Kiddie TV can be weird

Ace loves watching TV.

You can count on it: As soon as we get home from work/daycare in the evening, you will hear his "Tibi! Tibi!"- chant and our little guy will hand us the remote control so that he can watch an episode of his favorite TV shows.

Currently he is into Curious George, Caillou and The Cat in the Hat.

Occasionally he'll also watch Sesame Street or Barney. But not that often.

Markus and I have a love/hate relationship with most of the shows.

I mean I can't deny that we can use them to our advantage.

In the mornings for example. Ace is so not a morning person. Getting him ready for daycare can be such a struggle and the last thing I need at 7 am is whining and crying. But if you turn on Curious George he'll be fine. And before he knows it, he is completely dressed and actually feels pretty good... awake and ready to conquer the world.. So he'll tell Markus "Bye bye", blows him a kiss.. and off we go.

It works in similar fashion if we need to make a phone call without having him yell into our ear or if I need to clean the bathroom with bleach.

On the other hand, sometimes these shows are really hard to stand.

Here are my (and Markus') random thoughts:

Curious George:

What is wrong with the man with the yellow hat?

Why doesn't he even have a name? - All the other characters have one!
Including (my "favorite") Professor Pizza. (Really?)

And what's up with this obession for yellow?

But more importantly: How can he be so irresponsible?

He lets George do what he wants or gives him tasks that will set the monkey up for failure. 

He expects too much.. I mean come on: It is a monkey! 

For once a picture without the hat...

Caillou:

OMG - just stop whining already! I have no idea why Caillou's mom hasn't wacked him over the head already. Or maybe she has and that's why he is bold? I mean at 4 years old? Isn't that weird? I'd see a doctor.. but nobody in that family seems to be concerned.. so I guess they know something I don't...

Don't be fooled: He is just trying to hide the boldness.

But you know, I can't condemn the parenting Caillou's family does in general, cause they show admirable amount of patience with their kids.

However, I have observed some things that I find questionable.

For example, in one episode Caillou and his dad go for a run.

Remember, Caillou is 4, so obviously his legs are a lot shorter than his father's.

I can't say that Dad cared a lot though. He runs off and is ahead without even thinking to ask if Caillou is okay and can keep up. Kind of inconsiderate.

Eventually they have enough and decide to make their way back to the house.

Dad encourages Caillou with a "Last one at the house is a rotten egg!"

Ehm.. yeah.. sure.

Caillou's friend's parents aren't doing much better though:

Caillou is at his first sleepover and gets homesick. He wants to go home.

His friend's mom suggests helpfully to have dinner first and see how he feels afterward.

OK, fine.

At dinner then, Caillou repeats that he wants to go home and mom pulls an amazing idea out of her ass: "Why don't you guys eat as fast as you can, so that you can finish your plates and have dessert? I'm sure you'll feel better then."

Nice.. Let's teach our kids how they can suffocate their emotions with food while they are still in Pre-K! I am sure this way they'll get a future eating disorder for free as well! Yay! - Not... :(

Sesame Street:

I still have to see an entire episode, but there is always one part that creeps the heck out of me: Elmo's World.

First of all the entire scenery... kind of weird all this crayon scribble.. but whatever.. if they like their designers to smoke while work.. Fine. :P

What's really bugging me though is Mr. Noodle. He is such a weirdo! He gives me the creeps.

Creepy guy aka Mr. Noodle

And now recently I discovered he also has a brother - equally strange! Ugh!

I feel uncomfortable just watching them.

(And worse: I just found out you can book Mr. Noddle for your kid's birthday party: http://www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/RCDS08/catalog_items/83810

AH! SO not happening!)

There is one show I absolutely adore though: The Cat in the Hat!

I love it. So educational. The stories are so sweet and the characters are singing in nearly every episode. I could watch that show all the time. I might even learn something myself! Ha!

Always in a good mood: The cat

But of course Ace has his own ideas of what he wants to watch.. so I can only suggest Dr. Seuss' creations - in the hope he feels more like talking cats and fish instead of monkeys that sell ice cream or ride the subway.. ;)