Disney Channel Rant

So, as I'm waiting for my little red light on my reader to change to green (I told you, the battery was DEAD!!)  I'm sitting in the same room as my children who are playing together like a little flock of angels.

Oh..who am I kidding?  They're fighting and getting into things that they shouldn't be.

However...my daughter is trying to watch TV.  She's old enough that the baby television shows (which Isaac would still watch, but won't admit to liking), but young enough to think that the majority of the crap that's out there is good TV viewing (and, admittedly, I may have a skewed opinion on this...as a person who enjoys things like The First 48 and LOST or just about anything on Discovery Channel).  However, Iman's current TV viewing habits have me more than a little perplexed.

You see, since I'm surrounded by children all day long, I tend to know a lot of the kids shows.  I've had posts before about children's shows that I hate yet I had not been introduced to a whole new type of show; they're geared towards tweens and they SUCK...I mean, horrible!

First of all, there's Hannah Montanna (or, as she's lovingly referred to in my home, Hannah Moncrappy).  I. Hate. This. Show.

Why? Well, thank you so much for asking...let me just clarify the many reasons for this pure hatred of all things Hannah:

1. The acting, like almost every other tween show, is pathetic.
2. The writing, like almost every other tween show, is pathetic.
3. The idea...the main idea of the show...is just wrong!  Why...why do they have to all be about being a rockstar?  Why do they have to be rich and famous?  Why do they have to wear trashy clothes and bat their eyes and act like fools around a) boys, and b) large groups of girls?
4. I won't buy into Hannah Montanna -- not the theory of it, not the pathetically materialism of it, not the "I'm going to dress my 9 year old like a wannabe hooker.  Nope. Not happening people!  In fact, I groomed Iman well.  I remember, when we were shopping for grade 1 clothing and I was shocked that we went from pretty little girl clothes, to Hannah Montana inspired trash.  A sales woman at Walmart was helping us (yes...it's true...they do have staff there!) and said "well, the Hannah Montana line is really popular"  and Iman, at 6 years old, looked up to her and said "Uh...we don't support the Hannah Montana empire." 

Next comes  The Suite Life of Zack and Cody  I hate this show for all the same reasons that I hate Hannah...except this one's worse.  It's filled with snotty rich kids.  There's twins (*shudder* -- I'm reminded of the damn Olsen twins off of Full House).  Yup...snooty twins who are terrible actors...except these ones are boys.

There's The Wizards of Waverly Place -- which is borderline with me.  Some episodes are okay, but some are not.  I'm still deciding on this one.

I'd just like to know why there can't be more shows like iCarly (which is not, by the way, on Disney, but on a Canadian tween channel called YTV)-- this show is about a fun and spunky teen who has a quirky family life but is down to earth, smart and polite.  She's not rich.  She's not rude.  She's not throwing herself at boys.  The show is centered around her unique family and her little web show that she puts on (no, not a creepy sexual thing) It's something that I could see my own kids doing...turning on a camera, doing stupid tricks like making milk come out of your nose, and having fun.  I like that she's smart and proud of it.  Too many of the other shows have their leading ladies dumb it up.  I think brains are good and ought to be emphasized a little more than the naked shoulder or barely there skirts (I don't care if you have opaque tights on underneath..not on my 9 year old!) -- oh...and why won't Disney Channel air this show?  Why is Disney grooming it's young women into such sexualized young women??

There's another show that's broadcast here in Canada on YTV network... it's called How to be Indie.  I really like this one too.  This show is about an immigrant Indian family and their daughter -- she's trying to find a way to maintain her culture and be Canadian.  Very cool.  It's borderline on the dumbness -- but when she acts stupid, there are usually repercussions to it (other than a concert gig)..and she learns that brains are better than trying to impress.

Okay...my little green light came on...off to read...let me know what you think of the Disney shows aimed at our young girls and the fact that teen pregnancy is not only on the rise, but happening to younger and younger girls....coincidence??

A look back at 2009

So, I decided that I should look back at this year. A reminder of all of the good as well as all of the bad.

