Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Parental guilt
My son, Jack, who is going on 21 months old as I write this, has quite suddenly become capable of watching movies. Or at least, he is capable of watching a movie as long as that movie is "Lilo and Stitch". Up till now, he was just too hyper to sit down and pay attention for the requisite timespan.
I'm thinking that he may have even become too good at doing this.
I'm conflicted over this event. On the one hand, I don't want to encourage him to sit there like a vegetable all day. On the other hand, suddenly I can do any number of things while he does so. Things like preparing his dinner, or cleaning afterwards, or sending an email or making a phone call. It seems like forever since I was able to do things like these while he was awake.
The next time I hear someone complain about parents who "let the TV be a babysitter", I'll make sure to ask them whether they just spent almost two years chasing a baby.
I'm thinking that he may have even become too good at doing this.
I'm conflicted over this event. On the one hand, I don't want to encourage him to sit there like a vegetable all day. On the other hand, suddenly I can do any number of things while he does so. Things like preparing his dinner, or cleaning afterwards, or sending an email or making a phone call. It seems like forever since I was able to do things like these while he was awake.
The next time I hear someone complain about parents who "let the TV be a babysitter", I'll make sure to ask them whether they just spent almost two years chasing a baby.
