In Defense of TV

I cringe whenever David brings out the big guns and takes TV away from the kids for a week. Yes, it usually works and straightens them up for awhile. However, it also usually becomes more of a punishment for me than it is for them.
It is something I am working on improving, but my boys are just not good at playing by themselves. It could be because I have given them too much attention in their short lives. My theory, though, is the problem lies in their Melius genes--all toys could be improved with just a little tweaking. So, I am constantly summoned for scissors, tape, string, flashlights, Velcro . . . you name it. When all else fails, or I am out of whatever is needed at the time, we turn on the TV. They're happy, I'm happy, and there is peace in the land for a little while.
I approach TV in the same way I approach cheesecake, scrapbooking supplies, and white zinfandel--it is just fine in moderation. (OK--maybe I don't follow that rule too well on the scrapbooking supplies . . . .)
Most of the time my kids are watching PBS Kids. I have to say that the educational programming has proven to be just that. It is amazing what my boys have learned by watching "Sesame Street," "Between the Lions," "Word Girl," and "Cyberchase" just to name a few. I read books with them and teach them about their environment, but they learn things I never would have thought of teaching them. Tonight we finally got around to hanging a picture Landen drew on the last day of school. It is a man on a train track that he drew so it looks farther away at the top of the track. I asked him where he learned to draw like that. He told me, "On 'Reading Rainbow'. It's an obstacle illusion." He has the right idea anyway!
I admit that not all of the TV they watch is particularly educational, but it is age appropriate. They are not allowed to watch "Sponge Bob Squarepants," or most things on the Cartoon Network.
The downside of them watching these other TV shows, however age appropriate they may be, is they become prey to the commercial advertisers. Landen is an advertiser's dream. He is convinced that we need everything on commercials. He's even run out to the kitchen to tell me I need to buy DanActive yogurt. I didn't know he cared so much about his mother's digestive health.
So, I stand behind my "all things in moderation" approach once again. I hope that will be a life lesson for my children in itself. After all, if you were never allowed to have a brownie, wouldn't it be more temptimg to eat the entire pan when no one is looking? I think the same thing applies to a "Phineas and Ferb" marathon.