We came across a story on the news wires that reinforced our decision to go TV-free during the week. You control it or it controls you:

The Nielsen Co. says in a study released last week that children ages 2 to 5 watch more than 32 hours of television each week.Kids 6 to 11 spend a little less time in front of a TV screen - more than 28 hours. But that’s partly because they have to go to school.

According to the study, the television viewing by children 2 to 11 is the most since 1995.

The younger kids, or at least their parents, are tech-savvy. The 32 hours of TV-watching includes an hour and a half of shows taped on a digital video recorder, and 4½ hours of programs on a DVD.

Nielsen also says children ages 6 to 11 play video games on a television for nearly 2 1/2 hours a week on average.

We may not realize how much time our kids spend with the electronic babysitter, but once you start keeping track, the numbers may surprise you.