Written by contributor Amida of Journey into Unschooling
I grew up on a lot of TV. The first show I remember ever watching was a cartoon called Xiao Tian Tian. I had lived with a lot of other kids and every dinner, we’d all grab our bowls of rice, leave our families, and gather around the tiny screen to watch. I don’t recall a single dish I ate, but can still hear the theme song in my head…
We got our first TV set when I was around five. It had turn dials, rabbit ears, and no remote control. The first show that came on was Wile E. Coyote trying to catch his Road Runner.
I spent a huge chunk of my childhood glued to that set, watching black and white shows like Ma and Pa Kettle and Shirley Temple. I moved on to Land of the Lost, Lost in Space, The Brady Bunch, Facts of Life, Silver Spoons, Family Ties, Diff’rent Strokes, The Cosby Show, Small Wonder, Out of This World, Valerie, Valerie’s Family, Hogan Family, Punky Brewster, Growing Pains, Just the Ten of Us, Who’s the Boss, What’s Happening, 21 Jump Street, MTV, and Headbanger’s Ball, just to name a few.
Not to mention Looney Toons, Popeye, Smurfs, GI Joe, Transformers, Robotech, He-Man, She-Ra, Thunder Cats, Jem, and Dungeons and Dragons.
Most of the homeschooling kids I know nowadays don’t watch a lot of television. However, we parents do, late at night, when said kids are in bed. I’d tell you we’re catching up on TED talks but more often than not, it’s the latest Two and a Half Men episode or mindless action flick.
Just last night, we watched Judge Dredd take out a whole block of drug dealing baddies. Welcome to the wonderful world of streaming media.
I would worry about a lost childhood filled with useless cultural references (Hannah Who?), but my kids are at least addicted to Minecraft. They have an in, a conversation starter. So what if they aren’t personal with SpongeBob or speak Spanish a la Dora the Explorer? I am sure they will be fine.
My own TV addiction filled my mind with all sorts of useless trivia and jingles. It has allowed me to understand what it means to say, “Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!” and not let anyone switch stations when At This Moment comes on the radio. I learned opera (“Kill the Rabbit!”) from Elmer Fudd and know that maybe the world is blind and just a little unkind.
I have been known to hum the Smurfs'”La la la la la la” song for no particular reason.
Or interrupt conversations with “Thunder! Thunder! Thunder Cats! Hoooooooo!!!”
Or even rattle off things like:
I’m Adam, Prince of Eternia and defender of the secrets of Castle Grayskull. This is Cringer, my fearless friend. Secrets were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sword and said, “By the Power of Grayskull! I HAVE THE POWER!!!” Cringer became the mighty Battle Cat and I became HE-MAN, The Most Powerful Man In The Universe!!!”
But I digress. The point I’m trying to make is, my kids don’t watch a lot of TV. It will rot their brains.
Now you know. And knowing is half the battle. Yo, Joe!
Do your children watch TV? Are you a closet TV viewer?
Hi there, wow ok. I wonder if there might be a caveat for PBS granted it could prob. rot brains also and hide them in the Barney Bag. lol :D.
No, actually when i was a young child I had really No supervision when it came to television watching. So I had to discover for myself what i did and did not want to be a part of my young world. I decided that i don’t like Horror films, that Cheech and Chong laughing that their van was on fire made No sense., etc. What I did enjoy watching was usually housed at a PBS channel The lovely German painter with “The Une Mighty Paintbrush” was good. The French speaking clown was also quite good (his make up allowed me as a youth (younger than 10) to “see what he was saying” as the makeup accentuated the embeture needed to make all those unusual sounds. I decided that Sesame Street’s little animated cartoons were nice and colorful, in a good way. i enjoyed watching early morning college programming at that time as well. I have to admit I used to like to heart the National Anthem and the signoff at the end of the broadcast day. It had a nice finish for the evening, and was a good cue to go to bed. Like I said, I didn’t have a lot of supervision. I was also a 2-E child so clearly there was a need for information. i still prefer old school Loony Toons to present day animated shows (the music was always really well done and cheery, and the color/detail was full on).
I do really monitor what my children watch on tv, and internet as much as I can. I give my 3 children reasons why we aren’t going to watch such and so when they ask. Particularly because I know how long it takes to shake a really brief but disturbing image, and I know my children are all really Visual learners.
