Before Baby F. ever came along, I had certain ideas of what I'd do in regards to her television watching.
We didn't want to be too severe - both Papa-in-Training and moi had been reared on telly and didn't feel it had ruined or stunted us. But then again, I'd grown up in Portugal up until I was 11 when there were only two channels to watch…and only one if you didn't have an outdoors antenna, i.e. you didn't want to pay the tv license by advertising to the authorities that you had a telly. Shh! Don't tell the tv license people, they might still want to collect after 30+ years ;o)
So we thought we'd let her watch some television when she was a little older - maybe 2 or
3 - but until then, we'd try to keep her away from the boob tube.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!
[let me regain my breath a bit]
Yeah, that completely went out the window soon after birth.
All the guidelines, all the best practices, are great for ideal situations, when baby is always entertaining herself or there's always someone else around to help take care of her.
But what if there isn't? What if your brain has turned to mush and you'd like to watch some tv yourself but the baby is still awake?
Well, then you watch anyway, 'cause they can barely see beyond their face at the beginning. So you and your partner get a chance to relax and spend some bonding time with the baby because really she's not even aware that there's some sort of magical object that emits pictures and sounds at this point.
But once she can see and hear better, then surely no tv?
Yeah, phtttfff!
We were really good at first. Maybe she'd watch a little Jeopardy with me in the evenings, maybe a little Big Bang Theory - Baby F. seemed to like Sheldon in particular - but that was about it.
But then we discovered PBS. Well, *we* didn't discover it. I mean, I've been a devoted fan for many years. I was watching Masterpiece on a weekly basis waaaay before Downton Abbey came along and made it all chichi for everyone in the nation to watch ;o)
More specifically, we discovered Curious George. And that, my friends, was the beginning of the end.
Well, that and a certain bunch of squirrels headed by Bana & Flapi…but more on that a bit later.
Back to the monkey…
We discovered George and soon we were watching him and his friends on and off PBS. We have Netflix and they have all the available episodes on demand! This is at once an amazing thing…and a dreadful thing.
Because Baby F. now knows we can bring up an episode whenever we'd like.
And so every morning,
after having her brekkie and while I'm usually still waking up (some days I'm still half asleep honestly), I will put on the next episode of Curious George and Baby F. will sit in front of me on the couch - in between my legs (it's a deep couch) - or next to me on my left, using her favorite couch pillow, and will suddenly erupt in pure glee at the playing of the first notes of the theme song. She will do a little dance of joy while sitting next to me and will follow along with all the crazy adventures our little monkey friend gets up to.
Sometimes we might watch an episode of Sesame Street afterwards, where no big surprise, she seems to like Elmo's World the best, but it doesn't quite have the hold that George has on her.
We've tried other shows - Bob, the Builder; Thomas, the Tank Engine; Babar; Pocoyo - and although she might like them a bit, they do not envoke the joy that the curious monkey gives her.
That is, other than Bana & Flapi.
What the heck is that, you may be asking?
Only the most amazing cartoon about squirrels ever devised :o)
I watched this sweet little show when I was a child and fell hook, line and acorn over its' protagonist and his forest adventures. There were no VCRs when I was little, so when a few years back they decide to release the series on DVD, I was utterly thrilled. Unfortunately I
was only able to pick up a couple of the volumes, leaving me with lotsmissing in between. This wasn't that much of a big deal…until we discovered that the DVDs are magic.
Once upon a time, we were having a hard time getting Baby F. to eat. And then one of us, I forget who, thought, 'Why don't we pop in a DVD and see if that will distract her enough to eat?' And so, with this thought we doomed ourselves to repeated viewings of the same episodes of the little squirrel.
And before you mamas and papas get up in arms, yes, yes, babies should be fed without distractions, yada yada yada. But you know what? These little squirrels got her to eat her nom noms almost every time. Because unlike with other programs that we might have on that she'll barely glance at whilst playing next to us, Bana & Flapi thrills her to no end. She actually pumped her fist in the air today as we told her it was time for lunch *and* for Bana & Flapi. She, of the as of yet, limited vocabulary, said 'Yay!' and pumped up her fist.
She also makes the kookiest facial expressions while watching particularly thrilling episodes - spoiler alert: there's a scary one involving a ferret.
Have I sometimes been singing a certain ditty in my head only to realize I'm singing the Curious George theme song?
Am I growing slightly annoyed at my childhood favorite's theme song playing everyday at meals?
Do I find the repetition of the handful of episodes we own being droned into my brain day after day unsettling?
Maybe a little.
But seeing the fun and happiness Baby F. has while watching Curious George and Bana & Flapi makes it all worthwhile.
No Barney though. That's where I draw the line.
