Enjoy the silence.

Decided to borrow the title to a Depeche Mode song. :) I'm not sure how all of you are in the morning, but this momma of two little ones needs her coffee and some time to wakey up. So my routine (up until recently) has been...roll out of bed, microwave some milk for my toddler, put it the sippy and go get her out of bed (waking her up with a song of course!), do the diaper change and sit her on the couch with her milk and Meredith, Al, Matt and Ann (yep! the Today show) while I go and get her baby sister. After I get her diaper changed and bottle made and my morning coffee I sit down for the only real bit of news outside my home that I will see all day. Well, my husband didn't turn on the Today show one morning when he got them up and later was telling me how much more the girls talk if there is no other outside stimulus. He suggested that we don't turn the TV on in the morning until Sesame Street and see if this helps them with their language and social skills. So, I agreed (with a little bit of inner selfishness in that I like to hear what is happening around the world rather than just in Yo Gabba Gabba land and on Sesame Street). They now make declarations (not sure what those are since they don't really speak English yet, they are still in toddler speak), they talk to the cats, to each other, to their toys and bring books for us to read. Overall...turning the TV off in the morning has been a good thing. We pretty much limit what they watch anyhow but have decided to take it up a notch and limit what we are watching too so that there isn't as much outside stimulus and the silence in the room actually spurs them to hear their own voices. So I encourage you to turn off the TV and have a little more quiet in your house...the silence won't last for long. :)