Boy, I Must Be Trippin'

Hey, I'm not really here, I'm actually in PEI!  (This post is just a hallucination, but keep reading because it gets better..)  If you feel like it, you can imagine me lying on a beach with red sand, lazily taking in the vast expanse of shining waters in front of me, and sipping a very large glass of sangria.

Yeah, right.  Closer to the actual scene is me running around like a chicken with my head cut off shouting: "Put more sunscreen on!", "Don't go in the water without me!", "Stop eating the sand!!"  (That last one was for the benefit of the baby, not my preschooler.)  If I manage to down a coffee in between screams, it's a good day at the beach.

Because we opted to save some money and drive out to the Island, we broke one of my Cardinal Rules of Parenting last week and bought a portable DVD player.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I loves me some television.  But yes, even me, Boob Tube Bacchanalian that I am, have some rules.  No TV in the kids bedrooms, period.  No TV in our bedroom, for that matter.  (Um, although we are currently breaking that rule as we had to move our older son out of the nursery and into the spare bedroom when the baby came.  The spare bedroom was where we kept our smaller TV.  BUT, we never watch it at bedtime.  Bedrooms are for sleeping.  And, um, other things..)  And no TV in the car.

I think cars are great places for families to reconnect and actually talk to one another.  I love a captive audience, after all.  I've always thought that the image of four people in the close quarters of a car and yet having absolutely no communication painted a rather sad picture.  I was determined that our family wasn't going to fall prey to that trap.  Sadly, though, it's a REALLY long drive to PEI.  I mean REALLY LONG.  At least 16 hours.  I like myself a lot and I think I'm a pretty great conversationalist, but even I don't want to talk to myself for that long.

I bought some great books, new toys, stickers, bubbles, crayons and snacks (Come to think of it, with all the money I spent, I should have just bought an airline ticket.  Humpf.), but I was scared of what would happen when the novelty of all this paraphernalia wears off.  Well and truly scared.  As I should be.  So I'm going to have to suck it up and accept the fact that yet again I've fallen by the parenting wayside.  Maybe if we watch some really good educational and creative shows, it won't be so bad.

Top Ten Kids Television Shows that I Think Are Worth Watching For Their Educational or Creative Value and Don't Annoy the Crap Out of Me...Yet

1. Sesame Street
2. The Muppet Show
3. Super Why
4. Four Square
5. Word World
6. Word Girl
7. Pinky Dinky Doo
8. The Boblins
9. Are We There Yet
10. This Is Emily Yeung

The TV Show That My Son Would Most Likely Want to Watch

1. Dora the Explorer

Top Ten Kids or Family-Friendly Movies that I Could Watch More Than Once Without Wanting to Throw Them (or Myself) Out the Car Window

1. The Muppet Movie
2. The Sound of Music
3. The Lion King
4. The Dark Crystal
5. The Wizard of Oz
6. The Incredibles
7. The NeverEnding Story
8. Escape to Witch Mountain
9. Shrek
10. The Secret Garden

The Movie That My Son Would Most Likely Want to Watch

1. Cars

Comments

[motherbumper]

If I have to watch Dora the Explorer ever again, I will scratch my eyes out with a spoon. So I feel your pain.

And love the movie list, but Gigi is unfortunately scared of half of them (but The Incredibles - awesome movie for everyone in the family).