Just wanted to put in a good word for some quality tv. Even though it is screen time. For example yes my children are all in bed and I have the Tv on while I type this. I have it on mute so I can look up and see the colorful images of PBS Create (at this hour there are several cooking shows that i can glean technique from without focusing fully on it. That and it helps to have a little something going on in the background while I focus on what I’m writing on my husband’s laptop. Yes, my particular pairing of exceptionalities is Gifted, and ADHD- inattentive variety.
I hope this viewpoint helps in the discussion here.
Sincerely, Mrs. Anna Rounseville
I’m on Pinterest, FaceBook, Twitter, and Squidoo.com (as Anna2of5) 😀
What a strange post.
Haha… I was thinking the same thing. I was just a bit confused – are you being sarcastic or serious? Because, honestly, TV actually will rot your brain. It will and it does. Media in general exists largely to distract us from actually ‘living’. Our family tossed our TV years ago, but we do have computers that are used to watch DVDs or research, etc. But it’s easy to have screens take over if we’re not careful… I blog quite a bit about Media related topics at http://www.theunpluggedfamily.com
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I love this post! We homeschool, and my kids have a limit of one hour of TV a day. I usually let them watch their favorite show right before bed (which strangely is Animaniacs on HUB!). I don’t think for a minute though my kids are missing anything. They still somehow seem to stay in the loop..maybe it’s the lax rules on Saturday for morning cartoons, I don’t know.
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Hmmmmm…..I would say MINDLESS tv watching will maybe rot your brain over time. But a couple high quality shows that you love and really look forward to? Not so much. I also think for those of us who grew up on 80s tv, myself included, watched some junk, but I also learned a lot from PBS shows and Sesame Street.
We tend to use tv more like Jamie, where my daughter watches sesame street or a PBS show since it’s winter, and I’m very pregnant and need a break. I use that tv time wisely. Usually to prep dinner of put my feet up and read my book. But the rest of our day is filled with activities and reading with mama so her brain is most assuredly not rotting.
And I agree about the junky network tv- we weaned ourselves off that in the last couple years and actually now cannot stand it. Plus, we have no time for it. Fulfilling things keep us too busy- furthering our educations, reading. Cooking, etc. But good stuff- Downton Abbey, Parenthood, is a lovely reward for my busy husband and I.
We want our kids to have the insight to make the decision that most tv is just wasteful, and that they have better things to do. But I don’t ever want to deny it completely. I want them to take ownership of their feelings, not just to do something because it is imposed on them.
Ok, off my pedestal now. 🙂 I’m sure you will get many passionate comments on this post.
Same here, love me some Downton & Parenthood! We got rid of cable about a year ago because there was just soooo much trash we were paying for, but not watching. Our antenna, plus a little streaming when we miss something we can’t record, and we’re perfectly content. As for the kiddos, I also save it as more of a treat. They don’t have designated “screen time” for anything. But on those rough days when I need a breather, it’s nice to put something on and get a few minutes to collect myself. 🙂
I’m of the opinion that too much of anything isn’t good for a body. A day needs to be balanced out between physical activity, imaginative play, and screen time. I don’t find that tv “rots the brain” unless you choose to let it.
I’m with Annette. Balance and moderation. We like to go to the park, play with our toys, watch well done and engaging TV or movies, read great books, talk to each other, get together with friends.
I grew up in a household with two channels fed by a TV antenna, but I still managed to squeeze in a lot of TV each day after school. I too have TV theme songs and commercial jingles of yore occupying valuable space in my brain. Thankfully I had a lot of outside time to compensate, and when my husband and I had our first child, we didn’t have a TV in our house (at that time in our lives, we were too busy to watch one). That was ten years ago, and another daughter later, we still don’t have a TV. Up until last year, we did a once weekly “family movie night,” where we borrowed movies from the library or rental place and watched something of quality on a DVD player projected onto the wall . (PBS does come to mind). However, this year, I decided somewhat unconsciously to forgo all that in favour of a “family games night.” My children didn’t notice the lack of movies until about two months in, but they were so enamored with the games night, they didn’t care very much. Now more interaction is happening, and when friends come over for a sleep over, there is no need for movies. Instead there are charades, Bananagrams, guessing games…This lack of movies and shows extends to me (and my husband) as well. Previous winters I found myself whole seasons of some series or other. This winter is a whole different story. Although there are good quality shows out there, for me it ultimately comes down to “how should I spend my time?” Also, what influences do I want to shape my children’s views of the world? I think real life experiences with real people are a good start. And do you know what? After a spell of no TV or movies, those shows start to look pretty strange (and surreal). Real life is pretty special, after all. It doesn’t get any better than that.
