Sometimes I feel like a lousy
mum. I allow my 16 month old to watch TV. Sometimes lots of it. But in my
defense, I don’t encourage him to watch it. I actually started the TV process
to teach him some rhymes etc through all those interesting interactive videos
now available. But he loves his rhymes so much that he keeps asking for it,
over the TV, over the iPhone, over the iPad. Anything. And when we don’t allow
it, when he’s not in a good-i-can-be rational-mood, he cries, no, wails super
loudly till our ears hurt. So we give in if all hell breaks loose and we are
unable to entertain him any other way.
Sometimes, he just takes the
phone or iPad to scroll from one rhyme to the other. Sigh. Think he likes the
scrolling motion.
When he’s in a rational mood (as
rational as a 16 month old can be), we can actually divert his attention and
find other ways to entertain him and get him engrossed in other things, like
his toys for example. But when he’s cranky, yea, like I said before, all hell
breaks loose.
With all the hoo-ha about how TV’s
bad for a baby etc, it compounds my feelings as a lousy mum. Personally, I don’t
think TV’s all that bad. It’s not that I don’t interact with Harry at all. I
do, lots of it. I teach him lots of stuff and I dare say that on occasion, he
has actually learnt quite a bit from the shows he watched. After all, all he’s
watching are educational videos.
If you read into the whole hoo-ha
it basically says I’m causing irreparable damage to my son and that I risk
screwing up his language skills, reading ability, attention span, memory, sleep
cycle and chances of being a smart boy. Read bad mum. Do I buy into it? A bit.
But at the same time, I haven’t actually seen the harm in it. More often than
not, I interact with him whilst he’s watching. I show him this and that. I
teach him to pronounce and I mimic the actions.
And it’s not like he’s on it
24/7. Besides, who can entertain a baby for 24 hours? Everyone needs to catch
that few minutes of peace and solitude, if anything, just to shower at least.
When he’s off the TV or iPhone or iPad, Zach and I as well as Nanny and my
parents talk to him, read him books, play with him, so I really do think that
part’s taken care of.
Whilst sometimes I feel like a
lousy mum, I don’t think its really all that bad if he’s transfixed by the
colourful images. His progress has been remarkable, already able to say so many
words and dramatize the actions he sees on his videos. He’s also able to do a
couple of sign languages to denote what he wants and at 16 months able to sort
of communicate quite decently with us. His comprehension skills also seem quite
noteworthy.
Yes, this kid is showered with
stimulation. Whilst sometimes perhaps too much stimulation, what’s wrong for us
to have a little bit of downtime whilst he engages with his videos and try to
understand and fit himself in a new world?
So all in, my two cents on it is
that I don’t really think some stimulation with the TV or iPad or iPhone is
gonna stunt his growth and development. I am witnessing a miraculous
development and growth in my son, and I cannot be prouder.
I think that whilst the
environment might not be a perfect one with completely no-TV or technology, I
think it is a good enough one.
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