It happened. TV has crept into the lives of my children. I feel guilty admitting it, but I know that it's not going to change. We are on an irreversible path. Maybe irreversible isn't the right word, as it would be possible to eliminate TV, but if I'm being realistic, I highly doubt that's going to happen.
On advice I had read from various experts, I had a no TV policy in my house for the first two years of my girls' lives (almost). This was not at all difficult to accomplish. We simply read books, listened to music, went for walks, and played. I did watch TV during the day when they were newborns, but as soon as I noticed they were starting to pay attention to it, the TV only came on during nap time. When they were 18 months old, we went on a long flight with them, and I brought a portable DVD player with us in case I was desperate. I did become desperate at one point, turned it on for them, and they didn't sit still for more than a minute to watch it. They didn't know how to watch TV! I'm kind of proud of that, actually.
Then one day we were reading about animals, and I wanted them to hear the sound a seal makes, and to see how it claps. So, I pulled it up on YouTube for them. It was great, they loved it, and soon we were searching for more animals to watch in action. Tigers, and lions, and elephants, oh my! And so we began down a slippery slope...
I know our nanny started to let them watch things as well. Mickey Mouse, Elmo, etc. I don't know exactly when that started, or how much they watched, but I do trust that she respected my wishes to limit TV as much as possible. I knew that some viewing was going on, and I let it slide. If the weather is poor it can be a long day cooped up inside with two toddlers, and our nanny doesn't have to luxury of putting the kids in the car and going somewhere for a change of scenery.
A month or two before their second birthday, I started to let them watch cartoons in the mornings while I shower. It buys me 20 minutes that I don't have to worry about what they're doing, because they usually don't move once it's on. It's true, they turn into zombies. That's the worst thing about it. I have seriously done a song and dance in front of them while the TV is on, and they'll barely glance my direction. Disturbing. So it's definitely limited. There are still many days that they watch no TV, and the other days, it's less than an hour total. 20-30 minutes in the morning, and if it's an especially hectic dinner hour, 20-30 minutes while I get things ready.
I have seen some positives, I have to say. They have learned from things they've watched. The other day, they watched a 25 minute episode of Dora, and proceeded to have imaginative play about a "Gooey Geyser" for hours afterward. Yesterday they were telling me about patterns, and how I have to follow them. Dora was doing a puzzle one episode, and out came the puzzles for the whole afternoon. Good things.
So, it's a tool. We use it cautiously. And we absolutely still read, sing, listen to music, go outside, dance, and play.
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