P.S. I have recently found that seemingly all episodes of Bana & Flapi are available through YouTube. For some reason they've all been divided up into two parts each, but that's a small price to pay for my sanity and that of Papa-in-Training's :D
P.P.S. Sadly, I'm unaware of any English dubbing of Bana & Flapi. The original was in German and it also aired in Spain and Italy, I believe, but never in any English speaking country :o(
 |
| Outdoor Antenna of the kind we didn't have ;o) |
We didn't want to be too severe - both Papa-in-Training and moi had been reared on telly and didn't feel it had ruined or stunted us. But then again, I'd grown up in Portugal up until I was 11 when there were only two channels to watch…and only one if you didn't have an outdoors antenna, i.e. you didn't want to pay the tv license by advertising to the authorities that you had a telly. Shh! Don't tell the tv license people, they might still want to collect after 30+ years ;o)
So we thought we'd let her watch some television when she was a little older - maybe 2 or
3 - but until then, we'd try to keep her away from the boob tube.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!
[let me regain my breath a bit]
Yeah, that completely went out the window soon after birth.
All the guidelines, all the best practices, are great for ideal situations, when baby is always entertaining herself or there's always someone else around to help take care of her.
But what if there isn't? What if your brain has turned to mush and you'd like to watch some tv yourself but the baby is still awake?
Well, then you watch anyway, 'cause they can barely see beyond their face at the beginning. So you and your partner get a chance to relax and spend some bonding time with the baby because really she's not even aware that there's some sort of magical object that emits pictures and sounds at this point.
But once she can see and hear better, then surely no tv?
Yeah, phtttfff!
We were really good at first. Maybe she'd watch a little Jeopardy with me in the evenings, maybe a little Big Bang Theory - Baby F. seemed to like Sheldon in particular - but that was about it.
But then we discovered PBS. Well, *we* didn't discover it. I mean, I've been a devoted fan for many years. I was watching Masterpiece on a weekly basis waaaay before Downton Abbey came along and made it all chichi for everyone in the nation to watch ;o)
More specifically, we discovered Curious George. And that, my friends, was the beginning of the end.
Well, that and a certain bunch of squirrels headed by Bana & Flapi…but more on that a bit later.
Back to the monkey…
We discovered George and soon we were watching him and his friends on and off PBS. We have Netflix and they have all the available episodes on demand! This is at once an amazing thing…and a dreadful thing.
Because Baby F. now knows we can bring up an episode whenever we'd like.
And so every morning,
 |
| Said pillow complete with built in cat hair for a more authentic touch. |
Sometimes we might watch an episode of Sesame Street afterwards, where no big surprise, she seems to like Elmo's World the best, but it doesn't quite have the hold that George has on her.
We've tried other shows - Bob, the Builder; Thomas, the Tank Engine; Babar; Pocoyo - and although she might like them a bit, they do not envoke the joy that the curious monkey gives her.
That is, other than Bana & Flapi.
What the heck is that, you may be asking?
Only the most amazing cartoon about squirrels ever devised :o)
I watched this sweet little show when I was a child and fell hook, line and acorn over its' protagonist and his forest adventures. There were no VCRs when I was little, so when a few years back they decide to release the series on DVD, I was utterly thrilled. Unfortunately I
was only able to pick up a couple of the volumes, leaving me with lotsmissing in between. This wasn't that much of a big deal…until we discovered that the DVDs are magic.
Once upon a time, we were having a hard time getting Baby F. to eat. And then one of us, I forget who, thought, 'Why don't we pop in a DVD and see if that will distract her enough to eat?' And so, with this thought we doomed ourselves to repeated viewings of the same episodes of the little squirrel.
And before you mamas and papas get up in arms, yes, yes, babies should be fed without distractions, yada yada yada. But you know what? These little squirrels got her to eat her nom noms almost every time. Because unlike with other programs that we might have on that she'll barely glance at whilst playing next to us, Bana & Flapi thrills her to no end. She actually pumped her fist in the air today as we told her it was time for lunch *and* for Bana & Flapi. She, of the as of yet, limited vocabulary, said 'Yay!' and pumped up her fist.
She also makes the kookiest facial expressions while watching particularly thrilling episodes - spoiler alert: there's a scary one involving a ferret.
Have I sometimes been singing a certain ditty in my head only to realize I'm singing the Curious George theme song?
Am I growing slightly annoyed at my childhood favorite's theme song playing everyday at meals?
Do I find the repetition of the handful of episodes we own being droned into my brain day after day unsettling?
Maybe a little.
But seeing the fun and happiness Baby F. has while watching Curious George and Bana & Flapi makes it all worthwhile.
No Barney though. That's where I draw the line.
P.S. I have recently found that seemingly all episodes of Bana & Flapi are available through YouTube. For some reason they've all been divided up into two parts each, but that's a small price to pay for my sanity and that of Papa-in-Training's :D
P.P.S. Sadly, I'm unaware of any English dubbing of Bana & Flapi. The original was in German and it also aired in Spain and Italy, I believe, but never in any English speaking country :o(
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