My kid is sick. Sick with teething. I know some pediatricians say they don't get a fever when they're teething, but BULL doctors. At 13 months, Peanut's first teeth are finally coming through - two on the bottom - and she's miserable. Lethargic, fever, cries a lot, only gets excited when she sees the Children's Tylenol bottle. Peanut won't talk (she's my daughter, that is BEYOND weird), Peanut won't eat (she's GJ's daughter, that is BEYOND weird) and she won't even move. I never thought I'd see the day where she'd lay there and cuddle with me for more than 5 seconds.
In an effort to get her mind off sharp bone pushing through her gums, I tried to find some entertaining kid's show. Peanut has had no interest in TV, even when I have, yes, tried to force it on her. But, folks, I was DONE. She was crying nonstop. I needed something, anything at that point.
So I turned on the TV.
AND WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO CHILDREN'S TELEVISION?
Albeit, it's been a while. I've been out of the kid-show loop for, oh, I don't even know how many years. Where is Strawberry Shortcake? Rainbow Brite? Muppet Babies? Care Bears? The beauty that was animation in the '80s, man.
We turned on a show called "Caillou." I've never heard of it before and, from the 15 minutes we were awake, I've gathered that this Caillou character is some kind of Benjamin Buttons boy with a really high voice, higher than the other girl characters, which is confusing when you and your child are drifting in and out of sleep.
(AM I WRONG?)
Why is there always this heavenly glow around the various Caillou scenes?
Why does Caillou only have 6 kids in his class? This is clearly not an American public school.
And what is up with the moms? Why are they the homeliest bunch of women I have seen - animation or otherwise?
Parents: do you have to watch TV with your kids?* Because all these commercials are geared towards adults - insurance, Direct Buy. Yeah, sure, if I'm letting her watch late-night cable, it requires monitoring, but preschool-themed programming? I had flipped through a few other shows and, TRUST, Caillou wasn't the most annoying. I'm going to punch myself in the uterus if I watch another children's show again.
*Not that I will experience this anytime in the near future because Peanut still has no interest in TV. She is more entertained by the opening credits to "Mad Men" then any baby-geared-TV. (I realize this is a good thing).
EDITED: Wikipedia tells me this is not an American public school - it's in Canada. Oh, those Canucks and their small class sizes!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
I turn to TV to cure the pain
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19 comments:
FIRST!
Haha, oh my gosh, that is funny. I'm always baffled at the kind of TV shows for kids. Seriously, our TV shows were so much better! I mean, where is Fraggle Rock? Muppet Babies? The Magic School Bus? (Ok, that show may still be on, it's been a while since I checked out those shows) Crazy!
Kenzie watches Caillou and my thing is why is this 4-5 year-old boy bald? Poor kid. everyone else has hair. and if this was real situation, all the kids at school would make fun of his baldness. and yes, he does sound like a girl.
My mian reason for not having kids yet is the TV shows.
Worse: He's QUEBECOIS.
And he's one of the worst kid's shows on TV. Everyone hates Caillou.
May I recommend Kipper, Yo GAbba Gabba, Angelina, Max & Ruby, WonderPets (operettas!),and Little Bear?
Avoid: Dragon Tales, LazyTown.
I love the Disney channel because they don't have commercials! That said, my kids like nick jr. better because of shows like Backyardagins(very cute) and sponge bob. They do quote commercials to me all the time and try to influence me to buy certain products they've seen advertised though!
I actually won't let Hays watch this show b/c Caillou is so winy to his parents. Honestly, he's a pansy! I do really like Little Einsteins though (on Disney channel).
My husband boycotted (is that even a word?!) Caillou because he is soooo freakin' whiny and then his parents give in to him!! Way to reinforce bad behavior PBS! Sheesh. And is he a chemo kid or what is with the baldness?
Ya, I'm not a Caillou fan. The Backyardigans is a favorite around here.. catchy tunes and sweet dance moves.
YOu happened to turn on the worst. PBS has some surprisingly good shows mixed in. Sesame Street is a fave. (They even spoof Mad Men. You can find it on youtube...maybe there's hope for Peanut and television.) Though I'm disappointed in some of the referrals from your other commenters.
I look back with fond memories of the days before my kids cared about television. I could watch whatever daytime trash I wanted to.
Calliou is horrible. First of all- he does nothing but whine. And second of all, well, there is no second of all because I can't stand whining. And my kid is really whiney right now. grrrr...
Anyways- Carebears show on Saturday mornings- I think on either NBC or ABC.
On a sidenote: I saw on my neighborhood blog this morning that Disney is now giving refunds for BabyEinstein videos- turns out they aren't so educational at all- even detrimental... copy/paste this one:
http://www.nj.com/parenting/eric_ruhalter/index.ssf/2009/10/baby_einstein_recall_-_like_fi.html
It's true Baby Einstein does not make your baby smarter...shock.
From the article Peanut is strong on the way to being smarter than her pears just from the fact that she is uninterested in "screens" and is under two years old :)Turns out have to interact with your child if you want them to be smart and interested in the world:)
That said- I like Backyard Agains
You can get all those old shows on Netflix or Ebay or whatever. then you never have to watch a new show OR a commercial again....cause your child will watch the same video over and over and over again.
unfortunately, before my sis decided not to let Hailey watch this show, she got Mackenna addicted-like crazily addicted. I'm trying to break her of her Caillou addiction, but it's been hard!
Terra- it seems that I am terrible at voicing my sarcasm in my commenting. I don't even own any Baby Einstein's... just thought it fit into that category of obnoxious Caillou. Of course Peanut is a smart kid- look at her parents!
I echo the people who suggested the Backyardigans, Yo Gabba Gabba, Wonder Pets, and Max and Ruby. Also, I strongly recommend Little Bill. And although it's been said several times already in this post and in these comments, I can't pass up the chance to say CAILLOU IS A WHINY LITTLE B*TCH.
Thank you. :)
I am sure you didn't mean to start a TV vs. No-TV vs. what makes your kid less smart vs. what doesn't debate... but I am guessing you are enjoying it though now. Caillou is on at the wrong time for us so we rarely have the pleasure.
Amelia,
JAI HO!!!!
I think kid show are dumb two.
Peanut need to watch kid show from Nepal, then she really learn to be good baby. and cheap worker.
-you forever follower
Sihuit
I hate Caillou too. I also can't stand Max and Ruby. They have no parents and Ruby is the bossiest big sister around. I want to hit her.
I dislike most all the shows my kids like with the exception of Sesame Street.
Oh and I have to laugh at the Baby Einstein refund. Did people really think that sitting your baby in front of a tv screen with a puppet blowing a trumpet make their kid smart? That said, Libby and Ella watched plenty of Baby Einstein and they are pretty smart if I do say so myself. Lucy refuses to watch it and she's pretty smart too, in my own unbiased humble parent opinion.
Oh Amelia! haha! I was watching kid shows with my little nephews a few months ago, um actually a year ago!! (wow, i'm really far away) ANYWAY, all of them make me feel like my brain is being sucked out and I'm being hypnotized into thinking that this is a GOOD program. I'm glad you wrote about this because I'm having a kid soon and I haven't thought about the crap TV situation for a while. so, thanks. I think we'll be checking out DVD's from 'la bibliotheque.'
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