Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Curious George: The Dark Side

A couple of months ago we axed our cable and stopped watching all the normal programs on television. I used to be glued to The Biggest Loser, Top Chef, and ANYTHING on HGTV. Hayden's shows of choice included Curious George, Word World and most other PBS cartoons. We thought that by getting rid of TV we would spend more time outside and doing creative things rather than sitting around zoning out. We didn't want to get rid of everything however, and Hayden was pretty addicted to his daily Curious George, so i went on Amazon.com and bought all the CG videos I could find so he wouldn't start feeling deprived....or whatever a 2 year old feels when they lose their tube watching privileges.

For the past two months now he's been watching George almost exclusively. For a time I marveled at what a good role model that little monkey is. He eats fruits and vegetables for snacks, he recycles, and he's Uber polite. All around good stuff. I failed to notice his monkey antics until recently.

Our last couple of trips to the grocery store have been a nightmare for me. Hayden runs away, grabs stuff randomly, grabs random people, shouts at the top of his lungs, and is generally embarrassing to shop with. At one point a few weeks ago when he was laying in the shopping cart using my expensive organic loaf of bread as a pillow and the organic avocados as a foot rest while simultaneously throwing a tantrum and ripping apart my cheese i decided to suspend all further shopping privileges for him. That worked for at least 2 days before i ran out of groceries and had no choice but to take him on another equally pleasurable shopping trip.

It was at this point that I realized George might have a dark side. A side i should have considered before letting my impressionable 2 year old watch him over and over. In addition to all his charming qualities George also climbs everything, frequently makes HUGE messes, and every single episode is based on how he colossally damages things and then learns how to fix them. I guess having my child model himself after a monkey isn't the best idea after all. ParentingFail.

We may be in the market for some new educational cartoons. Any suggestions?

13 comments:

  1. HAHAHAHA! That's funny and genius at the same time!

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  2. Word World is awesome... Isabelle loves it as well. We pick those up from the library. Isabelle pretty much exclusively watches Veggie Tales.
    And if you're looking for something sort of nostalgic, check out www.psalty.com where all the Psalty The Singing Songbook videos from when we were kids are for sale on DVD. They are FANTASTIC.
    Hope you find something!!

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  3. I was going to say the same as Krystal. Veggie Tales for sure!

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  4. Little Einsteins. The other day while Juliana was brushing her hair (crazy right?) she was humming Beethoven's 5th Symphony. If that's not educational I don't know what is.

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  5. Hey Dad, grow some nads!
    Maybe it's all the fungi and bacteria growing on the organic crap you’re feeding you’re family that is messing with their head, yours included. You sound so typical of the modern 'chicken little' parent. But some Oscar Meyer weenies (non organic) feed the kid some Kraft mac-n-cheese and stop worrying like a woose. Kids relate to CG because he acts like a kid, they like the fact that he gets into mischief,f like they do sometimes, and they get to learn some good lessons about 'good behavior'. Maybe you could have read some CG instead, but you're probably working too much so you can afford the Organic BS that the un-scientific media namby-pambys are feeding you. My kids grew up on NON-Organic food and they are fine. One will soon be an industrial engineer, the other a PA and the third is a star soccer player on a state team with great prospects. They all understand science, are rational thinkers and know what a joke organic food is. They grew up reading CG, Roald Dahl, Where the Wild Things Are, etc. and their parents taught them that acting up in public was not a desirable thing to do. Eat good food, and a variety, but don’t be a fool and waste you’re money on the illusion of the purity of organic food. It would be just one more mistake you would be making with you’re kids. Oh and by the way veggie tales? Religious BS! May as well raise them Nazi’s.

    Matt
    Grower of real food and father of three (22, 20 & 15)
    P.S. I have grown organic in research trials and I even believed the hype, when I was a naive 14 year old

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  6. Yeah I bet Hitler totally sang The Song of the Cebu in the shower...

