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Parent Hack: TV Time Magnets

A few months ago, we had reached a not-so-nice place in TV Land: the power struggle. My almost-four-year-old daughter had decided to push the limits of TV watching, bargaining and pleading for more shows and getting pretty upset when we didn’t give in. Now I don’t really mind television, having grown up on a steady diet of Sesame Street, Superfriends, and Brady Bunch reruns, but I do mind a daily power struggle, so we looked for a solution. The fix came from my dear friend Julie, who told me about a TV chart she was using for her own kids.

The basic idea: Measure out TV in “blocks” of time; we allow three “blocks” per day, which are roughly 30 minutes each. (A block, for us, is a single kids’ show; we let Frances trade two blocks for one longer video or movie. We highly encourage the movie watching when I have to cook dinner.) We keep track of these blocks using fridge magnets. The blocks can be used at any time during the day; it’s totally up to the child. This means she has complete freedom of choice — what show she watches, and when — but she has a visual reminder when she has reached her daily limit.

Here’s how it works: I used one sheet of magnetized inkjet paper to make a fridge chart. For these purposes it works well because it can easily be cut with scissors and colored with markers, and the finished product sticks to the fridge.

I cut out a giant frame from one sheet of the paper; this is our “TV.” I used the remaining magnet paper to make three rectangles, each representing one block, or TV show. I had Frances color the frame to look like a big television, complete with buttons, and stuck the empty frame to the fridge. We then colored the rectangles to look like smaller TVs. At the start of each day, the three little TV’s are stuck to the fridge above the frame; when Frances wants to watch a show, she moves one little TV into the frame. When all three TV’s are in the frame, she’s done for the day.

Here’s the chart in action:

Ready for the day, no shows watched yet:

End of the day, all shows watched:

(Note the thousands of highly electronic-looking buttons everywhere.)

And of course, before bed we just move all the little TV’s out of the frame again.

Incidentally, I don’t mean to spark a debate over exactly how much TV a kid should watch, or TV in general. This is the amount that works well for us; Frances doesn’t nap, and she’s got a 10-month-old sister, and sometimes she needs a little bit of downtime. We have a TiVo and she either selects from a kids’ show on the list, or picks a DVD. Usually she watches one show in the morning while I’m packing her lunch for school, and saves two shows for the late afternoon while I’m making dinner.

If you have a kid who is highly motivated by charts (like mine — for potty training she was ALL about the sticker chart), this is a great system. It has virtually eliminated the TV power struggle in our house. And of course we don’t stick to this system religiously; sick days and special occasions certainly merit more TV watching. What I love is having a ready answer to the “can I watch TV?” question. The answer is always “Yes, check the chart… if you have a show left, go ahead” instead of “Well, I don’t really think this is a good time…” followed by inevitable whining. Plus, added bonus: Magnets are fun! Coloring is fun! And Frances has not yet tired of moving the little TV magnets into the big frame every time she turns on the Wiggles.

6 comments May 2nd, 2007

Parent Hack: Fight the Cold Floor

When Gloria started sitting up at 6 months, for the longest time I wasn’t sure how to allow her to play on the ice-cold, rock-hard tile floor of our kitchen while we cooked or ate at the table. Blankets just slipped and slid everywhere. A yoga mat didn’t slide, but was too thin. A little kids’ gym mat would have been ideal, but those things are expensive. We tried the exersaucer in the kitchen, or just sat her in the highchair, but Gloria had little tolerance for those over long periods of time.

Finally I hit upon the answer at Bed, Bath & Beyond: I picked up an inexpensive bathroom rug with a non-skid rubber backing. Voila! Instant cushy baby play space on the inhospitable kitchen floor. It may not be lovely, but it’s much softer on the noggin. We now keep a pair of non-skid bath rugs next to our kitchen table and a pile of baby toys, and Gloria is happy and entertained while the rest of the family eats dinner.

Of course, I only wish I’d thought of this sooner, because Gloria is about to crawl at any minute, thus rendering this hack much less useful!

2 comments March 5th, 2007