So, you may recall a few posts ago me saying The Wiggles were magical...
I may need to change that statement. The Wiggles, in fact, may be evil. They're kind of like kiddie crack.
Case in point: Monkey has decided that he MUST have a nightly does of The Wiggles. And not just ANY video - no, it must be the SAME one. Specifically, "Toot Toot."
Now, I kind of like this video. It has a couple of catchy songs and dances, and, as I've mentioned, it does a WONDERFUL job of keeping Monkey entertained, particularly when he gets fussy. And it also stops him from racing around the house, and helps calm him down before bed.
But after having him watch it several evenings in a row, I realized we were definitely creating a habit, one I wasn't sure we wanted to develop. So I decided to put my foot down. Last night, after eating dinner and playing in the family room for a while, Monkey started pointing towards the cabinet under our TV, asking for "more" and saying "I do," which is generally his way of telling me he wants to do something. And yes, he knows full well what's inside that cabinet - it's the portable DVD player with the Wiggles in it. Geez, who knew kids would have such good memories at this age??
So I said "no," and tried to induce him to do something else - find his football, bring me a book, ride his fire truck. Nope. Monkey wanted "more," and started pointing more deliberately at the cabinet. After several more rounds of this, he was in tears, banging on the cabinet door. Oy! We ended up going round and round for about 10-15 minutes, before I FINALLY distracted him with something else before giving him a bath and putting him to bed.
The thing is, I don't think I've won the battle yet. I think he's going to do the exact same thing this afternoon or tonight, and I'm not sure what to do! It's not like The Wiggles are evil (despite my opening statements), but I want him to watch them when I say so, not every time he asks. I think it's great that he knows how to tell me what he wants, but that doesn't mean he should always get his way... So, yeah, right now The Wiggles are kind of like a drug. Maybe not crack. Something good for you, but in small doses - Tylenol, maybe??
Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, I still haven't formed a definitive position on the Imagination Movers!
3 comments:
Ah, Jack has the same obsession, except with Ni Hao, Kai-Lan. As adorable as I find the show, I don't necessarily want Jack watching it morning, noon and night. And seriously, he has SUCH a good memory. He knows where the remotes and DVDs are. He'll go through the entire stack of DVDs, no matter where in the stack I've hidden the DVD case, and find the right one and bring it to me. I find it reassuring that Jack has developed the cognitive ability to tell me what he wants, but geez, it's kind of scary that my 16-month-old is addicted to a TV show!!!
How impressive that Jack can pick the exact DVD out of a lineup! I just keep Monkey's in the DVD player - it saves time setting up. :-)
Brandon is obsessed with Sponge Bob. But we don't have him watch it all the time. Only when we are in the car traveling.
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