Choosing Wisely: TV Shows for Kids with Concerned Moms

Sometimes, as a parent, I feel like I have failed my expectations for myself. I remember being pregnant and saying, "I will never..." to so many things. I had this perfect view of myself being the parent I thought I could be. I was going to play my heart out with our son every day. I do everything I needed done for the day in that one hour he naps, and somehow manage to make play stations for him with various sensory activities he could do after nap.

My child was never going to eat 'junk' food and he was NEVER going to watch tv during the day. Parents who sit their kids in front of the tv need to prioritize their responsibilities and pay more attention to their children. My expectations of parenthood came from Pinterest boards, mommy groups with people only bragging about the good things they do, and blogs where it is easy to hide the imperfections of your life.  Boy, did I think I was the expert.

I will not hesitate to tell you that I have failed myself miserably. I also have to say that I am mostly sane because of it, so I think it is ok. H gets little to no screen time aside from watching tv, and I do try to limit his time sitting on the couch. However, there are days when I have a deadline or I am not feeling well, or I just have a mountain and a half of clothes to wash and the tv makes a good sitter for him.

I do try to set goals for myself so that I can get my jobs done and still be an attentive mom to my son. On days when I know I am going to be busy, I sit him up with snacks and some recorded tv shows and attempt to get everything done before lunch. I then feed him and put him down for a nap. I know I have about an hour until my work time is over and it is play time. We read, do puzzles, play outside and go on long bike rides. This system isn't perfect, but it is what it is.

Here is the kicker... I hate TV. I really do. You wouldn't know it for all the TV watching I seem to find time for (laying in bed watching Family Feud or Fixer Upper when I am supposed to be sleeping.) I resisted having it in my home for the first 6.5 years of our marriage. We had Netflix, and that was it. The system worked for us until the internet company decided to get greedy and tell us that if we are going to stream content we have to pay $120 / month just for internet! It was cheaper to stay with a lower internet plan and get Direct TV than it was to pay for the internet they said we needed.

My husband is thrilled that we got tv. He now has the Golf channel and his news channels, which he throughly enjoys watching. I love having HGTV, History Channel, Food Network, etc. but most of my TV watching is kids tv these days.

Out of the 100+ channels we now have, there are only about 3 that are cartoon channels, and out of those 3, we only really watch one. I can feel mostly comfortable letting H watch the Disney Channel, but that is the only one. Even that channel has some commercials and a few shows I am not entirely thrilled with. We record two shows from Nick Jr. but I would never just turn on the channel for him to watch.

Blaze and the Monster Machines, Paw Patrol and Mickey Mouse dominate our TV watching and I guess there isn't much wrong with any of those shows. They usually teach a good lesson and are as clean as they come these days. There are a lot of commercials, and like I said, some of them I really don't approve of for my two year old.

As parents, especially parents of toddlers who absorb everything they see and hear, we have to guard what our children are exposed to. I am the mean mom who does not let my son watch anything not seen and approved by me. I am responsible for my son's mind and development and I want him exposed to good things, not a lot of mental 'junk food.'

Recently, I thought of some of my favorite shows as a kid. We watched a lot of VHS tapes from my mom's store when I was young. They were mostly christian based and my parents never had to worry about what we were being exposed to. I went on a search for those shows, just in case they happened to be on some channel on Direct TV.

Surprisingly, I found several of my favorite shows from when I was a kid. They are all biblically based, so I know that not only is my son not seeing anything he shouldn't, but he is also learning bible stories while he is being entertained. I can feel better putting him in front of the TV, and he is starting to like some of them. Nothing quite measures up to Blaze for my monster truck loving kiddo, but I am insisting that he either watch what is on or go play with his toys - his choice.

As an added bonus, most of these are not as annoying as some of the modern cartoons and rather than encourage sass and disrespect for others and especially parents, they encourage politeness, kindness, respect, etc. I really believe that what goes in comes out, and TV is no exception.

Here are some of the shows I  have recorded. If you are in the same boat as me, wanting a better alternative to TV for your kids, I would encourage you to also search for these and record the series.

                                               
What would my childhood have been without Wit's End? Between the VHS tapes we had and the Saturday morning radio show we listened to as a family, snuggling in mom and dads bed, I felt like I knew the characters. I do believe the radio show still airs on Focus on The family. This one airs on Saturdays on the Day Star network. There are several shows before and after for Kids, but honestly, I don't even like them - really lame, so I don't mess with any of their other Saturday morning cartoons. As a bonus, the commercials during this show are all great each one is teaching lessons on kindness, prayer, responsibility, etc. You just can't go wrong here.

I couldn't find McGee and Me! anywhere, but I did find the DVDs on Amazon, and I plan to get them for H some day.  This was a big part of my childhood, and I want H to experience it too. 

I forget what station this airs on, but you can search for it if you want to. I think the one I found is a remake, and they portray them as more 'southern' than I remember, with thick accents. However, the content is just as good as it was when I was a kid, so I can over look the voices being different.

This is actually a GREAT series of bible stories. I think my mom had most of them in her book store for rent when I was a kid, and I'm quite sure no one but me ever got to watch them because I was constantly coming home with one of them.

I didn't watch this as much growing up, but I know enough about it to know it is a good show. I think I saw the same three episodes over and over. This also looks to be a remake of the original, and I haven't actually seen one of the new ones yet, but I look forward to it. If it stays with the original idea, it is probably really great. 

Veggie Tales In The Hose is a newer show on Netflix, and it isn't bad, but I really miss the original TV show that specifically taught Bible stories and lessons. I miss QWRTY who gave the bible verse at the end and reinforced the lesson the kids watched. The Veggie Tales with the classic literature are good too, and I have nothing wrong with them, but my favorite will always be the original version. I was able to record this series but it has not aired yet, so I am not sure which version I will be getting. Any of them are ok, I guess... I am just keeping my fingers crossed for the Veggie Tales of my childhood. 

If you have a great show you record for your kids, or a dvd series you just love, let everyone know about it in the comments. I would personally love to fill up my DVR with great kids shows so I never run out of options for my son.