Name: Spreading the Feast Gathering
Start: 2025-07-11T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-07-12T23:59:59-05:00
Location: LaGrange, KY

This topic has 8 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 3 months ago by Misty.

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)

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February 13, 2010 at 10:10 pm
morgrace
Participant
I have a pile of Veggie Tales DVDs – all but one were given to us by my family over the last few years. I want to take them all into a used bookstore with some other books and DVDs but am not sure if I’ll regret the decision. Over a year ago I cut out Veggie Tales and other DVDs/TV and since then have saved TV time for special occasions only. (This was before I discovered CM or the phrase “twaddle” – my son’s behavior was prediciably worse after time spent watching anything – so I cut it all. Incedently, he’s predictably better after we’ve been outside 🙂
I’ve never put a Veggie DVD back on, we’ve watched Shaun the Sheep of parts of The March of the Penguins on the occasions we do watch instead. I hesitate because I’ve gotten rid of things in the past and regretted it and because my family already thinks me a bit odd in my approach to TV – I don’t want to deal with them should they find out I got rid of their gifts. And as we are considering a third child will I regret not having “something to turn on” for the older two with a new baby? (My kids are 4 and 2)
In short, I think I need someone to tell me I’m doing the right thing for my kids. My family and moms friends at church all use TV more than I do so I don’t feel as I can ask any of them. Thanks!
February 13, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Tristan
Participant
Each family is different, you have to go with your own personal prayer to find the answer.
We have Veggie Tales and they are saved to watch one on Sunday after church while the kids are waiting for dinner to be ready. Because they are on so infrequently (we have a few, so they see each every month or two) they really give the chidlren something enjoyable, which we then focus on as our dinner table topic of conversation with daddy. 🙂
Just an idea for another way to use them.
February 14, 2010 at 3:51 am
thepinkballerina
Participant
We gave up tv last June and are enjoying just watching the occasional appropriate DVD (meaning maybe 2X per month). I prefer something educational, but we do occasionally watch Milo and Otis or Heidi with Shirley Temple. I think Veggie Tales and most cartoons are twaddle..I call them junk food for the brain. I prefer real life stuff. This is coming from a family who watched at least 3 hrs of cartoons daily (broken up). The TV was admittedly a babysitter.
Now my girls have time to be outside to explore or use their imagination indoors, and better yet, help mommy!
So don’t feel guilty or odd with family or others. I was afraid of what our family would think. My mom supports us! She says it isn’t going to hurt them not to watch it daily. I always teach my daughters not to run with the crowd–just because others do it doesn’t mean it’s right. I’m finding the crowd is usually doing wrong most of the time.
Enjoy the quiet!
Tara
February 14, 2010 at 4:24 am
LindseyD
Participant
morgrace,
It is interesting that you bring this up. I just got rid of our entire Veggie Tales collection two weeks ago. We aren’t “tv people”, in that we don’t pay for cable or satellite television. We also do not have a converter box, so essentially, we get zero television. Up until recently, and especially two weeks ago, our children had quite the collection of DVDs and tapes. Most were given to us as gifts or surprises by family, but my dh and I did buy some too. Sesame Street/Elmo, a few Disney movies, and Veggie Tales were among that collection.
I tossed most of the Disney stuff and the Sesame Street stuff several months ago as I felt the kids were too old to be truly interested in it any longer. (They’re 6 and 4.) I don’t know why I didn’t toss the Veggie Tales stuff right then too. I guess I felt the same way you do.
The clincher for me was during school time one morning. We had just finished reading the story of Joshua and the falling Wall of Jericho out of our Children’s Story Bible. When I asked for a narration, both children immediately began narrating “Josh and The Big Wall”, the Veggie Tales movie! I was shocked! I don’t think my children ever realized that Veggie Tales movies were based on the real events of the Bible until that moment. And it wasn’t a good moment, either.
I realized right then and there that I hadn’t done my children any favors by showing them those movies. Sure, there’s nothing bad about them; but they are, in actuality, dumbed-down twaddle versions of the Bible. I made up my mind that I wanted my children to have the meat of God’s true Word, not cartoon videos with good intentions. Maybe they don’t understand all the vocabulary and events of the Bible right now, but if I let them grow up with Veggie Tales as their compass, they’d never understand any of God’s Word later on. I don’t believe Veggie Tales points children in the right direction. It doesn’t encourage the reading or studying of the real Word of God, and to me, it cheapens the treasure found therein.
