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Here's what my wife did. She hired an electrician to cut the wire to the television set and put a special adapter on the end. Then she had him put the mate of the adapter on the other side of the wire.
It took me a few moments to understand that.
You mean that she had the TV electrical cord fitted so it could be completely removed like a computer electrical cord, right?
Oh, good God. Who are the adults in this situation? It's not the job of the parents to be liked. It's the job of the parents to do what's right for the kids, and they'll damned well like it.
Here's what my wife did. She hired an electrician to cut the wire to the television set and put a special adapter on the end. Then she had him put the mate of the adapter on the other side of the wire.
Voila. Unplug the damned thing on weeknights or when the chores and homework aren't done.
lol Aye!!!! The beatings will continue until morale improves!! Dammit!!!!
I can relate to this. I had it growing up and I learned quickly to follow the rules. My sister did not. She was/is strong-willed and just as stubborn as my Mom. Arguing, screaming, tearing stuff up, physical violence between them. It sucked at my house. My sister never damned well liked it.
We have 3 rules at our home- RESPECTFUL, RESPONSIBLE, FUN TO BE AROUND. Those 3 rules cover a LOT!!! They are all excellent students, athletes, musicians. They volunteer at church and in our community. They are not spoiled rotten. They earn money to pay for their cell phones, I-Pods, Nike Shox, and the "extra" stuff kids like. We are blessed in having pretty good kids. Not perfect, but seriously good kids.
Unless the parents are willing to fight this particular habit, it won't matter what they do.
Parents allow things to occur because it's simply easier to allow it than to change it. (Supernanny anyone? They had one show with this exact issue)
Still using a pacifier at 4? It's because the parents don't want to fight the fight.
Still carrying around a bottle at 3? Same thing.
5 year old in bed with mom while dad sleeps on the couch? Same thing.
Until a parent truly wants to fight the battle to change it, it simply won't matter what they try, they will give in because it's easier.
If they do decide it's a battle worth fighting, then they can be open to the ideas posted here.
I support taking out the TV, however, it must be replaced with something else to be their soother. A night light and a CD. A radio and a clock with a bright display. A noise machine and a low wattage lamp.
A gloworm and fan. The idea is to replace the 'light source' and the 'sound source' with something better suited to children and slowly work towards them being able to sooth themselves to sleep since they've never learned how to do that.
My neices and nephew (ages 5 and 6) have always been allowed to sleep with the tv on--all night. Now, they've been told it's what's disrupting their sleep and possibly contributing to behavioral problems but the parents say 'They won't...." [heavy sigh] Don't get me started, I know, I know. So how would you go about taking back control in this situation? Just turn off the tv and let the engines roar? There's got to be a better way.
I really don't think there's anything you can do because they aren't your children. All the parents can do is remove the idiot boxes from their bedrooms, but that takes parents willing to do some real parenting. Too many parents these days tippy-toe around their kids and let their kids rule the castle because they'd rather their kids think they are "cool" or that they want to be their kids "friends". Kids used to be afraid of their parents, IMO because that used to be the way people parented - i.e. "putting the fear into them" and the whole belt and spanking and etc. that used to be the norm. Now those kids who endured all that have grown up and have gone to the opposite end of the spectrum - they are afraid of parenting because they don't want to upset their kids.
It's a balance, you have to find a middle ground. I personally don't believe in spanking and making my kids fear me or my husband, but my husband and I do demand respect. If our kids don't follow our rules, they lose priveleges. Your niece and nephew's parents are going to have to sit their kids down and establish new rules - and enforce them - no matter what. And if the kids don't like it - tough. Eventually they'll settle in and once they do I'm sure they'll be sleeping better. Especially if they don't follow the rules and the TV's get taken out of the room entirely.
The parents might tell them to leave the TV off during these specific hours (say... from 7pm until 7am or whatever works for their family) or else they will have the TV's taken away. Period. And mean it. And follow through. Otherwise... the kids won't respect the parents or take them seriously because they'll always know that they can get away with murder because what their parents say doesn't mean anything. It really is what a parent DOES that matters, not so much what we say a lot of the time. It's that whole "actions speak louder than words" thing.
My neices and nephew (ages 5 and 6) have always been allowed to sleep with the tv on--all night. Now, they've been told it's what's disrupting their sleep and possibly contributing to behavioral problems but the parents say 'They won't...." [heavy sigh] Don't get me started, I know, I know. So how would you go about taking back control in this situation? Just turn off the tv and let the engines roar? There's got to be a better way.
First of all there's nothing to take control of. They're not your children and the parents don't have a problem with any of it. All you can do is make the simple suggestion of shutting off the tv at night and come up with some alternative like giving them books to read or look at. That's it.
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So how would you go about taking back control in this situation? Just turn off the tv and let the engines roar? There's got to be a better way.
