This post was going to be something totally different, but as I watched my kids interact with each other and their toys this afternoon, it took a drastic change. I found myself reminiscing over my own childhood memories again (see yesterday’s post on holiday TV specials) and getting amazed and saddened at technology and progress.
I am far from being strict and limiting on my kids’ interaction with technology. The TV is almost always on, tuned to one kids’ channel or the other. They have tons of toys that have gadgets and buttons and talk and move and everything else you can dream up. I don’t set limits on how much my kids watch TV or play with video games or anything like that, though.
My reasoning for not setting limits is not because I don’t care how much they watch TV or play video games or stare at a screen. It’s because they simply don’t need limits. K & D are self-regulating when it comes to that stuff. Even if the TV is on, they prefer it to be there for background noise, or as an accessory to their play. One of their favorite things to do is to watch Thomas the Tank Engine and recreate the scenes from the shows with their own trains. They watch from time to time, but they are more often lost in their own fantasy world with each just other and their toys.
At this age and stage, they play just as I did when I was growing up and there was very little daytime TV for kids. We had no cable, very few movies on the VCR, very primitive video games, no computer. We played with our toys. We dressed up and created our own fun. We acted out characters from our Saturday morning cartoons, or from the most recent family movie that we had seen. We fought over who would use which Barbie and who would be the teacher in our game of “School.” Until I hit the actual teen years, this kind of pretend was the norm for us. Sadly, I think today’s kids are losing that innocence a bit younger.
I won’t ever ban my kids from paying video games or watching TV. I think they have gotten a solid head start on learning from many of the shows and games that they enjoy. But that said, nothing makes me smile more than watching them make their own fun from a few pieces of wood and plastic and their own imaginations.
I know this phenomenon will not last forever. I have two teen boys that have proven that fact for me, and I hear the message loud and clear. Watch your kids as they play and marvel at the wonder of their imaginations. Shake of the inhibitions of adulthood and sit in the floor and play along. You’ll end up transported back to a world that seemed to be lost forever.
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