Thank God For Sesame Street

Flynn isnt exactly up to the TV watching stage yet - at 5 months old he doesnt have the worlds longest attention span ( hello goldfish! ). However, i do put the kids channel ABC2 on for an hour or so everyday - he doesnt actually watch the programs but he enjoys the music and the colour, and that comes in handy if Mummy has to run outside and hang some washing or needs to go to the toilet. Dont get me wrong, i'm not going to be one of those mums who uses the TV as a makeshift babysitter, i just 5 or 10 minutes of distraction sometimes. So little Flynn doesnt actually watch the shows - I, on the other hand, being an adult, cannot help but pay attention ( even if sometimes i dont really want to ). And do want to know what i've noticed ? Some kids TV shows are just stupid. They dont even compare to the great shows I had to watch when i was growing up. You know, like " Sesame Street ".

" Sesame Street " is the bomb, baby. I should i say the baby bomb? Either way i loved it back then and i love it still. The characters are kid friendly, the puppets come from the fabulous Jim Henson Company, it gets the best celebrity  cameos ( Garth Brooks, Adam Sandler, Aretha Franklin, hell even Michelle Obama ) and they use music and colour and stories to help kids learn. " Sesame Street " is the kind of show i want Flynn to love. Suffice to say Mummy will put this one on when he's old enough to actually pay attention to TV. I've also discovered two other little shows that i dont mind, and would be happy to sit down and watch with him:

" The Hoobs " - this one is a British show about these aliens called Hoobs that travel around in the Hoob mobile, learning about things here on Earth. They call adults " peeps", children are " tiddly-peeps " and babys are " squiddly-tiddly-peeps". Cute! What i like about this one is that every episode is about something in particular and the Hoob go around and try to learn about that thing. So, for example, yesterday one of them had found a painted egg and they wanted to know what it was and it was for - queue learning that eggs come from chickens, humans eat them, and when theyre boiled and painted they are used for egg hunts. Also, this also a Jim Henson production so it gets extra points from me just for that. Hooba-licious!

" Chuggingtons" - this is pretty much the new, modernised " Thomas the Tank Engine ". Not thats there is anything wrong with old Thomas but this one is just a little more " hip". Its more colourful, there are human characters and the storylines teach a moral or lesson without being as clunky as Thomas tends to be. Mick and I bought Flynn a Chuggingtons showbag ( with a backpack and lunchbox, dinner plate and cute hat! ) at this years show so my fingers are crossed that he gets into this one!

I dont get the appeal of some of the other popular kids shows. " In the Night Garden " ? Its rubbish - i'm not too keen on kids shows that use baby sounds instead of actual language. I know babys might like being spoken to in goo-goo-ga-ga but i'd prefer Flynn to watch something where he is going to pick up actual words and language. " Yo Gabba Gabba " ? Those puppet character thingys are weird and freaky! The stripey green one doesnt even have elbows - whats up with that? And DJ Lance has one of those faces i just want to punch. So i'm thanking God for " Sesame Street " - as long as it remains on air i might have a little bit of sanity for the next 10 years of childrens tv watching!