Littlebit will be 2 on Friday.  I won’t get into the cliches about how fast the time has gone.  If you have little ones, you understand.  We’re preparing for a birthday party on Saturday (at our local park, with a cake and friends. Nothing major) and settling into our first full week of fall activities.

Littlebit has Toddler Gym on Mondays
We host a Toddler get together at our house on Tuesdays
On Wednesday we volunteer at the Princesses School
Fridays we have Toddler story time at the library.

The princess is in Soccer on Saturday and wants to join Girl Scouts again this year, meaning we have a pretty full plate.  I struggle, I’m sure like most Moms do, in trying to keep the kids equally engaged while not having them be overscheduled.  In fact, I put fall swimming lessons on hold because I didn’t want to commit too many days per week.  I think kids need to have time to be kids.

In fact, this article from the state of Minnesota talks at length about how overscheduling our kids can lead to under connected families.  In fact, that article touches on the fact that organized sport playing has gone form, on average, 2 hours per week to in excess of five.

I think part of my reluctance has to do with the fact that i’m the lazy type of Mama who likes to be at home as much as possible.    But the rest is, I really do think kids need time to just do a whole lot of nothing.  The Princess has about 15 minutes of homework a night, if she doesn’t drag her feet and, until Daylight Savings Time  ends in a few months, she has a few hours each afternoon to play outside, blow off steam and just be a kid.  There are multiple sources out there that detail how beneficial unstructerd play is to a child’s development.  In 2006 the AAP puyblished a finding that lack of unorganized play was causing children to lag behind in social and emotional development.

But more so than that, my favorite memories from childhood was when my friends and I spent the day inventing our own fun.  Times were a bit different and I’m sure I had a bit more freedom than the Princess has at the same age, but I have very fond memories of rolling out of bed on Saturday mornings and knowing I had nothing to do all day, but explore the local creek, play at the playground and climb a few trees.  We would run home to scarf down a quick lunch before playing out until we were called inside at dark for dinner.

I know as parents we’re quick to try and make sure our kids have the best opportunities.  We want them to excel in sports and be exposed to so many languages and situations, but maybe, as findings are showing, the best things we can do for them is to just let them be kids.

The Chicago Tribune ran an article today detailing that, for the most part, the perennial children’s television favorite Mr. Rogers will be mostly off of the air in the United States for the first time in nearly forty years.  Fans, of course, are upset by this, stating that preschoolers need exposure to the simple, uncomplicated show and claiming his lessons are still wholly relevant.  The show airs on my PBS channel at 6am and I’ve had the opportunity to watch a few dozen episodes as I’m getting out of bed.  While I like Mr. Rogers for nostalgia’s sake (I remember watching it on PBS when that and sesame street were the only children’s television options), I agree with PBS’s decision.  The show to me seems outdated and not really relevant to today’s under six set.

Actually, I find it more upsetting that the fantastic show “Between the Lions” is buried at 6:30 on my local PBS station.  It’s a great show geared to pre-readers and early readers and does a fantastic job tackling the introduction of letter sounds, sight words and storytelling, but I suppose I’m digressing a little bit.

Overall, I think it’s time for Mr. Rogers to make the final departure from the airwaves.  Other shows are doing it as well and with a focus on today’s society (I remember  watching a show with Mr. Roger awkwardly using a computer.on a show that aired a few months back.  For the average preschoolers, computers aren’t asides, but real parts of family life and the only people in their lives who use them awkwardly are probably their grandparents, though even most of my peers parents are fairly computer savvy).  Of course, children don’t need to be exposed to computers on a t.v. for a show to be good or relateable, but that’s just a portion of why it’s time to make space for something different.

Littlebit is finally getting to the age where she’s enjoying a little bit of t.v.  We don’t encourage much watching, but I know I’m not the only parent on the planet who turns to t.v. a few times a week, for entertainment or distraction.  Littlebit prefers the Wiggles and Hi-5, but will occasionally watch my favorites; Max and Ruby and Franklin.  The educational values of these shows aren’t that high (particularly MY favorites), but Littlebit dances and jumps and bounces to the songs on the Wiggles and Hi-5 and even if she’s not learning about the letter V and the number 27, she’s at least active, waving her hands and arms in synch with the show.

What shows are doing it well?  That’s more difficult as I’m not sure that there are many that are.  I suppose the wide variety of available shows lends itself to a reduction in quality.  PBS’s 24-hour children’s programming channel Sprout peppers “good” programming with questionable offerings like Noddy, Jakers, Pingu and (lord help us) Boobah.  Sprouts “musical mornings”.  PBS kids, children’s programming on your regular PBS channel, seems a bit more weighted to the educational featuring Word World, Super Why, Cyber Chase (for the older set), a healthy helping of Sesame Street, World Girl and Fetch with Ruff Ruffman. (Nickelodeon’s educational content is even more questionable with Disney channels Playhouse Disney being the worst of all, with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse the really only reasonable  edutainment offering in the morning pre-school line up.

Why is this important?

“The bottom line is that
content is key — high-quality educational programming can have a
positive effect on children under age 6,” said Dr. Dimitri Christakis,
a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in
Seattle. link

I’m not that sure that Boobah would be considered high quality educational programming…..and, as an aside, Noggin (Nickelodeon’s preschool channel) offers that shows such as Max and Ruby and Franklin help children develop “inter-personal and intra-personal skills’, is this just a cop out to get enganging cartoons for the young set accepted as educational programming??