Children's shows - some of them are just downright SCARY! Mr Rogers scared the bejesus out of me when I was little. I hated the trolley, the Kingdom of Make Believe, and King Friday especially scared me. I can't even stand the sound of Mr Rogers voice - something about it just sends the creepy crawlers down my back.
Growing up we were not allowed to watch a lot of television. By the time we were older we had moved on to Care Bears, Popples, and Rainbow Brite (quality television if I do say so myself)!
We do not subscribe to cable, so Linc's television time is limited to what we have on DVD (every Disney not in the vault makes for pretty good viewing) or what we will find for him online. Recently Linc learned to say Elmo - and it is so darn cute that we try to find Elmo shows for him to watch. That means we end up watching Sesame Street episodes. Now I should stress that I was NEVER a Sesame Street fan. I have never been a huge Muppets fan - I think it stems from seeing a Muppets movie where Big Bird was locked in a cage and he turned blue, to this day I still do not know what that movie is but the image stays with me.
Watching these episodes of Sesame Street with Linc has been an eye opening experience. I am all for Elmo stuffed animals - they are cute and cuddly, however how can anyone feel Elmo is GOOD for a child to watch? He has HORRID language/speaking skills. Add that to the fact that he interacts with people like Mr. Noodle - the scariest mime/clown I have EVER encountered, and the Elmo segments of Sesame Street are mind numbing. I do, however, like the counting and dancing segments of the show. Maybe I just haven't seen enough episodes to truly appreciate what they are doing.
I have to throw in another "kids show" that recently threw me for a loop - Thomas the Tank Engine!!!! The stories are HORRIBLE. They seem to end before any form of moral or message can begin to take shape. They simply do not make sense. There is no story line to follow at all, it is almost like they assume all children interested in trains are suffering from ADHD and will not be able to follow a full story line. Linc would watch an episode of Thomas and at the end just stare at the TV - I like to think he is saying "WTH?!" in his head. I know not all children can sit through a full length feature film, however at least a little effort should be put into story lines - if only for the parents that need to watch along with their children!
The one Elmo segment I do enjoy is The Duck Song. It is just cute and it is a song!
There is no point in putting on a show like that if you aren't going to watch with your child. Some things need to be explained or you have to get them to participate to make the show worth while!
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