care about TV before he was mobile, and after he started moving he could never be still long enough to watch TV. So, the first year and half of his life were pretty much TV free. He used to love the beginning of Jeopardy - and would clap and holler "JEPERDEE!!!" when it came on, but he never really "watched" it.

Somewhere around 1 1/2 to 2 he started showing interest in some cartoons, but as mentioned above...he can't really sit still long enough to watch anything. Scooby Doo was on the Cartoon Network a lot at this time, so he started to really like Scooby.

Somewhere along the line, the reality of my life set in, and TV became a sort of babysitter for me. I didn't want for this to happen...but it had to happen. My husbands work schedule is not very conducive to normal family living, so in order for me to cook dinner peacefully, or pack lunches and get out the door by 7:25am on weekdays...I rely on TV to entertain my child. I HAVE TO in order to get things done. I play single parent 50% of the time.

I don't know how real single parents do it.

So, the reality is...my son watches cartoons. He loves Scooby, Bob the Builder, Thomas the Train and Caillou. He really only watches when I NEED him to as he still can't sit still for very long. I ask him if he has ants in his pants...and he usually replies that he has spiders/monkeys/worms/kittys/etc in his pants. He's very silly. Anyway, once that NEED is over, we're running around inside, outside, upstairs, downstairs.

He's only 2 yrs and 4 months old (TODAY!), so he doesn't have chores or homework. And I do hope to keep the amount of time he spends in front of the tube under control...unless I need a babysitter.