Baby Einstein, Television and the Insane Pressure of Parenting

Ok, I know I’m late to the party, but I only found out yesterday about the Baby Einstein incident.

If you don’t know about it, essentially, the makers of Baby Einstein videos were accused of falsely claiming that their videos improved the intelligence of babies, when the American Academy of Pediatrics said that no children under 2 should watch video.

Ever.

Oh, I am in so much trouble.

Because after Amelia was born, it was all I could do to lie on the couch with my knees around my ears (when I wasn’t holding her, of course) and drown in Oprah, Dead Zone, Farscape and Stargate SG-1 reruns.

I remember morning feedings to Regis & Kelly. (And yes, I am embarrassed by that!)

I remember watching American Idol when Amelia was learning to walk and how she adored it.

We are a TV watching family. I’d like to say we’ve turned it off, but that’s not the case. So shoot me.

In light of all this, I kind of think this whole Baby Einstein thing is out of proportion. Let me give you a run down on the days when I was home with Amelia as a first-time mom.

She slept late, up early for a feeding. Half asleep, that dumb Regis-Kelly show woke me up and helped us to get back to sleep. Then it was onto baby yoga, because that was supposed to get me in shape and make Amelia smarter. Later, I’d yap yap yap to Amelia while cleaning out the kitchen, introducing vocabulary and when she was old enough to sit in the high chair on her own, I’d make large print flash cards with words for the food she ate. I named every freaking object in the entire house until she was pointing out things I didn’t know the name to, like the thing that holds the blinds together. We’d dance because music is supposed stimulate learning (and allegedly helps you lose baby fat, but I found only TIME got rid of that). I had pictures around her changing table because that’s supposed to help improve cognitive functions. I made puppets out of lsocks, drew with her fingers, counted everything I saw, recited the alphabet every 5 minutes, did every conceivable activity you can do with wooden blocks, take photos, videotape and then plop on the couch…

And it would be 10:30AM. Oh. God. And she made some progress in some areas, sometimes, but by the 2nd year, when she started falling behind, I felt like I was in some stupid dog & pony show.

Television evil? Maybe. Too much commercialism? Definitely. Baby Einstein the anti-christ? I don’t think so.

My experience with them: I didn’t understand the books, but the kids did and loved them. I didn’t have a CD player so I didn’t buy the music. I have one DVD, which was a gift I played a few times for Zoe but one of the characters made her scream. So I got the one they played at the church nursery, Praise Baby, and pretty soon Amelia was singing and dancing and Zoe, my “fussy” baby, was happy.  (If she ends up an atheist, will I get refund for that DVD?)

I will play less TV – I started yesterday by working out with the Wii. (Or does that not count? In that case, I’m screwed). Morning TV wakes them up, or else they’d be zombies.  And sitters, family or hired, despite my best attempts, always play more TV than I say they can. It’s impossible to constantly micro-manage them while I work.

What’s a parent to do, especially when they too watch TV? Not as much as I used to, not as little as the years I gave it up altogether. But I do, and with my constant Type A-life, why shouldn’t I?

The Flipside: Visit the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and stare aghast at how much selling the damn media does to our kids.

Somewhere there has to be a balance in all this.  Go Google it if you want a refund, but personally, I think the risk’s on the buyer. All baby products & programs claim to make them smarter/better/faster/bionic children, but aptitude, acumen, propensity,  ability, and attention count in the child too.  Not all kids can (or should) excel at all things.

That’s my 2 cents. Take it or get your money back.

Giveaway: Teaching Kids Empathy with Feeleez!

This week I’m honored to be giving away not one but TWO boxes of Feeleez! I recently received a set to review and my kids love ‘em.

What are Feeleez? Feeleez are cards that contain illustrations of kids displaying various emotions. There are 2 cards for each emotion (great for matching!) and they are packed in a durable tin. What I like about Feeleez is that they do not list the emotions on the card. Instead, kids can use their imagination to figure out what emotions are displaying.

Feeleez come with a tip sheet about teaching kids empathy and suggestions on how you can use them, including:

• Match game
• Have your kids make up a story about the characters
• Like a Picture Exchange for feelings
• As a teaching tool (“This is how your sister feels when you hit her.”)

And did I mention, these are great for kids with learning disabilities?

RULES:

To enter, you must put add a comment below.  THAT’S it!  Note that I do need to approve comments for new visitors.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:

One additional entry for each of the following – you MUST comment with what you’ve done and yes, you can do that all on  one comment:

• Retweet this post.
• Blog about this giveaway.
• Subscribe via RSS feed (linked here) or email (see sidebar).
• Get a friend to enter – you must comment which entrant it is, and you get one entry for each friend!

A great big thank you to Feeleez and the Natural Parenting Center for sponsoring this giveaway!

CONTEST ENDS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8TH AT MIDNIGHT EST.

Good luck!!