Just curious as to how much TV time (if any) your kiddos get during a day. I feel like I’ve gotten loose about my kids’ TV time (especially when there is stuff I have to focus on without interruption) and just wondering how everyone else handles this area.
He will sometimes watch a movie in the afternoon and sometimes we will watch something together in the evening. We don’t have “tv” though, just Hulu Plus and dvd’s. It was more when we had cable but I limited it to 2 hours a day only after age 2. Nothing before 2.
1 Like
Our kids are allowed a total of 2 hours per week (that’s not 2 hours each, that’s 2 hours of combined time for both kids). We have a small jar next to the television - it’s called Tech Time. There are 4 gold coins velcroed to the side of it. Within reason, they can choose when they want to use a coin (each is worth 30 minutes) - when they choose to use it they drop the coin in the jar. If they use all 4 coins in 1 day, that’s fine, but then no more tv for the rest of the week. Sometimes they are thoughtful and spread their time out during the week. Usually they save the coins for a movie towards the end of the week 
I know this seems strict/Type A/ OCD, but that’s me - it’s an easy way to monitor how much they are watching. The kids weren’t even allowed to watch anything at all until they were each 4/5 years old, so anything they get to watch is quite exciting to them.
1 Like
Wow! That is definitely more tight than I am right now triton17! 
But I completely respect it! I am somewhere between yoU guys. Mostly we keep it at about 2 hrs a day or less and there are even days we don’t turn it on at all. So thanks for the replies! Now I know where I stand and what everyone else is doing! I actually like your jar idea for time. Will definitely keep that idea in mind as they get older! 
2 Likes
We live in a rural area with BAD reception even with the satellite options so that takes care of itself. We do allow TV as a treat when we are in the city overnight for doctor’s appointments, but we limit it to one PBS station or the Weather Channel - which does have some really interesting science programs - like volcanos and storms… We also very occasionally will look up some of the old things we watched as kids that have value and let our sons watch them on the computer.
1 Like
We watch tv when I nurse the baby because she won’t let me read or write while nursing her. So 15/20 minute blocks throughout the day during that time. Beyond that, and when I don’t have a nursing baby, we do not watch tv during the day. We turn it on in the eve for a show or two…we do normally end up watching a family movie on friday evening and we watch shows (either educational or family faves) on saturday morning also.
I agree. We’re the same way about educational shows. We are VERY strict on what they do watch and it’s mostly in small blocks of time. My husband is self-employed and there are many times I have to shut myself in the office to do office type work and that is mostly when it comes on. Just something to keep them entertained long enough for me to focus on my work! 
But it is us ally PBS or I’ll stream something like Magic School bus.
I usually let my little ones watch 1 on demand show while they’re eating breakfast. They usually pick Arthur, Wild Kratts, or something like that. I get dvd’s from the library that go along with what we’re studying and let them watch those a couple afternoons a week when everything else is done. In the evening, baseball is sometimes on or something on HGTV or TLC and they are welcome to watch with me. They don’t really ask to watch more. Now, if you asked about ipads and computers, my answer would be very different! That’s the big attraction here.
1 Like
My kids are allowed one to two hours a day. We have in the past used “tv tickets” (like the coins) but I give them daily. They haven’t needed that regulation in awhile but it worked really well when they started getting lazy and asking for tv a lot. I love tv so I don’t mind them watching too. They are great about still playing, reading and doing other things. Sometimes they just want a veg break. We don’t have cable, we do Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. When we did tv tickets they got 4 a day (total together not each). They could be used for 20 minutes of Wii or Kindles instead of tv. And they usually saved one ticket for a bed time show.
2 Likes
My kids get an hour each day (30 minutes for each to decide what to watch) of “free” TV. That’s in the evening, usually after shower and before bed (so they can go to bed at least half clean LOL). In the afternoon, while I’m trying to get some housework done, they can watch an eductional program (a documentary or an educational cartoon). On Saturday we have Family Movie night.
1 Like
I’m late to the party, but we don’t allow any TV during the school week. We have family movie night 2-3 times a month where we watch TV together as a family, and the kids are allowed Netflix on Saturday mornings. We don’t have any cable service so we just do netflix and DVDs. My kids do SO MUCH BETTER when they don’t have any TV time…they focus better, obey better, and generally have better attitudes about chores, etc. Seriously…once we stopped TV during the week, things got a lot better around here.
4 Likes