at my house

Growing up I used to think I would spoil my kids. I'd give them the life I had always thought I wanted.
Toys, as much TV as they wanted, big birthday parties, a car at 16. I would let them stay up as late as they wanted, eat ice cream for breakfast, and I wouldn't bother them about getting to school on time (or at all), whether their homework was done, or if they were ever going to get their room clean.
Then, of course, I grew up. I began to be thankful that my parents hadn't done those things for me. The "ideal life" I had dreamed of as a child began to seem more like a nightmare.
As I grew my eyes began to be opened to how life really works. If I gave my children that life they were sure to end up being bratty, ungrateful, dumb, unhealthy, unclean, irresponsible and so on. To raise children like that would be doing them a great disservice.
Even as I came to realize these things I still had some weird ideas about how I would raise my kids. My young self had visions of being the "cool" mom and the "friend" mom.
My parenting ideas didn't really mature until I began having children and the new ideas didn't all come the moment I first held my brand new baby. Many of my parenting ideas came with time and experience (which I still don't have much of, since I've only been a mom for less than 3 years.)

After Conrad was born, and as he grew and became able to hold and play with toys I thought he needed a whole bunch. By the time Ellie was born my opinions about toys were changing. I began to realize that I would go crazy if our home became cluttered with all manner of toys and gadgets.
Now, I'm all for the kids having a few toys to play with. They both love cars, and Ellie loves her babies. At the same time, I am still the main mess cleaner I'd rather not put up with the mess of a million toys. (Side note: the kids are required to help with what they can, since they're able.) So, toys are kept to a minimum. Even so, I've been feeling like they still have too many.
A few months ago Mr. Boss and I went through all of the kids toys, and we got rid of quite a few. But, as I've been feeling overwhelmed with their volume (which, compared to most kids we know, is minimal.) I have been considering going through their toys again, in attempt to weed out a few more.
Along with trying to keep the number of toys low, I also try to keep noisy, battery operated toys out of the mix. Honestly, there are very few noise making toys that I am willing to put up with (for example, Conrad's fire engine, which lights up and has a siren noise.) But, for the most part, I find noise-making toys to be endlessly annoying. That's not to say that some haven't weaseled their way into our home, but they are generally hidden away shortly after their arrival, before they drive me to the point of jamming my knitting needles into my ears.
Some people might be able to tolerate these things, but I absolutely cannot and will not, nor will I try to.
Besides, kids prefer simplicity. Hello? Greatest toy ever invented has been, and always will be, the captivating empty box. You know I speak the truth.
In our home toys will be few. That is that.

At the time Conrad was born I watched a lot of TV. Most of our days were spent in the living room, on the couch. Things hadn't really changed in that area when Ellie arrived. I may have begun to realize my desire to keep toys to a minimum, but I wasn't really considering another important thing. My TV was still on most of the day, and I failed to see a big problem with that.
At the apartment where we used to live, basic cable was included in our rent. I took advantage of this, by watching way too much TV, and thereby exposing Conrad to things that he shouldn't have been exposed to. (I'm just hoping, due to his young age, that he doesn't remember any of the filth he saw.)
When we moved to this house things changed. There was no longer cable (or dish, or anything) included in our rent, and we didn't really have a desire to find room in our budget for them either. Instead we hooked up our television to our DVD/VCR, making it so it was only useful for watching movies. I used to think that having the TV on all the time was OK, but in its absence I've learned that I not only enjoy, I also prefer the silence.
There have been times that I have "missed" the "easy entertainment" that television offers, but mostly I'm glad to go without.
I'm thrilled that my family isn't being bombarded with ads for products that we really don't need.
I'm over-joyed that my kids don't know about all of the
creepykids shows that television offers it's preschool viewers.
But, as I said before, we do have our TV hooked up to a DVD/VCR player. This mean we're watching movies. Some days it feels like there has been something on all day (and I really hate those days.) Still, the TV is usually off.
We also "screen" the movies we let the kids watch. We go with classics we remember loving as children (Land Before Time--original only, Lady & the Tramp, etc.), most of the Disney-Pixar shows (Wall-e, Nemo, etc.), a few Winnie the Pooh videos and, of course, the annoying, but loved, Baby Signing Time DVDs.
We try to keep it simple and enjoyable for the kids, as well as trying to limit their exposure to unwanted behaviors displayed by some of the characters in some of these movies.
Along with only allowing certain films, we have also chosen to ban others. The main genre of movies we are not allowing are the Disney Princess movies. Don't get me wrong, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid were some of my favorites as a child. The reason we've chosen not to allow them is simply that we don't want our little girls to think it's OK to be demanding/helpless princesses. Not to mention the plethora of Princess paraphernalia that line shelves at the stores.
Extreme marketing and product over-load aside, I don't really feel like these princesses set a very good example for the young girls at which they are aimed. With their hyper/"hidden" sexuality and the whole helpless-damsel-in-distress, waiting for Prince Charming to whisk her away to a false "happily ever after"...it's just not what I want for my girls to see as OK. I would rather my girls look to strong, independent, realistic women than to have them idolizing and fantasizing about a fairy tale.
(And, while we're on the subject of Disney and little girls, can I just say (why, yes, I can!) I really can't stand anything that Disney is marketing to young girls. I'm talking about all that Hannah Montana garbage.
What? Somebody had to say it.)

My current thoughts and views about raising my kids, and the sorts of things I do and don't want them exposed to, have changed so much over the past couple of years.
I never thought I would prefer having no TV over a sweet cable/dish package and channels filled with mind numbing shows.
I never thought I would make a big deal about how many toys my kids had, and especially not to the point of requesting (when asked) clothes or books over toys for birthdays and holidays.
I never thought I'd like to keep our holiday celebrations simple, and gifts to a minimum.
Life, and what experience I've gained, have taught me that simplicity is what is best for me and my family.