Creativity and TV Watching

I was reading an article in Parenting magazine that I found quite interesting about creativity that confirmed some of the thoughts I've had over the past few years.It discusses creative potential and says that we all have it. But then it goes on to say, "Whether that potential is being fulfilled is another story entirely. Kyung Hee Kim, Ph.D., an educational psychologist at the College of William & Mary, in Virginia, has spent the past decade poring over the creativity scores of more than 300,000 American K-12 students. The news is not good: 'Creativity scores have significantly decreased since 1990,' she says. Moreover, 'creativity scores for kindergartners through third-graders decreased the most and those from the fourth through sixth grades decreased by the next largest amount.'"

I'm not very surprised to hear that creativity has decreased as I noticed it with my own college students over the past few years. It was difficult in literature classes to get them to have that "willing suspension of disbelief" that is often needed when reading a story such as Beowulf (of course, he didn't truly breathe underwater for several hours. It's just a story and is meant to show how strong Beowulf is and how he's not like other men). One of the worst moments was when I had students in my Introduction to Fiction course write their own short stories (incorporating some of the elements of fiction we had been studying that semester) along with a reflective essay on the story. I'd say at least 3/4 of the class started their reflective essay with one of these two beginnings: "This was the first story I've ever written" or "I've never written a story before." Really? Good gracious, I wrote all the time when I was in elementary school and even junior high and high school--for school, not just on my own (although I did that, too). What do these students do in school these days? Are the standardized tests really taking over that much? Of course, I know the unfortunate answer to this question is yes in many schools. And the article addresses this point as well:

"This focus on rote memorization can be detrimental to cultivating strong creative thinkers. 'Children aren't given the opportunity to express their own ideas or come up with their own way of doing things,' she explains. 'Instead, the answer is A or B or C. There is only one right answer.'"

In case you were wondering, as I was, how creativity is tested, here's an example from the article: "The tests consist of open-ended questions, such as 'How many uses can you think of for a toothbrush?' Scores are awarded based on the number and originality of the ideas produced. A creative child might respond by saying that he can brush his cat's teeth, polish a rock, and clean his fingernails--all answers that show dexterity in generating a wide range of potentially useful ideas." So it's not even "write a story" type of creativity: it's trying to come up with different ideas rather than just the standard. And it's this type of creativity that is very much needed in our world. How else will things get invented or new ideas to solve some of our nation's problems come forth?

So what does the article say parents should do? There are a couple of specific suggestions, but mostly it boils down to allowing children time for free play instead of scheduling very regimented activities and drilling things like numbers and the alphabet all the time. Basically, encourage the development of free thinking and play--and play along with your child(ren).

Toward the end of the article it brings up the prevalence of television watching (or using other screen time such as playing video games or being on the computer). The article states, "This constant bombardment, says Jung, can inhibit divergent [i.e., creative] thinking. 'If you're just a sponge,' Jung explains, 'you may be able to regurgitate facts, but you can't combine them in novel and useful ways.'" The article recommends limiting screen time.

So that brings me to the TV watching portion of this post. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under 2 years not watch television. I wanted to know more about why this was recommended and I read a fascinating book called Bright from the Start: The Simple, Science-Backed Way to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind from Birth to Age 3 by Jill Stamm. At the heart of it, babies brains are still developing and making tons of neural connections during these years at the same time losing connections that are not developed. And brain scans of children who watched more TV compared to brain scans of children who did not watch TV were very different, especially in areas such as that of attention span. Babies who were TV watchers did not have long-term attention spans as developed as babies who did not watch TV. (I've read some other articles that suggest TV watching from an early age might be connected to ADHD.) Their brains look different! That's pretty amazing, but also quite sobering. And it's the reason that Luke will not be watching TV or any videos until he is at least 2 and after that point he will have a specific limit for each day.

I know you're probably thinking that I'm still an idealistic new mom and I'll give in at some point and let Luke watch TV. After all, I need to give him something to do while I go shower. And I completely understand that reasoning and why other parents use the television for their own young children. And I'm not the parent of those children so I'm not saying that you shouldn't allow your own child to watch TV. This is just what I (and J) feel we are doing to help Luke. And although I don't think we should be a slave to Luke's needs, I do think that as parents, we should think less of our own convenience and more of what we feel (based upon our research) is best for our child.

Do we still have the TV on when Luke is in the room? Yes. Have we found his eyes wandering to the screen? Yes, of course, TV is attractive. So we just make sure to turn him away from the screen and watch that his eyes don't drift that way and fixate on it. But in doing this, I've been examining my own TV viewing habits and I realized that they were getting out of control. I had been turning the TV on to watch the morning news while I had my coffee and the TV would stay on all day, mostly as background rather than me actually watching it. And what was I watching? Reruns of House Hunters or a new favorite, Storage Wars. But when I realized that I'd seen a particular episode three times before already, isn't that getting a bit ridiculous? What does that type of TV watching add to my life? Nothing. So during the day, the TV is off and Luke and I have a lot of interaction time. I don't have to worry about him watching the TV and I also don't have it going in the background. Instead, I turn on music or an audiobook (and I've started investigating podcasts) if I want something in the background. But mostly Luke and I read together or have a "conversation" (he's really doing a lot of babbling these days). And when he's asleep I actually enjoy the quiet more than having the TV droning on in the background.

