Comments on What Do I Know; I'm Just The Babysitter: And Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Program

First, I realize how old this post is, but I figur...

2010-08-17T09:15:55.466-04:00

First, I realize how old this post is, but I figured someone may be reading through the archives like I am to either catch up (like me) or because they just found your blog.

Second, I just recently quit my job at a daycare center (in Louisiana). With the exception of the infant room, every age-group had their own television. And with the exception of whatever room I was in, all of those TVs were on the entire day, not including lunch and nap. I'm personally not a big fan of TV. I watch some shows, of course, but usually online or on DVD.

I would bring my iPod with me to work and play kid music. You know, Disney soundtracks and the like, as well as movie scores if I felt they needed something a little more calming and without words. I didn't demand that the children put the toys away and dance to the music or anything ridiculous. They played as usual, but you could always tell when a song that one of them particularly liked came on because one would start dancing. Then, because one was dancing, the others would start. It was, quite simply, one of the best parts of my day. One group of girls would grab hands and dance in a circle. These are children under the age of 18-months holding hands, dancing together, and doing so because they liked the song. Once those three started their circle-dancing, they would usually go for about fifteen minutes before going play (usually after they fell for the fifth or sixth time) and within about ten minutes they were usually circle-dancing again.

Now that I have my own in-home daycare, it's pretty much the same. I plug in my iPod, put on the Hannah Montana album (or just my Disney playlist), and let them dance, sing, and play. They get some excersise from the dancing and I don't have Dora screaming from the TV or Elmo trying to teach them that talking like a baby is good. Now, that's not to say we won't watch some TV or a movie, but I know exactly what's on my iPod; I know that it's both appropriate and not annoying to me. (Yes, I'm a Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus fan. I especially love the DisneyMania and Radio Disney Jams albums.) TV shows and the commercials can potentially be inappropriate and annoying.

Third, I'm soo sorry for the long comment! O_o I got a little carried away!

I have a daughter in a commerical center who is re...

2009-12-20T23:19:19.464-05:00

I have a daughter in a commerical center who is receiving excellent care. Take issue if you will with the research (no arguments here), but your blog seems to suggest that all researchers are idiots (they are not), that all in-home daycare providers are perfect wonderful people (I can tell you from personal experience, they are not), and that all center-based care is worthless (again, personal experience suggests otherwise).

I know the point here about this particular study, but you undermine your own credibility by being as sweeping in your generalizations and as off-base with your assertions as the researchers in this particular study. Frankly, you come off as a little paranoid. You seem to think that everyone else spends their days concocting ways to keep in-home providers down, which is just silliness. Do many people undervalue daycare providers? I am sure they do. Do researchers sit around plotting ways to undermine you...I think not. And I would think that one daycare provider who is ALWAYS complaining about how little respect your profession gets would not dismiss a whole segment of daycare providers out of hand.

I've done both roles and I know that in group ...

2009-11-29T08:57:42.055-05:00

I've done both roles and I know that in group care, they are supposed to document the TV watching percisely. What, where and how long. Not so in home daycare obviously. I personally limited TV watching to rainy days or special times. Worked for me. That did not apply to my kids outside of daycare hours. My view was I was paid to be with the kids and interact, not have them in front of the TV. I'd expect the same from a provider I might choose for my own kids. And yes, I do believe kids can learn lots from TV if chosen appropriately.

To correct your information, daycares in Ontario are mandated by the DNA to spend 2 hours, not 1, outside a day broken into 2 seperate 1 hour periods. I can't say it happens but I do know of MANY that follow this guideline. Sane could be said of HCCP. I know several HP's that barely take their kids out. Some wouldn't at all if it wasn't for a school run. And are the kids actually active? Nope! They are strapped in a stroller or in a wagon. How is that helping exercising?

As with many things, depending on how you look at it, you can make the data fit. I'd also say be careful of being judgemental yourself here.

LMM

My children watch some television at daycare and a...

2009-11-26T08:12:32.552-05:00

My children watch some television at daycare and at home. Not a lot, they are too active to sit and watch. I see nothing wrong with using TV as an aide, I use it while I am preparing dinner, I expect my DCP uses it while she prepare lunch. Parents need to relax, and unless their children are watching NO television at home, some television at daycare is FINE!

Okay this is my favorite part of the article: &qu...

2009-11-25T13:33:55.761-05:00

Okay this is my favorite part of the article:

"The researchers recommend that pediatricians advise parents to take steps to minimize screen time in child care settings."

