There is a part of me that is both horrified, and gratified, by the knowledge that television is a big part of my kids’ lives. I honestly don’t know what my kids would do at the end of a long day without it…or what I would do without it. 
There are days, that one or more of my children will come home from school or daycare, and pretty much watch TV from the moment we come in, through dinner, and until we put them to bed. Now granted, often that’s really only like, two hours, but still…right?
And as much as it makes me want to gag admitting this, there are many a day when I’m more than happy to relegate my parental obligations to our 46” family friend. He’s a good friend.
But I don’t know…Lord, I watched a lot of TV when I was a kid and I’m pretty OK. I get as much exercise as my schedule will allow. I don’t eschew my job, family or other responsibilities in favor of watching “my show.” So I don’t know…I guess as long as your kids aren’t lard-arses and when you do pull them away from the tube to interact with other people, they aren’t complete Asbergers, then it’s OK?
Postulates & Pastimes 
Well, when we were kids – we did not have Cable TV – so we were limited to the five channels. FREQUENTLY there was nothing worth watching on (hmm… some things have not changed) – and so the TV went off and we found something else to do.
In this day and age – with multiple networks dedicated to children / tweens / teens, on demand, netflix, hulu, etc, etc, etc – it would be concievable (if not easy) for a child to find something on the “tele” to occupy them 24/7.
It’s all about moderation. Have I ever “relegated my parental obligations to our 46” family friend”?? (Well, ours is only a 27″) Yes. Guilty as charged… I just try to make sure it’s not a “regular” thing!
Oh, you are so hard on yourself. That’s my first thought. I mean I know you have to have standards and all that, but just sometimes, occasionally, if only you weren’t living under such pressure . . . from you. I know people who don’t have TVs and I’ve cut back on my own viewing in a huge way during the past six months. Both of my kids watched a lot of TV as little kids and as soon as they hit teenage years they switched it to computer viewing, on their own, just very little interest. I do have a step-granddaughter who I think was left in a playpen too many hours a day as a toddler, propped up to watch television as child #5, and it made me want to scream. But your kids? No, I don’t think you would ever be one to leave them for hours and hours and hours in front of a TV. At the end of a long day is it awful for them to zone out the same way adults do? They’ll survive. No, kids didn’t watch as much television 25 or 50 years ago, they were out in a barn helping their fathers or in the kitchen making meals from scratch with their mothers, washing laundry in a tub. To some extent the conveniences of modern life leave us with less purpose, but is entertainment, enjoyment, laughter, learning (cause they do learn in front of a screen) really worthless? I don’t think so. You’re doing a great job. You always do a great job.