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  7. Matt, you may want to be more thorough when reading blogs of people you don't know, this was writen by a mother!! Not a father! Anyways, to each his own, I raise my son my way, you raise your your way, and she will raise her children her way!
    BTY Kari, I love your blog and just keep doing what your doing!! Jen

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  8. She/He was asking for advice; just offered some. Hate to see ignorance and voodoo rule people’s brains. Veggie tales is a not so thinly veiled attempt to brain wash children with a particular religion, like the Santa Claus myth etc. I really have nothing more top say than you rot your brain you're way (Anonymous) and I stick to rational thinking. OBTW remember the Hitler Youth.

    Matt-Again

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  9. I do believe there are vast differences between the Christian morals and ethics taught by veggie tales and the hateful, racist, anti-human beliefs taught by the Nazi's. Regarding organic food: I do not believe it to be full proof, much of it is admittedly as unhealthy as "regular" food, but to someone who has seen many die of cancer, and lots of kids reach puberty at 10, I feel it is necessary to raise my kids on the best food possible to aid in keeping them healthy. I am a stay-at-home mom and my family lives on a modest income and has found that if you cut out enough other junk, eating organic is possible:)

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  10. I believe the morals christ 'taught' are much different form those that are 'Christian'. Organized religion is a scary thing. Remember the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, Catholic Priests and alter boys (I was one), not to mention George Bush's use of Christianity to justify the wars he started. Score: Nazi's +3,000,000 vs Christianity a whole lot more. Other organized religions are just as bad. My point is to think for your self. Organic, when scientifically compared is no better than ‘not-organic’. It is hype perpetrated by many that are afraid of everything. Cancer and pesticides/fertilizers, have not been consistently related to each other in an overwhelming number of scientific studies. Check the research, not what you read in the supplement magazines or Organic Gardening/Prevention. Natural toxins are far more prevalent and noxious any way. But, through evolution we and other animals have learned to adapt to the toxins in our environment. Toxicologist will vouch for this. There are far, far greater dangers that we need to be concerned with than perceived poisons in our food. For instance, backyard trampolines, skin cancer (O cruel giver of life, Sol), automobile accidents, drug and alcohol abuse, racism, bigotry, and one of my favorites, a lack of a sound education with an understanding of science and rational thought. Too many of our, even college educated, adults have such a poor comprehension of the basic scientific principles behind chemistry, biology, toxicology, agriculture, etc. they make their life decisions and raise their children based on 13th century logic, superstitious beliefs and bad memes (mind viruses – see Richard Brodie, ‘Virus of the Mind’). Dig into the real science of toxicology and you will see the irrational fears being perpetrated by the organic movement. We can be sustainable, safe and health in our agriculture, and it doesn’t have to involve eliminating the use of synthetic pesticide and fertilizers. I have dedicated my whole professional life in agriculture to this end. It really bothers me that many in the general public that have no connection to growing the food that they eat and have a very poor understanding of the science and toxicology involved are forcing policies to change that undermine ration progress in the future. This is a debate that needs to be heard, but often falls on deaf ears.

    Matt Again

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  11. Life With Kids,
    I appreciate that you have posted my comments. Of course I'm not always very civil when i get emotional and I appologizes for that. I just wanted to add my two cents and I truly do appreciate the posting and responses.

    Thanks,
    Matt Again

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  12. Matt,

    I believe "Christianity", and "Catholicism" are two hugely different things. I am a Christian, or follower of Jesus. Have you ever read the sermon on the mount in the Bible? That is how I believe we are to live and treat our fellow man. It's the qualities taken from that message that show up in some veggie tales videos that I like (although I'm actually not a big fan of veggie tales either).

    When it comes to organic food, I'm really most concerned about buying organic beef, milk/cheese/butter, chicken, and eggs. I have seen and know kids who've fully matured at age 5 (I can think of 4 off the top of my head), so regardless of how many trials disprove this I will always buy organic. I have also seen many friends with kids who have an unreasonably high tolerance to antibiotics. I have always fed my kids only organic chicken and so far have not had this problem. As far as fruit and vegetables go, I'm not as concerned, although I don't enjoy scraping off layers of film from my apples, i think that can be attributed to the wax and not the pesticide residue.

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  13. I'm shocked. Really. This turned into quite a civil discussion. kudos Matt and Life with Kids. I commend you both.

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