A DVR (digital video recorder) can be a godsend if you have toddlers in the house. Young kids often don’t understand the concept of TV schedules, but a DVR pretty much does away with them.
A friend of mine was babysitting in a home so equipped, and the child asked to see his favorite program.
However, she was unfamiliar with the brand of DVR present, so she couldn’t figure out how to get it on and playing the right show. And she certainly wasn’t going to hand a 40 button remote to a 3 year old. (Who knows what other shows daddy and mommy might have been recording? “Ack! Bobby, look away!”)
I say, empower that child.
I’d like a kid-oriented programmable universal remote. It should specifically understand how to operate the main brands of DVRs.
It would have really large buttons, with clear faces behind which pictures of the child’s favorite characters could be slipped. Each button would correspond to a set “channel” in your DVR containing the corresponding program.
It can be customized by dad or mom (or the teenager in the house) to match their DVR and TV configuration.
Your toddler gets to control the TV, but you still have full control over what they see, since it is you who programs the DVR. No V-chip or other filtering required.
And maybe having their own remote will encourage your toddler not to monkey around with the rest of the controls.
“Mommy, can we watch Sesame Street?”
“Sure, Bobby, go ahead and press on Elmo’s button.”
“Yay!”