The Boob Tube

Ironically, this post has nothing to do with boobs. Which is, again, ironic, since I feel like my entire life revolves around breastfeeding and pumping and milk production right now.

Instead, this post is all about television.

I've come to the conclusion that I watch way too stinkin' much of it. I don't like admitting it, but I probably watch a good 8 hours of TV a day. *hangs head in shame* I usually give up trying to sleep in with Rowan around 9:00 in the morning, head into the living room, and turn on the box. (Can a flat screen be called a box? "Turn on the square" just sounds dumb.) And I leave it on. All day.

To be fair, I try to watch educational stuff sometimes. I'm a sucker for Jeopardy! and I like NatGeo and the History Channel. But there are also Friends reruns, The Big Bang Theory, etc. I'm pretty sure I'm rotting my brain, and possibly Rowan's.

My excuse for being a lazy blob

I really want to break myself of this habit, but it's just SO easy to keep myself entertained with TV. It's hard to read when I'm nursing a flailing baby, and crocheting encounters the same obstacle. I just don't want to raise Rowan in a TV-centered household, where he sits in front of the tube all day and never plays outside or uses his imagination. I see that happening with too many kids I know and I think that's part of the reason that American kids are fattening up at an alarming rate.

Combating this won't be easy. DH likes to come home and kick back in front of the TV until bedtime to relax. Granted, at this stage, interacting with Rowan pretty much consists of holding/burping/rocking, but what happens when he becomes play-with-able? So, my new rules for fighting our excessive TV habit are:

-No more eating dinner in front of the TV. We will sit at the table, with the TV off, until the meal is done. Anything that's on at the moment can get paused or DVRed.

-No more all-day TV for me. (This one will be HARD.) I can play music, read when Rowan naps, and get a little more housework done than I have been. My housekeeping skills have been sadly lacking since the arrival of bebe.

-The TV needs to get turned off at least half an hour before bedtime. We need to start winding down on our own instead of staring at the screen until we're in a stupor.

Wish me (and us) luck! I get the feeling I'm going to need it.