Survey STILL says...kill your TV!

I grew up without one and am raising my kids without one, so you'll find no fan of television here. And the data is still pouring in favor of strictly limiting screen time for babies and toddlers. Here's the latest from Time magazine.

Yet, we live in a society that insists that television is a necessity, not a luxury - hence the government's appropriation of $1.34 billion for TV converter box coupons for the switch from analog to digital TV. What if this money had been spent on early childhood learning? Or education? Or health care? Or [insert your child-friendly cause here]?

TV - digital or analog or...who cares!

I just have to rant about all of the press about the switch from analog to digital TV. Politicians and the industry come at it from the angle that we NEED TV - that people who only have analog and won't be able to receive the digital signal are in dire straits. Here's a thought: what if we hadn't created a society that relies on TV? TV is NOT a necessity. Food is a necessity. Shelter, health care, education, medicine...those are necessities. My family hasn't had a TV for 6 years and seem to keep up with the news and (gasp) find perfectly suitable ways to entertain ourselves (my husband would pipe up here and point out that this is all well and good until you talk about live sporting events, but this isn't his blog, is it? :-) What if we spent taxpayer money on new models of communicating with the poor, those in rural communities, or the disadvantaged? Just a thought.

recyling car seats

I found this blog ("mom go green: recycle car seats?") while trying to find a way to toss our old car seats (Nat just moved up to a booster seat). According to someone I talked to at theWashington State Booster Seat Coalition, there are no car/booster seat recycling programs (unless you live near Portland, OR).

It amazes me there is no program in WA state to recycle car seats. Parents are REQUIRED by LAW to have a car seat or booster for your child until their 8th birthday or are 4'9". And, the legal "life" of a car seat is 5-6 years. If you have 2 children and 2 cars, you will own (and toss) at least 4 car seats. So, in Seattle, you will be charged 20 cents to use a plastic grocery bag, but there is no incentive to keep you from tossing car seats in the landfill. Huh?

The 4th in Everett

After a spectacular weekend, it has to be noted that Everett, Wash. is a pretty great place to live. The parade and fireworks on the 4th were great (given that this is only a town of 100,000 souls). Ended the weekend with an Aqua Sox game where the Frogs almost pulled off a great comeback in the bottom of the 9th. All in all, we live a nice little community!