Last week, after reading Tanya Enberg's post Goodbye Rock n' Roll, Hello Children's Songs, I commented about a 'kids' album that I actually really love and realized that so many new parents are probably driving themselves batty, bored to tears over Toopy and Binou, ripping their hair out to The Wiggles and ready to run screaming into a burning building every time they hear Barney.
But it doesn't have to be that way! There are lots of stimulating things that we can watch/listen to or read with our kids that aren't insane, inane, and boring as all get out.
The album I commented on in Tanya's post is a compilation CD called See You On the Moon, put out by Toronto's Paper Bag Records in 2006. The title track, by Canadian indie band The Great Lake Swimmers gets into my head all the time. It's just really really good.
Ah, Mamma Yamma. What an amazing character. Kid's CBC (7 mornings a week) has Mamma, Patty and Syd, live musical acts, art, songs and dance. In between all these cute little bits are completely tolerable kid's shows. It's the only TV I don't begrudgingly let Henry watch. Because he gets exposed to bands like GLS, Sloan (my fave!), singer Hannah Georgias and even guys like George Stromboulopoulos and Jian Ghomeshi. And as for music, if kid-friendly compilations aren't really hitting it for you, just put on the music you love. Guaranteed your kids will, too. A friend of mine just told me her daughter's newest obsession is dancing to Abba's Dancing Queen. Henry? He loves Metallica. For real.
If this kind of TV is still not palatable for you, why not try finding an old series YOU watched on Netflix or Amazon? We found that Henry absolutely adores Batman: The Animated Series from the early 90s—a favourite after school show of both Matt's and mine. In fact, his absolute Batman obsession comes directly from this show. He always asks for "more Bat, mama." How can I say no? Other shows he loves (that we do, too) are Futurama and Adventure Time.
If your kids are a bit older than Henry is, or can sit through a whole movie, Star Wars is a hit with kids for a reason (episodes 4-6 please and thank you). A great "kids" movie (which Matt and I bought before I ever even got pregnant) is The Fantastic Mr. Fox. I just adore the movie, and I cry happy tears at the end every damned time I watch it. Every time.
The best part about all of this is that we are the parents! We are the purchasers and we can decide what our kids consume. Henry's favourite books are books we, as parents, love. Anything we loathe? We hide. His alphabet book? This one. Why? Because we read it to him regularly and it's got hilarious drawings and awesome colours. Also, there's an illustration of Iggy Pop peeing like a dog. It's great.
So, turn off that Treehouse TV and put away Goodnight Moon. Throw on that BEP CD and dance the night away with your kids. Cause that's what it's really all about, isn't it?
So, spill it! What are your favourite kid-friendly books, shows, movies, and music?
Printer-friendly version