Dad Blogs - Useful Parenting Tips for Dads » Television

Casting agency looking for stay at home dads for show.

Paul Banas — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:45:31 +0000

I spoke with the talent agency involved and she told me that this is going to be a documentary about stay at home dads with a bit of a reality TV angle, but tastefully done. I promised I'd pass on the info: Are you a Stay at Home Dad or know one? Looking for STAY AT HOME DADS in Big Cites (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County, New York City, Chicago) Working or Not Working.

Throw out the TV – that’s what happy people do

Paul Banas — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 08:01:29 +0000

While the study can't definitively say it's TV that makes people unhappy (versus "unhappy people watch a lot of TV), I think we all know all know it's likely the former. ... Whether it's too much steak, vodka, gambling, drugs, or just lying around the beach for years (AKA "sloth," another deadly sin), too much of a good thing is, well, too much of a good thing. ... But reading this article, which can only confirm your suspicions, might help give me the strength to take the remote control in my hand and press OFF... well, maybe after just one more episode of the Backyardigans.

France bans broadcast of TV shows for babies

Paul Banas — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:55:39 +0000

You can argue about the protectionism of the State, and whether this is too much control, but there is wisdom behind the recent decision by the French broadcasting authority to ban French television from airing TV shows made for kids under three years old. ... The advent of BabyTV in 2006 in the US spurred a national debate and the American Academy of Pediatrics made a pronouncement that babies should be kept from television completely. ... As the the French ruling noted, "Television viewing hurts the development of children under 3 years old and poses a certain number of risks, encouraging passivity, slow language acquisition, over-excitedness, troubles with sleep and concentration as well as dependence on screens" ( AP 8/20/08 ) While many of these TV shows are said to be designed especially for babies, in the Baby Einstein vein, the reality is that many parents (guilty as charged, your honor) use these shows as an electronic baby sitter, for even extended periods of time (not guilty on the second charge).