Educational Addiction

I know I've mentioned that there is a lot of t.v. watching in our house.  I still don't know what most cable channel numbers are because the main channels watched here are Sprout, PBS, Food Network, and the Cooking Channel.  The Babe has a fit if its not her channels, but when it reaches a point that she's gone non-stop for a long period of time, I switch to a cooking show whether I want to watch it or not.  She somehow finds that less offensive than turning the t.v. off.  So yes, we have a bit of a problem here, or rather, addiction.  Now that there is no t.v. watching upstairs, some of the t.v. time has been reduced (and no, its not on every minute of the day).  And with the weather slowly getting better, we've been spending more time outside. 

While I cringe knowing that she's a bit of a t.v. addict, and I am an enabler, at least I know the majority of the shows are educational.  I don't recall any particular educational messages from most of the shows I watched as a child.  While "Tom and Jerry" may have played major classical works of music, I didn't realize it at the time, and certainly didn't learn that factoid until I was much older. 

Today we watched, "The Cat in the Hat", on PBS, based on the Dr. Seuss book.  I enjoy hearing Martin Short voice the Cat, and the program is deceptively educational.  Today we learned about hibernation, which had several additional hidden messages, from wearing a seatbelt and asking one's parent permission before going on an adventure, to brushing one's teeth before bed.  So while many pediatric experts recommend children her age not watch more than 2 hours of t.v. a day, the positive is that she is learning and gaining an amazing vocabulary while watching (how many two-year-olds mention skyscrapers in conversation?).