Behold the power of T.V.

Well, the powers of DVD, anyway,

When shopping for the Gavinator for Christmas, I decided tis the season for learning the alphabet- or as Gavin calls it, “my letters”. I bought him the Leap Frog Letter Factory and the Leap Frog Learning Refrigerator DJ to go along with all his other Leap frog alphabet learning toys that have been handed down from neighbors and cousins.

Now before you get all “lazy parenting” up on me for using annoying electronic devices to teach my child his letters, I have been trying to teach him his letters the old fashioned way. I sing the alphabet song to him while brushing his teeth and I read alphabet books. I point out letters on billboards and signs we are out and about and in preschool, he learns a letter a week which I reinforce at home.

That said, the Leap Frog Letter factory is a far better parent or teacher than I will ever be. He fell in love with the DVD at fist sight and if it was up to him, we would watch it on continuous loop from sun up to sundown (and maybe… just maybe…last Saturday when I was home alone with the kids ALL day and it was raining ALL day, I may have just let him do that. I may have. And by may, I mean did. So sue me.).

When he wakes up in the morning he asks to watch “his letters” and sometimes when I deny him he cries “but mama! I want to LEARN my letters!!!!!” What do I say? No, you can’t learn? No, you can’t sit still and be quiet while watching a video that not only teaches you your letters but also keeps our house peaceful because you’re too busy learning to beat up your sister?

I am only human, people. That video has been burning up our DVD players since Christmas morn. Folks, it has beat out Cars as the DVD that must be played over and over again until mama finally breaks down and gets her dosage of Zoloft upped.

Although, sure, it may be annoying but I kid you not, the Gavinator KNOWS his letters. He doesn’t know it in an “I can sing my ABC’s” kind of way. He knows it in a “can point to any letter and tell you what it is and what sound it makes” kind of way. He is obsessed with letters. He sits and watches me draw letters while he says what they are because he WANTS to, not because I’m trying to hold him down and convince him that learning is fun and please learn so that you can grow up and get a full scholarship to a fancy school and make a ton of money and support me and your father. Please. I mean, not to brag, but he is so good at his letters, it's only going to be a short time before Gavin is spray painting explicitives on government property.

This isn’t the first time I have resigned myself to the fact an inanimate object is a far better parent than I.

Or is it me? Is there a Leap Frog Grammar Factory?