I let my child watch television; and I don't feel guilty about it.

Way before I had a kid (I like to call those days "Renata lives in fantasy land") I had a pretty good idea of the mother I wanted to be.  Actually, let me rephrase that, I knew the mother I would be (I knew nothing young grasshoppers).  I was absolutely determined to be the "perfect" mom (I told you, fantasy).  During a conversation with my mom I told her all of the things I wouldn't let my child do, including but not limited to the following:

1. Eat anything with added sugar before the age of two.  This includes:  chocolate, cupcakes, cake, cookies, muffins, candy, fruit snacks (and the list goes on)

2. Drink fruit juice

3. Play with my Iphone

4. Watch television before the age of two

5. Play with the Ipad 

6.  Consume products that are not organic

7. Sleep with a lovey

(And the list goes on and on and on)

She sat there staring at me, with a smirk on her face, and slowly nodded without saying a word.  Then, at the end of my monologue, okay, rant, she said, "Okay, we will see, we will see."  She has never once said, "I told you so."  I am quite sure she has thought it.  But, she loves me, and despite knowing that all those crazy things I was saying that day in my living room were just that, crazy, she has never once called me out on it.  Moms, you gotta love 'em.

You know where I am going with this, right?  So, sure, the recommendation says "no screen time before two".  Yet, what I've learned in this year-and-a-half of motherhood is that a recommendation, is just that, a recommendation.  It started out innocently enough, an episode of "The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" while I chugged my coffee on a Saturday morning.  Then when she made the full transition to the toddler class at daycare we needed a way to decompress before dinner.  May I present to you, the television. 

She needed a distraction void of human interaction after a full day of stimulation, and a 23 minute episode of the Bubble Guppies provided just that.  Judge me.  Those 23 minutes also gave me just the right amount of time I needed to start/finish dinner.  In my book I call that a win-win.  Otherwise, I'd have an overstimulated toddler clawing at my legs begging me to, "Up!, Up!"  And trust me, ain't nobody got time for that, especially when the rice is burning.

Once upon a time I would have felt guilty. I would have been embarrassed to admit that my kid knows to dance at the sound of the "Hot Dog Song."  These days, I live in the real world. And you know what? You gotta do, what ya gotta do.  A little screen time in exchange for a homemade meal? Sounds like a no brainer to me. 

Oh, and she's eaten a cookie; she even knows how to ask for one. Hold on to your britches, Perfect Pollyana, they are organic-carrot-zucchini cookies; I'm still a pain in the ass, slightly ;)

xx

Ren