How much TV or should my son watch TV?

Way back before we even had Erik, Tabitha and I always talked about parenting issues and how we would deal with each situation as far as we could foresee them. One of those issues we used to bring up was how much TV should we let our son watch or when would it be a right time to introduce the tube to Erik. Tabitha and I had some different views but generally agreed upon no TV for the son till he’s about ___________ (insert age) here. Well there was me saying no DISNEY for my son – I still think this way (I hate Disneyland – those long lines just scare the *poop* out of me) but Tabitha bought me down to reality by saying what if Erik comes to me with that sweet innocent face and asks me about going to Disneyland. I will probably give in – so NO to DISNEY movies. Then we used to say no TV for Erik – but we seem to be losing out on this too – when the TV is on he arches his necks and stares at it. He has already been to a number of movies at the theatre with Grandma and Mom. He loves to watch the Game Show Network – thanks to Grandma – but this could actually be good learning to spell through Lingo and Wheel of Fortune. But I would honestly love it if he would eventually like shows like the Amazing Race. (Family Amazing Race would be pretty darn cool) It seems like we are losing war with TV and Erik. But we do try and show him Baby Einstein DVDs and we do play the CDs whenever we are in the car. (Tabitha did mention that DISNEY was marketing or producing the Baby Einstein’s).

What really bought me to mention TV in the first place was the following article on NPR - For Toddlers, a World Laden with Advertising my main concern is the numerous advertisements that kids today are constantly bombarded by which leads to headaches for parents. And I have first hand experience in advertisement and obesity. Look at me – I used to be skinny – when I first washed upon the shores of this Junk Food filled country I was a mere skinny child of 18 years and about 160lbs. Now I am a mountain of flesh at about 250lbs. All thanks to those cool junk food Adds where I would run out and buy the latest bag of chips. Ask my brother – another person who has experienced this the hard way. So how can I protect my son from this? I guess I got to fix the “broken ass” workout and lead a healthy, active lifestyle. Other things I worry about TV – Thomas the toy train another show I hope my son never watches. It just rubs me the wrong way that show.