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How crazy it that Amida? I remember watching most of those shows when I was young. I like to watch those old episodes of Happy Days, Cosby, Loony Toons with my kids. They get to watch their favorite shows during the week. But the Tv is off quite a bit for hands on projects and lessons.
Thanks for saying this – I’ve thought the exact thing for many years. For our children, a few well-chosen videos are about the extent of screen time, and that, in small doses (’cause what momma doesn’t want to calm a cranky toddler so she can make dinner or needs to close her eyes for just a few minutes!). Besides protecting from brain rot, they’ve not grown up as quickly as kids who are exposed to all that TV trash. For the adults, we pretty much stick to PBS or BBC videos from Netflix – America has little worth watching.
I think “rot their brains” is quite a polarizing way of saying “too much TV is bad for kids”. To me, articles like this only feed the “I’m a better mom than YOU because MY children ______.” I’m very disappointed to see an article with that tone on a site that is usually full of encouragement.
I actually think Amida is making more of a tongue-in-cheek statement, Johanna–coming from the fact that she actually did watch a lot of tv as a child (so did I!) and yet our brains seem to have come out intact.
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Thanks, Jamie. I can see where it could be read as tongue-in-cheek. Honestly, I wasn’t sure when I first read and still am not sure after reading it again. lol I usually do pretty well with reading tone on the internet but this was a tough one!
Yes, definitely tongue in cheek. Maybe I should have included the disclaimer: TV won’t really rot your brain. However you choose to experience it (or not) in your home is totally up to you. This is just my story. And it isn’t even all of it. 😀
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I let my kids watch movies occasionally, but go many days without turning the set on at all. I think it’s good for them to play without staring at a big box, but at the same time, there are occasions where I just have to get some work done of some kind and they can’t seem to play happily, so i turn it on for a bit. I’m always tryingt to cut back on TV time for all of us, my husband and I do a have a few shows we like to watch, but tend to surf more so than pay attention to the shows.
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Forgive me, but my first thought on reading this was “Too much reading of homeschool blogs will rot your brain.” Kidding, kind of.
Different strokes for different folks. TV helps my homeschooling, with my auditory/visual learner. If it can’t help you, don’t use it. I think that’s one reason we homeschool, yes?
On re-reading the post, I think the author may have been attempting humor. To which my educated reply is,
“Josie and the Pussycats
No time for purrs and pats
Won’t run when they here scat
There where the plot begins
Come on and watch the good guys win!”
This was hysterical:) Nope, I’m not a closet TV watcher but as a family we enjoy movies and two of my kids enjoy some gaming, etc. I grew up mostly without a TV – my dad cut the cord finally one night when, once again, we wouldn’t come for supper b/c of whatever show was on the tube. But we got it back in time for Jr.High and The Cosby Show (Yay!). I remember He-man from my little brothers’ days – oh, they loved that show and (as homeschoolers) would run around in their undies with plastic swords yelling, “I have the POWER!”
Thank you, Kika. I had a ton of fun writing this and reliving my childhood. Getting some funky reactions, though!
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Yep, we watch the TV a bit a few nights a week after the kids are in bed, but the kids are TV free. I wonder how it will be for them when they grow up? Will they enjoy other pursuits more than TV because they didn’t become addicted as littles?
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Yeah, this was a strange post.
I often refer people to read this blog and would be a bit embarassed if they chose today to be the day they checked it out for the first time.
Hi Meg,
I am sorry you feel that way. It was all meant for fun. I guess you have to get the TV references for it to be amusing. 😀
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Loved this post! What I like is that she’s “keepin’ it real”. I like any mother who can be honest about herself and her homeschooling. Sorry, but there are no bad mothers out there unless they are intentionally doing something bad for their family. And, I’m sorry, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with either perspective on tv watching…to each his own. I agree, moderation is best on most everything. Didn’t really care for the blog comment that was criticizing this mom. Let’s just encourage one another and not tear each other down. There are MANY different perspectives on life, homeschooling, parenting, etc… and I appreciate that she shared hers. I really enjoy reading SH because I think Jamie offers many perspectives. Thanks for another one. 🙂 A Georgia Homeschooling mama
Thanks for such an encouraging word, Angie!
