I have one son. Either due to my inability to multi-task or his sheer amount of energy, I've conceded to the latter, I am unable to get anything done unless he is distracted. All to easily I have relied on my friends, Dora and Diego. I know television is bad for your kids. Fries their brains and all that jazz. Teaches them they don't have to use their imagination, the writers of cartoons will do it for them. However, selfishly, how can I get anything done? I'll tell you how. Give him a sipee cup of juice, some cheez-its, and turn on one of the 10 DVR'd episodes of Dora or Diego and plop him in my recliner to enable 20 minutes of uninterrupted time. This may be extended to an hour if my other orange buddy Nemo and his race car friends Lightning and Mater are in the neighborhood.
Does this make me a horrible father? Probably. But just like life, it's about balance. Should I put him in front of the TV all day? Absolutely not. Does an hour at a time kill him? Not right now it doesn't.
Maybe the problem is compounded by our recent move into a new home and the endless things that need to get done. Painting. Flooring. Landscaping. Hanging. Rearranging. On and on and on. I'd like to say that once things settle down and we get settled in the TV time will be cut into tiny bits and removed slowly from his life. Probably not the case, but a man can dream of the day his only kid is content playing with Lego's for hours and hours with no adult supervision required.
It is probably coming across as I don't like to spend time with my son. I assure you that is not the case. I love playing with him, reading to him, showing him how to fix things, how things work, sneaking candy to him, pushing him on the swings, and the endless supply of life that I'll get to show and teach him. But sometimes, I need to put a desk together, upload pictures, fix the lawnmower. And yeah, these are MY needs and MY needs are supposed to come second to HIS needs. Most of the time. In a perfect world. And it is my desire for this to be my reality. But as is my life, my world slowly creeps up into everyone else's. Sad but true.
And, as a side note, is it ok if he's watching "Christian" TV like Veggie Tales or if the show has good "morals" closely resembling Christianity? I think about these things as I drive around at work. Let's take Ni Hao Kai Lan for example. Super sweet cute Chinese girl teaching the Chinese language and what it is to be a good friend. In the process however, her friends are constantly displaying poor behavior and what not to do. Not something I want Nick learning or thinking is remotely okay just because his friend Tolby did it on Nick Jr. the other day.
I guess when you break it all down, the best way for me to teach my son and myself is to go back to the Scriptures, showing him how to emulate Christ. Not Moono, Boots, Larry the Cucumber, or his earthly father. Using the example of a God who subjected Himself to an earthly body, suffered and died so that His Father would have all the glory and we would have joy eternal in an endless life and worship of Him.
But man that's hard to remember when I need to rewire my surround sound system...
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