Honestly, in my opinion, this is a personal decision for each family. Children have a variety of reactions to TV, and some of these reactions are positive.  Kids can learn languages, geography, history, race relations, social skills and more while they watch TV. They can also become lethargic, so you need to know your child. Some children prefer to spend their entire afternoon in front of the “tube”…others choose to read, play ball, or do homework.  Mine like to do all of the above, and sometimes while listening to music and watching TV!

There’s no formula.  Kids are human – they need interaction, nourishment, love, exercise or activity, stimulation, and some time to just “veg out.”  Each family can work out the balance for themselves.

I’ve entered my 40s, yet I’m the baby in my family and my mom still gets worried if she knows I’m sick or sore or otherwise unhappy.  The first time your child has an illness, it’s pretty difficult to endure.  Red, drippy nose, unnaturally high fever, increased dirty diapers, crying that can’t easily be soothed…and when do you go to the doctor, or treat the illness with medication?  Even now, with my kids turning 11 and 13 (yes, a teenager, how did that happen??!!), it is so painful to see them not feeling well.  It’s nice to be past the diaper phase, but doesn’t lessen the emotions.  I admit I still check their breathing before I go to sleep each night.

Our first emergency room visit as parents was due to Croup when our older one was about 3 years old.  While my husband held his hand in the hospital, I was at home watching our younger son sleeping soundly in his crib.  Our second emergency room visit was due to our younger one’s pinky getting slammed and crushed in our door, also around 3 years old. While he told jokes to the nurse about picking his nose (true!!) even though his little finger was causing him enormous pain, his big brother was eating pizza and watching TV in the waiting area.  We’ve yet to have a third incident – I hope I’m not “jinxing” it by putting that in print.

One night last week, our younger son complained briefly of not feeling well.  He then quickly lost everything he had eaten that day before getting to the bathroom – once the contents of his stomach were gone, so was whatever was ailing him. I’ve never had more trouble cleaning up after a sick child and was extremely grateful to my husband!!  He slept peacefully that night.  This week, our older son has had a couple sick days home from school – his concerns are revolving around his attendance record at school, which is pretty admirable.  While he can’t breathe though his nose, he’s doing his homework so he won’t fall behind.  He also knows that when he has a sick day, I allow more TV time.  Fortunately my work schedule this week has allowed me to dote on him a bit, even if he’d prefer to be left alone (after all, he’s nearly a teenager!).

Even with a sick child at home, we definitely count our blessings.  We have a niece who had open heart surgery well before her first birthday.  She’s approaching 2 years old now, very healthy and strong.  We also have a cousin who struggled with a brain tumor for 5 years and sadly lost the fight this year at age 11.  Before having children of my own, I worked as a music therapist in a local children’s hospital with many patients who had terminal illnesses.  Others were fortunately getting healthy and going home after a brief (or not so brief) stay.  I’ve written here about this experience – you can find it in a previous blog entry.

While we expect to deal with illness and death when it comes to older adults – grandparents and such – it doesn’t make it less difficult.  But no one expects to out-live their children, and even a common cold or cut & scrape can shake us up. It is never easy to see someone you know, love, or take care of, getting hurt or feeling ill.  It’s an unfortunate life experience, but one we all go through to some extent or another.  Perhaps it makes us stronger in some way.

HURT

Sign for DAD from hands4learning.com

http://mommybites.com/col1/preschool/learning-through-the-arts/

It is officially Spring!  So many of the trees and gardens are in full bloom… this is the perfect time to take walks around the neighborhood with your child and experience new sights, sounds, smells!  It’s an opportunity to practice your sign language together as you show your little one all the wonderful new treasures of the season – flowers, rays of sun, rain drops, fresh new grass, butterflies, and more!  Listen for the songs of the birds as they make their way back from their southern journeys.  Take the time to swing together, go down the slide, roll in the grass, have a picnic.  Smile and laugh together.  Share hugs and kisses.  Springtime is a time of new life, new beginnings….

“Parents don’t come full bloom at the birth of the first baby. In fact parenting is about growing. It’s about our own growing as much as it is about our children’s growing and that kind of growing happens little by little.”  ~FRED ROGERS (Mr. Rogers’s Neighborhood).

“Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children, and no theories.”  ~John Wilmot (Nobleman)

“It kills you to see them grow up.  But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn’t.”  ~Barbara Kingsolver (Author)

If you want your children to improve, let them overhear the nice things you say about them to others.  ~Haim Ginott (child psychologist and parent educator)

There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.  ~Chinese Proverb

When our older son was about 5 months old, we took a long fall weekend in Montreal.  He traveled really well, and that city was quite easy to get around.  What really stood out for me was that we didn’t have to fold the stroller on the bus! We’ve also really enjoyed Philadelphia, Washington DC, and San Francisco as a family.  If your kids are sports fans, Cooperstown, NY is lots of fun (visit the Baseball Hall of Fame there).

A lot of college students like going to Miami Beach and similar places during Spring Break (March/April).  For families, how about a trip to NYC?  Spring weather in NYC is usually beautiful – perfect for walks through Central Park.  Consider all the landmarks and playgrounds – Belvedere Castle, the Boat House (rent a rowboat! and elsewhere in the park, rent bikes!), Diana Ross Playground,  The Central Park Zoo, Strawberry Fields…. There’s also the NY Aquarium and the Bronx Zoo.  The Big Apple has some of the greatest window shopping around!  (if you’re in the city near Christmas time, visit all the department stores for their amazing windows).  Tiffany’s, Bergdorff-Goodman, Louis Vuitton.  Then, of course, there’s FAO Schwartz and the Apple store.

Also in New York City are some of the best museums… The American Museum of Natural History, The Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art (pay as you wish), The Museum of the Moving Image, The Cloisters, The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, The Children’s Museum of the Arts, The New York Transit Museum (very hands on and fun), The Frick Collection, The Guggenheim, the NY Botanical Gardens (great train show at winter holiday time and absolutely gorgeous in the spring), the Museum of the Native Americans (free) and soooo many more.

Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty are essentials; there’s “Ground Zero” with a new memorial, the Empire State Building, and Broadway shows.  New York is really a wonderful city to visit with kids.

Planning your family vacation?  Keep these ideas in mind.

VISIT Mommy Bites Blog via the link below to read Lora’s most recent entry.

http://mommybites.com/community/blog/