Dora: a pox upon us.

You all know it... the saccharine sweet half singsong quasi educational "I need your help!" from the eternally youthful lips of Dora. Aahhh, children's television. How torn can one person be on such a topic? This seemingly innocuous thing that acts like a sedative on the mind of a high strung hyper active child, it is so sweet... And with just enough alternate language to be considered "educational" why not?

[INSERT SHOW NAME] seems to be okay to me, so what is the problem? I do not know exactly, I guess it is like anything else that seems to good to be true or that kids tend to like too much of. There has to be some fallout somewhere right? I mean aside from being eternally annoying, of course.

Thing #1 learned her ABC's, numbers (Spanish and English), animals and objects, and some emotional words with the help of Sesame Street, not that we had her hooked in Clockwork Orange style or anything or refused to teach her "manually" (techie humor, sorry) but she just seemed to enjoy it. Thing #2 also seems entranced by the swirling lights and sounds, if only for a minute or two, and not as much as his sister at this age...

I admit that I have often used this crutch because, lets be honest, because it helps. When I am sick, really stressed out or even just can't take the parenting thing anymore. Sometimes it is obvious when you have reached the "too much" stage or what shows are inappropriate and sometimes it is harder to tell.

For example, Thing #1 is terrified of Dungeons & Dragons and the Smurfs, my husband says he can understand because the Smurfs are pretty scary... but on the other hand she likes Danger Mouse and Bleach. She will crawl in our bed and ask if we can "watch itchy-go" and then snuggle up with me not batting an eye when the monsters come out.

We try not to let them watch too much and allow them to be active physically and use their imaginations (Tangent: which I really love to watch! I mean really, because this stage of parenting - the imagination stage is just the best. Each day a new and more interesting story arises from a empty can of oatmeal and a dish towel... It is just wonderful and fun to see.) But the damn thing is like a siren in the house, we always have to say "no" or "enough" or even forcefully turn it off because there is never enough. No matter how sunny or what else there is to offer the desire is still there.

AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) says that kids should watch no more than 2 hours of TV per day and kids under 5 not at all... That is a lot when you get down to it. There are a lot of hours in the day and two may not seem like a long time when you view it in a 24 hour scope -but that is generally 3-4 shows. And lets not forget the studies show all kinds of developmental problems: real, speculated and suggested that can arise if Thing #1 watches Dora too much.

So why is it so hard to say "No"?
Because she likes it... more than her cat, her brother, mommy or daddy, or even the sun and the sand. But she also listens to the information in a way she cannot seem to listen to us. I am ashamed to admit that we have even resorted to saying things like "Dora says we need to wear our seat belts to stay safe, right?" or "Dora eats her vegetables to stay strong and healthy, you know..." The "kicker" is that if these tactics didn't work I would not mind keeping her out of my house for good. Personally I hate the football headed brat and her voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Thankfully Thing #1 seems to be growing out of her "Noggin" phase and I have been replacing her daily caloric intake with shows from PBS instead.

Sid the Science Kid and Super Why! are her favorites now. She even likes Word World... and you know what, I think they are actually teaching her to read. I know that I have not taught her how to spell "Yes" and "Smile" even though I have attempted to get her to learn and write her own name as well as other letters and numbers... But she picks things up from these shows that you would not imagine.

Some, I guess, would argue that this is a reason not to allow her to watch anything at all. I think I prefer to monitor what she is watching and make myself, no matter how I loathe it, watch it too. You need to make yourself aware of these things. They are learning every second of every day and I need to know what so: 1. I can help her understand 2. I can make sure it is appropriate 3. I can ease her fears should she have any.

I do wish I could get her to be as active in other area, like reading and even just playing with her toys. When I look around I realize we have more books than videos and more toys than money in the bank... but she has to be prompted to play or read whereas the TV is a "no brainer" if you will, pun included.