Monday Mommyhood Madness - TV

First off, I wanted to do a little explaining...I don't think I
explained what Monday Mommyhood Madness was all about. It isn't
necessarily about things that make me 'mad' (although some times it
may be!). This is the day that I will blog about all things in the
Mommy world...from housework, to cooking for a family, to diapers, and
everything in between....whatever happens to be on my mind at the
time. So, welcome to my mad world of mommyhood. :)

Now that I've taken care of that...this week I'd like to talk about
TV. Yes, I will admit...before I had kids I vowed that I would not
allow my kids to sit in front of the TV all day. I wasn't going to be
'that' mom. Ryleigh's first year and a half of life she was only
allowed to watch a total of 1 hour of TV per day - 1/2 hour in the
morning and 1/2 hour in the afternoon. And there were no
exceptions...that is until I got pregnant with Isaac and I was utterly
exhausted and nauseous all day every day for 8 straight weeks. It was
at that time that I decided that maybe an hour straight of Sesame
Street wasn't such a bad thing...it gave me little down time. And
things just went downhill from there...first it was early pregnancy,
then bed rest, then learning to deal with a just-barely 2 year old and
a newborn at the same time...and the truth is - it just makes my life
easier. Is it right? Probably not. Does it make me a bad mom?
Sometimes I feel that way...that mommy guilt seems to always be
hanging around about something. But, you know what? My kids are happy
and healthy and I figure there are worse things they could be doing.
And don't get me wrong...my kids aren't in front of the TV all day.
Given the choice, they'd still choose to go play outside or do a art/
craft project, etc. But if we're stuck inside, or I need to get
something done, the TV is on. That's just how it is.

And in defense of TV- it's come a long way since I was a kid! My kids
have actually learned a lot from the shows they have out now...they've
taught ME some Spanish and even Chinese words. And just about every
show they watch has some educational content to it - aside from ABCs
and 123s they're also learning how to deal with emotional and social
situations. And they get exposed to different cultures, imagination
building, memory building, and moral issuses. I'm amazed my some of
the things they have learned from these shows. Gotta love Noggin! :).

Now that I've got all that off my chest, could someone help me clear
up a few things in my mind?
1. Where are Max and Ruby's parents? This one really bothers me...
2. Why does Spongebob live in a pineapple?
3. When is Sesame Street gonna get some new footage? Seriously, it's
some of the same scenes that I watched 25 years ago.
4. Do all animals carry around a cellular version of a tin can phone so they can call the Wonder Pets if they happen to get in trouble?
5. Do the members of the Fresh Beat Band EVER change their clothes????