Tuesday, January 25, 2005
TV Be Gone!

Ruby and I are both enjoying school. Today, when I arrived to pick her up, she was sitting on the floor; her hand plunged in a mountain of toys, giggling to herself. My feelings of guilt for abandoning her to the care of strangers were temporarily assuaged. I do wish that I had the means and the time to stay home with her for the first couple of years, but in some ways, I really do think that her well-being is better served by having some time at a preschool.

Having reread some of my first posts, I remembered that I had stopped watching TV in preparation for Ruby’s arrival. Ruby’s desire to be rocked to sleep, her preference to nap in my arms, and our first illness together all conspired to break my anti boob tube resolve. We got into the bad habit of watching TV while I gave her the bottle, and while she drifted off for her nap. At first, it was just background white noise that calmed her and entertained me as she slumbered. I spent many an hour with my attention drifting back and forth between her beautiful sleeping face and back-to-back episodes of Law and Order. I tried to return to my TV-less ways, but I was thwarted.

I am very glad to say that Ruby loves books, and we encourage her to walk around with the paperbacks that she pulls from our low shelves, even though a few pages always seem to find their way to the floor or between Ruby’s newly developing teeth. However, if I tried to read during our nap routine, her love of books turned to agitation that I wouldn’t share with her by letting her rip and chew my new Medieval folklore collection. Even if I kept the book on the table next to the rocking chair, hoping to read after she drifted off, she would spy it, and her covetous nature led to squirmy reaching fits accompanied by loud prolonged screaming, so reading during Ruby’s nap fell by the wayside.

About a month ago, I started to notice that the TV wasn’t just background information for either of us. It was only for fifteen minutes or so, twice a day as she started to nap, but she was intently focused on the flickering images. If I held up my hand or arranged the blanket on my knee to block her view, she would crane her neck back and forth, contorting her body in ways that no one over the age of two could mimic, so that she could follow her programs. If I turned the TV off prematurely, she would fidget for a moment and then shout at the black screen. “Where’s My SHOW?!?”

All the books that we are reading about her night time sleeping routine say that daytime naps are of paramount importance. In my exhausted state, knowing that Ani’s already difficult overnight regime would be even more difficult if I fixed my daytime TV problem, I just rolled with the court TV punches. Bring on Cops and NYPD Blue while you’re at it! We’ll watch ‘em all.

Just to set your minds at ease, our TV watching days are over. I don’t have time for it, with all my schoolin, and the break in Ruby’s routine has already wiped clean her memory of napping with the telly.

I think it’s good for us to have a break from each other. It won’t be all day everyday, but I have actually had time to vacuum, do laundry and put up those new bookshelves (not all of my books need to be within Ruby’s playful reach.) When I do pick her up from school and spend a few hours with her, I am ready to play! We read books, play music on her piano, and roll around on the relatively well-vacuumed floor. While she’s at school, she is with really nice people (she always wants to hug Miss Kim before she goes) who are able to constantly entertain her, and when she comes home with me, I am able to actually spend time with her instead of trying to get stuff done while she is around. Most importantly for both of us, that vacuum tubed monkey is off our backs, at least until the Super Bowl.