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Elmo Addiction
Jun. 7th, 2004 01:12 amThe biggest parenting mistake we've made thus far was buying a TV (with a built in DVD player) for Laszlo's room when he turned one. We were so excited with how happy he would get and how interactive he was with his programs that we neglected to think of the future problems it may lead to. I guess a little TV is the gateway to more severe television patterns, it's the Elmo Gateway Drug.
At first we'd put the TV on for him at bedtime and time it to go off after a half hour. Then an hour. Then 2 hours. Then leaving it on all night long just so we could avoid the screaming when the set went off. Before Lily was born I knew we had to stop this behavior so we could all get some sleep. I weaned him off the TV slowly over a couple of weeks and he did just fine with Norah Jones instead of television to go to sleep. He does love his music.
So when he got croup last week, I felt so sorry for him that stupidly I put the TV on for him at night. Forgot to mention that the DVD part of the set broke about 6 months after we got it, so you have to try about a thousand times to get it to work by ejecting and reinserting the disc and keeping your fingers crossed. I still haven't calculated if cursing through gritted teeth helps the process.
Laszlo woke up about 20 minutes ago, around 1:00 crying for something. He wanted his "ploggy" which is his new way of saying "froggy" for some reason. I went into his room to see that he had all his frogs in his crib with him already. Then he asked for a bottle. Again, since he's been sick and his throat sore, I got him a bottle. Then the demand I could not fulfill. The Elmo fix. "ELMO ON!" I put on the TV just to shut him up at this point...PBS Kids is on 24/7...Berenstain Bears - no good. I try the Elmo disc with fingers crossed. "Incorrect disc" OVER and OVER again, in spite of gritting teeth and cursing under my breath. Screaming child in background doesn't help either.
Now he's in his crib SCREAMING for Elmo and for his froggy (all of which are still comfortably in his crib) and all I want to do is go to sleep, but I can't do that while he's screaming. He's so persistent, he'll scream for an hour. Then he'll pass out. Then undoubtedly Lily will wake up to nurse. Then Robert will get up for work. Robert will want to talk to me about something that I'll need to render myself mentally alert for. The day's shot already and it's only 1:20 am. Shit.
At first we'd put the TV on for him at bedtime and time it to go off after a half hour. Then an hour. Then 2 hours. Then leaving it on all night long just so we could avoid the screaming when the set went off. Before Lily was born I knew we had to stop this behavior so we could all get some sleep. I weaned him off the TV slowly over a couple of weeks and he did just fine with Norah Jones instead of television to go to sleep. He does love his music.
So when he got croup last week, I felt so sorry for him that stupidly I put the TV on for him at night. Forgot to mention that the DVD part of the set broke about 6 months after we got it, so you have to try about a thousand times to get it to work by ejecting and reinserting the disc and keeping your fingers crossed. I still haven't calculated if cursing through gritted teeth helps the process.
Laszlo woke up about 20 minutes ago, around 1:00 crying for something. He wanted his "ploggy" which is his new way of saying "froggy" for some reason. I went into his room to see that he had all his frogs in his crib with him already. Then he asked for a bottle. Again, since he's been sick and his throat sore, I got him a bottle. Then the demand I could not fulfill. The Elmo fix. "ELMO ON!" I put on the TV just to shut him up at this point...PBS Kids is on 24/7...Berenstain Bears - no good. I try the Elmo disc with fingers crossed. "Incorrect disc" OVER and OVER again, in spite of gritting teeth and cursing under my breath. Screaming child in background doesn't help either.
Now he's in his crib SCREAMING for Elmo and for his froggy (all of which are still comfortably in his crib) and all I want to do is go to sleep, but I can't do that while he's screaming. He's so persistent, he'll scream for an hour. Then he'll pass out. Then undoubtedly Lily will wake up to nurse. Then Robert will get up for work. Robert will want to talk to me about something that I'll need to render myself mentally alert for. The day's shot already and it's only 1:20 am. Shit.