The only tv my children have seen since Christmas are the old episodes of Little House on the Prairie. We allow them to watch a few episodes per week, and even dh and I have enjoyed the wholesomeness of those shows. However, I am quite content with the television completely off; and my children have learned to be that way too.
Another quick story: We know a woman who was a missionary in China for several years, specifically to the Chinese children. She found several Veggie Tales movies that had been translated into Mandarin, and thought it would be a great way to teach those kids about the Bible. When she showed the movies, she said she was surprised. Yes, the children enjoyed them, thought they were funny, and of course, had never seen anything like them before. But, they never connected those movies to the Bible. They thought they were cartoons and nothing more. She realized what an ineffective tool those movies were, and would’ve probably been a hindrance rather than a help to her ministry in China.
Hope that’s helpful,
Lindsey
February 14, 2010 at 1:20 pm
wearejenandkev
Participant
While I do agreee with most of what has been said….I take a slightly different approach. Here is my reason for keeping them….
I realized my kids weren’t getting anything out of the storylines when I just put them on randomly. But, they enjoy them and there is nothing wrong with the videos as long as they are used in moderation. (as with all tv.) So, I use them as a conclusion to Bible lessons. For example, we are doing Gen.thru Deut. We are doing Moses leaving Egypt. So, at the end of learning about that, we watched Moe and the Big Exit. I told them beforehand that the story was based on Moses. I said it was a silly version of it, though. So, I challenged them to watch the movie and see how the authors made the onnections between the real story and the silly story. After the video was over they had to tell me their ‘connections.’ It encouraged them to think and reflect on the real history, but enjoy the silly version at the same time. Thye got a lot out of it! They saw through the story at a new level. So, that is my method for my family!
Jennifer
February 17, 2010 at 1:16 am
lgeurink
Member
I would be anxious about a new baby coming with two toddlers and needing some time with the promise of some quiet! May I recommend the BBC versions of Beatrix Potter’s stories. They are word for word and use her illustrations to create the animation. As you probably know, some of the stories include the fox trying to eat Jemima Puddleduck and kidnapped bunnies so you would have to decide if you felt it was approriate for your kids(SCM has the recommended reading age for four year olds-my youngest was 2 when she started hearing/seeing them due to older siblings). They are beautifully done, short if you only run one at a time, and certainly not twaddle. Just my two cents but overall you are the mom and no matter what advice anyone gives you, you get to make the choices! Be confident in your choices, Laura Ingalls survived without tv and we would too (though I personally am not up for trying a complete ban!)
February 18, 2010 at 10:58 pm
csmamma
Participant
This may not directly answers your question but just thought I’d share our experience with Veggie Tales. When our oldest son, now 14, was little we use to let him watch a lot of Veggie Tales videos. Sadly, at the time, we thought we were helping him by doing this. Now, years later, he tells us that when he reads the Bible he still sees singing vegetables. I know this sounds funny but its a real struggle for him. Our youngest is now 2 and I’m sure you can guess; we no longer have singing veggies in the house .
February 18, 2010 at 11:16 pm
art
Participant
I guess I don’t really have an answer either, but I thought I’d share our experience. We get Veggie Tales from the library once in a while. Our younger kids are 11, 8 and 7. They have seen the Esther story a couple times in the last couple years. So when we were reading the account in the Bible a few weeks ago, when we got to the part about why the king wanted a new queen, they giggled and said it was because she wouldn’t make him a sandwich. (Sorry about the run-on sentence).
My husband and I giggled along with the kids and just explained that it seems to be because he wanted to have her come so people could look at her beauty-show her off. That’s not appropriate, so she wouldn’t go. We giggled some more about the sandwich and went on reading. I hope that doesn’t sound irreverent; it really wasn’t.
I realize sometimes the videos might mix up young kids, but at our house the very sparing use of Veggie Tales has helped them remember the real thing-when we read and talk with them about it. I wouldn’t expect toddlers to understand though.
I’m sure the makers of Veggie Tales didn’t intend for the videos to be used instead of the scriptures-I don’t mean to imply that anyone is doing that.
Hope that helps!
February 19, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Misty
Participant
We have a stack of Veggie tales, but no one really watches them. They also laugh at things that come up but we’ve never had any problems with them. And compared to a lot that’s out there I guess for us we will keep them. I still have a 3 & 1 yr old. They are better than putting on cartoons which might be fine but the commercials are terrible. That’s just my 2 cents so maybe ditch some and keep a couple on hand? Just a thought. Misty