Mommy approved: Netflix

Before anyone even gets started, I want to say that yes, I limit screen time.

Well, I try.

Hell, some days I let the TV babysit. It’s not often, but a mama’s gotta do what a mama’s gotta do, so don’t judge. It’s survival parenting.

We gave up cable a few years ago. It was over $100 a month, and I’m not a big TV watcher. My husband works late and we don’t put the TV on until after kids are asleep – if at all – and we would watch the shows we’d PVR’d. It was Hell’s Kitchen or Survivor, but rarely live TV.

So we cut the cable, bought an antenna and signed up for Netflix. Best decision ever.

The antenna gives us a number of local channels so we get news and local public broadcasting as well as some sports events and current programming, but it’s Netflix that we go to most.

The best part about Netflix is NO COMMERCIALS. I’m not opposed to commercials in general, but kids aren’t equipped to consume commercials.

With cable TV kids start asking for every piece of advertising thrown at them – and I can’t control what they consume with commercials cropping up for any and everything being hawked these days.

The worst was when my son told me he had the solution for me wanting to lose weight, he’d seen this lady, Jenny Craig, who promised results.

Not cool. So very not cool.

They wanted sugar cereal and crazy toys and didn’t understand why everyone didn’t get a new car every day. Cable TV most definitely has some flaws in the advertising to kids…

With Netflix, no commercials. I control what they watch. I can save endings for later, pause, rewind and rewatch. They can watch an entire series – and do. I can tell them how many shows they’re allowed in a day and in a week. They can budget their TV watching. They can watch on a tablet, a TV, an iPhone or a computer, so in a pinch I can throw on a show anywhere we are and they can continue watching it.

There is some comfort in the TV doing a bit of babysitting for me because with Netflix, at least I’m in control and can customize what they watch – and what they don’t.

Before I had kids I thought I’d be the last one to let them watch TV. But I do. And I’m okay with that.

#Survival Parenting for the win!