Sometimes it’s tough to speak the truth. While raising a child. Shawna writes-

Here’s a last one for the road. Last weekend, I decided to separate Noah and TV in a big way. He got about 40 minutes of TV today. That was all this week. Why? He can’t sleep, he doesn’t read, he’s constantly agitated, what he sees on TV is all he talks about, he screams at me, he started telling me to shut up (from Toy Story) . . . I could go on and on. But mostly it was the agitation. The same agitation we noticed shortly after his birth and every time we’ve decided to get rid of TV since. Why do we keep coming back to this place?Anyway. The semi-lie. I told him the TV is sleeping. Technically, it is sleeping when it’s turned off. I consult with the TV when Noah asks if he can watch something, usually by looking at it, going, “mmmm” and pursing my lips. But today my consultation took me into the office where I “talked” to the TV on the computer. Really, I opened a Gmail chat with Nathan. (Interpret Nathan as the TV how you will.)

“You’re talking to the TV through the computer?” Nathan was skeptical.

I try not to take advantage of the fact that Noah doesn’t know any better. But in case you’re wondering, you can “talk” to the TV thorugh the computer in a way. If you have the right DVR setup and you want to schedule recordings while you’re away. We don’t have anything like that.

Nathan and I decided that since it was Movie Friday, it would be okay if Noah got the equivalent or less in TV time. I came out of the office. I told Noah the TV said it can wake up to let him watch two episodes of Caillou. It did. He watched them. The TV is now back asleep. Noah is upstairs in his crib avoiding a nap. I’m debating whether to get him up when his one hour expires, or leave him there until he actually sleeps for one hour. I think I’ll just get him up even though what I want is to lay down for a nap myself. If it’s not nursing or dealing with Noah in the middle of the night, all this “creative thinking” is sapping my energy.