Should my child watch TV?

Sunday 16th July 2023

Dear Mummy fibro warriors,

Last night, I was reading a parenting book and came across a section in the book titled screen time. I won’t name and shame the book but the general gist of the section was that children under 2 should not watch any television what’s so ever!!

Do I let my son watch TV?

This completely astounded me and I do not agree with this whatsoever. I felt compelled to write a post about it because I want parents to know it is okay for their child/children to watch TV. At the end of the day, it’s what we use to wind down so why shouldn’t they?

Now, I will admit when my boy was a lot younger I did worry about him watching TV and I always felt like I had to justify to people “oh he’s only watched 10 minutes” or “it’s educational TV so it’s fine”. I felt guilty for letting him watch it because I felt like we should be playing, or going out or in the garden or doing something else together. However, due to starting to understand more about pacing myself with this condition, I soon dropped my fears and began to let him choose when he watched it.

What my son learns from watching TV

That’s not to say he watches it 24/7 or for huge stretches at a time but the value of it when he does is amazing. Take for example the films he likes to watch. From watching DVD’s he’s learnt to:

• Open the Xbox DVD port
• Close the Xbox DVD port
• Put the disc in the DVD port
• Put discs back in their boxes
• Say shark
• Say Nemo
• Say Dory
• Link pictures and books to the DVD’s he watches

and so much more.

My son’s favourite films

He has two favourite films at the moment, which are Shark Tale and Finding Nemo.

Finding Nemo

• Finding Nemo is a fantastic kids film that can be enjoyed by adults too. It is a tale of 2 fish (A dad and a son) exploring the ocean when Nemo goes missing. The dad has to fight tooth and nail to get his son back and his son learns lots of valuable lessons along the way. Because of this film, my child loves going to aquariums to see fish and has started to build more vocabulary.

Shark Tale

• Shark Tale is a funny film with an all star cast. It is a tale of Oscar the fish and Lenny the shark battling their demons to become happy in their lives. It teaches the value of friendship, being your own person and knowing that friendship and love are super important. We had to get some books from the local library too about sharks because he loves this film so much.

Watching films means it is a welcome break for you to rest with a cup of tea and a biscuit and it is downtime for your child too. It is something you are doing together as a family and often my son and I will get snuggled up under a blanket and rest with each other.

TV shows my son watches

The TV shows he likes to watch are Peppa Pig and Bing.

Peppa Pig:

• Peppa Pig is a comical show about Peppa, her little brother George and her mummy and daddy. Each episode is different and can be about making friends, star gazing, going on picnics, grandparents and much much more. He loves Peppa Pig and we have got him so many of the Peppa Pig books too, which often match the episodes he has been watching.

Bing

• Bing is a loveable bunny who lives with Flop. It is a story about Bing’s journey through childhood and covers themes such as sharing, playing with friends, sleepovers, park trips and much much more. I bought him a Bing playset on the back of this and he loves playing pretend ice cream making with Gilly’s ice cream van from the show.

Mummy the Fibro Warrior Top Tip:

1. It is okay to let your child watch TV and films whilst you rest up and recuperate. They are learning, taking it all in and it does not make you a bad parent if they do watch TV.

If there is one takeaway I would like you all to remember today is that TV and films are there to be enjoyed. Fibromyalgia and other chronic conditions are full on especially with parenting thrown into the mix. Give yourself a break and let them have a break. I need you to know that you are doing the best you can, your child/children love you and you are Mummy the Fibro Warrior.

Until next time

x

Please do leave a comment about what films/tv shows your child loves to watch!