Yes, thank you, Angie! I was just having fun with the post and sorry not everyone got that.
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Just wanted to add my two cents here and say I totally agree – I like that Jamie incorporates different types of homeschooling moms on this site!
I’m not a closet TV watcher at all – I freely admit to it! (And I really appreciate the He-Man quote – I recited that one hundreds of times as a child!) I am so mentally done at the end of the day, I need something mindless to help me relax. I don’t want games, I don’t want books (usually – and I’m a voracious reader), just give me some time with my big-ole-brain-rot box, lol!
I feel much the same way with my kids. They’re doing quite well, thank you, intellectually, are physically active, polite, compassionate … and if they want to spend some of their time “vegging out” in front of the TV or some other screen I don’t have a problem with that. I really don’t limit the time, instead I make sure I’m happy with the amount of time spent doing other things important to our family (time outside, in study, playing quietly, reading, serving, etc.). And they spend a lot of time doing those other things. What we do make sure to do it monitor the content, and that applies to all media, books included – which is tough because my kids read several years above grade level.
Anyway, LOVED the article 🙂 I do get a little tired of hearing about the parents who just let their kids watch TV for 35 seconds every third Tuesday … then proceed to imply that anyone who doesn’t is a poor parent. There’s an awful lot of important things to worry about other than how much screen time another family allows.
Oh my gosh, right? There’s a lot of tv-allowance disdain in our circles, too.
” I really don’t limit the time, instead I make sure I’m happy with the amount of time spent doing other things important to our family (time outside, in study, playing quietly, reading, serving, etc.).”
This is an awesome way to put/look at it! Thanks for putting it into words. I am totally putting this one in my brain to noodle on. Great!
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I am one of those gen x kids whose parents didn’t monitor our tv and movie intake and now I am a parent that does. However, on those days when I am feeling guilty about how much PBS Kids my kid is watching I remind myself that by the time I was in elementary school I knew the characters and plot lines of all the ABC daytime soaps and then I don’t feel so bad.
Exactly – me too, Amy! And I had seen Jaws. ‘Nuff said.
Ha, ha! My husband and I recently let our two earlyish elementary age girls watch The Fellowship of the Ring with us – totally fast forwarding the orcs and anything too scary. We wondered if it was okay and then laughed realizing that we had both (sadly) seen Jaws and Alien by their age.
We recently rented The Goonies! Wow the language! Crazy what we allow vs. what we grew up on! I remember watching Stand By Me at a party in ELEMENTARY! So maybe Goonies was not soooo bad!!
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Love this post! Thanks for laugh. For those who don’t quite get it, it’s because there is “more than meets the eye”.
Thank you, Kiasa!
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I’m pretty much solidly in the camp that exceptions WILL and MUST be made for PBS. I wouldn’t be half the person I am today without Mr. Rogers or Bob Ross or Jacques Pepin or Julia Child or Masterpiece, without sewing shows and travel shows, cooking shows and documentaries- once, when I was 13, I was home with Strep during a long weekend marathon of Ken Burns Lewis and Clark. I just left it playing for hours and hours… PBS has made me smarter and more worldly and more talented.
i thought this post was hilarious! i’m sorry many seem to have taken it the wrong way. i too watched a lot of TV growing up and now limit it seriously for my clan — none on most days and a teench on others. i also agree with other commenters that it can have it’s place.
I watched a lot of TV growing up, too. We all need a way to unwind, and I don’t think we should be judging others on the way they do so, as long as it’s not harming anyone else. I get sooooooo tired of the anti-media homeschooling shamers. We live in a wired society. We can all shake our heads and regret that and compare the present to the way things never were (false nostalgia) but people have always gotten their panties in a twist over the latest new innovations, whether reading (“she reads too much! kids need to play outside!”) or comic books, and now it’s (still! OMG!) TV. TV is just a tool. Sure, you can over-rely on it. But geez, cut yourselves and your kids some slack. We don’t have to be 100% on all the time. Sometimes we just need to chill.
I’m also a huge fan of Lori Picket’s blog posts about this subject, and would recommend it to all: http://project-based-homeschooling.com/camp-creek-blog/why-i-dont-worry-about-my-kids-screen-time-part-1
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Exactly! And I loved that post, too! I’m not an unschooler, but I find that I incorporate some of that philosophy in our schooling. I think writing workshops (bought her book!) and a family blog will BE our writing curriculum next year 🙂
I could have writen this! I find it interesting how many of us who grew up in front of the tv have jumped to the other extreme with our own kids. I’m trying to find a happy medium, not being too crazy about no tv but not too laxed ether! But I think I’m going to have to find Elmer and Bugs opera to share with my kids!!
