Praise Baby

Before my motherhood adventure began, I was a bit skeptical about baby movies. You see, my husband and I aren't huge TV people. We do enjoy relaxing together in front of a movie or the most recent episode of an exceptional PBS Masterpiece show (Sherlock, Downton Abbey, and Call The Midwife have all been great!). My husband watches big sports matches as they are aired on local TV, as we don't pay for cable. But we also enjoy reading before bed, or just going to bed after the house is picked up (having a baby will do that to you!).

But,

We love Praise Baby DVDs!



(Seriously no one asked me to write this...this is from my heart.)

This past weekend of sickness among our family confirmed my gratitude for these little 30 minute long gems, but here are some additional reasons why I'm thankful for Praise Baby:

• The movies capture the attention of infants and toddlers younger than 2 years old, which not many movies can do.
• There is no plot line, but lots of images and clips of kids and animals and shapes being shown to Christian music. It's surprisingly not annoying to listen to (and, you can turn off the vocals if you so desire, and just have the music).
• He's still into the same episodes, even now being over a year older than when we first introduced him to the movies.
• Bram was colicky, and he would watch these starting at around 4 or 5 months old. It was the only way I could get a shower or make lunch sometimes because he also hardly napped during the day as an infant. And that was well worth it to me, after having taken many showers listening to his screams!
• For some reason, we have been a very mobile family since having our son and have taken many flights. On one trip I flew solo with Bram. Having the PB movies on my iPhone to watch in the airport or on the flight itself was a lifesaver.
•  Most recently, all three of us were sick. And when Mama has a headache, she's pretty useless. Couple that with a clingy, fussy toddler who is also sick. Well, PB movies came to the rescue yet again. It was one of those compromise weekends where we just had to do what we had to do to survive. And so I was so thankful he loves watching Praise Baby. 

 A few other thoughts:

• We don't have Bram watch Praise Baby every day. Many times, he goes weeks without watching it. But sometimes it has felt so necessary, that I am glad we have had these movies around.
•  I'm not saying that TV is great for children. I don't think it would necessarily be wise for me to introduce Bram to tons of shows just to get him to watch more TV. Right now Praise Baby and a few Baby Einstein movies are all he knows of TV. And we use them sparingly and wisely as we see the need arising.
• I'm definitely not saying that every infant and toddler needs Praise Baby. Definitely not! But for me in that first year of motherhood, and still to this day actually, but not as much, Praise Baby dvds have been more helpful than I ever thought they would be. My skeptical pre-mom self would probably have never anticipated that I would one day soon write such glowing (and lengthy) remarks about a baby DVD, but like I said earlier, sometimes - having a baby will do that to you!