Thursday, September 07, 2006

Bad Parenting Confessional : The glowing box

Since some people are willing to advertise their caving on shopping haughtiness I suppose I should come clean about the change of parenting politic over here.

With the advent of the lunacy of solo parent care of the child duo I have had to rethink my attitude about the glowing box. I believe the household relationship with TV is clear. We don't, didn't, have it on and we don't care how much money we are wasting on cable. Since being home with the two I have worked up a bit of a toolkit and I can now see where TV fits.

It is to protect the innocent. My plants, the cats, the woven placements that I would rather were not unwoven. Sometimes in the second half hour I need to get out of the house I can use a Little Bear to help me ensure I don't get the announcement. 'I draw in your bed!' Sometimes I can see at the age of two it doesn't kill her identity to tune out at 4pm when we are getting testy with one another.

Still, not all shows seem to be created equal. So far I have only used television, not dvd/videos. I wonder who is worth investing in? I actually can see some of the really junior TV connects in a way with her that any old cartoon can't necessarily. The Little Bear stuff makes her laugh out loud and she will sort of interact with it; afterwards, she role plays the characters sometimes. I can see that TV can spark the imagination when applied correctly.

What programs can you recommend for the two-year old?

I actually fear modern Sesame Street sometimes. That smart woman at Crunchy Carpets alerted me to a recent work on the evils of Elmo and I am now even more afraid. But like others we love the Grover, so the Street is sort of a no brainer. (I think sometimes I married p-man because he does the world's best Kermit impression. You know what a turn on that can be.)

What about the new stuff? What is this Blues Clues anyway? And, who is willing to let that snot nosed mouthy Caillou into their house? Will I regret it?

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10 Comments:

Blogger Chicky Chicky Baby said...

Step away from the Caillou. You'll still love yourself in the morning if you do.

My daughter (who is a bit younger than your's) is really into music so I limit her watching to certain music-related dvds (love Dan Zane, can't believe I bought a Wiggles DVD), Sesame Street (usually just the Elmo part because Elmo=baby crack cocaine) and Jack's Big Music Show on Noggin. I don't know if you get that show up your way but it's all about music.

Kids like animals, right? How about Zaboomafoo?

4:59 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I too have resisted the evil allure of television for my young child (I, on the other hand, can't get enough of that evil goodness.) We've just begun indoctrinating her into the wonders of Sesame Street. And no matter how much we try to tell her that Elmo is evil, the little munchkin loves that furry red bastard. His powers of attraction are truly amazing.

Anyway...is there any way that we can get an mp3 of p-man's Kermit impersonation? I think that would make my week.

5:37 p.m.  
Blogger Heather said...

We started letting Miles watch some tv too (that was when I really knew it was time to go back to work). We have been letting him watch sesame street, but I am thinking of switching over to blues clues after reading this:

http://partners-in-parenting.typepad.com/pip/2006/08/television_and_.html

5:46 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was going to write a post today detailing our variant of the TV issue. We don't let Cheeky watch much TV, but somehow half the words she's mastered are the names of Sesame Street characters (not an over-exaggeration)

I will say, however, that Blues Clues (the classic episodes starring Steve, at least) are great and not nearly as cloying as...well, virtually anything else.

How does one "write on bed" anyway?

7:02 a.m.  
Blogger Crunchy Carpets said...

Lol...lose the guilt!!!

Adam and Caity love Little Bear and I am ok with that because he comes up with great stories and stuff inspired by the show.

Stay away from Caillou..he is creepy.

The Wiggles are fun.
Bear in the Big Blue House is nice
I love Roly Poly Oly....

in fact the CBC kids and the knowledge network kids shows are the most inocuous of the lot really.

And yes...the tube helps when mommy wants a break or to eat or get dressed....things like that....so it is an evil babysitter for lazy mothers like myself...but I am a tv addict and still seem to be semiliterate, not hyperactive and not sporting TOO much of a bad attitude..so I don't worry too much!

10:47 a.m.  
Blogger nonlineargirl said...

We don't do tv with the girl right now, but like you I can see the value for a toddler. I am sure we'll go with Sesame Street. My father loved it so much when I was a kid that he'd call me into the room for it. Even when I wasn't interested he'd try to get me to watch so he didn't feel so goofy about watching alone.

4:13 p.m.  
Blogger Jenny said...

Hi. I drifted over from Blogging Baby. We only do PBS and videos at our house, so we have no experience in Blues Clues, Dora, or anything on Noggin. Calliou is an evil whiner; I'm so glad he is out of the morning slot in the new PBS line-up.

I have two recommendations: (1) Any of the Scholastic videos. We were given a box set of Chrysanthemum, Where the Wild Things Are, Harold and The Purple Crayon, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Miss Nelson Has a Field Day, and Pete's A Pizza. They are all great. They are *books*, and my daughter loves reading the books as well. The animation is simple so there isn't that aggressive staccato quality that so much TV seems to have.
(2) They Might Be Giants "Here Come The ABCs". My daughter LOVES this and can now sing the alphabet backwards.

9:23 p.m.  
Blogger Ottoette said...

The new Sprout channel is pretty good, as one would expect of PBS. However, the commercials they play are SO oddly chosen!
Oobi on Noggin is a big fav of my son's. He loves Zooboomafoo now that he's almost 3. He did love Backyardigans for a while. Unfortunately there are a very limited number of episodes made, so if you're watching along, you will very quickly get BORED!

10:14 a.m.  
Blogger Andrea said...

this was a great post fopr me. actually it was the comments that were insitful - I am in the same faze with ToddlerJi but I havent the foggiest idea who any of these characters are that people talked about here. I feel very out of touch right now.
hmm
must do some kiddy show research.

4:37 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mo-Wo, I wrote about TV and such over at PiP. In that post, I provide a list of language enhancing programs:

http://partners-in-parenting.typepad.com/pip/2006/08/television_and_.html

10:40 a.m.  

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