Are You At Your Mother’s House?

Welcome back! Join the conversation by commenting on any of our posts.

Are You At Your Mother’s House will be an ongoing series about the different rules and problems sharing a child between two households.

One of the biggest problems Mini has had adjusting to having two households is the different rules for television shows at each place.

Mini’s mother is a little less “hands-on” when it comes to what she watches or plays on the computer. Part of this is because they have satellite television, while we’re cable/broadcast television-free here. There’s a larger pool of shows Mini can find at her mother’s than in my apartment and this pool is mostly fed by whatever happens to be on when she’s home. I use NetFlix, Hulu and the availability of other online video sources, where there’s plenty of material to watch, but she’s got to have an idea of what she wants to watch, instead of just switching channels until something catches her eye.

One of the worst shows she watches is “Wizards of Waverly Place” on Disney. The show is based on the premise of having a family of teen wizards being taught magic by the former-wizard father as they live in New York City. That the show is poorly written and badly acted doesn’t bother me. It’s the horribly bad attitude that the young wizardess, Alex, has. She’s quick to criticize, lie, cheat and use her magic for her own good, even (and sometimes especially) at others’ harm.

Unfortunately, this portrayal of a willful, sarcastic and forceful young woman has become quite prevalent on children’s television shows. Mini, as do most children, will often replicate the behavior she sees as acceptable because it’s on these shows, sometimes with a laughtrack (and we all know that laughter means it’s okay, right?).

At first, it was a battle of wills when I told her that she couldn’t watch the show here. “But Mom let’s me watch it at home!” she’d say. My answer would be “Are you at your mother’s?” and she’d let it drop. It took a few months worth of weekends, but she doesn’t ask to watch that show anymore. There’s plenty more shows that are just as bad and only a few shows worth watching or worth letting Mini watch.

Our favorite show to watch is definitely Nickelodeon’s “iCarly”. It has a strong female lead, with a stable support group, it’s funny and smart and, though there is a steady flow of bad-attitude from a supporting character, there’s a definite understanding that she’s not a role model.

What shows do you allow, or not allow, your children to watch? How do you convince them that a show isn’t worth watching or that it’s not appropriate? Share your questions or ideas in the comments.