Watching TV?

I read an article about Chelsea Clinton this week.  In it, she said that her parents did not let her watch more than 30 minutes of TV each day.  By the time she was in high school, she negotiated 1 hour - and could watch ER.

It got me thinking about how much TV we watch.  It actually isn't as much as I thought.  Most nights, the TV is never on, even after the girls go to bed.  I have too much reading for school to do, and find myself distracted.  On the weekends we watch more TV, but often it is NICK or Disney channel programs.

The preteen would like to watch some reality tv programs.  Her current must-watch is Dance Moms because she thinks grown women bickering, yelling and insulting each other is funny.  I told her that given that she has a problem controlling her temper and saying things to people in the heat of the moment, I didn't think watching it was a wise idea.  There are times she has an unhealthy fascination with drama and will create it.  I don't think reality TV will help her get over this, and likely will give her false ideas of how real people actually relate to each other.  So, it is on the do-not-watch-list.

So, as we move to summer, where we have more free time, I know I will need to keep track of how much time we are spending in front of the TV.