First there was school. Though I technically started in the Fall of 2008, it was about this time of year that I got my official marks. I'm a keener, an over-achiever and very likely the most competitive person that you know. My biggest fear was failure. I was, after all, a high school drop out. I am happy, and yes, very proud, to admit (= brag) that I have a GPA of 4.0. Can't get better than that!

Then there's family. My baby turned one, began walking and talking. 2 of my 3 children are off at school (and are competitive keeners like me!). My husband was promoted. The relationship between my stepson and I deteriorated. Stepson left the house, sick of our rules. Though we see him every so often, the relationship between us all (with the exception of Stepson and Baby) is very, very strained. One day, he will see the reasons behind everything, but until then, we live as the evil, unrelenting parents.

There was the walk for Cancer. I walked all night. It was tiring, and by the time the sun rose and the closing ceremony was finished, I was emotionally and physically exhausted. But even though there were so many of my family members lost to Cancer, it was surprisingly cheerful. The time spent with my Aunt, Mother and cousins was important to me. I'm glad I did it.

I learned to knit. To some, this is an "old lady" thing, but I don't care. Knitting was something that my grandmother did, and I always wanted to learn. She died when I was in grade 6. The yearly gifts of slippers and scarves came to an end. No one picked up those needles to carry on her tradition. Years have gone by and I learned how to knit. Months of searching the internet for patterns finally yielded a pattern as close to grandma's that I could find. Slippers soon came. My family all have matching slippers - some better than others as I tweaked the pattern to my liking. I know that my husband thinks that I'm nuts. I've had many people say to me "why don't you just buy them from the dollar store". But, what they don't understand is that I feel connected to her again...I envision her in my mind...rocking in her chair, her knitting basket next to her as she watched Coronation Street and pretended to listen to my grandfather's ramblings. I miss her terribly, and it's my way to remember.

I got a new cat. Well, some would call him a mountain lion, but he's a giant, lovable fur-ball. Alviss appeared on my friend's Facebook page...needing a home. I helped out. Little did I know that the picture of the gray ball of fluff would turn out to be a 20lb cat! He's huge. He's beautiful. He's cuddly. What more can I ask for?? (okay, he could shed a little less, but beggars can't be choosers, can they?)

I had the most horrible daycare experience ever. A family who was here wasn't happy that I had terminated care. The child was fabulous, the mother was fabulous, the father....an Ass. They were happy with everything, but when I could no longer put up with the father's BS, I terminated care. They, after having had their daughter in care for over a year, accused me of neglect, claimed my home was filthy and, in general, did their best to bring me down. One thing about always doing the right thing, you know that the truth will prevail, but while the truth is busy being detected by child welfare and all the other crap that goes around that....it's stressful. I am still very bitter and very resentful of that whole situation. I genuinely love and care for all the children that are in my Daycare, and their false accusations have left scars.

I had a visit from the very first child ever to be in my dayhome! Funny, how you don't expect these children to age. Wonderful that he jumped out of that van, shouted "Heather!!" and ran to give me a huge bear hug (he's now almost as tall as I am). Sad that he had to leave.

I got a new family in dayhome. They are wonderful. They are fun, sarcastic, witty and real. I am very grateful that they came. Really good dayhome families are a rare gem. This is one of them. I also have a very good friend bringing her child to my dayhome. The fact that we are able to keep our business and friendship as two separate entities is amazing.

Fond memories were made. A rainy holiday in Drumheller. A town full of churches. A visit to Heritage Days and being trapped in a rainstorm. That is one that I never wrote about. The downpour that we went through, arriving to our car dripping as if we'd gone fully clothed into a swimming pool only to have the rain stop minutes after getting inside. It was at first, irritating, quickly overwhelming and soon hilarious. I came home that day to blog about it (once I had dried off and warmed up) only to discover that there was a woman who had died in that very same storm while at the Big Valley Jamboree. Suddenly, it wasn't something to write about.

