There, I said it.
So, until I hire a part-time babysitter to entertain and stimulate when I can’t, down to the television room they go.
Last year around this time, I will admit they all got a little too free with their TV viewing, which in turn meant a few too many Bakugan Brawls in my living room and more Miley Cyrus style back talk than any mom should have to take. So, I limited the channels and programs they were allowed to watch without me sitting next to them.
See? Crafts.
In an effort to share my “research” I have included a few of our favorites here in case you haven’t found them yet. The best part of each-mommy likes to watch them too, so we can call it bonding.
Mighty B: (Nick Jr.) I am pretty sure this show is actually a Saturday Night Live skit that never aired. Bessie Higgenbottom is the main character and her life long mission is to gather up enough Bee Scout Badges (imagine Brownies with a narcissistic troupe leader) to become the Super Hero-Mighty B. It is written by Amy Poehler who also does the voice of Bessie. Bessie is a riot and the supporting characters (Portia being my fave) are all so strong that we often mimic them around our house. It is so darn good I’d watch it without my kids around. Let me caution, this is not a “learning” show, but it is good clean (hilarious) fun for all.
Word Girl: This PBS gem is about a young girl who crashed landed on Earth from the Planet Lexicon and has to live as Becky Botsford “mild mannered fifth grader”. When Becky senses crime is afoot from a villain such as Chuck the Evil Sandwich Making Guy, she switches to her alter ego Word Girl and with a shout of “WORD UP” flies off with her sidekick Captain Huggy Face to save the world by using (among other things) her astounding vocabulary. The narrator for the show is Chris Parnell also from SNL (noticing a theme) and his dialogue with Becky and her side-kick monkey is definitely written for parents. The bonus to your laughter is that kids learn all about new words.
Between the Lions: A PBS oldie but goodie, this one is great for all three kids and it make me feel less guilty about not watching Sesame Street. F loves the reading. The Middle One loves the letter games and songs and The Baby is fascinated by all the different skits.
Phineas and Ferb: Two brothers cause mischief. One older sister spends her life trying to get them in trouble for said mischief. Sound familiar? It’s The Traveling Circus Circa 2016. This show is on Disney XD so Faith feels like it’s old enough for her, but it is still innocent enough for the boys. The learn nothing from this one, but it’s pretty funny for mom and dad.
Sid the Science Kid:(PBS) Sid dances, raps and learns about bugs and things that stink. What more do you need?
Each of these shows also has an interactive web page where the kids can play math and reading games, print pictures to color and more. Oh yeah-the computer-I let my kids do that too.
Shame, shame on me.
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I will definitely tell him! We loved that show, parents more than kids some days.:) I love that someone you know was involved. Was he a voice or did he do sound for the whole show? So cool, either way.
I am loving your blog. Ps tell husband joe Pleiman won an Emmy for doing the sound on word girl. Joe was a hr kid and my neighbor. It’s always good to see someone achieve their dream…joe used to splice commercials out of Betamax film in his basement.
We love “Sid The Science Kid!” Since Juliette is so little our viewing preferences are a little different. We of course LOVE “Sesame Street.” Another really great one is “Little Einsteins.” If you’ve never seen that (which I’m sure you have) it’s worth it. I love that they learn about composers and artists! “Super Why” and “Word World” are big favorites around here too! I know it sounds like all I do is plop J in front of the tv, but we don’t watch all of these everyday or even regularly, but if I need to take a shower or if we just need some down time one of these shows does the trick! I even throw in my DVD of “Mister Rogers Neighborhood” sometimes. (Which while dated and simple still entertain!!) I still quote “Sesame Street” episodes that I watched when I was a kid and my love for Mister Rogers still continues, so I don’t think there is anything wrong with watching a little tv. Like everything else as long as its in moderation! : )
We were huge fans of Super Why and Little Einsteins and Word World. We could fund PBS and we have the Little Einsteins rocket they still play with. That show was a hit with all three. I can still sometimes get then to watch those but they’ve mostly grown “too old”.
Electric Company is a great next step! As for Sesame Street, I love it but the oldest is the only one who would ever watch it with me.;( Oh and no apologies for DVDs. I adore Mr. Rogers and we have our copies of The Muppet Show and now Punky Brewster for when F is older. Classic tv rocks!