Tags
Kids, kids tv, Parents, spongebob squarepants, the Simpsons, tv
“I’ve watered her down as far as she’ll go, I can’t water her no more!” (Willy the groundskeeper from the Simpsons)
I sat down with my kids today before their nap, and we watched some Nick Jr.
I woke up some time later, my sons concerned face looking down at me, a bottle of insulin and a syringe in his hand.
Okay, that didn’t happen, but I’m absolutely shocked that one or all of us didn’t turn instantaneously diabetic from the programming.
I’m quite strict about what the kids watch on tv, in fact, J didn’t even watch TV till he was two. Since then we’ve implemented one simple rule; we don’t let them watch any brain melting happy crappy shitty vomitous child spoiling first world problem television.
I’ve taken a lot of shit from other mothers for letting my kids watch Spongebob, but the thing about Spongebob is: shit happens to Spongebob.
Spongebob gets mad or afraid, and things don’t always end the way he wants, but Spongebob always conducts himself in the manner that I would want my kids to mimic. He’s always nice and he always communicates his feelings. He’s understanding when other fish and invertebrates disagree with him. He’s loyal to his friends, and he never talks smack about the other invertebrates in his life. Most importantly, he loses.
Frequently.
Life is hard. Life sucks. You’re hardly ever going to get what you want, and when you do, you’re going to pay out the nose for it. You’re going to lose more often than you win. You’re not going to be good at everything, not everyone is going to like you, and you might have to take the test for your boating license a million times.
Spongebob offers my children a really important lesson. A lesson that is, unfortunately, no longer taught in schools, where everyone gets an A, or in sports, when my kid comes home with a giant trophy for participation, or anywhere else in children’s programming, where everyone is friendly, happy, and wins.
He teaches them that it’s okay to lose.
It’s okay to put everything you have into something big, come out the loser, and carry on; waking up the next morning ready for a brand new day.
That, I believe, is the best self-esteem booster there is.
Go Spongebob.
napperscompanion said:
Damn straight! Love it. John
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naptimethoughts said:
John, I just knew you’d have my back on this one.
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Winding road said:
Love it! So damn true! Kids have it way too easy these days. Toughen up! And I said that to my daughter a couple of times today too…good timing on reading this post.
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naptimethoughts said:
They do. How are they going to make it out there in the big bad world if we don’t give them the skill set they need to handle everything that comes at them?
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mummyflyingsolo said:
This is soooooooooooo true! I love it!!!
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naptimethoughts said:
I don’t know what the parenting trends are by you, mummy, but here we baby them like they’re never going to see a drop of rain in their little lives. I know one mother that bases her whole parenting strategy on never saying no.
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mummyflyingsolo said:
OMG crazy. Yeah we get the same shit over here (big trophies for participation etc.). If you ask me we are only doing a disservice to our children by not preparing them to deal with life. And I’m not emotionally scarred for not winning every game I ever played!!! I’m not sure why we think others will be! Mollycoddling is what I call it!
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naptimethoughts said:
Thanks.
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