Kid's TV Shows Questions

I am a mom of a 4 year old. We watch a lot of kid’s shows. There are many questions I have about the shows. Yes, I think about things like this. I am wondering why certain shows are the way they are. I know that one of the biggest questions parents have is where are Max and Ruby’s parents? I actually looked it up and the author and creator of Max and Ruby wanted kids to learn how to solve problems on their own. Max and Ruby are not orphans that live alone, so no need to call CPS on Max and Ruby’s parents. They are there somewhere. Perhaps locked in a closet or the attic somewhere, I wonder why they have grandma though. I love how they make it seem like grandma lives far away when in reality she lives next door. I really don’t care for the fact that Max is allowed to go to the store by himself when he is probably no more than 4. I know it is a cartoon but not all kids grasp the fact that it is make believe.

Noah likes to watch Franklin. I was thinking about it and started wondering why all of Franklin’s friends are named what kind of animal they are. Bear, Otter, Beaver, and Porcupine for example. Why does Franklin have a real name and why isn’t he called turtle. Maybe it is to distinguish him from everyone else or maybe Franklin’s parents are just more creative. What if another beaver or bear move in the woods then what would they be named? Bear 2 and Beaver 2? Do they have last names? Maybe they really have first names and they go by their last names, but why not Franklin?

I know that is a common occurrence in children’s shows. Now I am thinking about The Berenstain Bears. Why Brother and Sister are called Brother and Sister. I know they are brother and sister but everyone else calls them brother and sister too. What about Mama and Papa Bear. Everyone including other adults call them Mama and Papa. What were their names when they were little? What are the odds that if their parents really named them Mama and Papa they would fall in love and get married? Unless it was an arranged marriage, I don’t see it being possible. I know all of Brother and Sister’s friends have first and last names. Sister’s friend Lizzie Bruin’s parents are called Mr. and Mrs. Bruin. I have no idea.

I am sure I am way overanalyzing these shows but, it ,makes you think about things. I remember the time I looked up why Caillou is bald. I wonder about things like that. I am a dork and I am the first to admit so. In case you are wondering, Caillou is bald because the creator of Caillou wanted to make it so all children can relate with Caillou equally by giving him no hair.

What are some of your kid show questions? I hope this helped clear up some of your questions you have been losing sleep over.

What's happenin' in September on Sprout?

We love PBS Sprout. Noah and I watch Sprout all the time. We enjoy the programs that are on and we also watch Sprout On Demand. I wanted to share with you first of all how wonderful and educational all of the programming is. There are shows like Caillou, Sesame Street and Barney to name a few. I know that when Sprout is on that I have complete confidence that there will be mom and kid approved content. The shows are very entertaining and Noah has learned a lot from his Sprout friends.

Sprout has launched an exclusive contest on their Facebook page asks viewers to submit a photo of their best Wiggly face. The winners will be chosen by user votes. There will be weekly prizes of a Flip Video camera . The grand prize is a Nintendo Wii and a Wiggles autographed shirt! How cool is that? I can’t wait to check out all the Wiggly Faces!

Noah loves the Good Night Show. The Good Night Show is on every evening starting at 6 pm ET. It stars Nina and Star. They also have a friend named Lucy who is a firefly. Each show has a theme with episodes of Sprout shows that are based on the theme. Nina also does an evening stretch that Noah loves to do. They sing songs and do a craft as well. It is a great way to wind down after a busy day and it keeps Noah entertained while I make dinner.

There will be a new season of the Good Night Show starting September 21st . The new season of The Good Night Show will also feature a new show called the Rubbadubbers. In celebration of the all new fun shows Nina will be joining Chica in the Sunshine barn for a Pajama Party! Noah and I decided we were going to celebrate right along with them and have a pajama party as well. It will be a lot of fun.

All children should have comfortable pajamas to sleep in. Unfortunately not every child has them. The wonderful people at Sprout have realized this and have teamed up with The Pajama Program for the Great Sprout Tuck in. The Pajama Program is a charity that helps children get comfortable pajamas and books to read.

Noah loves to wear pajamas. He will ask me for some jammies to wear sometimes even in the daytime. He has a pair of fire truck pajamas that he loves and asks to wear often. My heart sinks every time he asks to wear them now because he has out grown them! Not to mention they are more Winter pajamas. I think that every child should have a favorite pair of pajamas. Not only to keep them warm at night but for the comfort.

One of Noah’s favorite things is to look at books and have me read to him and tell him stories. Children who are read to when they are younger tend to have a greater love of reading as they get older. Some children don’t even have any books to read or look at. You can help! Here’s the deal… You can purchase NEW pajamas and NEW books and send them to PBS Sprout and then they will help give them to children in need. They will also match every single donation. They request that the items be new. They need all sizes of pajamas and all sorts of children’s books.

They need your help. They have almost reached their goal of helping 75,000 kids with new books and pajamas. Wouldn’t it be great to help them surpass their goal? The Great Sprout Tuck in is trying to hit their goal of 75,000 by Oct. 1st. Please help these children have a Good Night.

If you don’t get Sprout call your cable company or 1-866-9-Sprout and say Sprout Please!

Let's talk TV Kids edition!

I wrote about what shows are my favorites so I thought I would do the same for Noah. Noah loves Sprout. He enjoys watching pretty much anything on Sprout. He loves the Good Night Show. I actually have on video with my cell phone of Noah saying I love the Good Night Show. I don’t have a video camera. He also enjoys watching Caillou. Caillou is a really cute show. We also watch Barney as most almost 3 year olds do. He likes to watch Thomas and Friends. Noah has a love for trains and loves Thomas stuff. He likes the sprout originals as well such as Fireman Sam (Fire Sam), Dive Olly Dive (Dive Dive), and The Mighty Jungle.

Noah also enjoys some of the shows on Noggin like Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, Dora and Diego and Yo Gabba Gabba. Thanks to the wonders of On Demand he can watch certain shows when he wants to see them. I wish they would put more shows on demand but I am happy with the ones we have.

He enjoys watching DVD’s as well. We love Baby Faith DVD’s. Baby Faith is a series of DVD’s like Baby Einstein except they are based on the Bible. They are hosted by Jodie Benson who was the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid. They are so cute. My favorite is God made Music which is the story of David and Goliath. There is a rap in there that is so adorable. You should check them out. We also have some of the Baby Einstein DVD’s. Noah still enjoys watching them too.

A lot of the time Noah isn’t plopped down on the couch with a bag of candy doing nothing but watching TV. He runs around and plays and does other things. He will stop what he is doing to watch something if it catches his eye. For the most part he is a multi-tasking little boy.