Avoiding Mushdom

Zoned. Out.

You know how universities conduct studies of children who completely zone out in front of a television and are oblivious to their surroundings? Researchers determine that those children either end up with mush for brains or the inability to socialize later in life -- or both.
Miss Elise has discovered television, and she's destined for Mushdom if we don't nip this boob-tube fascination.
We're to blame, though it certainly is not intentional. When we feed her we'll often watch TV -- it's too hard to hold a book or magazine, and at 3 a.m. each of us needs some kind of entertainment to stay awake.
We first noticed this about a week ago. Elise was getting burped when she saw the TV ... and promptly zoned out. So for the past several days we have watched how she responds to the TV and can safely draw this conclusion: She's going to be hooked if we don't intervene.
You want evidence of this emerging problem? Here you go: I was watching a hockey game the other night and she was on the floor. I intentionally turned her so that she was facing away from the TV. No problem for her -- she simply craned her neck upward and unnaturally backward so that she could see the TV.
Impressive? Yeah. Funny? Kind of. A sign of troubled times ahead? Maybe.
But don't call in the researchers just yet.
To be continued...