Worry not parents, no one is recommending that you actually do anything about the obscene amount of tv your kids watch at home. That could involve "parenting" and we try to avoid that as much as possible. Instead, we encourage you to make your provider's job harder. Our children are only supposed ot watch 2 hours of tv a day and we already watch 2.4 hours at home, so clearly the solution to this problem is to ban television in childcare settings.

I simply moved my TV out of the dayhome area. We d...

2009-11-25T13:01:03.073-05:00

I simply moved my TV out of the dayhome area. We don't watch it during the day. We don't have movie days very often either. Only the 2 (one being my own) than don't nap will watch treehouse occassionally when I feel like I'm going to lose my mind.

I saw the article yesterday and was mad!! To the...

2009-11-25T12:16:51.229-05:00

I saw the article yesterday and was mad!!

To the poster above me, I was about to write the same thing!! It's astounding the amount of movies that my kids watch at school. ATLEAST once or twice a week they are telling me what they watched, sometimes 3 days in a row. Seriously. Just like everything else, it's called moderation people. What a job they have - being able to make crap up when they don't have anything to write about.

I find tv the topic of debate with so many familie...

2009-11-25T08:40:46.919-05:00

I find tv the topic of debate with so many families. I spell it right out for them at my interview that tv is limited, usually only for the older kids who don't nap. But....they have to remember that their child will at one point not nap (or they will request that little Johnny not nap because he doesn't go to bed well) and that means that they too will be enjoying a video at naptime. I have also informed parents that tv doesn't stop at daycare...just wait till they start school. I'm shocked at how many movies my girls watch at school during lunch time/movie days etc. How come the news doesn't put this in their study???

Yeah. Saw this on the news this morning before the...

2009-11-24T19:06:17.879-05:00

Yeah. Saw this on the news this morning before the kids came. It really bugged me. Propaganda crap. Nothing like tying to make the day home providers look like idiots. After all its not a real job or considered work with what we do right?

I find it hilarious when you have a new kid start ...

2009-11-24T18:57:45.642-05:00

I find it hilarious when you have a new kid start care and they show up in their Dora or Diego outfit, their winnie the pooh blanket and their Cinderella sippie cup and their parents are the same ones that sat in the interview and gave you a 20 minute rant about TV and how they don't want their kids watching it. WHAT-EVER.

Of course i read this after letting the kids watch...

2009-11-24T16:30:10.872-05:00

Of course i read this after letting the kids watch a 30 min Veggie Tales video- first tv they've watched in 3 weeks. Why'd we watch tv today? 2nd day of rain, and the babies NEEDED a nap, so to entertain the 4 15 mo-2 yr old kids and keep them quiet I indulged. Is that the norm? no. Are any of them even close to obese? no.
We watch on the average 30 min every 2 weeks, so one hour per month, which is 1/2 the cited DAILY amount of tv the article claims, spread throughout the MONTH rather than in one day.
Like Judy's daycare kids, mine spend a LOT of time outside. Even accounting for winter we spend an average of 6-7 hours/week outside running, climbing , jumping etc.
My daycare kids eat their veggies, get tons of exercise, have lots of mental stimulation, and are not just warehoused like centers.

you know, I worked in many commercial day care cen...

2009-11-24T16:17:12.764-05:00

you know, I worked in many commercial day care centers and yes, they lie about how much time the kids spend in front of the tv. How? They claim 'movies' are different than 'tv'. Do you know how many 'movie days' some daycares have?-LOTS!!!! One child brings in a movie on a bitterly cold day and suddenly everyone needs to bring in a movie..and hey if we watched little johnny's movie how can we NOT watch little Suzy's, David's AND Natalie's movies too?

When I started my day home three years ago I swore the tv would never go on during the day...and I kept that promise for 1 month!
Why so short? Because I found myself getting very frustrated constantly trying to get the children to settle down before naptime while I was attempting to clean up after lunch. Once I put on the TV for a mere 20min things settled down, I didn't lose my temper and the kidlets would sit quietly and begin to relax before they laid down. Plus, timing had The main character of the show (sorry the name slips my mind right now)going for a nap.
Granted, now my kidlets are older and don't nap as long so they now get about 35 min of tv and I can clean and get prepped for the afternoon in relative time.
I am aware of what they watch and how much...and yes, I know of parents who are asked the minute the child gets picked up "can I watch_______ when we get home?" and the parent agreeing...even when it is NOT something I would allow a 10yr old to watch let alone a 3yr old.
Once again, it is society trying to make working parents feel 'guilty' for putting their child into care and making home child care providers look like worthless people whio only stick children in front of the tv to make money.
Sad, but true...

dmansmommy

Sure, you are all welcome to send any of my posts ...

