Seeing What We Want to See

The other day Maddie's little friend, Noah, was over. They were so cute, playing with these animal masks.

Maddie always turns the right side towards her.  At first I thought it was just one of her quirks, but then...

Noah instinctively did the same thing!

He could have been mimicking Maddie, but I think they prefer to see what they want to see.  I mean, who wants to look at a plain, white piece of cardboard when you can look at the amazing bright yellows and oranges that make up a lion!?

This got me thinking...maybe I'm seeing what I want to see in some things.  Last night I read some startling news.  From the book Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne, "Multiple studies have now concluded that watching television, even such educational programming as Sesame Street, actually delays rather than promotes language development."  YIKES.  If this is true, I have definitely only been seeing what I want to see.  She loves Sesame Street, but she probably has been watching too much lately.  I knew this before I read this excerpt last night, but I was telling myself, "Well, at least it's Sesame Street and she's learning so much!" I think it's really ironic that he chose to write specifically about Sesame Street. Had he just said educational programs, I would have totally dismissed it, but he actually pegged Sesame Street!  

So much to think about!  What do you think?  Do you think the findings in this study could be true?  Is some T.V. OK?  How much is too much?