Turns out there are some benefits in letting your kids watch more TV.

I used to feel a constant sense of guilt every time my children watched TV. I felt guilty because child ‘experts’ said kids shouldn’t watch too much TV each day. Obesity experts said children who watch more than two hours per day are more likely to be obese. Psychologists said we had to monitor what they watched so they wouldn’t grow up to be serial killers. Is Big Time Rush okay for my children to watch? I know it’s a kid’s show but they do sometimes push each other into the pool. Am I desensitising my impressionable young children to violence?

However, now that the parenting pressure has moved on to smart devices, I feel like I’ve been handed a bit of a reprieve. Now I have to monitor my children’s computer use, iPads, iPods, smart phones and other gaming devices.

Noted.

Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by Fetch TV. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.

In the meantime, my nine-year-old son Philip and I spent the long weekend catching up on episodes of our favourite show, Judge Judy (I think it’s educational for him) and endless episodes of Star Trek. My four-year-old daughter launched a protest. She’d been waiting to watch Despicable Me 2 all day and we’d ‘taken the TV away from her and had to give it back, now’.

Okay…

Is it really a big deal that children watch TV? These days, as long as you have any of the number of ‘on demand’ services you can be the director of your children’s viewing. You can select the TV shows they watch live, and record the ones to watch later when the homework is done. You can block the ones you don’t want them to watch and then use catch up TV to watch on anything you’ve missed due to your insanely busy lives.

In fact, I can think of 10 benefits of children watching TV for the so-called experts to chew on:

1. Shows can be educational. My son and I now know everything there is to know about volcanoes due to his current obsession and the range of docos available to us.

2. The reality of modern life means my husband and I both have to work. I work from home and this means I need to concentrate. If I put on Smurfs 2, Peppa Pig or Wreck it Ralph I am guaranteed over an hour of peace and quiet in which to get my work done.

3. Watching TV is the only way my children let me cuddle them these days, and when they are sick or injured. If I select their favourite show each of them will snuggle up on the lounge for a cuddle that often lasts as long as the show runs. This is often my favourite time of the day.

4. Having access to ‘on demand’ movies on our TV saves us so much money. We are a family of five and most family activities cost us well over $100. How often can we go out to the cinema? With our ‘on demand’ movie service it’s like having a DVD store at home. It is affordable entertainment available any time we want.

5. I use certain shows as bargaining tools for my children. If I need their rooms tidied up the promise of a long-awaited movie or show is all the motivation they need.

6. When friends come over I watch them bond with my children over certain shows. At the moment my son and his best friend are working on their Camp Orange auditions.

7. For as long as my sister and I have been parents we have looked after each other’s children. I have become famous for my ‘carpet picnics’. Each day I have all the kids at my house, I set up a picnic lunch or dinner in front of a movie I have just ordered and the kids love it. When they come over they excitedly ask what we are watching for our carpet picnic. Sometimes it’s a movie they’ve been asking for, sometimes I make them watch the movies I grew up on like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins and Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

8. When my children are sick, I mean really sick, they spend their recovery time on the lounge, with a pillow and a blanket watching all their favourite shows until they feel better.

9. I’m a much happier mother when I get to watch my favourite TV shows and because they are recorded I don’t miss them. I save my favourite shows for the times, usually late in the evening, when I have four baskets of laundry to fold.

10. When my husband and I have had a particularly busy day, we wait until the kids are asleep in bed and then select a movie to watch together, with no planning ahead needed. Mummy and daddy need their screen time too.

Do you feel like your children watch too much TV?

 

TV is a significant part of daily life, but it comes with an enduring tension.  Endless fights over what to watch, the struggle to get everyone to the dinner table, kids watching the Simpsons instead of doing their homework, and Dad commandeering the TV for Friday Night football.  The reality is that when it comes to TV, Mums face a constant battle for control. 

Now Fetch TV is here to help – record TV, rent the latest movies, and add popular channels if you choose.  It’s not about watching more TV but about making it easier to watch what you want, when you want.  Fetch TV – Show TV Who’s Boss.

Just to showcase some of the children movies that have been featured on Fetch TV.