Spanglish

There are a zillion reasons it's important to me for Leo to learn Spanish.  Being bilingual is good for your brain, allows you to communicate with a wider range of people, facilitates travel, and opens up opportunities professionally.  I want him to be able to have conversations with his aunts and uncles and cousins.  I want him to have an easier understanding of etymology. I want him to have a base if he chooses to learn another romance language.  I could go on and on.

Being bilingual has been such an advantage and a blessing to me; I really want to share that with Leo.

(Of course my Abuela might tell a different story if she were still around.  She would tell you about the time I pretended I couldn't understand her in front of my friends when she came to pick me up at school.  I'd been teased and called a Mexican dog and a wetback, so my reaction was to deny and reject that part of my life.  I loudly and pointedly said, "WHAT?  I can't can't understand you.  Speak English!  I don't understand."  Well, my Abuela was a no nonsense kind of woman and with a very stern, "Ni que 'GUAT?' ni que nada" she gave me a look that had me immediately slink back into obedience.)

Television: The Bane Of My Existence

I began writing this post and had a strange feeling of deja-vu.  I looked back through my posts and found that I was writing this post again virtually word-for-word.  So yeah, that.  I'm glad to say that I've done pretty well at not watching TV when Leo is around.  Almost never.  But as soon as he's asleep I beeline to the computer where I have my shows queued up and ready to go.  All that said - here are the shows I love to watch.

On Television

I love watching TV. Love it. I could watch it all day everyday. There was a time that I did. In more recent years I tried to limit myself to watching just in the evenings, but even then it would be on for upwards of four hours a day.

When I was still pregnant, I decided I didn't want Leo to grow up in a house where the TV was always on. I decided to limit myself to one hour/day maximum and to try to only watch when Leo is asleep. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Those first couple weeks there was no time to even think about television, and as life began to settle it was nice to introduce key shows we really wanted to see back into our lives in moderation. It's also nice that since we watch things primarily online now the commercials are limited. I was/am really proud of myself for cutting back so much.

Leo has been exposed to some TV. He's seen it on at Grandpa and Abi's house as well as at Pops' house, and even some here at home. And of course he's positively mesmerized by it. It holds his attention more than any toy or person. Oh the irony. I'm still going to do my best to limit it's influence on his early years, but it seems he takes after his mama on this one.