There were the fun times the kids had with their grandmother. There were all of the great things that my daycare children have said. There were the debates with friends, and a few with strangers. Though I started this blog as a way of putting down the odd and silly thoughts that run through my head, mostly for the amusement of my friends and family to read -- I have come to the realization that there are people from all over the globe (well, so far, just North America) coming here searching for advice, or maybe just confirmation of their innermost feelings.

Everything is a lesson. Best wishes to you and yours, my readers, for a happy 2010!

TV Shows

I was talking with my cousin recently, and she mentioned to me that I tend to have a loathing for a lot of the children's shows out there. Even some of the more popular ones such as *gasp* The Wiggles or Dora.

I'll break it down into sections....

The first types of shows that I really hate are clay-mation. I don't know what it is about this art form, but I do NOT like it. Not even that one where Mel Gibson played the lead "chicken"...nope, not a fan of it at all. This means that I do not like watching ANY of the following:

1. Bob the builder
2. Fifi and the Flowerpots
   
3. Odd Jobbers

There are two exceptions -- these being Dragon and Pocoyo.


The second type of show that I really hate (and I mean to the extent that it does not come on in my house at any time for any reason) are the shows that have grown adults dressed up in costumes. This includes, but is certainly not limited to:

1. Teletubbies
2. In the Night Garden
3. The Wiggles
4. Barney <--- oh how I hate to even write this name down.

I don't really know what it is about these characters that I don't like but something bothers me. Perhaps I just imagine that there is some giant freaky pedophile inside those things. My other MAJOR loathing with Teletubbies and Night Garden especially, is the fact that they don't even speak correctly. Why are they promoting their shows as "educational programs" when you are saying things like "tubby custard" or "nika-pika-poo"?? Nothing, NOTHING bothers me more than baby talk (delivered by an adult, that is).

I also have to add a foot note to this. I used to lump Yo Gabba Gabba in with this group --- but after catching a few episodes of it on TV, it's really not that bad. The music is "cool"(and believe me, you're preschooler is able to know that Wiggles is so not cool, but that the music on Yo-Gabba is) and the messages delivered are really good. Eat well, be nice, it's okay to be scared, etc... The giant walking vibrator is still a little disturbing to me, but whatever...


There are some shows which are nice, educational and such, but for some reason or another just drive me nuts.

1. Dora/Diego <-- way too much SHOUTING, SHOUTING, SHOUTING in high pitched voices!
2. Toot & Puddle <-- this one is a neat show, but those pigs remind me of gremlins after they've been dumped in the pool.
3. Toopy & Binoo <-- I like this one, I do. I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed that Toopy is a cross-dresser though?? (not that there's anything wrong with that!)
4. Daniel Cook <-- Can you say obnoxious?!

I also don't like a lot of shows that other people would think are wonderful.

1. Franklin goes here, because I think that he is a whiny little thing who is snarky and rude.
2. Rolie Polie Olie goes here too, because I can't stand the gender stereotypes that they have in it.
   
3. 4 Square also fits here -- there isn't anything about this show that I do like -- from the guys with potatoes in their tights teaching young children ballet, to the freaky wall-eyed "do-was", I haven't found a positive point in it (that I'm able to tolerate over all the negative).

However, there are some great shows. I really enjoy, really, there are!

1. Backyardigans, this is a Canadian show (Yay, go Canada!), where you've got 4 little neighborhood friends who meet in the back yard and carry out fantastical imaginative adventures. What's wrong with using our imagination, folks??
2. Elmo's World and/or Sesame Street. These shows teach...for real. What's wrong with that???
   
3. Roll Play -- this show is fantastic! Not only are children learning imagination, story telling and dramatics, they are also exercising (I dare you to have a preschooler watch this show and make him sit on the couch the whole time!)
4. My Friend Rabbit -- I like this one because all the characters are misfits of some form or another, yet they are all accepted for what they can (or can't) do, and there is no blame placed on anyone. Also, it's very creative how the writers have them overcome their faults.
5. Emily Yeung -- the "newer" version of Daniel Cook. Only with manners that aren't forced.

So...what are your thoughts?? Am I way off base? Do you agree, disagree, think that I'm from Mars??

