Comments on: Take the Thinga-Reader Survey

By: Summer

Summer — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:54:47 +0000

The TV question didn’t phase me at all, but the pink/sports question did. I guess I don’t like pre-prescribed gender biases. Our little one can do whatever he wants, including play with Barbies OR trucks. I myself hated pink princess stuff when I was small, and my husband and I both are not sports buffs (musicians instead).

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:42:26 +0000

TV … you asked when we introduced it? So I said basically from birth. It doesn’t mean we watch a lot but it was an experience we started early and every so often allow a little bit of.

Toys … Honest we didn’t mean to lock them into role models. But I have a boy who is just obsessively crazy about cars, rockets and planes. I don’t know if it’s proving gender but I wasn’t going to fight his preferences. He also likes cooking and drawing, and wearing his sister’s hairbands, so I guess there is some balance there. He hasn’t asked to wear her dresses yet. ;-)

By: theblondeghost

theblondeghost — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:14:38 +0000

Wow. Reading the comments, the TV question seems to be the big focus.

I had really conflicted feelings about TV/movie veiwing. I would have prefered to have almost none, but my husband is very into watching movies and tv. I’ve tried to show him some of the research about them, but he just doesn’t “get” my concern. It also didn’t help that since we’ve been married he’s left the TV on to “keep his dog company” while we’re away at work. So the TV was almost always on, since he wouldn’t turn it off when he got home. For a while after our son was born, the TV was off because I was home. As he got older, my husband wanted to “share” certain shows and movies with him. Letting go of the TV concern has been one of the prices I’ve paid for my husband taking an equal role and time commitment to parenting. Our boy is almost three now, and I’m seeing one positive effect of the TV veiwing — he’s able to tune out the TV and play with other stuff. He’ll ask me to start a show for him (currently ScoobyDoo) but 5 minutes later we’ll be racing trucks around the kitchen island and he’s totally oblivious to it.

I’m concerned about many things impacting the health, safety, and well being of my child, but I’m no longer sweating the TV viewing as long as he’s still more interested in physical activities and social interaction.

By: Kirra

Kirra — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 07:26:31 +0000

I felt the same as KGS that there could have been another option for the circumcision question. I also have a girl and hadn’t even thought about it. I originally didn’t put a response but found I had to put one in to submit since it was a mandatory question.

I haven’t watched Bill and Ted’s adventure so missed the link there.

By: Mary

Mary — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 15:36:47 +0000

AJ, I thought that your survey was a good one, but it could have included a little bit extra. Honestly, I didn’t know how to answer the religious question because only I go to church and I bring my son with me (my daughter is still a bit young to just lay in the church nursery). My husband isn’t the religious type. So, my household is a mix.

As for your other questions, I don’t know why the TV issue hit so many people so hard. I know that you are an advocate for no television and I respect you for that and being able to avoid almost all television in your household. However, my son has watched television and I believe he has learned quite a bit from the shows we allow him to watch. We are very particular about what he watches and we involve ourselves as much as we can. I do not consider myself a bad parent because my son enjoys television and neither should other parents (as long as their children aren’t exposed to inappropriate programming and subject to prolonged exposure).
Boys and trucks, girls and pink: I don’t go out of my way to ensure that is all they are expose to, but yes, I like to see my little girl in dresses and bows (not all the time). If my son wants a doll or a pretend kitchen, I’ll gladly get one for him. So far, he has not asked for one, though. I let his interests guide him and when my daughter gets older (she’s only five months), I’ll let her interests guide her.

We all have our own ideas of what makes good parenting choices and what is the “right” way to raise our children. There really is no right or wrong, as long as your children are happy, healthy, loved, and continually learning. We live in a world that continues to become more and more digitized. Exposing my children to that doesn’t force them to grow up too fast. It encourages to grow in ways different from our own upbringing. As long as there is interaction, exposure to a variety of media (from nature to technology), and a loving environment our children will grow up just fine.

By: Carrie C

Carrie C — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 04:32:21 +0000

I almost lied about the tv stuff. She didn’t take an interest in it until she was about 2. But, we have watched the PBS morning run of shows (Sesame Street, Curious George, Sid the Science Kid) since she was about 10 months old. So I checked age 1. The Sesame Street was initially for me…I admit it, I love my Muppets. She loves it too, and now enjoys watching the occasional DVD of Sesame Street Old School with me. I learned my alphabet and numbers with the help of Cookie Monster and Oscar, she can too. She doesn’t watch tv after the morning shows. If we have the set on after dinner, she plays while we watch. Like everything, it’s in moderation.

By: My Boaz's Ruth

My Boaz's Ruth — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:27:36 +0000

For TV I wrote two because that is when we would be okay with it. However, since we don’t have a TV now, and don’t know when we will purchase one, it may end up being older.

By: MoJo

MoJo — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 05:38:32 +0000

From my experience, TV watching at a younger age is more common with subsequent siblings. I marked the selection for age 2, but really that was with my first. My next two were exposed at an earlier age, but didn’t show an interest till closer to 1.5. I am a believer is making life less stressful. And if that means a 1/2 hour of TV so that I can do a quick pickup of the house or do the dishes, then I am all for it. I am a happier mom who then enjoys my time playing on the floor with my kids instead of worrying how i can’t find the kitchen sink through the dirty dishes. And I can say that my kids have benefited from some of the shows they like. Sesame Street, Sid the Science Kid, etc have talked about things that have really stuck with them.

By: Christy

Christy — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 04:14:15 +0000

I did NOT lie about my daughter’s TV consumption. We watch adult programming (not to be confused with ‘Adult Programming’) while she is in the room, as we have done since she was born. We let her watch it as a wee little one, probably about a year old…and she still watches it. Call me crazy, but I like to cook dinner in peace.

That being said, I totally thought of Bill and Ted when I read “way”.

I too am quite curious about the religion question. I have found that it plays heavily into the circumcision issue in our community….

By: LeAnn

LeAnn — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:29:30 +0000

In my own personal experience, TV isn’t all bad, even at a young age. While traveling to work one day, my daughter, at about 2, saw steam coming from some kind of factory. She very emphatically told me she saw a volcano. I thought her teacher had been talking about them for some reason, and asked her what else the teacher had told her. I was quickly informed that Dora says when the steam comes from the mountain, the volcano is going to “rupt”. At least the 30 minutes of Dora she watched while I showered and dressed every morning didn’t rot her brain too much!