PDA

View Full Version : television viewing


illinoismommy
05-21-2007, 11:36 AM
I believe or hope this is anonymous so everyone is honest ;) ..... if you are home all day, how much is the television on even if no one is watching it?

this includes videos

I'm curious :)

GrowingInGrace
05-21-2007, 11:48 AM
I'll go first. It's on a lot more than it should be. It had been on more than 4 hours a day-though honestly I don't like thinking about exactly how much. At times, it's for me to watch while doing something mundane, like folding clothes. I watch craft/decorating shows to relax/get ideas. Other times, it's for keeping the kids entertained. They used to watch more Noggin shows or NickJr. But now they are more into PBSkids shows.

I'm turning it off more now, and especially if we spend more time outdoors, now that the weather is nice. Being in the midwest, winters are the worst for too much tv viewing.

I've been trying to keep music on instead of tv viewing. Sometimes it works, but early morning is the worst because it takes me a while to wake up, so the tv viewing happens most often in the am.

ranade3
05-21-2007, 11:54 AM
I let the girls watch an hour to 1.5 hours first thing in the morning while we are all 'waking' up and then in the winter especially I let dd1 watch a video while dd2 is napping though today I didn't because it's nice out. And then most of the tv time is ME! After I put the kids to bed I go on-line and watch tv at the same time for 2-3 hours. Dh works a lot of evenings.

RealLifeMama
05-21-2007, 11:55 AM
A lot the past month or so. Way too much.
I don't know how to vote, really, but I am really thinking of just getting rid of the TV all together, because it is too tempting for the kids and me. It is very old, like between 10-15 years old or something, and we don't even get good reception, so maybe it will break soon and since we can't afford a new one, that will be that!

klpmommy
05-21-2007, 11:57 AM
I didn't respond to the poll b/c it really just depends. Some days it is on for 10 minutes for me to check the weather channel, somedays it is on in excess of five hours - several hours for the kids & a movie for dh & me once they are in bed. But it is never on unless someone is watching it. That is one of my huge pet peeves.

Ali
05-21-2007, 12:03 PM
Ours is on "for noise" a lot, especially while I'm doing housework or cooking.

Dana Joy
05-21-2007, 12:11 PM
an hour at naptime (diego and dora)
an hour after dinner (disney sitcoms / full house)
3+ hours after kids are in bed- i watch way too much- my soap, er, greys, lost, law and order (all 3), csi (just the original), house

Benjaminswife
05-21-2007, 01:59 PM
I will watch 2-3 hours after the boys are asleep. Daniel usually watches 0-2 hours a day throughout the day.

stbmomof1plus2
05-21-2007, 02:26 PM
Depends on which TV. Most are never on. The family room TV is on for approximately 1 hour on the weekends and for NFL games during football season. The only TV ds is allowed to watch is football games with dh. When he turns 2 we will allow him to watch "maybe" one DVD (30 minutes or less) per day.

The TV in our bedroom is sometimes on at night if I am in the room and dh is doing something else. But, if me and dh are in the room we are trying to make sure the TV is off :giggle - gotta have romance and it is hard with GEICO commercials running :P~

We can see the weather without watching TV shows on our TV - so no need for the news. We used to watch a TON of TV before ds was born. But, we vowed not to let that happen after his birth and have stuck to that pretty well.

illinoismommy
05-21-2007, 02:39 PM
if we are home all day I let david choose two 30 minute programs to watch (usually videos), if we go out then just one program .... after he is in bed I watch about an hour of TV on average-- some nights two and other nights theres nothing that interests me so I read (people ask me how I find time to read :) ) .... I find our way is pretty strict compared to average, most people tell me they have it on as background a lot :shrug