2009-11-24T15:17:46.580-05:00

Sure, you are all welcome to send any of my posts to anyone of your chosing. I have nothing to hide! Everyone is entitled to my opinion! LOL!

I saw this article yesterday and it infuriated me ...

2009-11-24T14:30:17.135-05:00

I saw this article yesterday and it infuriated me for the reasons stated above. I think you should fax your article to every paper you can or give us permission to send it into our local papers (with your blog address at the bottom of course)! How many hours do children of stay at home moms spend watching TV? Why get the parents up in arms about such a stupid issue when there is nothing they can do about it anyway since there are so few spots in commercial child cares?
Qwerty

great title by the way!! I probably wouldn't ...

2009-11-24T14:28:16.811-05:00

great title by the way!! I probably wouldn't have even noticed if you hadn't said anything! I can't even remember what you'd originally called it!

Okay I just finished reading that article and what...

2009-11-24T14:26:37.363-05:00

Okay I just finished reading that article and what irked me is how they say t.v viewing could be related to language delay!!! So not true with any of the kids I have known over the years! My next door neighbor's kids, both boys, born seven years apart are carbon copies of each other. Both of those boy must watch an exceptional amount of t.v because every time you see them, they start talking so animatedly about the latest movie that's out. Their entire lives seem to revolve around movies and shows on t.v. Of course I know this is not true, they are involved in sports and things and they have great parents. Both boys were talking clearly and in sentences at well before the age of two (of course even back then, they chatted non stop about their favorite cartons) but the oldest was reading before he started kindergarten and the youngest who is now 4 goes next fall and has been ready for a couple years now. He could tell us his colors and shapes and other things at 18 months. At the age of two he told everyone he was ten like his brother was going to turn on his next birthday. I wish I could take credit for being their childcare provider but it's a friend of mine who has been their caregiver since before I moved to this city and ended up living next door to this family. But I see these boys every day when my friend and I get together for coffee and so I've known how smart they both are for years!! And that being said, they have spent full time mon to fri at the sitters for their entire lives and I know there isn't as much t.v going on in that home daycare setting as there is in their own home. Neither of these kids is overweight, like I said, both active kids on my block, playing in the middle of the road with the best of them! T.v might be an influence in their life but they aren't suffering for it at all!

oh yeah one more thing, did I mention I don't have a college education? Grrrrrrrr

Yeah, in case you are wondering. I changed the tit...

2009-11-24T14:23:17.254-05:00

Yeah, in case you are wondering. I changed the title. It just came to me that my title could be better and then I thought of the new one. Kind of fits it better don't you think? LOL!

that was pretty good!! As I type this, I have thr...

2009-11-24T14:13:31.562-05:00

that was pretty good!! As I type this, I have three kids watching the boob tube. two out of th three will hopefully fall fast asleep after about .2 hours of t.v time. This is the first time the t.v has been on at my house all day. It's usually on during nap/quiet time for those who don't nap. I agree with you about that number of .1 hours of t.v time in the average daycare centre each day! That would be cruel and unusual punishment allowing the kids to watch six minutes of a show!

I myself as a child watched at least two or three hours a day of television when I wasn't in school. I remember sesame street which was an hour long show. Romper Room (half hour) Mr. Dressup (half hour) and the flintstones at noon followed by the news afterwards. And that doesn't count the evening line up lol! Not that I had much choice of what to watch. We lived on two channels until I hit the age of 15 when our small town got cable!! Hello Much Music and CMT!!

Seriously though, I was an active kid with a great imagination. My mom was a stay at home mom for most of my developmental years so I rarely did go to a sitters on a regular basis. Funny how when I did go there, the year I started kindergarten, my mom did try working again so I would go to school one day, then the sitters the next. I have no idea how long this lasted but the funny thing is: I do NOT remember watching t.v at my friend's house where I went! We probably did watch t.v but I can't recall. I do know I was sort of shy since I'd been home with my mom most of the time but I did play with this other ladies kids, the two boys who were older and her daughter who was younger than me. Regardless, I grew up to be just fine (yes I could stand to lose a few pounds, but I'm not in the obese category because I watched so many hours of good old Canadian Television growing up!!) I'm now going to find this CBC article you mentioned!!!