I have stumbled upon a way to use tv to keep my teens in the loop with me. In fact my friends ask how I get the teens to not only talk to me but to watch something with me. My answer is the way I use tv. I will admit, I love tv, but during the day, except for The View, the tv isn't on. The kids have tv's, but I control the parental controls, so they don't watch much during the week. What I do is pick shows, sometimes educational, sometimes fun, and sometimes just a movie, and the teens are welcome to come down and watch with me and hubby at night. I have found if given the choice between no tv, and appropriate tv with mom and dad, they will choose tv with us. Sometimes we will just watch Animal Planet, or even tivo Oprah if it is on a subject I want my kids to see, like teenage sex or drug abuse. We always pause a lot and discuss the shows we are watching. I will tell you I have found so many things out about them just from doing this than any other activity. For instance we watched an Oprah show on mom's around the world, that even my son had opinions on. The kids could not believe how awful some mom's have it around the world. Somehow during this show my daughter ended up bringing down the Guinness Book of World Records to look the oldest mom up and me, my hubby, my son and daughter were up until midnight reading all kinds of facts. I am not saying tv is the greatest thing for everyone, but for those of us who aren't willing to give it up, there can be ways to use it to your advantage. Don't tell them I said this or they will never look at tv with mom and dad in the same way again.
Another great event we viewed together was Steve Irwins wife's interview with Barbara Walters. This really affected the kids and I am glad we viewed it as a family instead of them closing themselves off from us to view it. I have even used Survivor as a learning device. We will watch it and during it I will comment to the kids on how they think the contestants could do things in a different way then lying and deceiving. Believe it or not they come up with some good points.
7 comments:
Hey, whatever works. I think it's great how you use the time with your kids watching TV together. We should watch with them so there can be discussion.
That is such a great idea! My oldest is turning 13 in a few weeks and I have been trying to think of more ways for us to continue to be close while she is going through her adolescent stuff!
What a wonderful way to open up dialic and keep the family close. If more parents would make time to do things with their kids they would be amazed. Love it! :)
I have that episode of Oprah on moms around the world recorded too. I havent seen it yet...good post.
Funny. My parents always called the TV the idiot box and if kids are given free reign to watch anything, all the time, that's exactly what it is. This is a very thought-provoking post.
It sounds like you have things very wisely under control. I admire you for taking the time to make sure your kids view wholesome things and talking with them about what they watch. Great job!
You asked about the code for the "Pray for Micah" button - "Once I highlight the code do I just plop it somewhere in blogger? Any help would be appreciated."
Just put the code into your template wherever you want it - somewhere in the sidebar. Then save and republish. If you need help with this step, let me know. Thanks for your interest.
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