One thing about grandkids…they drag you into the 21st century! Along with almost everything else I thought I was an authority on, TV Time for kids has required me to do a little tune-up of my own. In order to get on top of this Grandparenting gig, we’ve been fine-tuning TV Time at our house.
First and foremost…
If I could offer one caution to Grand-parents it would be the following:
“Never Assume.”
Just because you did things a certain way with your kids, never assume it’s okay to keep doing them the same way with your grandkids.
Raising children has changed. Every generation puts its own spin on parenting.
What kids eat has changed. Apple juice is out and water is in. Treats are out and fruits and vegetables are in.
What, when and where kids play has changed. How they spend their free time has changed. Then there’s the whole world of electronics thing that keeps me on my toes.
And though TV Time is still around in one form or another, it’s changed too.
There are things going on in TV land that weren’t even on the radar when my kids were kids.
And what both my husband and I realized, when grandkids came into our lives, we had some re-learning to do. (on multiple fronts actually) The way we had handled TV with their parents years ago needed some “fine-tuning.”
My Biggest Tip
Here’s my NUMBER ONE TIP on TV Time with the grandkids… And really? If you follow this tip, you don’t even need to read the rest of this post!
Always, always, always, check with the parents. Want to know what the kids like to watch and what it is OKAY for them to watch? (Not always the same thing by the way.) Check with Mom and Dad.
First of all Mom and Dad know where the good stuff is and can save hours of endless scrolling through channels. Secondly they can steer you to what is suitable and what is not. And best of all, they know what the kids favourite programs are.
It’s a relief to get some direction. Mom and Dad give us the guide lines. We follow them.
Grown-up TV and Kids’ TV
In our house we have two kinds of TV shows: Grown-up TV and Kids’ TV.
“Grown-up TV”
Grown-up TV at our house means adult type content.
And what does that mean as far as the grandkids go? Well, when the little are visiting, we don’t watch the news. We stay away from anything containing violence, nudity, foul language, or adult themes. All Grown-up TV. And yes, there’s a lot Grown-up TV content in 2020.
If we want to watch something “Grown-Up”, we wait til the kids go home or are safely in the sleep part of the sleep-over.
Why no Grown-Up TV?
Here’s one thing about kids that hasn’t changed. If the TV is on, the littles may not even appear to be watching, but trust me when I say, they don’t miss much. They may not be getting the facts straight, but they will definitely be absorbing the energy and intent. And there are some heavy messages on the screen. One way to keep little kids being little kids, is to stay away from adult programming.
Honestly, leaving Grown-up TV alone for awhile is a nice break.
Kids’ TV
Choosing programs to watch with the grand kids is is not as easy as grabbing the Remote Control and locating the Kids’ Channels.
Kid’s TV today: The choices are endless.
Kid’s TV – What to Watch
Scrolling through the available kids programming gives me the same range of feelings I get when I’m standing in the Kids Toy section at Walmart and I don’t recognize half the toys I’m looking at.
I’m in a world I don’t get. I feel overwhelmed.
Kid’s TV isn’t always Kid’s TV…Say What???
Yeah, isn’t that the sticker? Even if the program says it’s Kid’s TV and it’s on a Kid’s Channel, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s suitable. There is a lot of garbage out there.
One person’s garbage is another person’s gold; so how are we, as grandparents, supposed to know what’s okay for our grandkids and what’s not?
I suggest checking with the experts. Always!!
And the Experts would be?
The Parents of course!
So You Can’t Get In Touch with Mom and Dad…Now What?
There are Websites to Offer Help
There are websites available that give a good breakdown on content and suitability…aimed at children’s tv and movies. Here are a couple of websites recommended to us by our kids, you know..the parents of our grandchildren, aka The Experts :
Common Sense Media
Kids in Mind
Is the Program is “Age Appropriate”
Hallelujah for the Age Appropriate Guide. TV shows and Movies are graded for age appropriateness. What a big plus. Most movie and tv show listings give a age rating. Just look for the following Codes:
This is the latest Age Appropriate Guide from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation:
- C – Children.
- C8 – Children Over 8 Years.
- G – General.
- PG – Parental Guidance.
- 14+ – Over 14 Years.
- 18 + – Adults.
guide from www.cbc.ca/tools
And Last but Not Least, Talk with the Grandkids
We’ve found that most of the time the kids know what’s allowed. And of course they know what they want to watch.
However, be prepared: When they look at you with those adorable cow eyes of theirs and say “We watch this ALL THE TIME at home, ” it may still be a good idea to double check that information with the parents.
It’s not a great feeling when your kid comes to the door to pick the grandkids and looks at you in shock and says, ‘You let them watch WHAT???”
Yes, I know this from personal experience.
Remember, a check-in with a parent is only a text or phone call a way. And parents appreciate that you care enough to contact them. I also know this from personal experience.
Of Course, It’s Great to Introduce the Grand kids to New
Don’t get me wrong. One of the best parts of grand-parenting is sharing things with the grand kids they may not get other places. And TV programming definitely falls under that umbrella. Just do a little research first. Run what you want to watch by Mom and Dad. Maybe junior isn’t ready for African Safari stories of lions eating gazelles quite yet…for example.
Benefits of TV Time with the Grand-kids!
Great Programs
There is some top notch TV for Kids. Amazing stuff.
The parents have steered us to PBS, Treehouse, and Disney Jr and Disney Family; Netflix and the Disney Network. Suggestions continue to evolve as more channels and networks come on board and as the grandkids get older.
Because of grand-parenting, we’ve been introduced to the Big Purple Dinosaur Barney.(He gets such a bad rap and he’s so cute!!). We fell in love with Ruby and Max, In the Night Garden and Daniel Tiger and were sadder than the kids when they moved on from Paw Patrol and the BackYardigans.
One of the biggest secrets out there is the number of great Kids’ Movies we all should be watching.
Who knew? In fact, we’ve recommended many of the movies we have watched with our grandkids to adults we know. Up!, Coco, and The Toy Story Series for starters. (Hmmm I see a blog coming on this topic).
Quality Time
interests
The kids love it when we watch their shows with them. They feel respected and appreciated when we are interested in what they are interested in.
What the grand kids like to watch on TV tells us something about them. We find out what they are keen on, what makes them laugh, etc.
Conversation starter
TV Time leads to conversation. It’s nice to have a few lines past ” What did you do this weekend? or “How was school today”? Talking about TV shows is especially handy with a preteen or a grand child you don’t see on a regular basis. It’s amazing the things we’ve learned about our grand kids while we are watching a show together.
Downtime
I’d be lying if I didn’t say we take advantage of TV Time to slow the pace from time to time. It can be quite nice to sit, be quiet and relax. We know where everyone is and what everyone is doing when we have TV Time together!
Gives us a chance to rest up for the next round!
Grandparenting and TV Time
I don’t know about you, but we find when the TV goes on, the kids can sit there for hours. (Something that hasn’t changed since I was a kid myself!) It’s not always easy to move them into another activity. I’m working on another post right now what we do when the TV goes off.
I know there are as many ways to grand-parent as there are grand kids!!! Love to hear any suggestions you might have on Fine-tuning TV time with the Littles!
Take care,
Lynn
And remember, it’s never too late to try something new.
