I have a PhD in comparative literature. I am currently underemployed in an area unrelated to my degree. And, I have two small children under the age of three. So I watch A LOT of preschool television on Playhouse Disney and PBS Kids. I am intrigued by Nick Jr. but have largely avoided it. I also own a number of classic kids shows on DVD which I force on my kids whenever I get tired of their favorites. Whenever I watch any of these shows, I can't help but lapse into an analytic mode. Especially on the 300th viewing. Suddenly the vast layers of meaning become crystal clear. And that insight is what I am going to share with you in this blog.
If you believe that children should ever watch TV and have come here only to critique my parenting skills, go away. You raise your kids the way you see fit, and I'll raise mine. They have two loving parents, aren't in daycare, were breastfed, get as much organic food as I can afford and find in my small town, are read to daily, sung to, danced with, hugged and kissed and infinitely loved. If you don't like it, take your high horse and ride far, far away.
It all started when my little girl was about 5 months old. She was teething or growing or not sleeping enough or just generally asserting her authority, and I couldn't get her to calm down. Any parent who has experienced this knows the desperation. We didn't currently have cable, so I checked out my collection of child-appropriate DVDs. We had a really large collection, as I am a giant child at heart, and have been preparing to give my children the gift of sharing in my fondest childhood memories since before I graduated high school. And there it was: The Many Adventure of Winnie-The-Pooh. It featured a book! It encouraged reading! It was narrated by a calming British voice! If anything, it would help me calm down! I popped it in, and for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, my daughter sat still and was quiet. There are those who hate Disney's adaptation of A.A. Milne's classic children's stories, but I will love it forever because it gave me a blissful 10 minutes of silence.
This 10 minutes of bliss was followed by 6 months of the DVD on an endless loop. First thing in the morning, on went the DVD. And when she couldn't sleep, we set up my laptop in her room so she could calm down long enough to fall into Pooh-filled slumbers. When we traveled through multiple time-zones, I would sooth her at 3 in the morning singing all of the songs from the movie. When it seemed like it would never end and couldn't get any worse, suddenly, she discovered Elmo.
The little red menace.
But more on him later.
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Wonderful cartoon! And very important for the proper care and feeding of children, whatever others might say.
ReplyDeleteOh, I totally know what you mean! I was working on an MA in classics when my son was born, and I spent a lot of time hashing out the gender messages of Bob the Builder.
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