Turning on the Charm

Today the kids and why watched Curious George. Curious George is a favorite. Seren and I used to watch Curious George during snack, when I was home with just her. She has lots of Curious George books, a stuffed George, and had a Curious George cake for her 3rd birthday (or at least she had a cake that was supposed to look like Curious George).

In general, our family doesn't watch very much television. We didn't watch much television even before Comcast began charging us more money for a selection of channels that, over the course of a few weeks, gradually shrunk to next to nothing. The kids watch less than half an hour in the morning during Wyeth's snack and/or during hair brushing. Throw in half an hour for mom and dad at night and a couple of You Tube videos and the rare sporting event, and you just about have all of it.

Until recently, Seren didn't even want to watch it. You could turn it on, and she would play and ignore it. Even now she would rather play 'doll house.' We play a ot of 'doll house,' but that is a subject for another blog. She does like watching it, though, and gets involved in it. She alternates between glassy eyed stares and conversation with the characters.

This morning, Mommy turned it on to facilitate hair brushing. She turned it on at 8:00, right at the beginning of Curious George. When the hair was brushed, and it was time to say goodbye to Mommy, I indicated that there would only be a few more minutes of television. She protested, and we went back and forth, which gave Seren an opportunity to show off the stubbornness that I have passed on to her. Then I sat down on the couch next to her and told her that she only had a few minutes and it wasn't a debate, in hopes of settling things down so we could focus on goodbyes and then getting ready for school. She sat next to me, and held my arm, resting up against my shoulder. She was so cute, that I just sat there until Curious George ended. Later we went upstairs, and Mommy called to check in. I told her that Seren had held my hand for the whole show, and Seren looked up at me and said, with a huge smile on her face, "I didn't want you to turn the TV off."

What else is there to say?