Maybe you are a slow reader, so you are going to make sure your child has a great relationship with books. Or maybe you did really well in school and you want your child to experience similar accolades and honors similar to how you did. Or, maybe it has something to do with sports.
My obsession is about screen time. I know that I watched too much television when I was a child, because I have memories about specific cartoon plot lines stuck in my brain (and, even sadder, some details of my honeymoon are drowned out by the lyrics to Must See TV theme songs). Because I don't want my son's future memories to include things he sees on the Disney channel, I am a bit of a mean mom when it comes to letting him watch TV.
(For the record: If the Internet had been around touting studies about how too much television and computer time could harm children's development when I was a child, I am sure my Mom would have hit the off button more often.)
So, on the one hand, I am a little proud of my limited screen time rules when I read that television may lead to unhappiness in children. And I am fascinated to read that children are thinner when their mothers - not their fathers - monitor screen time. (Seriously - why do moms matter more? I can't wait for the follow up study!)
But, I also know that I need to lighten up. So, as my son gets older and I start to relax my rules about television, I remind myself that PBS programming and shows from Netflix are (for the most part) commercial free. And that some shows are still awesome. And that by letting my son watch television some times, I am teaching him that life is all about balance - even when it comes to the small things in life.
What about your household? What is your parental obsession? (And how much television do you let your child watch per week?)
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