Our weird/annoying parenting rule.

I got this email from TheBump.com this morning called "7 Annoying Moms You're Sure to Meet." Things like this make me crazy on many levels, but mostly because I feel like it just perpetuates competitiveness among women and encourages them to hate on each other. Besides, I'm pretty sure everyone and everything is annoying to a new mother. The only thing that's not annoying is a glass of red wine and a massage.

Anyway, it reminded me that I'm probably a very annoying mom. I try not to talk about our parenting choices unless asked (but yes, I'm about to tell you on this very public blog, so see? I'm annoying.), and I really don't care what you do with your own child. We all have our priorities when it comes to, well, everything, and parenting is no different.

One of our choices is a strict No Screen Time rule. We don't own a television. This is not some rebellious hippie choice (or some obnoxious "I heard this story on NPR the other day..." comment). Our television was stolen while we were in Scotland, and we haven't had the money to replace it. I've also read a bazillion things about how babies learn much better from interactions with actual people as opposed to with screens. So our choice has been to not allow the boy any screen time whatsoever.

The kid who doesn't like cartoons. And what's a road trip
without CrackerBarrel peg games?

That said, we were very well aware that at some point, we were going to need a break. At some point, we would reluctantly, but with great relief, plop him down in front of a television or iPad to keep him busy or quiet while we regained sanity or cooked dinner.

We decided that time was last week. We were going on a road trip and the wee boy HATES his carseat. Tears. Whines. Screams. For the entire time. Unless someone is back there actively playing with him, and even then, he still cries most of the time.

So we downloaded some movies on a tablet and decided it was time for him to watch the evil screen. We knew we couldn't handle hours and hours in a car with screams.

And guess what? He hated it. He looked at it entranced for about 30 seconds before knocking it away. I tried again. And again. I tried to FORCE MY BABY TO WATCH CARTOONS, and he was having none of it.

It was a really long road trip, friends.

That's what I get for being an annoying mom.

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