milkmommy
05-21-2007, 02:41 PM
I'll admit while were an active family the TV is a big part of our lives.. SO for us Probably the latter.. DD on average watches TV 2-3 times a day about 30 - 1 hour each. (so about 2 hours a day) On days DH gets up with her he allows a morning show I don't but since hes allowing mommy and extra hours sleep I dont sweat it. I allow her to watch a video at her nap/quiet time after we do books she typically picks a veggie tales movie which run about an hour and we allow one show at bedtime and she settles in before books. SOme days she wont see anything some days well its way more... As for DH and I DH always wees a litle news in morning and when he gets home and watches O Riely each weekday. My vice is TLC take home Chef :shifty and BBC Robin hood which I ussualy record and watch while shes ins school or after shes in bed at night. DH and I together watch Heros and house Monk when in Season he likes battlestar galacita. We 99% of the time record these and they get watched over the week ussually at night. SO I'd say during the day from say 6am till about 9pm when Cecilia is in bed its one between 2-3 hours (sometime both at once) with eaither TV /DVD or DVR and then at night another 1-2 hours.
When DH is home all day its on a LOT more hes better but hes still way into TV for noise thing. :shrug If I have a TV show on I want to sit and watch and enjoy etc then turn it off and move on with life. :lol

Deanna

milkmommy
05-21-2007, 02:44 PM
OH and I admit the days where I really clean when DH taken Cecilia to the park or something so I can work the TVs on. Can't explain it but I just need it on the Radio music doesn't cut it for me :shifty :blush

Deanna

Havilah
05-21-2007, 02:53 PM
we don't have any tv channels, so i'm talking about videos ;)

for a while it was on quite a bit... like 3 hours a day. i was losing my grip on the house and my sanity after the baby was born, and the weather was too hot, then too cold, and I was worn out. james wasn't taking naps and i needed a break!

now we're doing a lot of outdoor time and it rarely goes on during the day. he will sometimes watch a 30 minute video while i put supper together, though. we're all happier, too, and the atmosphere around here is better. i'm very thankful for the pretty weather and our new outlook, and i hope we can make it last :rockon

dh and i don't have any videos, and we may rent a movie every six months or so. it's very, very rare.

milkmommy
05-21-2007, 03:23 PM
now we're doing a lot of outdoor time and it rarely goes on during the day. he will sometimes watch a 30 minute video while i put supper together, though. we're all happier, too, and the atmosphere around here is better. i'm very thankful for the pretty weather and our new outlook, and i hope we can make it last rock on
:yes Were kinda the opposite here. We live in very warm climate winter tempetures average in the 70's so from say January till about May (around now) we do tons pof outside play as the weather is perfet but then when summer hits and its 125 in the shade its misserable to be outside a lot so the summers are more indoors at least during the bulk of the day. :shifty SO TV used a bit more in the summers than winters opposite of what other areas might do.

Deanna

illinoismommy
05-21-2007, 04:25 PM
dh and i don't have any videos, and we may rent a movie every six months or so. it's very, very rare.


we have one at a time netflix, and that's been great for us since BC (before children) we looooved going to movies in the theatre :heart

Linnis
05-21-2007, 05:24 PM
I probably watch 2-3 hours of TV a day. I try to keep it until after DS is asleep but if I can't, I don't worry. I keep his back to the TV when he's in the bouncy seat and when I'm just listening to the music channel, we're normally not even in the room. I don't have a radio and my computer's speakers decide when they will and will not work.

I read, we read, go on walks, go to the park, clean etc so I feel we are active enough to off set the TV we do watch.

DH reads 3-4 hours a day more if he has the time. He hardly watches anything, unless it's on DVD and has subtitles.

illinoismommy
05-22-2007, 06:07 AM
it sounds like most of us watch more tv when the kids are asleep, I get that feeling, I just collapse after the long day .... I wonder how different this would look if it were just about how much its on when the kids are awake :think

zak
05-22-2007, 06:14 AM
Reid doesn't watch anything. He doesn't have any "kid shows" just yet. I did let him watch about 20 minutes of some cartoon yesterday morning - it had race cars (he did love it :shifty ). I watch one-two 30 minute baby-story shows during the day probably 2 times a week (when he's napping, normally). Beyond that - the tv is off and we have the radio on all day.

