I’ve been very lucky to have my husband home for a few weeks during Christmas. It’s been great. This morning he made breakfast for the kids, french toast. But while I was happy to have him make breakfast for the kids, he had the TV on for them during breakfast. I’m a strong opponent to that, as it just slows the entire process down, not only that but it breaks my morning routine that I have set with the kids. So as I sat and watched my 7 year old and my 20 month old stare open mouthed at the stupid TV during breakfast, I wondered how much they should really watch it.

It’s recommended that kids under 2 watch no TV at all. There should be enough things to entertain your child without using the electronic baby sitter. One thing I can say about that is that if I didn’t put our baby in front of Blues Clues every now and then, I couldn’t cook at some points during the day! Sometimes it’s a must!

For children 2-6, it’s recommended they receive only 1 to 2 hours a day. This still seems like an extreme, at least for a 6 year old. Our daughter gets 45 minutes when she gets home from school to just chill out from her day and that ends up being about it.

One thing for kids is that if you must plop them in front of the TV for a while, it’s best to have them watch shows that are age appropriate and that are interactive, like Dora or Blues Clues. These help kids at least take part in the show instead of just sitting there like zombies!