Thanks!!
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I’m one of those horrible parents who bribe (or “make them earn: if it tickles your fancy) with screen time. It works for us; my foster kids are not intrinsically motivated like my own kids…so it’s taken quite a bit of negotiation to figure out how to motivate them. They love gaming; they love TV…so now I make them earn it…in trade for notes from class and completed homework. We don’t have cable and I have to download whatever they want to watch so it gives me a bit more control lol. I figure at this point…it’s TV not crack, not heroin…and it’s not saturated fats…I must be winning.
I homeschool and my kids watch tv. Not a lot, maybe 1 hour a day, a little more on the weekends and video games are reserved for weekends. I don’t think it’s necessary to watch infinite amounts of tv and kids should definitely not set their own boundaries for tv/screen time. I think each family should do what works best for them.
I was worried my kids would be weird because they watch My Little Pony maybe twice a week and are in love with Minecraft! I too watched way too much TV as a kid. We couldn’t watch until we were finished with homework, but I finished most of mine at school! I actually watch a lot less now. Really, if it weren’t for my husband I would probably never watch!
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The tone is a bit hard to understand, so I also feel a bit perplexed.
My kids watch some tv. Not a lot, but some. Everything in moderation. It’s not how they spend the majority of their time.
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Too funny. Quirky. I liked it. 🙂
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Yeppers, here’s mine from childhood:
“Jem, Jem is excitement!
Oooh Jem, Jem is adventure!
Glamour and Glitter, Fashion and Fame.
Ooh Jem is outrageous, truly, truly, truly outrageous.
Ooh Jem, Jem the music’s contagious, outrageous!
Jem is my name, no one else is the same.
Jem is my name.
Jem.”
Really?! And now I watch the Bachelor. I know…but I digress. How is that all that time can be spent watching pointless crap and my mind still yearns for the good stuff, for learning and to top it off, I even want to teach my own kids and feel competent (sometimes) to do it!? Wow…humanity.
God really made our minds to be amazing. His grace gives us all we need in the moment. Being a new creation really is awesome and no matter how much TV I watched in the past, I have the mind of Christ? Man…amazing!
Of course my parents encouraged all kinds of activities and I had diversity in my life. But, I appreciate what you’re saying Amida. Sometimes I think we’re too hard on ourselves (I know I am) about the whole TV/videos issue. There are bigger battles to fight and sometimes I just need to relax and enjoy watching it with them instead of waiting until their nap to get my “fill.” Of course…I’ll watch the Bachelor on my own. Even my husband doesn’t wanna join in on that one. Ahh…oh well 🙂 Thanks for the post!
Lana W.
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Oh my, someone else who remembers Jem! Thank you for the lyrics. 😉
Wow, that is totally a blast from the past.
I’ll have to agree 🙂 I’m terrified at the thought of how much time I’ve spent watching TV as a teenager! There were some good things, but mostly trash that wasted my time – of the things I could have done with that time! We don’t have cable and I pick and choose exactly what my toddler watches on YouTube, usually a couple of videos a day that are educational and feed her curiosity. My 1 year old doesn’t care for the screen at all, yet. 🙂 I can’t wait till it is warmer, when we can be mostly outside and it isn’t tempting to play ‘just one more’ video to get some work done! (I work from home)
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I feel the same way Anastasia- sad that I wasted so much time watching tv when I was young, and that is how I feel with my children- not necessarily that tv itself is bad, but I’d rather they do something else. I have the opposite situation that most of you complain about- I have people telling me how weird my kids will be b/c they don’t watch much tv and don’t play video games. My friends gave their toddlers hand held game things and now their 1st graders have ipads. They call me Laura (as in Ingalls) b/c I don’t have a Facebook account. I hear a lot can be leaned on Pinterest- be a better cook, a more creative mom- but I also here people say before they know it, 2 hours have gone by! I’m really not anti-technology, (I read blogs, I email, I text!) I just choose carefully how I spend my time, and want my children to do the same. Yes, moderation in all, but everyone’s definition of moderation is different!
