Kiddie Videos

Since Jane climbed out of her crib I have been wary of exercising during her naptime, mostly because I don't want to be surprised and I want to be able to hear her at all times. So I've altered our routine and do the exercises in the morning (I tried doing them at the same time and letting her stay up, but I ended up rage-filled trying to do something I didn't like with the added hindrance of a needs-to-be-napping toddler).

Working out in the morning after breakfast has been working out so far -- maybe a week and a half? She's less clingy (hard to do push-ups with an extra 30 lbs on your back), and she likes to pretend to do some of the exercises and read or play the rest of the time. I still get mad when she climbs on me but we're working on sorting that out.

After my exercises she wants to do "toddler exercises," because I showed her a Mickey Mousercize video once. It snowballed from there to watching the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Hot Dog video and a Jimmy Fallon & the Roots sing the Sesame Street theme video (oh-em-gee I love it!). I even watched "Let it Go" from Frozen with her -- making me want to see the movie that much more. And we watched the Mr. Rogers Neighborhood intro song. Nostalgia!

So, her no-screen time is officially broken, as put them together and it's about 5-10 minutes a day (plus the exercise video, which is usually 25-35 minutes). Still less than the 1-2 hour limit recommended by the AAP. I don't feel good or bad about it -- just neutral I guess. She LOVES it though, and I know if I were to leave her in front of a running YouTube set up or something she'd be still and quiet for a good chunk of time. As it is I watch with her and try to get her to dance with the music -- sometimes she will, sometimes not. And then we shut it down for the day and transition into something else -- books, playing, going out, whatever.

For what it's worth here are our regular favorites so far: