It was pointed out to me recently that my daughter was watching too much TV. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was true. Why now? What has changed. My husband has been home for about a four weeks (in a row). Were we getting lazy in our parenting to spend more time together? Were we just being lazy? TV is a great babysitter while we're cooking dinner or getting things ready for the next day, or while my husband and I are glued to the newest episode of Nip/Tuck. Ok, obviously, there have got to be limits. So I reverted to a previous rule-no more than 2 hours a day. Limits allow our family more play time, quality sit-down-at-the-table-dinner-time, activity and reading time. My daughter used to occupy her evenings playing outside with the boy who lives downstairs. He's now in second grade and has tons of homework (that's insane). I tried playing with my daughter and my son outside yesterday before I started preparing dinner. My daughter really wanted to play with Daniel so we didn't stay outside too long. I prepared dinner for her and fed my son. While he was still in his high chair eating finger foods, my daughter did some coloring. I pulled leftovers from the fridge to heat up for me. After my son was done eating, the kids went to play in their room. I took care of a few chores and then read a George and Martha book to the kids. I told my daughter she had a little time before bed and she could continue playing and/or watch TV. My husband came home in the meantime and we ate dinner. Later, he helped get the kids ready for nightnight and tucked them in bed. It's important to put limits on how much TV your children watch. It takes some work, but the interaction is invaluable.