In order to save some money, I have switched from satellite TV to Cable (combining with one company will save me $30 a month, hard to turn down!). Now I have to decide if I want them to add cable outlets to my son's room.
Before I had my son, I thought letting a young child have a TV and computer in his room was ridiculous. But just like many of the plans I had for raising children before I actually had any, I have already eaten my words when it comes to the computer.
When he started using my mouse at 2 1/2 to navigate around Starfall.com, I knew I was in trouble. Turns out, giving him his own set up was the best thing I could have done for a gifted child. By three years old he was pointing and clicking, and dragging and dropping like a pro. Now whenever he wants to know more about something, he heads to Google for research. The Internet has been a huge blessing when it comes to dealing with his education and interests!
The technician for the cable company will be here next week to install my new service. So I have to decide whether or not to have his room wired for cable now, or wait and have them do it later. They are offering me six months of free service for the second hook up, to entice me.
I'm just not sure that giving him his own TV is a good idea. The thought of us watching separate shows in two different rooms, is sad. I don't like the idea of isolating our lives at such a young age. Then again, the way his mind works, I know how well he learns on him own, he would enjoy the responsibility and the freedom.
I suppose I could place restrictions on it and still have times set aside for watching things together. I just wish he didn't have to grow up so fast. I know every parent feels that way, always have and always will. Compared to other homes, he still has much less "stuff" than many children we know. We don't have a game system (I know nothing about them) and he's starting to ask about playing games he sees on the TV. The only games he plays now, are free ones on the computer.
So do I test the water now and let them install cable to his room while they are here? Or do I ignore the discounted deal and wait until he is older? I remember when I first put a computer in his room, in the beginning I couldn't get him to leave his room for anything (even food). Then over a few months, he did start hanging out with me again. Maybe the initial novelty of his own TV will wear off after a while too and he won't become a cave dwelling teenager before his time.
4 comments:
We have a one TV rule in our house which translates to no private TVs for anyone.
Oh, I don't know. I think if he isn't a teen yet, I would say no. As they get older, the teens sort of need their time alone and I didn't mind it so much. Too much TV isn't good for kids anyway. My advice (if you want it) is to wait. You can always just put in a TV that plays kid-friendly CD's or something later.
We are so backward. We have one TV, in the family room. And no cable or satellite. My husband and I do that just to save money. We don't watch much TV, but we like to watch DVDs. I am beginning to wonder if a second set for the kids would be a good idea, though, because even though they don't watch much, they are always around when I want to watch something -- and my preschooler complains loudly about it. ;)
You might as well have them hook it up now, you don't have to use it if you don't want to. All 3 of my kids had tv's in their rooms. They all came out okay (near as I can tell)
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