Relying on a kids’ TV package is a chore but it gets the jobs done...
DOUBLE TROUBLE FOR A FIRST TIME DAD OF TWINS
It’d been a challenging day at work.
One thing keeping me going was the thought of returning home to at least one of the twins rushing to greet me.
‘Here’s Daddy’, I shouted through the front door, in a way reminiscent of The Shining – minus the axe.
I could hear chirpy American voices from the living room and neither of the twins had mastered accents.
Venturing further in, I saw them both sprawled on the sofa, captivated by brightly coloured animated mice searching a castle on the television.
Thomas mumbled something about a ‘missing crown’ and Emma said ‘busy’ when I tried to make light conversation. At least I the recent TV package upgrade had been a success for them, I thought.
There was someone missing from the scene and it was their mother, who I found hiding in the kitchen, frantically working on her computer.
‘They love that new channel, I had to do something suddenly and they’ve been so quiet’, she explained.
Maybe it was the novelty of the characters, but the twins were indeed almost non-existent. Even with Paw Patrol playing, they’d usually be straight out to investigate if you tried to start doing anything which didn’t include them.
Just to prove my parenting credentials, they also like books, jigsaws and all the other toys deemed good for child development, but we had to be in the
room with them, hence general tasks were left undone.
Could this new purchase herald the start of tactical television watching, which would allow us to complete essential chores?
The first activity to benefit from this new approach would be the preparation of any meal. They love to involve themselves with boiling pans, hot ovens and stirring things, all while subjecting us to a series of questions that start with ‘why’.
They also enjoy helping to clean the floor, or at least I’d start the mopping and traditionally, Emma will request my mop to help. Thomas would then demand his own mop and I’d give him a brush. From here it will not be long before there is a sword fight, usually ending when something is knocked off a shelf or Thomas is injured by a direct blow, while the floor remained dirty.
Fast forward a week and the novelty of the new channel hasn’t worn off yet.
We work on the assumption that TV is not the best thing for young children, but it can’t be all bad if it helps us earn money to pay for a house, keep it clean and cook meals without serious injury.