HOW many hours of TV did your children watch yesterday?
Be honest, now – add it all up:
That half hour before school while you were getting ready.
The half hour at tea time when you were preparing the meal, followed by another half hour while you all sat in front of the telly eating it.

This was probably followed by another half hour or so before you started getting them ready for bed.
And, if you really indulge the little darlings, they may even have watched telly in their rooms before going to sleep.
So that’s what... two, three hours? More?
I’m not trying to make you feel guilty here, I just want to draw your attention to another of those debates which regularly raises its head, which surfaced again this week.
A certain Professor Aric Sigman, a member of the Institute of Biology and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, wants television to be banned completely for children under three. That’s three years, not months.
He says excessive TV can have serious adverse health effects throughout life, including, he says: alterations to the immune system, premature puberty in girls, subversion of brain cell development, the reduction of blood flow in the brain, sleeping disorders, excess body-fat production, type 2 diabetes, a lowered metabolic rate, raised blood cholesterol, an increase in child myopia and, in later life, the chances of Alzheimer’s disease.
Phew! Better throw the telly away, then.
Back in the real world, we all know too much TV can turn your brain to mulch – metaphorically speaking, at least – and we all need to force our bottoms off the couch more.
However – and I’m only guessing, here – I reckon Professor Sigman hasn’t had that much to do with rearing children.
Apart from those mythical supermums and dads who spend hour after hour baking cookies, cycling and making collages with their angelic and superfit offspring, us lesser mortals need the TV to act as a temporary babysitter, without which our sanity would be severely tested.
We may do our best to engage our children in productive and meaningful activities when we can, but there are times when the 1,268 other household demands on our time – I counted them – have to take priority. Otherwise our houses would all be rubbish tips.
Of course we have to be careful we don’t overdo it. The world’s not going to end if that mound of dirty dishes is left until later while we play with our youngsters.
Personally, I don’t believe babies should be plonked in front of the telly. It means nothing to them, and they would be much happier watching mum or dad do the housework. I used to keep up a running commentary on what I was doing.
But the high quality of children’s TV these days, particularly the BBC channels (with the added benefit of no ads, yippee!) means we can certainly feel less guilty about leaving our children sat in front of the goggle box for half an hour while we get on with being an adult.
And, when Shaun the Sheep or Charlie and Lola is on, you’ll find me there, too.

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