TV Drama........

I have never made it a secret that I am a TV addict/junkie. I watch reality TV, Scandal, Grey's Anatomy (unfortunately, I am hooked on this show!), any housewives franchise and pretty much anything on Bravo.

When we first moved to California, Morgan made the suggestion of not getting cable so that we could read, do outdoor things, and save more money. Clearly when he said, "we" he meant, "me!" I know his little game! (I was convinced he was trying to kill me!<insert the dramatics>) So, we got the basic cable with only about 15 stations!! Kill me!! I thought for sure he wouldn't be able to last without ESPN and cave in an upgrade the cable. Boy, was I wrong! Apparently, while he was in Afghanistan he didn't watch it out there so, he was ok with just reading the highlights on the web. Now, me on the other hand, I was like a junkie looking for her quick fix. I caught myself watching re-runs of Seinfeld, Parks and Rec, anything! I knew I hit rock bottom when I started watching a Maury episode about "Are you the baby-daddy?" (If you're wondering, he was not the father!)

Then, I discovered this little thing called, Roku. Oh boy, oh boy has it saved my life!!! We can now watch netflix, hulu plus, amazon TV/movies and most importantly.... I can watch any of the Housewives franchises for a small fee. And, we were able to get some of her shows like, Yo Gabba Gabba and Tinkerbell.

When we first got it, I will admit, that the TV was on all the time!!! I was hooked I watched both seasons of House of Cards in about 2.5 weeks! I caught up on all the housewives. I let Madeleine watch Yo Gabba Gabba while I made dinner. And boy did she get into it. She would even ask for the TV to be put on.... And that's when it hit us. We were letting her watch too much TV.

We decided that we wanted her to play, explore, read and learn more, instead of sitting in front of a TV all day. So, we bought a climber/slide/jungle gym off Craigslist, bought a crap ton of outdoor toys, sidewalk chalk, and I made homemade play dough. During those times when she gets a little fussy in the evening we head outside. The great thing about our backyard  is you can see it from three different areas. It also has doors leading outside from the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Sometimes I'm able to actually cook dinner with her playing outside. I have constant view of her!!

Don't get me wrong, we let her watch cartoons a few hours a week. She watches Sesame Street in the mornings and then afterwards I tell her to turn the music on and she goes to turn the radio on. I love it! And by no means am I judging anyone if your child watches TV. We just personally think at her age she should be playing and doing activities to help her learn. And believe me, if I need to get a little something done around the house and the toys/outside aren't working, I am not afraid to bust out the Yo Gabba Gabba! Thank God for the creators of that show! And, you bet your little butt I will be using my iPad for cartoons when we fly to Texas in June, hahaha!!!

When my mom came to visit us I thought she was going to die! She likes to have the TV on at all times even if she's not watching it. I'm pretty sure she thought we were being cruel. But, as soon as  Madeleine went down for her nap, she went straight for the remote, hahaha. And, I'm pretty sure she let Madeleine watch hours of TV while we were on date nights (I'm not complaining because mommy had several margaritas!!).

You may ask, "How has this impacted your TV habits?" Well, I watch less during the day but I'm still watching my crap TV at night. Let's just hope Madeleine doesn't take after her mommy in this category :)