So, my 15 month old daughter has finally been exposed to an ubiquitous "Baby Einstein" video. It's a cute little production, with puppets and kids, with lots of actually useful information regarding body parts; eyes, ears, mouth and nose, etc. The problem? She loves the video so much that she wants to watch it...all of the time. She even knows the word "video" and uses it constantly to get mommy and daddy to slap the tape in.
When she watches, her jaw is slack, her eyes are glassy. She is, in the zone. I wonder if this is okay; lots of other parents I've spoken to have experienced the same thing, and yet most are fine with it. I have to admit, it is kind of nice to have half an hour to get things done around the house, or even "gasp!" relax for awhile.
But I feel pretty darn guilty, I don't think a video is what "quality time" is supposed to be. So, we try to keep the video down to once a day. This doesn't always hold true on a weekend, especially a three day weekend, but we are doing our best.
Even more distressing in some ways, these videos are everywhere and sell like gangbusters, at the price for a normal DVD! That's anywhere from 15 to 25 bucks! What a racket. As someone who is in the biz, I am astonished at how much money this "Baby Einstein" thing must be raking in. I am very jealous and wish I had thought to shoot simple but bright images and toys at my production company a few years back.
1 comment:
no shit man. videos are like crack for babies. i feel you on the guilt too. my 3 year old watches jeopardy with us every night, but up until I got Comcast about 9 months ago now that was all he was allowed to watch. Now we have OnDemand and it is just too tempting to on a weekend morning not to let him lay in bed with us and watch a few episodes of Thomas or Calliou while my wife and i sleep in.
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