Mom on Film: Electronic Babysitter

Mom on Film, Sue Harvey, is the mother of three and a long-standing film fanatic (as a child she wanted to BE Katharine Hepburn, but just didn't have the cheekbones). She'll be sharing her passion for film through her family-friendly movie recommendations.

While walking though a grocery store parking lot with my 4 year old son this morning he asked - out of the blue - "Mama, do you know what a sedimentation tank is?" For about 3 seconds I was nonplussed. Then I remembered, "Ah, yes, Popular Mechanics for Kids: Slither and Slime and Other Yucky Things."

Despite a wealth of good intentions -- and you know, the road to hell is supposed to be paved with them -- the embarrassing but true reality is the electronic babysitter is employed in our household. I know I truly believed at one time that I would never (my husband has warned me about the perils of using that word) just plug my kids into the TV so that I could get dinner made/the bills paid/the laundry done (the possibilities are endless). However, that was before understanding the demands of negotiating the needs of a family with not just one child, but two and then three. I am now older, more tired and more willing to look reality in the face, or the screen, and just plug in a video to get to the finish line of my day.

Which brings me back to Popular Mechanics For Kids (PMK). We discovered this series of videos at our local library several months ago. That was the beginning, as the saying goes, of a beautiful friendship. These were videos that, I confess, I looked at and thought were the kind I could just plug in and not ever have to watch with my children. They were educational and apparently uncontroversial and perfect for plugging in and tuning out. That really was my intent. However, they have proved to be so entertaining and interesting that sometimes I also enjoy sticking around to watch. The hosts (bright, funny, un-precocious adolescents) lead viewers on a variety of really cool adventures, including following a ping-pong ball from a toilet through the sewers and finally to a treatment plant. (This is the part where my son leaned about sedimentation tanks.)

Sometimes I do turn on the PMK videos and walk away to whatever chore awaits -- but not always. Occasionally I sit down to join my kids while they watch, because I know that eventually dinner will get made and the laundry/bills/whatever will always be there, but the kids will be out of the house before I know it.

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Sue Harvey

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