Night time is different. I turn the tv on around 8pm most nights. :) If Reid is awake he does "watch" with us, but he's not vested in the show. Normally I try to engage him in play while we watch TV if he isn't tired yet. Hubby and I have BlockbusterOnline and get 3 DVDs at a time - so we do watch quite a few movies.

waterfallraleigh
05-22-2007, 06:32 AM
Way too much since Emily arrived. Handling two under two is more of a struggle than I expected. The days are definitely longer and sometimes the tv is my only break from a very busy toddler. Noggin is my friend. :P

klpmommy
05-22-2007, 06:38 AM
Way too much since Emily arrived. Handling two under two is more of a struggle than I expected. The days are definitely longer and sometimes the tv is my only break from a very busy toddler. Noggin is my friend. :P


BTDT & ITU!!!! :hug The most tv we ever watched was right after E was born & whenever the kiddos are sick. I like Noggin (much better commercials than the other kid channels).

expatmom
05-22-2007, 06:44 AM
Our tv isn't on at all during the day. Dh & I will watch 1 or sometimes 2 hrs after the kids are asleep. The kids watch abt 1 hr per week. We noticed a huge change in behaviour when we stopped watching so much tv.

Elora
05-23-2007, 02:25 PM
I watch 2 hours of tv a week at my sister's house while I play on the floor with my son and niece...mostly because she has it on, but I find that I really do enjoy American Idol and House :) But if I was at home, I wouldn't have it on.

Maybe because the only tv we have is in the basement and I rarely go down there (unfortunately enough for the laundry situation :P)

My dh has it on when he goes to sleep and I turn it off in the morning...so it's on maybe 3 hours..with no one watching :no2

zak
05-24-2007, 05:00 AM
I forgot we do have Ice Age and Peter Pan DVDs - we watch those (well, parts of them, I skip a lot) 1-2 times per week (many weeks). ;) He was JUST asking to watch "the Squirrel show". :giggle

WanderingJuniper
05-25-2007, 10:39 AM
The TV is on a lot in our house. BUT, we get music through our tv so more often it is on for the music than the shows. The kids really watch maybe a show or two in the morning and one while I am making dinner, if I'm lucky. I rarely watch tv other than a quick glimpse at the morning news.

illinoismommy
05-25-2007, 12:25 PM
I want to hear from the people who voted 0 to 1.5 hours... why have none of them spoken? :giggle

Note: I voted that by mistake, but it should have been 1.5 to 2.5 after I add my hours after his bedtime

expatmom
05-25-2007, 02:29 PM
I want to hear from the people who voted 0 to 1.5 hours... why have none of them spoken? :giggle


:scratch I gave my answer earlier on. We don't watch tv during the day at all. My kids will sometimes watch one dvd or show on the weekends. Occasionally we have a family movie night with pizza and popcorn. Dh & I will sometimes watch an hour or two at night after the kids go to bed, but it is usually cut short by dh falling asleep on the couch. :giggle

KiwiMum21
05-25-2007, 07:24 PM
I voted 2.5-3 hours, I don't usually put the telly on during the day but sometimes watch it at night when DS is in bed. During the day I might pop the radio on or listen to a CD.

DS doesn't show a lot of interest in the telly and the odd time I have tried to watch something he usually closes the doors to the cabinet!

birthchic
05-26-2007, 08:31 AM
For us it's really random...but we have a house rule that you have to be sitting watching TV if the TV is on. The TV is never just 'on' while we're doing other stuff. Our TV usage ebbs and flows with what's going on in our lives- if there's a new baby or I am pregnant or the older kids are doing schoolwork...

My husband and I love to watch old movies and so at night the TV is probably on for an average of 2 hours.

We don't have cable or satellite, so mostly my kids will only watch videos or DVDs- although they were on a PBS kick for awhile, that seems to have waned.

