'Living Simply' with children

74jax

Mojisola wrote: »

So do you mean that other kids who have TVs are also building forts, etc? If they are, it shows that having a TV and "doing stuff" is possible; if they aren't, then then don't have interests in common with your kids.

I picked that up too, but thought I must have got mixed up as it contradicted itself.

FR_262

I tried a no tv approsch with my eldest and he did miss out on school conversations. We got a tv but limited to programmes we thought were suitable. This was before exboxes etc.

Fast forward - my two youngest aged 13 and 15 have always had to wait until they're old enough for the game they want to play on the tech things. There's never been any ifs or buts about this the answer is a very firm no. My 15 year old will be 16 in Autumn and can't wait to get 16yr age specified games.

We had a blackout recently and the children couldn't play on the games so we played cards and sharades by firelight and candlelight. My 13 yr old said that was the best evening he'd had in ages.

poet123

LittleAoife wrote: »

I'm not saying that children with tv's don't do these thigs I'm saying that my experience is that my children are not socially disadvantaged because we don't have tv as they have other topics of common interest with other children.

Your children are very young though. Few, if any, Primary children of that age have in depth playground conversations about TV with their peers. That does change as they get older.

Banning TV is taking the easy route, monitoring and rationing is a much harder thing to do. Ultimately though it fits the "everything in moderation" adage that is a truism about most things.

LittleAoife

I haven't contradicted myself as I am not the op, I'm simply saying that what works for us is not having a tv at home, my children are fine at school they do lots of clubs and like I said play lots so have areas of conversation about subjects other than the tv. They may not know what's happening on the latest tv episode but they will know what happened at swimming/ girls brigade/ netball etc and this is what they seem to talk about with their friends. I have had extensive conversations with my eldest about whether she misses the. Tv or not and she says no,most films are available in book form, she has read most of the Harry potter hooks now ( she is 9) and is on g and t at school as well as being very popular amongst her peers. I don't hate the tv, I'm just saying that we got find of it and don't miss it!
Someone on here suggested that it makes them socially limited and I'm saying it does not, I'm not suggest one way is better than the other I'm suggesting that this is a moot point as it has made little or no difference to our lives outside of the home.

aimeemum

We have the actual TV but the only methods we have for viewing things are through DVD or on-demand internet. We have no aerial, and therefore no tv-licence! :j

My children do fine with just the DVD's. If we are short on time or I don't want them to watch anything, I simply say no. I heard on the radio when my eldest was very young that parenting isn't a democracy, it's a benign dictatorship. I kind of take this to heart.

Their toys are a bit of a mine-field but they are very 'generic' i.e. no tv fads or bought because the adverts look good! There are a lot of them, but my main issue is my children are very respectful of their things and consequently I still have toys which my littlest one (currently 5months) plays with which were given to my eldest (now 4!) when he was a baby! We have toys which should only last a matter of days, still working perfectly months or even years later! As a result they accumulate! lol. I'm loathe to give away/sell as they do play with 90% of them, so I am a terror for storage and trying to arrange things lol. Thankfully a lot of their toys are imagination based/wooden also, so that helps and they do 'play' well with lots of learning involved.

We do not own many gadgets. hubby has a laptop (which I'm currently borrowing to type this) and we have a smart-phone each although mine is a baby one which isn't very big or powerful). No consoles, no games to speak of. We have a DAB in the living room which goes on most afternoons while we do lessons/crafts or housework.

I'm lucky though - my LOs are still young and enjoy spending time at home and with me. This I'm sure will change when we get to school ages etc and I know this can't last forever....but I'm enjoying it while it lasts.