The Wiggle Comeback… and other TV stuff

The Wiggles are a big hit in this house, but lately were a hard sell since Ethan and Jonathan got a little bored of watching the same stuff over and over and Treehouse wasn’t playing anything new lately. So I was a little excited when I found out that Treehouse not only brought the Wiggles back full time to their schedule (once a day as opposed to just Sundays), and also started airing new shows that Ethan hadn’t seen yet. While it was new material, I was a little curious to see if Ethan was going to like it at all. This was the new season with the new yellow Wiggle. Greg (the original yellow dude) had to step down and leave the band due to serious medical complications, and he was a best singer of the group. They replaced him with a new Yellow Wiggle named Sam. I’ve been reading a lot of articles online about Parents who had a hard time explaining to their kids why Greg was gone, but that hasn’t been an issue with Ethan, he seems to have gotten back into the show but has asked no questions about the new dude in the yellow shirt so far (knock on wood). Check out this clip of the new Wiggle in action:

That’s a very catchy song. Jonathan also loves the new wiggles, and loves to sit on my lap and cuddle with me whenever it’s on. I usually watching everything my kids watch anyway, so I don’t mind cuddling with Jon when the show is on and watch it with him. I very picky about what my kids watch, which is why this house is a telletubbie free environment. One thing I do like about the Wiggles and the other shows I do let the kids watch is they do learn something from these shows, and it also helps them enhance their vocabulary and also other various skills that are necessary.

Another show that annoys the hell out of Leah and Chris that I allow the kids to watch is a Nick Jr. show called ‘Yo Gabba Gabba’. The concept of the show is a little off the charts but the education value is so high, you can’t pass up on it. Each show has a strong theme like sharing, keeping your hands to yourself and countless others. There is even a show/skit from the show that I have been able to use/mimic that helps Ethan finish his supper. One character named Brobee is having a snack while singing ‘there’s a party in my tummy’ and he attacks the tasty stuff and the drink first. When the more nutritionally superior vegetables are sadly left on the plate, they cry cause they want to “go to the party too!” So Brobee eats them too, and everyone is happy.

So here is the clip in question:

A fun and amusing clip. So what does this teach?

1) Eat (or at least try) everything put in front of you.

2) It is not nice to leave people out just because you do not know them. Think of others.

We’ve used this song to help teach Ethan to eat more at the table, and try to eat his veggie and not just the sweet stuff. It’s worked quite a lot than we thought it would. Shows with messages like that are gold for a parent, and better yet they are not a chore for parents to watch with their kids as well.

I remember when I talked about raising kids before I had them, I said that I would be the kind of parent that would let their kids watching anything once they knew what they were watching was fake and just actors and special effects. Now that I have kids, I’ve done a complete flip flop… and have been almost a stingy as the FCC when it comes to what my kids watch in the house. There isn’t a single show on the DVR that hasn’t been screened by my first, and if I don’t approve of something it goes and is never seen again. I’ve been very critical of a lot of Disney cartoons such as Buzz Lightyear and Aladian because there is a lot of violence with lazer beams and swords. It’s just too much, so I’ve dropped those shows from the watch list and Ethan and Jon won’t be watching any of that stuff anytime soon.

So that’s how I’ve been approaching my kids and television lately. While I do more than watch TV with my kids (we still draw, use play dough, work puzzles, do letters, flashcards, etc)… I don’t think cutting TV out completely is fair either. I like watching TV, so I would be a complete hypocrite if I were to ban my kids from the tube, especially since there are good educational shows on TV right now. Believe it or not, Ethan knows not to count to five and say hello and thank you in Spanish because of one of those shows. How is that not educational? Learning how to speak another language? While I understand there is such a thing as too much, cutting off the tube completely is no the answer either. While I let them watch it, I’m not letting them watch anything unless I’m there to watch it first… it’s that simple. If I don’t approve if it, they don’t get to see it. It’s the way to go for now until Ethan and Jonathan can become reponsible and very good viewers who like I said above appreciate the art and not take things literally. Until then, I’ll have to keep a close eye on everything. Until then, it’s time to wiggle!

Peter

Holy Crap Edit: I was going through some videos on You Tube, and I came across another Wiggle video that was a complete jaw dropper. It was a video from the new series that I hadn’t seen yet, which had the Wiggles singing the Disco classic “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” featuring the original artist who sang the song: LEO SAYER!!!