Sunday, April 5, 2009

Popular Baby-sitter

Caitlyn has not been as easy as she once was. She has been cranky and unable to be alone even for a minute, making it very difficult for me to do basic tasks such as brushing my teeth and taking a shower.

Personally, I think she has been getting bored because her cranky cries quickly turn to big smiles once I play something new with her. I searched on the internet for what other parents do to keep their babies occupied. I was surprised (even shocked to read) many gems such as "my 4 month old loves Disney cartoons. I just plop him in front of the TV and he can be entertained long enough for him to fall asleep".

Oh. My. God.

A four month old loves Disney? Does a four month old even understand what Disney is?!

Of course I understand that this clever mother probably meant that he was entertained by the colourful moving images but since when does a TV become a baby's nanny? Do these parents who use the TV so readily for babies even realise the damage it is doing to their poor babies' eyes? Why damage their eye sight so early in life when they can do it quite quickly when they're older?

To read that parents use the TV to entertain their babies (like it's a miracle cure for their need for stimulation) has really disturbed me. I guess I'll attribute this to their plain ignorance and not that they are too lazy to play with their kids.

No one said kids were easy to look after so if you made the decision to have them, you have to nurture them and not find quick fixes that make it easy for you, while not benefiting the kids in the slightest.

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