Do we shut off the tv until they reach 2?

We don't think anything of it. Television is such a normal part of our lives that many of us don't think twice about leaving it on in the background. And truth be told, it can be incredibly useful - whether it's providing entertainment for the little one and giving us a few minutes of much needed break time or the only "other" adult voice heard for most of the day - it can feel like a lifesaver.

Unfortunately, acording to Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children's Research Institute and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, television exposure during the early years can also be associated with language delays and attention problems. So much so that the American Academy of Pediatrics is discouraging television watching before the age of two.

(Even background TV may delay infants' speech: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31051013/ )

According to Christakis' study of 329 2-month to 4-year-old children and their parents, each hour of television exposure was linked to a decrease of 770 words the child heard from an adult. There was also a decrease in child vocalizations and child-adult interactions. Of course the reality is that some of these results were directly related to children being left in front of a TV, however others reflected adults who while present were distracted by the television and not necessarily interacting with their child. And "hearing adults speak and being spoken to are critical exposures that play a role in infants development in language" according to Christakis.

On the surface, having read this article I would be very hesitant to put my child down in front of a tv...after all, there's no way I'm going to be the reason my baby has speech delays or attention problems. The first sentence was clear: "even infants zone out in front of the television, and it turns out this translates into less time interacting with parents and possible lags in language development..." But on another read...and a second and a third, I hesitate and then I slowly rethink my position.

The facts when I sit down and take a good look at them are that the study clearly states it did not measure whether or not anyone - parent or child - was actively watching the tv or if it was just in the background. And the number one stated result was that the child heard 770 words less from an adult for each hour the TV was on but it never stated how many words the adult actually spoke during that time. It points out that interaction is key for babies brain but then proceeds to recommend that children under age 2 be discouraged from watching television. Maybe it's me but my gut says they're missing the point.

The interaction as well as the distraction - they both start and end with us. It's us, not the children that can't handle the tv being on in the background. Maybe we're the ones who need to be reminded to walk away...because if the study told us anything, it's that it can be tough for us to tune it out...and the one thing we never ever want to do is tune them out.

Message received.

For the little ones

A shout out on Mother's Day to those who speak for the little ones...who Twitter and Blogger and help a blind world see, so that "unsafe" and "unfair" might one day be unreal

A shout out on Mother's Day to those who stand for the little ones...who draw swords on the battlefields and demand justice - for the invisible child as well as the one we see everyday but can just as easily fail to protect

A shout out on Mother's Day for all those who hold the little ones...who breathe life where it ebbs, who teach knowledge is strength, who kiss away the boo-boos, and who will always check under the bed and chase away the monsters

To all of you we owe our thanks ...together we can create an amazing world, but if not for the little ones...who are we doing it for???

Because she inspired me

My little sister Suzanne and I were always very different...right from childhood. She looked like my mother, blonde and very pale - she always hid from the sun. I was brunette and tanned easily, just like my dad. Her hair was kinky curly (she hated it), while mine was straight. She lived in a world of her own creation and got into trouble at school and at home. I was the "good child" with straight A's who rarely was cause for concern. And boy we hated each other...

According to Suzanne, life came easy to me...anything I wanted I would always get, while she would struggle so hard, "felt stupid" and would always come up short. Her greatest joy was wreaking havoc on my "perfect little world". So I separated myself as far away from her as I could - physically, emotionally - so many of the choices I made were to distance myself and "not be like her" in any way I could.

Suzanne had a very difficult time growing up - and though I was part of it - I know there was quite a bit I did not really see until years later. She struggled with drugs and attempted suicide when she was still a teenager, and depression for a number of years after that, apparently always hating herself more than she hated me.

And just when we all thought she didn't have anything left to give - Suzanne found a new path to follow. To our amazement she chose EMS - to save a life instead of taking her own- she wanted to make a difference. And not only did this "little girl" work as one of the EMS crews that helped secure the scene after the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics, but this same girl who thought she was "stupid" invented the device I blogged about earlier that will one day make it safe for all little kids to ride on ambulances. (...I read this and remember why we teach children that "stupid" is a bad word)

Several years ago Suzanne had to quit EMS. Every day since then, like many of us she struggles with questions of am I good enough...smart enough...am I deserving...can I still make a difference... and every day no matter what anyone tells her, I don't know if she believes it.

I grew up not wanting to be like her...but I would be half the person I am today without her. So much of what I am, what I have and what I do that I am proud of is because of her. And I hope someday she reads this, because I want her to know, if I make a difference with my life...that will be because of her too.

The law of averages

On Tuesday April 7, 2009, a Hermosa Beach ambulance carrying a 3-year-old child to the hospital collided with a pickup truck in a Torrance intersection. The crash happened at 190th Street and Entradero Avenue and occurred about 5:45 p.m. The paramedics immediately called for help and another Hermosa Beach ambulance quickly took the child, who had suffered seizures, to the hospital. Fortunately, the child did not appear to suffer any "physical injuries" from the crash. http://www.dailybreeze.com/latestnews/ci_12095260

On Monday April 13th, 2009 a car struck an ambulance transporting a child to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, MO. Another ambulance rushed to complete the transport. Luckily in this case, there were no injuries. http://www.kctv5.com/news/19166283/detail.html

People have often asked me why I have stayed with this "cause" for so long. Fourteen years ago there was very little data available for me to document what was really happening. Today, there is so much more information available...and yet so many who have the power to help change things know nothing about this.

A wise person reminded me today of the law of averages or in simple terms from Wikipedia: a belief that outcomes of a random event shall "even out" within a small sample. If that is the case, then I guess my best answer would be to say that I have stayed with this cause so long because I have seen what happens when there isn't a happy ending. And my goal - my determination - is to find a way to ensure our kids are safe before mother nature, the law of averages - or anything else gets a chance to "balance out the scales".