Sleepover for Thursday, April 19th
Categories: Playground Bureau, That's Entertainment
Next week (April 23-29th) is TV-Turnoff Week. I hadn't realized that it was sneaking up on me, until I read this post by Katie Ryan O'Connor over at ice cream is not for breakfast. I've got a weird love/hate relationship with the telly. We don't have cable at our house, but we do have videos and DVDs -- lots and lots of them. I always find myself thinking that I need the television to help me get things done, but really the kids play better, and far more peacefully, when the teevee is off all day. I'll be pulling the plug next week. Will you? (That screeching you will hear if your windows are open is coming from my house. The kids will be Unhappy, to say the least.)
I read a post at Culture Kitchen today that really made me stop and think. Written by Nezua Limon Xolagrafik-Jonez, who also blogs at The Unapologetic Mexican, the post talks about how forcing our kids to tell us they love us, even when they don't feel like saying it (especially when they don't feel like saying it) is abusive, and, as Nezua writes, "it teaches the little girl that her feelings and her personal boundaries are secondary to the feelings and wants of the person who wants to get some lovin' from her." Definitely something for parents to consider. I think we often want our kids to act a certain way, because it's how they are "supposed to" behave, and we may not think about how that behavior can affect our kids down the road.
Stefania (City Mama), Anne (Tangled Yarn), GraceD (State of Grace), Badger (Badgerbag), our own Susan (Friday Playdate) and many other parenting bloggers have written about the shootings at Virginia Tech this week. My kids are young enough that I haven't talked with them about this. If they hear about it, I'm sure we will discuss it, but I'm hoping that they'll just get to remain unaware of it for now. How do you explain things to your children that just don't have any explanation?
I read a post at Culture Kitchen today that really made me stop and think. Written by Nezua Limon Xolagrafik-Jonez, who also blogs at The Unapologetic Mexican, the post talks about how forcing our kids to tell us they love us, even when they don't feel like saying it (especially when they don't feel like saying it) is abusive, and, as Nezua writes, "it teaches the little girl that her feelings and her personal boundaries are secondary to the feelings and wants of the person who wants to get some lovin' from her." Definitely something for parents to consider. I think we often want our kids to act a certain way, because it's how they are "supposed to" behave, and we may not think about how that behavior can affect our kids down the road.
Stefania (City Mama), Anne (Tangled Yarn), GraceD (State of Grace), Badger (Badgerbag), our own Susan (Friday Playdate) and many other parenting bloggers have written about the shootings at Virginia Tech this week. My kids are young enough that I haven't talked with them about this. If they hear about it, I'm sure we will discuss it, but I'm hoping that they'll just get to remain unaware of it for now. How do you explain things to your children that just don't have any explanation?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dawn 4-20-2007 @ 8:29AM
I told my son, who is 9-1/2 & homeschooled, about the shooting, more because he saw coverage about it over my shoulder on my pc. I kept the details to a minimum - just that this guy had gone in & shot a bunch of folks & that several were killed. His reaction was to get mad at the gunman. He said someone should shoot him (the gunman) & I said he had done it to himself. He hasn't really brought it up again, & that's just fine w/me. My nearly 4 yr old knows nothing about it & that's how it'll stay.
We do not have cable in our house, so unless my kids hear us talking about something, they generally do not get exposed to the horrendous things that happen in the news. When appropriate, I discuss them with my son, but for the most part, he remains blissfully ignorant.
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