Let kids be kids.

Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.

Very smart and beautiful little girl.  I was taken back by her wild imagination and choice of words.  It's really rare these days for kids to have an imagination, PERIOD.

I was at the mall the other day and saw kids under the age of 5, in strollers, glued to gameboys or playing on cell phones.  These kids can't even speak and they are already being taught to be technologically dependent!  What a life of staring at a screen!  Missing out on the passing butterflies and beautiful sunsets.  When I was little, we didn't have computers or any of that stuff, we had to use our imaginationsssss.  I basically grew up outdoors, with a magnifying glass for frying ants in one hand and a salamander in the other.  I would search the woods for vines to swing on and treasures to collect.  The playground was an island to escape the burning hot lava that was the grass!  Indoors, I was playing "Wedding" with my sister, fighting over who gets to be the bride with the long white vail (bed sheet) or I was playing in the basement, blasting music and screaming my head off.  The roller rink was my second home, we would skate all day until we couldn't stand up anymore.  I would read books and make up stories.  I dreamed that one day I'd be a mermaid and be best friends with Ariel.  Those were the best times of my life.

Sure we had tv, but even our cartoons were imaginative and tailored to a kids mind-Thundercats, Pinky and the Brain, Gargoyles... My brothers are at the age I was when I was watching those shows but guess what they're watching.... MAD, Spongebob, Family Guy-cartoons about celebrities, literally a show about a dorky sponge and his stupid best friend, anddddd sex.  We didn't have entire channels devoted to cartoons either..we couldn't sit in front of the boob tube from 6am to 10pm, mindlessly zoned out of reality and tuned into garbage. We had 20 channels, not 200!

The worst thing is, The parents. Don't. Care.  It's never been easier to be a parent as it is today.  Your kids crying?  Turn on the tv.  Bored?  Turn on the tv.  Sleepy?  Tv.  Dinner?  Tv.  You seriously don't even have to interact with your kids anymore, tv will raise them!!  It will teach them how to dress, how to act, what to look like, how to think... We used to know it was bedtime when the sun was going down, nowadays, kids can literally tell the time by what cartoon is on tv.

When they aren't watching tv, they are on the computer (5 year olds on google--yeah, it's happening..), or playing video games.  It never ends.  It makes me sick, especially living in California.  Come onnnn, you live somewhere where you can be outside any day of the year!!  There are countless free places to go to.. beaches, mountains, parks!  You can see snow and the beach all in one day.  There is at least one museum FREE EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK!  There are entire magazines devoted to free events all over California... But instead, you let your kids fry their brains so you can have that extra time to, what?  Sleep?  Knit?  Clean?  Read a magazine?

Well guess what, you're killing your kids.  You're killing their brains, their imagination, their spark for life, their determination to succeed in the world, their journey of self discovery, their good habits, their social life, their bodies, their courage, their judgement and their self confidence.

I have little brothers and have been a nanny for the past 8 years, so I've been around my fair share of kids.  I know being a parent is not easy, in fact, it's very tough (if you want to be an active, involved parent and raise your kids with morals and values), but it's also a choice.  If you don't have the money, the time, the commitment to raise your kids in the right way, then you shouldn't have any.  If you have kids, FIND THE TIME to give them the life they deserve.  If you truly care for them, care for their brains too.  They only get one childhood and it's a shame to waste it in front of a tv, never experiencing the wonders of life.