Loved this! My little brother and I were pretty much left to ourselves (my mom worked, dad farmed so he was always out and about) and we watched SO.MUCH.TV. By the age of 10 I was living off of reruns of Wings, Golden Girls, Designing Women…so many sitcoms, so little time. And we lived for TGIF and Mom ordering pizza.
So it leaves me conflicted, right? I wouldn’t have the sense of humor I have today (or the pop culture saavy) without all that television, and there are a lot of happy memories wrapped up in those Friday nights or times with my brother, but I’m not choosing that in any way for my own girls. Limited time, limited selection; not that it matters since we seem to watch Bambi on loop these days…
Anyway, just wanted to say I loved the perspective and could totally relate!
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Made me laugh!
I just have to laugh at this! My husband and I talk about this phenomenon SO often. We grew up on things we would NEVER let our kids watch and when I think back to how many brain cells I probably killed, well, you get the idea;-). Anyway, anyone who doubts that habits are built in childhood have only to look at those who grew up in the 60s-80s and are now responsible adults trying to raise families counter to a media saturated society only to discover they can’t give up their Thursday night Grey’s Anatomy! Thanks for the laugh!
We don’t have strict limits on how much tv our kids watch, but I find that they prefer to find other things to do most of the time. Once in awhile they want to veg out in front of the tv. But, what I am most concerned with is the advertising. Commercials seem to get worse all the time – especially during sporting events. We are big sports fans around here and if we are watching a game, I’d rather not have them see stuff like women feeding each other fast food sandwiches while wearing skimpy clothing. Advertising also promotes materialism, etc. As a gen-x girl, I know way too many jingles in addition to tv theme songs. I have been guilty of making the kids watch a few old commercials on you-tube, I do admit : )
I am a big time closet tv junkie!
We don’t have “regular” tv, but only watch on Netflix and sometimes Hulu Plus, so commercials are not so much an issue. Netflix instant viewing has been a life saver for kid’s tv! Tons of appropriate stuff and no commercials! I do want my kiddos to watch less tv, but during the winter, stuck inside, they want to curl up and watch a few shows a day…
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I grew up without TV and while I love other activities, I love watching TV! I have actually found that my very visually and audio learners, learn a ton more from a movie, audio book or story than even from doing a workbook! So, I do let them watch TV, some!
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This post made laugh! When I read the title I got all geared up to feel guilty. As I sit here surfing the Homeschool blogs for freebies, my lovelies are watching TV.
We limit television too. I do find since we are in an apartment for the next few months I have allowed it more often for fear all of the jumping boys will disturb the neighbors. I did balance it out with a gym membership, which we use OFTEN!
sniff….sniff…..gotta run, I smell rotting brains! (BIG SMILE)
Enjoyed my time on your blog!
I once saw a bumper sticker that said “kill your tv”. Putting the tv in the closet when my kids were babes was the best parenting decision. Now, we have a physical tv, a screen, but it has no tv service. We use it to watch videos. I can recall many a time over the past 18 years when new friends would come into our home and you could tell they were looking for the tv in the family room. Doesn’t everyone have it as the center of attention with all the furniture arranged facing “it”? Not in our house. If we really want to watch something we go next door to grandma’s house.
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Loved your article! Speaking of great shows from the 70′ and 80’s, which I can still sing the theme song to 🙂 Maybe we could all learn from it?
“Now, the world don’t move to the beat of just one drum,
What might be right for you, may not be right for some.
A man is born, he’s a man of means.
Then along come two, they got nothing but their jeans.
But they got, Diff’rent Strokes.
It takes, Diff’rent Strokes.
It takes, Diff’rent Strokes to move the world.
Everybody’s got a special kind of story
Everybody finds a way to shine,
It don’t matter that you got not a lot
So what,
They’ll have theirs, and you’ll have yours, and I’ll have mine.
And together we’ll be fine….
Because it takes, Diff’rent Strokes to move the world.
Yes it does.
It takes, Diff’rent Strokes to move the world.”
I so wish we’d all stop with all the judging, shaming, and my way is the highway & only way & best way, prideful puffed up silliness we hit each other over the head with to make ourselves feel better. TV no TV, workbooks vs free range, organic foods vs not organic, strict bedtime or more relaxed, morning schooling vs afternoon schooling, scheduled down to the minute or no schedule…the list goes on and on. No one family is exactly alike and no one system of “rules” will work or is even best for every family. Like the song says “Because it takes, different strokes to move the world” 🙂