I admit to feeling guilty for putting my kids in front of the TV for much longer than the prescribed 2 hours that most ‘experts’ recommend.

But I can’t help that it’s sooooo useful. It’s my free babysitter for Jack when I need to put Ben to sleep. It’s the mind nummer I need when the fighting in the basement is overwhelming. It’s the entertainment that keeps them sitting at the breakfast table long enough to shovel their food down.

Yes, there is a lot of bad, mindless TV out there, and not everything I let them watch is educational. Sometimes I’m just happy if it’s entertaining enough for both of us, thank you Phineas and Ferb.

I will say, in my defense, it’s not all the Tom and Jerry excessive violence of the last generation. In fact, I often make myself feel better when I notice my kids are learning a lot from TV.

Just last week I completely, shamelessly took credit for being a good mother when TV was the actual educator. Jack got a prize for, as the teacher said, all of a sudden knowing all his letters. I demurely smiled and didn’t admit it was my free babysitter that taught him those letters. What a good mom I am!

My friend Pam bought Jack the Leap Frog Learning Set set for his birthday. One of the DVDs sings all the letter sounds. You know the song, “The A says Ahhh … every letter makes a sound, the A says Ahhh”.

The kids are obsessed with it, even Ben sings it all day long!

I highly suggest it for kids on the cusp of reading. Or anyone who wants to assuage their TV usage guilt.