MommaRhe
06-19-2007, 11:26 AM
I voted 0-1.5 hours. For a long time it was 0 as our TV sat in the basement unplugged. Then I brought it up early in the pregnancy when I could hardly hold my eyes open and quickly it was on a lot (PBS or a video) so now it's upstairs in my bedroom and my girls can watch either PBS (we don't have cable or an antenia so sometimes that's not even an option) or a video while I shower in the morning. And that's it.

loveberry
06-19-2007, 11:36 AM
Alex is allowed to watch one video a day, unless I feel like a total lump and don't have the energy to do anything in which case it might be on for 2-3 videos. But typically, its 1.5-2 hours a day for him and I watch something separate once or twice a week when he is at his dad's or asleep.

I have to admit, I can't wait until he is mature enough to handle Heroes and Firefly. I would love to share that stuff with him, he's just not quite there yet.

Ilaria
06-20-2007, 08:06 PM
Probably 2.0 hours each day. One movie for me in the evenings, and the baby and I watch a sing-a-long video in the afternoons together.

SouthPaw
06-20-2007, 08:08 PM
is anyone else wondering why this is turning out to be an upside down bell curve? :think

illinoismommy
06-21-2007, 04:55 AM
is anyone else wondering why this is turning out to be an upside down bell curve? :think


It is kind of weird...

HomeWithMyBabies
06-21-2007, 05:35 AM
I'm honestly afraid to add it up. When it was just my oldest, he was allowed to watch sesame street once a day. I thought that was too much.

After my second was born, and all the drama that went with that, the dvd viewing went off the chart. And after all the sleepness nights with the baby, I would use naptime to recoup, and since my oldest wouldn't nap I'd put a dvd on like, every day so he'd stay put.

Now that things are more settled I've reigned it in again, but I still feel bad anytime it's on and I think it's on too much. And the kicker is, we haven't had cable for four years! We're getting it again next week, and I'm trying to mentally prepare myself.

loveberry
06-21-2007, 08:53 AM
Ohhh I miss cable. Now that we are homeschooling I really want it again for the good channels, but I don't think we can afford it. :/

Niphredil
06-21-2007, 05:00 PM
I voted 2.5 to 3.5...

I watch & record TV at night while DH is at work then he watches what I've recorded when he's up with Nora during her nightly 2 am to 4 am play time. (Looking back, it's kind of sad that we watch mostly the same shows, but not together.)

On his light days/days off we generally watch a movie.

I don't think that Nora will watch TV much, at least till I'm pregnant & exhausted again. ;)

schmamy
06-21-2007, 05:13 PM
growing up, my family's TV was on ALL THE TIME--even if no one was watching it. I was determined once I had my own house/family not to be that way! it's easy to get sucked into shows you aren't really interested in, just because it's on, and it doesn't really encourage conversation and interaction between family members. DH felt the same way. we have only the very basic cable, which we wouldn't have at all if it didn't make our internet cheaper, and we watch little to no TV--and almost never end up just "vegging" in front of it because it happens to be on. mostly all we watch is football in the fall!

that's not to say we don't waste time at the computer... :blush ...just not in front of the television :)

IslandHome
06-21-2007, 10:25 PM
We're a bit the same as schmamy - we grew up watching a lot of TV. Now we don't even have one, but we do enjoy watching DVD's on the laptop. Whenever we visit somewhere where there's a TV we come home saying how glad we are we don't have one!! We would both be major addicts if we did and it would probably be on all day :yes :blush

Heather Micaela
07-02-2007, 11:58 PM
Well the TV is on maybe an hour to and hour and a half in the morning for mr rogers and sesame street.

Then it does not come back on till dh is home. Often but not always we watch a rented move. So 2 more hours.

During this time the kids either play in thier room or watch their own video

NoodleMom
07-03-2007, 10:43 AM
We do not have a TV so we dont watch. I said 0 to 1.5 I think it was. We do watch a video DVD on our computer monitor on friday evening but thats not during the day. ;)