Nemo, and Other Undesirables

With my first child, I was adamant that she wouldn’t watch TV or be overwhelmed with “character” stuff.  Through that first year, I was pretty successful.  She was blissfully ignorant of cartoons and their merchandise, and our house was a Disney-free zone.

Then we came upon Alison’s first birthday closely followed by Christmas, and were inundated by gifts covered in Disney Princesses, Dora the Explorer, and Thomas the Tank Engine.  Gifts which, incidentally, Alison loved passionately.

Fast forward a couple of years, and enter a new baby on the scene.  A baby who, at the tender age of 15 months, knows the names of a lot of cartoon characters.  Not necessarily because she watches THAT much TV (although, yes, I admit she comes running at the first notes of The Backyardigans theme song) but because she has inherited Alison’s STUFF.

Stuff in perfectly good condition, stuff that’s actually pretty well designed save for that cartoon character smiling up from its surface.  A necessary evil?  Perhaps.

I have come to appreciate the educational cartoons and characters for the learning tools they can be.  Alison is much more willing to learn Spanish because she hears it from Dora and Diego as well as from us.  If she’s forgetting her manners, all I have to do is call her, “Princess Cleotasha” and she’ll shape up faster than if I try reminding her to be polite.

And Blythe?  Well, she spotted some juice with Elmo on it at the store the other day and could not rest until said juice was resting comfortably in the cart next to her.  Who can turn down a little voice saying, “Emmoh, pease?  Peeeease, mama, Emmmmooooooh?” 

Say a little prayer for me, m’kay?