I'm not saying that TV is evil and we shouldn't watch it at all. My evenings have a pretty full lineup (from Castle on Mondays to Supernatural on Fridays and several shows in between) and I'm definitely not going to stop watching those shows. But I'm being a bit more picky about what I do watch--something that I actually want to watch rather than reruns that don't really do anything for me. And I'm looking forward to when Luke is older to watching things with him. I can't wait (although obviously I am waiting) to introduce him to movies like The Goonies, The Dark Crystal, Toy Story, and of course Star Wars (original trilogy). But even when we do start watching TV together, I'm going to make sure to keep it limited and have him doing more activities and free play during the day. And hopefully, by doing so, I'll help him to learn to use the television responsibly while also developing his creativity so that he can become a divergent thinker.

Four Month Doctor Visit

Luke had his four-month visit with the doctor today. It is still 10 days before he will actually be 4 months, but with the holidays, we had the visit a little early.

Overall he is doing well. I had two concerns at this visit. Luke has had a stuffy nose for a few days, but no fever or other symptoms. The doctor said that it wasn't an issue and just keep using saline drops and cleaning it out. We only need to be concerned if he develops a high fever or has trouble breathing. So that's good to know. I just hope that it clears up soon as I'm sure it is not comfortable for him. The other concern was that he hasn't pooped since Thursday morning (that's 5 days). He had been going about 2 days between pooping for the past few weeks, but this is the longest stretch by far. She felt his stomach and said it feels soft, so that doesn't seem to be an issue. Everything else is normal (he eats, sleeps, pees, passes gas, and doesn't seem uncomfortable), so she is not concerned. Breast milk just doesn't produce a lot of waste and it looks like his body is just using up all of it. She said just to make sure his stomach isn't hard and that he doesn't seem uncomfortable, but he's fine otherwise.

He's been growing really well and is staying on target for his growth rate. He's been pretty consistently in the 25-50% for his age, and that's his actual age, not his adjusted age for being three weeks early (when he's plotted on the adjusted chart, he's in the 75th percentile). So here's how he's grown since his two-month visit:

Weight at 2 months: 10 lb 14.4 oz.
Weight at 4 months: 13 lb 4.9 oz.
Growth: 2 lb 6.5 oz.

Length at 2 months: 22"
Length at 4 months: 24"
Growth: 2" (no wonder those 0-3 month sleepers were getting tight in the leg length!)

Head circumference at 2 months: 39 cm
Head circumference at 4 months: 41 cm
Growth: 2 cm (and that's why I used ribbing for the new hat I knit him: it's stretchy so can accommodate a growing head!)

Then came time for the vaccines. He did a lot better with the oral one (I think this nurse was much more patient than the one last time) and got almost all of it down (only spitting out a little right at the end). I held onto him while he got the two shots, one in each leg. With the first one, he didn't cry right away. I think he was taken by surprise. But he started crying a little when she reached for the second shot. When he got the second one, he really started crying hard, and his poor little face turned bright red. Bandaids on and the nurse left the room. I then had a screaming child on my hands that I had to try to get dressed and back in the car seat. I held him and bounced him for a little while and he calmed down. But as soon as I laid him on the table to put his clothes on, he started crying again. We did this for a couple of minutes and I thought about nursing him a little really quickly. But then I spotted his pacifier in his car seat and thought I would try that first. That worked and I was able to get him into his clothes (well, mostly. I just put on the onesie and the socks, leaving off his pants and covered him with his blanket) and into the car seat. I wanted to schedule his next appointment and he got a little fussy while we were waiting for the receptionist to be free, but I just rocked him and talked to him and he was okay. Into the car and after a little crying in the parking lot, he quieted down. I think he fell asleep. When we got home, he cried a bit more but I nursed him and he was calm again and I put him in his swing so I could (finally) eat something for lunch. He fell asleep and is still asleep right now. Hopefully he's feeling better. I know he at least was having a good dream because a little while ago, he smiled and laughed in his sleep. We'll see how the evening goes.

Play Time

Luke has definitely been a lot more interested in a play time lately. He really loves to either stand on our lap and bounce or sit down propped up in the corner of the couch. He'll hold onto some of his toys and Crinkle Puppy seems to be his favorite. He smiles really big and even laughs a little whenever Crinkle Puppy gives him kisses.

The only bad thing is that he's not content anymore to just cuddle with us. He still has cuddle time, but when he wants to be active, there is no cuddling. And holding him up in the standing position while he tries to jump can get very tiring very quickly!

But every time I see him smile because he's having fun, my tired arms become less tired and I grab Crinkle Puppy for another quick kiss. And sometimes Mommy sneaks in a kiss or two herself!