TeeeVeee

As I type, O, having recently awakened from his nap, is tucked up comfortably on the couch and watching some TV.

Me: O, are you hungry? Do you want a banana?
O: No! 'Nack!
Me: OK, how about some Cheerios?
O: No! 'Nack!
Me: Yes, absolutely, a snack. How about some raisins?
O: Noooooo! 'NACK!!
Me: *deep breath* YES. A SNACK. I GET IT. Raisins? (Obviously, the caps are for emphasis. I would never raise my voice in real life.)
O: 'NAAAAACK! Waaaaaaaahhhhh!
Me: *Remaining the picture of serenity, hands him raisins, cheerios and some banana.*
O: *dries tears* Dank you. 'Nack.

But this is not my point. My point is TV. I have tremendous guilt about letting my kids watch TV.

Growing up, I wasn't allowed to watch very much television. (All the neighbors can attest to this, since my brothers and I used to sneak over to their houses to get our fix.) After all, it rots your brain and makes it leak out your ears. And look at Mike TV, poor kid. Things did not work out well for him.

I always assumed that I wouldn't permit my children to watch much of it either, but when 5 p.m. rolls around and you are trying to cook dinner and can't get the chicken/pasta/peas going without stepping on a 2-year-old, hot damn, TV is the BEST. Same goes for 8 a.m., except it's breakfast and getting dressed. Also, 2:30 p.m. and blog writing. Ugh, I have so many excuses, and right about now is when the guilt kicks in and I start listing all the great stuff my kids do that does not involve TV. Like eating! And sleeping! Also, sometimes we read words from these paper things that have pretty drawings. It's weird, because there's no screen, but the paper comes in handy when you have to stop brain leakage.

I maintain, however, that video games are the real devil. Only truly evil parents let their kids play video games. Obviously, I will never do that. Or at least not while the TV still works as a distraction.