another TV watching question

kat.in.the.hat

Do you encourage your child to sit still and watch TV, or would you rather them run around and play while it's on?

JamicanBride

If he specifically asks to watch a certain show and ends up running around or playing, I will then ask if I can watch something since he's doing x, y, or z.  Many times if Disney or whatever is on and he is about to go see Dh in another room he'll say, "you can watch something, Mommy".  To answer your question though, the majority of the time cartoons might be on but it's just background noise while he's doing something else.

LisaK2b

I honestly would rather have them run around and play while it's on.  The TV is on 90% of the time that we're home.  Most of the time, it's just background noise.  There are times where she does watch a full movie or show, but only because she's been running around and playing all day and I just need quiet time for them to just sit and relax.  This really didn't start until she was about 3 though.  For Ally, I don't expect her to sit still for more than 5 mins at this age. 

darva

Ditto JamicanBride.

Typically, they are playing while the TV is on.  (Except for Micaela, who can sit and stare at the TV for hours on end, like a big lump of potatoes.  She is the main reason they cannot watch TV unless the weather outside isn't okay enough for them to play outside!) Kaitlyn watches the show, but she rarely sits still for the entire show.  I'm okay with that.  I'd rather her be up and moving around than just sitting on the couch anyway. 

rayskit10

Definitely play. I am not in to them being couch potatoes and tv is usually a babysitter when i need to do something like plan dinner. if they'll play, that is always the better option.

MrsMGR

I dont' advocate one way or the other. He is usually in school all day learning, so I don't mind if he sits and watches a little TV at night. I also don't mind if he plays while TV is on. I certainly don't think I'd snip at him if he were playing while the TV was on though.

nvp05

LisaK2b:

I honestly would rather have them run around and play while it's on.  The TV is on 90% of the time that we're home.  Most of the time, it's just background noise.  There are times where she does watch a full movie or show, but only because she's been running around and playing all day and I just need quiet time for them to just sit and relax.  This really didn't start until she was about 3 though.  For Ally, I don't expect her to sit still for more than 5 mins at this age. 

Rena is the same way. She'll usually ask to watch a show but she runs around and plays the whole time and ocassionally glances up at the TV. She very rarely sits still to watch TV unless she's really tired or if it's a new movie/show that she hasn't seen before.

TexasSmith

I would never force her to sit and watch tv. If she runs back to the playroom, I do sometimes say "if you're not in the living room (where the tv is) I'm going to turn it off" and she's usually ok with that.

When we were in Houston for Christmas we were at my ILs house and FIL put on a movie for DD (fine). She got distracted about 5 minutes in and started working a puzzle. He said "put the puzzle down, we're watching tv now." Really? Ugh.