for Sprout TV. When Sprout TV was first introduced, my first reaction was to shake my head. Had parenting gone so far downhill that we were now in need of children's programming 24 hours a day? How sad, I thought, that we were now promoting sitting your small child in front of the television at all hours of the day. Now, don't get me wrong...I'm far from a perfect mom. I have used the TV to "babysit" my kids. I probably do it more than I should. The television is the only thing that I know will keep my younger kids distracted and entertained in the morning as I try to get the older ones off to school. It also keeps them occupied when I'm doing dishes and can't be right there with them, watching them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, get on my case for not having a tupperware drawer in the kitchen to tear apart while I cook and clean or something. lol I'm not against children watching television. Do I think it's good for them? No. Do I think it's bad for them? Probably. Am I going to throw my TV out and never let them watch it? No...I'm far too lazy to do that. lol

Anyways...even though I am one of those parents that will plop their kid down in front of a video so I can get some things done, I was still appalled at the thought of 24 hour a day preschool programming...until last night. I went to bed at my usual time...1:45 am. At 2:15 am, Sera decided that it was time to wake up. Usually, if she wakes up in the middle of the night, she fusses for a few minutes, finds her sippy cup and falls back asleep without me having to go in her room. She wasn't going for it last night. 2:15 brought out the full on wailing, throwing things around her bedroom, tearing off her diaper, etc. So, I went into her room to calm her down. I sat with her. I cuddled with her. I sang to her, I laid down with her. I bargained with her. I bribed her. I begged her. I pleaded with her. She wasn't going back to sleep. So, I figured if she came into my bed with me, she'd just fall right back to sleep. On a side note...she coslept with us until just a few months ago. She's welcome into our bed at anytime, but has preferred to sleep in her own room lately. There are times though, when she decides she just wants to cuddle with mommy and daddy. I thought that perhaps last night was one of those times. I was wrong. She was having nothing to do with going back to sleep. She'd sit there, staring at me, and if I closed my eyes, she'd start to scream. I'd open my eyes, and she'd try to get me to play with her. I'd close my eyes, she'd scream. I wanted her to calm down and go to sleep. I NEEDED sleep. lol As a last resort, I turned on the television. She seemed interested. I turned on "PBS Sprout on Demand" and we watched Sesame Street. For the next five hours, we watched Sesame Street. She was mesmerized. She sat on my bed and watched Sesame street and I got periods of about 20 minutes of sleep between her waking me up to start the next show and her waking me up to discuss what she was watching.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I'm a terrible mom and let my child watch TV for five hours straight. I figured she'd eventually lay down and go to sleep. She even made herself a little bed of pillows and blankets in a laundry basket at the foot of our bed. lol No such luck though...she just laid there and watched Sesame Street. I honestly don't think my sanity could have handled a screaming child for five hours in the middle of the night though, so now I'm extremely grateful for Sprout TV. lol

Oh, I might mention that she finally fell asleep again around noon...only to wake up at one. She didn't fall asleep again until almost 11 at night. Apparently she had gotten to the point that she was so tired that she couldn't get to sleep. I can't say that I don't know that feeling considering I probably got less than two hours of sleep last night and here it is, almost three in the morning and I can't sleep.