I sometimes do stuff I'd fire a babysitter for. HAVE fired a babysitter for... DS1(2.5 yrs) doesn't sleep much either, and there isn't any "after he's in bed." He sleeps 7 hrs/night. I need 9. I also haver a 5 wk old. Sorry pal, I'm a gonna check my email.
8 hrs is too much, though.
The main problem with the interactive TV experience is when you take the kid to a formal movie. I took DS1 to an Imax train movie (trains are his obsession). It became very tiresome to sush him when the 12 year olds behind us started asking their parents for definitions of the terms he was excitedly whisper-shouting questions about continuously. (Thought at one point, someone near us filled me in on an "I don't know" <sigh>)
DH and I have had some very turbulent relationship times, partly due to us being a pair of egotistical smart-aleks who can't handle being wrong, and have enough brains to construct nearly-bullet proof arguments on the oposite side of any issue from our own, let alone when we're saying what we actually think on something we feel strongly about. Watching TV together has been therapy for us. We all four watch 30 min of TV before bedtime, nattering continuously. We argue and strive back and forth, and the movie keeps everyone, even DS1 on the same page and involved. There's always a next scene to keep the discussion going rather than mired. It's good.
I did that with my dad when I was a kid (he and I worked on making TV together... some of you have prob. even heard of Tom Green ;)) and I think it's a big part of what made our relationship a particularly awesome one.
So... I'm a fan of TV, acutally. Used appropriately. At the ages you're talking about, kids often learn a lot of language by watching/listening to THEMSELVES speak. We recieved the suggestion to audiotape our son and play it back to him as a way of improving his (sub-clinically delayed) articulation. Perhaps they could make a project of making little videos once a week or even once a day. You may have to cope with a kid who goes into the movie business, which is not an easy road, but hey, it's a fun road.
Eek, I just realized I've only read half the comments so far posted. Hope I'm not derailing thing too much.
-Mich
