No common ground when it comes to TV

As the cold of winter settles upon us, we often find ourselves watching more television that we probably should.

Cooped up by cold weather for days on end, my two toddlers sometimes get a little stir crazy. When toys, games and wrestling Dad cease to entertain, we’ll turn on a favourite movie or cartoon show for a while in order to keep the peace.

In the movie category, they are currently big fans of Planes: Fire & Rescue, The Iron Giant, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Hotel Transylvania. While I grow weary of watching these child-targeted films over and over, I’d still take any of those choices over ANY of their favourite television shows.

When I was a kid, we enjoyed quality children’s programming like Sesame Street, Mr. Dressup, Thundercats and Teddy Ruxpin. These shows contained valuable life lessons and legitimate plots that could be understood by adults and children alike.

Today, most kids shows are just 20-minute bombardments of bright colours, annoying sounds and bizarre non-human, non-animal characters that look like failed genetic experiments.

Grayson, our three-year-old, regularly requests a particularly nonsensical show called Bo on the Go!, which claims to “emphasize the importance of movement for children through a plot element called ‘Animoves’ that demonstrate specific body movements…”

Huh?

For a while, the boys like watching a show called Caillou – but we’ve put a stop to that.

Touted as a Canadian ‘educational’ children’s show, the only message Caillou seems to deliver is that it’s totally fine to backtalk your parents about everything. I’ve recently learned that Caillou is pretty much loathed by moms and dads everywhere. There are even a couple of Facebook pages dedicated to a common hatred of Caillou.

One dad writes, ‘I can't stand that whiny little cry baby, Caillou! He is always disappointed, or upset, or God knows what else. And his idiot parents always pander to his incessant, negative ways!’

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Lately, the boys have taken a liking to The Simpsons, which I realize is totally inappropriate humour for little boys. My wife has recently adopted a ‘no Simpsons’ policy after she caught Grayson with his hands around his little brother’s neck, shouting, “Why you little…!”

When it comes to television, I’ve accepted that there can be no common ground between parents and children. Most of the shows I like are totally inappropriate for kids, and ALL the shows they like make me feel like I’m on some sort of crazy drug trip.

The best solution to our TV stalemate is probably to get out of the house more often, which is always my intent. But on those lazy, chilly winter days, finding a fun or productive activity is often easier said than done.

Leo is a former Advocate editor. Contact him by email at newsdeadline@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LeoPare