Please Excuse This Commercial Interruption

For 5 1/2 years, all Big Belle was "allowed" to watch on tv was Nick Jr.  A bevy of mostly quality children's programming that actually had some educational components to it.  Many shows were more quiet and peaceful, and even I grew to like shows like Dora that I originally found unappealing.  Fast forward to this past summer.  The 6th birthday was approaching, friends were a big part of the social scene that comes with being a first grader, and suddenly these kids' shows just didn't cut it any more.  At first it was iCarly...and several other shows on the Disney Channel.  We hear Disney and think 'how bad can it be, it's Disney!' and they aren't too bad...if you're a pre-teen.  I tried to steer her away from some of the shows I just deemed inappropriate -- with boyfriends and best friends being mean and such -- and it worked.  For a while.  Being the television police is hard.  

Enter: Sponge Bob.  I had banned him as long as I could.  He was here.  It was supposed to be a "special treat".  And that backfired.  He was/is here to stay.  And then I read an article about research that was done that actually proved that kids were dumber after watching a half an hour of Sponge Bob versus other children's programming.  Oh the horror!  My stomach dropped.

Over break I tried to introduce some other things, and while Big Belle didn't watch a ton of tv, during her rest times after lunch, I put on some Looney Tunes.  Ahh the good old days.  Were these really any better than Sponge Bob though?  Perhaps only for the fact that they contained some quality classical music. Big Belle quickly pointed out and asked "why is he trying to kill the other guy?"  It sounded so horrible when she put it that way.  

I still encourage Nick Jr. as much as I can (when the tv is on that is).  After all, there are 2 little Belles who don't need to have their minds warped by sponges that live in a pineapple under the sea.... Another thing that didn't dawn on me originally that I LOVE about Nick Jr.:  no commercials.  All of the other stations have what feels like a bazillion commercials.  I was interested in how this would affect the girls.  Would they start the "I want that, can I have that?" to all of the glittery toy commercials?  So far, I have yet to hear any comment regarding commercials.  

The other day as we were headed to school, Big Belle dutifully reported to me "Oxy Clean does a good job getting the stains out of jeans".  She had worn jeans that week, I wondered if she spilled something and her teacher was sharing a bit of advice.  And then I wondered, wow, maybe that stuff really does work well.  I've always been curious...."Did your teacher tell you that?"  I queried.  

"No, I heard it on tv."  Well, I guess those channels are more educational than I thought.

I still haven't bought any yet though.