Springing it on them at the front door is rude no matter how reasonable the request.

Yes. This. Also the bit about the TV is NOT reasonable. And also if the kid and dog are unmixy, they should offer to take a turn at hosting. And get a sitter on occasion.

My biggest problem was that THEY asked US to host the thing knowing a) the kind of dog Ollie is and b) that they have a baby.

And honestly? The dog stuff I get. It's annoying the way they handle it, but I do get it. Ollie's annoying, but it's for ten minutes when people get here and then we're at the table and usually, he goes to sleep on the couch and typically isn't a bother. It's the stuff with MY child that really grates me. Today it was "block the tv". The last time they were over, they asked us to put the tv IN EMELINE'S ROOM.

The last time they were over, they asked us to put the tv IN EMELINE'S ROOM.

Okay, that's funny. Funny stupid.

Which said to me, "Please lock up your child."

Block the television because the baby isn't "allowed" to watch tv.

Ryan doesn't watch TV either, not until he's two (in twenty days!). It's recommended by the Australian Paediatrics Association or such like. But it's not like he's never seen the goggle box in action.

There are claims by Baby Einstein and such like that their DVDs help kids' development; there've been sttudies that find the reverse, that kids under two who watch a lot of television have smaller vocabularies and may be more likely to develop attention span issues. This is tricky to investigate, though; the amount of TV watching is correlated with other factors that affect language development, such as the parents' income and education. You need to control for those factors. Yett other studies don't find any negative effect from TV after controlling for such things.

The main thing I get out of that is that the important thing is not the negative ("no TV") but the positive - children develop language by interacting with real people, not the TV. The most important thing for parents is to talk and read to their children; that has a greater impact than their viewing habits.

Nonetheless, Ryan doesn't watch TV right now; but I'm not going to be fussed if we go to someone's house and they have it on. (Anyway, he notices, but it doesn't monopolise his attention.) And we have some Baby Einstein vids for him now (including an animal vid!), for his second birthday. I think I'll watch them with him.

(This is all off the point, the parents have the right to enforce a no TV rule with their kid. I think there's zero developmental difference between no TV and minimal TV, but it's their kid. And Aims and Joe have the right to enforce a "no no-TV kid" rule in their house. But I don't really have anything to add to that, I just find the child development stuff interesting.)

This brings up a question I have about tv behavior.

I don't own one. I see WAY too much tv on the computer...and I love it all.

However, I've never been one to have a tv on when people are around...I don't even like playing music during a dinner party when I expect people to be conversing.

The last several doggy lama appointments I've had, the television was on when I arrived and was left on as we worked. Now, these people are paying me a hefty sum to share a ton of information with them about problems that are vexing them.

It doesn't make sense to me that I have to ask them to turn it off. Most times, I don't say anything until it becomes obvious that they aren't paying attention. But, even in those cases, it is most likely that only the sound will be turned down and the picture left on.

My former bff had a HUGE television that was on every waking moment of the day. Is this a common practice?

I wonder because of the prevalence of tvs in restaurants and bars, etc. Is it that people are just used to having it on all the time?

Oh Jilli, that is wonderful news. Yay for recuperated kittyboy.

By the way, I was talking with a dog park friend this evening about coloring books. Now SHE wants a vampire edition.

It's becoming a movement!

Ellie didn't watch TV until she was older than two. Frisco could sing the wonderpets theme song at 15 months and I videotaped it because I thought it was cute.

a HUGE television that was on every waking moment of the day. Is this a common practice?

I often having something on. TV or music. Otherwise, when working, my brain wanders off. But I don't have it on OMG, I WATCH THIS tv. It's documentaries or racing that I am ambivalent about the outcome.

Generally not when people are over unless it is a shared interest. Or when Jilli is here for a week and is forced to be around for watch racing.

I do play music when people are here. But I also try to either play something they'll like or the best compromise available.

Block the television because the baby isn't "allowed" to watch tv.

Isn't allowed to watch or isn't allowed to know that tv exists. The hell, people?

This brings up a question I have about tv behavior.

I'm not thrilled about people leaving the TV on when I visit, but that's because I get too easily distracted.

I'll often have the TV on, but I really use it as a radio station with pictures. (Envy me! Our cable music channels still play actual music!)