Daytime TV

One of my biggest fears about taking up the stay-at-home mom thing was that I would become addicted to daytime television. I think I have the type of personality that is prone to addiction (maybe more later on my Spider Solitaire addiction), and I had heard that daytime TV was pretty addictive. I have to say, there was a summer when I was only working a few days a week, and I definitely developed a thing for morning shows while I made my eggs.

I'm proud to say that I am not addicted to daytime TV and I don't think I ever will be if it remains at it's currently quality. In fact, I think it's totally lame. I had to go through a 3-month phase of experimenting with it before I reached this point, but now I can honestly say that I'd prefer to do pretty much any real-life activity to watching even the most interesting daytime TV. Sometimes, however, there really is nothing to do but watch TV because I have a baby who loves to nurse, and who can't keep from grabbing anything else attached to Mom (telephone, laptop, book, mp3 player, etc). Here are the daytime TV shows that I don't mind watching in those circumstances.

Daytime talk: "Rachel Ray"--too many commercials on the others
Reruns: "Gilmore Girls," "Scrubs," and "Friends"--for some reason most others make me feel like I'm getting dumber
TLC: Rarely, rarely, I sometimes tune in to "Baby Story" or "What Not to Wear"
Game shows: "Jeopardy"--It's the only one fast-paced enough for my taste
Cooking Shows: "30-Minute Meals," "Quick-Fix Meals," and "Everyday Italian"--I find watching cooking shows is a great alternative to eating if you're trying not to eat, and these are the only shows where I can remember the recipes and afford the ingredients without having to write anything down.
Soap Operas: Haven't really given any a fair chance because I feel a little ill just watching a couple of minutes. I'm open to suggestions if anyone knows of an intelligent, engaging soap opera.
Kids shows: I don't plan to watch these for a long time, as long as I have a choice in the matter, but I saw "Between the Lions" at the doctor's office once and it was good.
CSPAN: I have yet to get interested in anything on CSPAN, which is too bad because I'd really like to be the type of person who watches CSPAN, and I went to law school and such, so I sort of feel like I should be watching it. Oh well. Their fault for not making it more interesting. TV news doesn't really do it for me either. I get it faster and commercial-free online, and I don't have to listen to anything remotely related to sports.