Did I just say that???

So, it's been a stressful few days here. I have a toddler in dayhome who's been acting just like a toddler does. I keep putting off schoolwork (just like I am now as I write this) when I know I should just get it done. Housework, and laundry are being put off. It's just a week of procrastination, and the repercussions are causing very real issues with my body's stress reactions.

Last night, I went out with a girlfriend for a spa night. How completely, utterly amazing! (By the way, I do these parties, if any one's interested -- but how nice to be spoiled by getting one!). A lot of pent up stress was released, and I came home a much happier woman than when I had left.

Fast forward to this morning...kids are up (and there was no fight for it to happen!), lunches were made, breakfast was eaten and homework was packed and ready to go. This, in itself is a small miracle. My day is going well. They all leave for school, and I'm left at home with an infant, two toddlers and a preschooler. Baby and one toddler crash for their morning naps...and the preschooler and other toddler are playing quietly. They are relishing in the newness of the book nook that I've created, flipping through books and lounging on pillows.

Suddenly all hell breaks loose. Apparently preschooler's head touched toddler's pillow. I'm sure that you, Dear Reader, felt the shudder as the earth came to a screeching halt. Toddler starts freaking "move, move, move!" all the while pushing (with hands and feet) on the head of preschooler. Unfortunately, she can't move her head because toddler has wound her little fingers into her hair. Preschooler tries to move and screams in pain, while toddler is still freaking out about the infraction onto her pillow territory.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking that my cup of coffee is suddenly less enjoyable. Not only do I have a disaster in progress, I have one in the making should this argument (and the sheer volume of it) wake the angels sleeping in blissful ignorance in the other room.

"Shhhh!!" I say as I rush over to extract tiny fingers from matted hair. Tears are wiped, war wounds are kissed better and egos are placated. Each child apologizes to the other and they hug and make up.

Then, they start playing tag.

Now...they'd had a taste of freedom last week when the weather was wonderful and they were able to let go of that endless energy children are equipped with. This week, however, has been a cold, rainy, windy, hailing, snowing, blowing kind of week. Not exactly something to bring out little people into without bringing on colds, ear infections and other nastiness.

I decided to let them play, but "we have to play a special game of tag," I say and their eyes fill with wonder and excitement, "we have to play silent tag"

...
...
...

Yes, Dear Reader, you may stop laughing now.

Needless to say, this new game lasted all of 2.5 milliseconds. They laughed and giggled and squealed. Again, I'm thinking of the blissful angles sleeping and the chaos that will come from waking the slumbering babes before they're ready for it. So, my solution -- and folks, I can hardly believe it, but this is what I said: "If you can't play quietly that you have to sit down and watch TV." And I sat them on the couch and turned on treehouse.

Only then, did the complete and total ridiculousness of the words that I'd uttered come to me. And the children themselves were thoroughly disgruntled. I could almost read their thoughts "I can't believe she's making us watch TV."

Which is so ironic! On a normal day I'm saying "We don't need to watch TV. We can have fun without TV." etc, etc, etc.

Oddly enough though, they watched for only about 20 minutes and then the TV was off (and stayed off) for the rest of the day, and no one asked for it!

Yo Gabba What??

I'm not sure how long Yo Gabba Gabba has been on the air. What I do know is that I caught a bit of it a few months back...people, it has haunted me ever since. It is a show where you've got this much too happy guy, aka DJ Lance Rock. He carries around a wonderful boom box that houses his little "friends".

Personally, I think that this show was created while a bunch of someone's were smoking some pretty strong stuff. DJ Lance hops around in his 70's flashback jogging suit. He carries around these "friends", who, if you ask me are a little on the creepy side. Just look at that big red dude...doesn't he remind you of something that you found long ago hidden in your mom's bedside drawer??

The show goes on, with the characters singing songs like "We are the germs that make you sick" or "Try it, and you'll like it"

Creepy. That's the only word that I can describe for this show.

So...could someone please tell me why, in the name of God do the children enjoy it so much??