Let me firstly say that I have a 13 month old baby and my wife is pregnant again. love kids. I love Dr Seuss. I love Disney movies. I love Pooh. I love Kitty-chan.
I hate the Wiggles and their horrible music. Anything to do with them is banned in my house. Their horrible music is grating my nerves. I hate the fact that those moronic Wiggles are all millionaires.
When I mention my hatred of the Wiggles, people say ‘You have children. So you will have to like them now.’ I hate those idiots who say that to me.
I never liked them either but my oldest son loved them for a time. When we had our youngest son, we skippied the Wiggles alltogether and got him on a steady course of Spongebob and Scooby-Doo, which the whole family can tolerate (and in my case, actually enjoy watching WITH them).
The Wiggles was always a “Here, you sit here and watch this while Daddy cooks dinner with the radio on…LOUDLY”.
The Wiggles are terrific. They’ve got catchy songs, aren’t preachy or condescending, and their live show is fantastic and always has a few gags for the grownups.
They’ve earned every penny and I hope they stick around a long time yet.
This sparks a question that has always puzzled me as someone who doesn’t have any kids yet. How on earth does a toddler come to like anything you don’t specifically approve or like? And if you do happen to show them something that they like, and you end up being annoyed by it, how do they continue to watch/listen to it, to your chagrin? They’re 2. Just don’t let them listen to/watch it. It’s not like they have a job and can go buy it with their own money.
I really don’t understand this, and I’m honestly asking and not meaning to be snotty.
They have their ways. You want to make them happy & give them stuff they want.
Sure, you can forbid them from watching stuff (I for one restrict my son’s viewing of TV to a bit after dinner, because I don’t think watching too much is good for him); but you want to please them.
If they like something, and it’s harmless, you let them watch it because you love them and you want them to be happy. It’s pretty simple. Basically, it’s just about not wanting to be a dick to your toddler if he/she’s having a good time and not breaking anything.
Not only that, but if you ever become a parent you’ll discover that the price you’ll pay for changing the channel away from something they like will be far more steep than simply suffering through the show.
It’s best just to read a book or surf the net while they’re watching TV. If you pay to much attention to Nick Jr. and the Disney Channel your brain will turn to mush.
Our 3-yr old had never heard of the Wiggles, but my wife’s cousin got some free tickets to their concert a few months ago so she and our son went with her cousin, the cousin’s husband and their four-year-old.
Not one of them liked it. They all thought is was way too loud, and I think the kids were scared of the crowds.
Good for me, though – now if the Wiggles are on TV, our son asks us to change the channel. Gladly!
Well, yeah, I know that kids will have temper tantrums if you don’t do everything just the way they like, but I was under the impression you weren’t supposed to indulge that.
I believe you that it is probably easier in practice not to hold to that ideal, though.
I hope I never annoyed my parents with my Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers. It wasn’t my intention
My kids have their own tastes and preferences, and I’ll make allowances for that. One loves Max & Ruby, which drives me crazy, and the baby likes Teletubbies, which is horribly annoying. Mostly, they go through phases of liking one show or another, and each of them get to pick one show a day.
For the first part, even a toddler has ways of seeing what you don’t want them to. Family will let them watch shows, if they go to daycare/dayhome they might see it there, that sort of thing. It happens, they may see it only once and become obsessed. I limit certain shows (because they either drive me batty or I don’t approve or I think he’s too young) but I never had a problem with the wiggles.
Mostly I try to introduce him to my childhood favourites (he’s got copies of Mr Dressup and Fraggle Rock for example) and limit his viewing but even when he has the tv on it’s mostly background for him. He knows I mean it when I change the channel or turn it off though he still melts down sometimes, but they can make you life crazy while they do it. I still tape nearly everything I want to watch just so I don’t miss anything if I have to turn it off, or so I can watch when he is in bed.
The Wiggles are coming here next month, I’ve already got tickets. The music is catchy and gets stuck even in my head sometimes. Don’t get the hate for them but I hate Barney…
I’m so glad he’s over the Teletubbies and the Max & Ruby phases… (though I still want to smack Mom for buying him the musical Max piggy bank…)
Interesting take. I honestly cannot recall when (or why) we introduced the Wiggles to my son Andrew, whom is now 6. And truth be told, I don’t actually hate them, I just hate the repetition of having to rotate the same three or four sets of DVD’s ad nauseum until I’M SINGING/HUMMING the damn songs aloud or in my head at random moments!
But they were a lifesaver of sorts. If you can get a 2 year old engrossed in something so utterly for 30-45 minutes, you actually can have time to take a shit, maybe occaisionally shower, or even pull out a quickie with the wife on the bathroom floor, without fear of them leaving from where you left them.
I know it sounds like TV babysitting (and it is, but we limit it, and interact with them all day), but…it’s nice to snatch a few moments of privacy for something you need or want to do.
As long as “Hot potato, hot potato…” continued to play, you knew your child was safely ensconced in front of the idiot box having his brain turned to mush, while dancing.
And all was well, for a few fleeting minutes.
Now, the Wiggles are one thing, the Telletubbies are another.
That show is like LSD for children.
And horribly unwatchable for adults…unless they are on LSD themselves…
It’s that laughing baby in the Sun, I tell ya, and those bizarre phones…getcha every time…
