“Katie, put on the ‘rock you’ song!”

He was, of course, referring to Queen’s opus magnum “We Will Rock You.” And I, of course, knew that that’s not how the radio works.

“I can’t make the radio play a certain song pal. It plays what it wants to…”

Do you remember a time when if you weren’t home for a favorite television show, you just missed it? Let’s face it, when your best bet was programming a VCR, there was little hope that it would actually record the new episode of Beverly Hills 90210. Now we all have the luxury of expecting TV, radio and internet to give us exactly what we want exactly when we want it. I mean, I LOVE fast forwarding through commercials, but they were simpler days when you just lived with the few choices you had.

Being able to moderately control kid’s TV choices is an invaluable use of modern technology, but I would argue that there is some value in making them live with whatever TV or radio has to offer at any given time.

#1 You can only watch/listen to one episode at a time

I have done my fair share of binge watching, but I admit that I prefer having to wait a week for a new episode. Otherwise, it’s so easy to start another episode and another and all of a sudden you realize you’ve been sitting on the couch for 2 days straight falling into the black hole that is Lost. Teaching kids to wait a little is arguably more important than teaching me to do it. I’ve already been practicing my waiting for a few decades. They are new to the art and need some more time…to develop their skills.

#2 You might stumble onto something new (and you might like it!)

I have met kids who only like to watch Doc McStuffins. That’s not a bad show (and maybe it’s good that they only like one thing), but if they would just give Sesame Street a try, they might find out that it’s pretty great too (I admit a slight bias). If you can select only what you know you already like, then just like being a picky eater, you can be a picky watcher/listener. Parents get tired of these repeated shows and songs way sooner than their kids do. So helping their kids discover a new band or show might be in everyone’s interest!! Just let the radio play!

#3 You might not watch TV at all if there’s nothing on that you like

A possible bi-product of not always getting to watch/listen to what you most want is that you might choose to do something else altogether! You could stare at the ceiling or read a book or write your own TV pilot or do a puzzle or pull your sister’s hair or walk the dog or take out the trash or annoy your Mom or do your homework or learn to play the clarinet or knit your brother a scarf! So many choices!

#4 Letting the radio play could lead to spontaneous dance parties (or some learning!)

Bam! Time to boogie!