Commercials, They Just Waste Your Time Says a Seven Year Old with Tivo

My children are spoiled.  I know it.  They know it. We are in a very lucky position to be able to fulfil all of their needs and then most of their wants as well.   From time to time I am reminded how very spoiled they are.  And from time to time I am reminded that what is common knowledge to me may not be to him. 


We were in Disney World - see it even starts off in a spoiled way.  Jake was about seven at the time.  We had come back to the hotel for the night and were getting ready for bed.  We were all exhausted from walking all day, and Jake really needed a few minutes to unwind before going to bed.  He settled down in his pjs on the bed, watching a favorite TV show.  It was about 8:45, and we told him that he could watch until 9:00.


All of a sudden I heard, “They’re wasting my time!”  from my young son.  I looked at him.  Jake was fine, and I looked around.  Everything else was fine.  “Who is wasting your time?”  (Is he asleep and dreaming?)


He looked up at me, almost in tears - “The commercials are wasting my time!”  It was only then that it hit me. Jake was watching his show live which was almost unheard of in the Strong household.  I knew that the show would end at 9:00 and then he would go to bed.  Jake would see every part of the show.  Having had Tivo for most of his life, he had never really dealt with commercials at all.  We almost never watch anything live at home so we are always able to zip right through the commercials.  Even when we watch things the same night they are on TV, we start twenty minutes into the program so we can zip out the commercials.


In his seven year old mind, he was going to miss the end of American Idol, and he was not having it. 


Lesson Learned:  Sometimes what you think is a common sense, everyday thing may actually be unknown, especially when your children are spoiled.

Comments

  1. Clare LandriganMarch 15, 2021 at 5:52 PM

    So true ... such a different way of living life for them. I love when students asked me for a series they could stream. I had no idea what they meant until they explained -- a series that is done and you don't have to wait for the next episode. They keep us laughing!

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