Her Favourite Sesame Street Song...

Before he was born, my wife and I made a conscious decision to not turn the TV on when our son was awake in the house. We asked family and babysitters to please consider this, as well, when he was in their residence.  The goal was to reduce his exposure to television to as little as possible for at least the first two years of his life. So far, it has gone well! In fact, he hardly seems interested in it at all when we chance upon a TV when out in public.

Yesterday, the 6-year-old daughter of one of our babysitters asked me (in the matter-of-fact way only a 6-year-old can ask) why Finley wasn't allowed to watch TV like other babies.

I explained to her that we feel this time in his life is the most important, as far as brain development is concerned. We want his interactions with the world around him, at least for the first two years of his life, to be based on direct and personal communication with his parents and extended family. We want him to explore, to sit with us as we read to him, to knock blocks over and poke at things with a stick.

I continued, saying it was a challenge to ourselves to not ever resort to "putting something on" to occupy him while we tried to do something we felt might be more important than raising our child. Since we both work full-time during the day, we only get to spend about three to four hours of each day with him, and we want to make the most of that time.

Was that too much explanation for a 6-year-old? Maybe...

Her next question was, "Is that ALL?" Maybe she was looking for something more like, "Because I'm a mean parent!"

So with that explanation done, it should be obvious to you that this is not Finley's favourite Sesame Street song. It is, in fact, his mother's...

Green Blogging...

In this case, it's just the savings of a few bits (or is it bytes?) as I re-purpose this blog to something associated more with my personal non-woodworking life.

(If you want to continue following my woodworking antics, please jump over to The Kilted Woodworker!)

First "new" post of this blog to follow soon...