 |
|
The Parent Perspective - The Parent Perspective is a monthly feature where parents tell us how their families navigate today's media-saturated environment. This month’s Parent Perspective is the first from a Grandparent! Stephanie is the grandmother of David, age 4, and they both live in Chicago. Stephanie speaks her native Spanish and is currently studying English, so this story has been translated from her original. Since immigrating to the U.S. from Guatemala in 1993, I have worked to make a life for my family. I work as a babysitter and housekeeper in the suburbs of Chicago. When I return home to my apartment, I have always been sad to see my grandson, David, watching TV alone. He typically watches almost 8 hours of television each day. Since our family does not have a lot of extra money, David is not in a preschool, a class or playgroup yet. He spends the day with a nice family near our building while his Mommy & Daddy are at work. When they get home, the whole family is tired after working all day, so they watch more TV. I have always thought there must be better things my grandson could be doing. I wanted him to get more exercise. He was pale, and did not have a big appetite. I had some heart-to-heart conversations with the mother of one of the families I work for; she and I often have discussions about nutrition and other health issues, so I felt comfortable talking to her about my concerns about TV. She printed a page from the CMCH website that tells us what doctors recommend for David – how much TV and what kind of play was good for his age. She was also able to give me ideas for other activities that David could do that cost no money such as:
I spoke with my daughter Leslie (David’s mother), about my concerns and brought up the other suggestions I had for playing with David. Although she is a wonderful and caring mother, we all feel that we do not have enough information about parenting. We both agreed that after working all day it is hard to have the energy to entertain a 4 year old, but mostly we were just missing information and ideas. Since we learned how important it is to David's health that he not watch so much TV, and now have ideas for free activities to do instead, we have a lot more fun as a family in the evenings. It has been wonderful for me to see that David likes scrubbing, pouring, and banging more than watching TV. While using a blanket to make a hammock swing (David lies in the middle of the blanket, David’s Mommy and Daddy each hold one end and gently swing it) they all end up laughing together. I love to see the family connection – Enlase Familiar! David now watches much less TV than before -- about 3 hours each day instead of 8 hours. I am also much happier now because when I return home, David is playing games and is entertained in better ways. David is happier. His Uncle has even noticed a big change in him; instead of walking in to find a little boy throwing a fit to get more TV, he sees a happy energetic boy making a project or even watering the plants! Leslie is happier and is now coming up with other affordable activities for David, like starting a rock collection. My daughter and I have told our Spanish-speaking friends about the ideas for free and easy activities, and they are starting to use them for their own children and grandchildren instead of just having them watch TV. My daughter and I are sincerely thankful that the woman I work for shared this information with us and we would like to thank the Center on Media and Child Health for making this important information available.
If you'd like to share your own experiences or suggestions in a Parent Perspective, email us at cmch@childrens.harvard.edu |
|
|
|
