It's Saturday morning and Ben and I are watching Saturday morning cartoons. When Ben was born, I was one of those women who had had years to observe her friends and their children and decided that I would (of course) do it better. So I set up all sorts of rules for what I would and would not do. Needless to say, I broke almost all of these rules within 18 hours.One of the rules I had was that I wouldn't let Ben watch television. I wasn't hardcore on this idea, but it seemed like a good guideline. As a kid I watched HOURS of television. And bad tv. Soap operas, game shows, junk. 'After School Specials' was about as culturally highbrow as I got. I remember one summer everybody was out of the house almost every day. My brother was a competitive tennis player and competed all summer all over the map. My mom used to drag me along, but I hated it. It was HOT and BORING and we would have to be in the car for HOURS. I think I wore my mom down and she let me stay home alone. As Josh can attest, it's usually easier to let me have what I want than to fight me on it. I can be one helluva pain in the heinie. As a result, I would spend long days at home by mtself at the age of nine. For those of you who are gasping in horror, I will say that my mom was hardly neglectful. My grandparents lived 5 minutes away (I could walk there in 10 minutes if need be) and my dad's office was about 10 minutes away. Plus I was a ridiculously self-sufficient child. I was 30 when I was born (no wonder I feel so damn old). The days always seemed really long. There were no children nearby that I played with (we were new to the area) so I was alone for long periods of time (those were the days). I had a VIVID imagination and I would play all sorts of imaginary games. But what I usually did was watch tv. I remember that I had eleven hours of tv shows lined up with no gap. ELEVEN HOURS. Isn't that obscene? After hearing this story of my childhood, you probably think, of course she should ban tv. But I turned out okay (relatively speaking) and I read more than most people I know. I'm not saying that I would let Ben watch for hours, but the occasional 'Sesame Street' or 'Thomas & Friends' is the only thing that allows me the occasional shower or peace. So here we are, watching Saturday morning cartoons. I must admit that I end up watching WAY more than Ben. He just glances from time to time, while I watch and overanalyze the artwork and deconstruct the narrative. Some things never change. Once an addict, always an addict.