what mommy watches on tv these days

our fave telly
i really like the abc channel's playschool. the theme song is gentle and there are always lots of interesting crafts and different songs introduced each day (it comes on 5 days a week for half an hour).

i think it's very creative and the pace is very suited for young children. during winter, the programme was put on a half hour later than it is now, so these days i try to ensure dd's naps end in time for the start of the show on its new time slot.

hence, tv time starts at 3pm with playschool if the bean wakes up in time. then there is a break for outdoor play / reading / other games, before the 5 o'clock run: playhouse disney's mickey mouse clubhouse and little einsteins, then a switch to nick jr's the wonder pets and 64 zoo lane.

today the bean actually said, "bye bye loo see" at the end of 64 zoo lane when the main character, lucy, goes off to sleep. i like this show as it has refreshingly british accents; the stories told by the zoo animals are aesop-ish; the animation aesthetic is sweetly crayon-like; and, the theme song is sung with real children's voices instead of adults pretending to be cutesy kids.

if the bean was older i think she would enjoy the upside down show (nick jr) more, which i think is very inventive and funny. i wonder what she makes of it most of the time. a good indication of whether any tv show bores her is if she wanders off after a while to do other things, which she does with this show and the wiggles.

of all the shows (that i permit her to watch, heh heh), she seems to prefer little einsteins and the wonder pets. i wonder if it's because the animation is quite representational of real life objects and animals, especially in the latter programme.

if we were out and i wanted to get the bean back home quickly, she would not respond to "do you want to watch mickey mouse?" but would to "want to go home to watch little einsteins?" when she watches the programme, she will imitate the actions they ask of viewers - to pat their knees, bellies, raise arms up etc.

and on the wonder pets, everytime the duck comes on screen, dd would point and say its name, "ming ming." often, she would give a small shy smile as she does so too. it's a testament to the attractiveness of the programme that even dh likes it.

apart from actual programmes, the bean seems to like the characters that people the kids channels' interstitials, especially the monkey puppets ooh and ahh from playhouse disney (i swear the bean now says "ooh ooh ahh ahh" for monkeys because of them).

shows mommy dislikes
top of my list is hi-5. after sitting through about 2-3 episodes i found i can't stand the pseudo-bubbly-giggly behaviour of the female cast members. their fakely saccarhine 'uh herh herh' laughter makes me want to pick up a heavy inanimate object and hurl it forcefully at them. i think charli is probably the worst offender. somebody slap her!

there is also something vaguely disturbing about their dressing (teenybopper hooker and wannabe boyband-ish) and all that indiscriminate pop music. once they even incorporated house music into a routine and had the cast bopping along like ecstasy addicts - appalling bad taste.

compared to hi-5, the wiggles is infinitely preferable, but the bean is bored by those 4 men too. not that i'm complaining. given a choice between 4 middle-aged troubadours and the wonder pets i would choose the small cuddly, furry superheroes too. (the wiggles are on at the same time as the wonder pets.)

besides hi-5, i really hate abc's tiny planets. i know there is an educational message in there but the animated aliens give me goosebumps. they are hideous and their planet is so abstract and weird that i don't think the bean would be able to find any relevance in it at all. everytime i hear the theme song i just have to switch off the tv - it gives me such chills.

ranking lower on my dislike list is dora the explorer. it has some educational value but dora (everyone on the show actually) SHOUTS INSTEAD OF TALKS ALL THE TIME. it's like listening to someone drilling the pavement - goes through my skull. do the producers think that children need to be enthused to in cheerleading fashion in every single sentence? a very dumbed down notion.

lazy town and the doodlebops are very similar looking programmes with creepily costumed characters. just yuck yuck yuck yuck.