One of the things I regularly struggle with is the amount of t.v. Beck watches. I rely on the t.v. to keep him occupied when I need to go upstairs to put Nolan down for a nap, when I need to take a shower, when Paul is out of town and I need to do Nolan's bedtime routine, and sometimes when I'm making a meal.
It's really the only thing that I know will keep his attention long enough for me to complete those tasks. But, I don't like it. I worry that it's stifling his creativity (although one of his favorite shows is Caillou, and he often plays and pretends things that I think he gets from Caillou). I worry about the effect it's having on his brain and his development. And, although he only watches shows that are appropriate for his age, I worry that I'm not there with him to talk about what he's watching.
I've tried many times to come up with alternatives. Most often, it ends up significantly prolonging the task I'm trying to complete (instead of taking me 10 minutes to get Nolan down for his nap, it will take 30-45 minutes because Beck will interrupt us several times, or Nolan will hear him downstairs and get excited and not want to go to sleep). For example, this morning, I decided "we're not turning on the t.v. today." I needed to put Nolan down for his morning nap, and I gave Beck the following options: read books, draw a picture, play with his puzzles, or play with his cars. After some whining (he expects to watch t.v. during this time...ugh), he chose to read books. I set him up with 4 books, headed upstairs with Nolan, and closed the gate behind me.
Then, I heard Beck yelping at the bottom of the stairs. I go to check it out, and he is attempting to crawl through the wooden slats (picture 1, above). He's halfway through and stuck. I get him unstuck, tell him I'll be down as soon as Nolan is sleeping, and go up to try again. A while later, I hear Beck coming up the stairs. Huh? He made it all the way through the slats. Ok. I explain that he can't crawl through the slats, set him up with his books again, and try once more to get Nolan down. I hear some shuffling and grunting and other non-book-reading noises, and finally some yelping. I head back downstairs to check out the situation and find Beck inside our bench, with the contents spilled onto the floor (picture 2, above). Good lord.
It's now taken me almost an hour to get Nolan down for his nap. I've got a mess to clean up. And, what is Beck doing now? Watching Caillou. Television: 1, Sonja: 0.
