Cocomelon and the Infinite Cartoonscape
Kids' cartoons a plenty!
Hello! Odd to see you! :)
Jessica and I have a love/hate relationship with Cocomelon. It’s a sweet program and Bash likes it which means that it gives us a few moments of not chasing after him. However, those moments are filled with Cocomelon which can be repetitive and saccharine. At this point, Jessica and I have Cocomelon songs forever etched into our brains. Can you relate?
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Back In My Day…
While walking after dinner with Jessica and Bash, I said “Chop-chop!” and clapped my hands in a prompt for Bash to pick up the pace. He mimicked me. Jessica said that he’s going to talk strange for a kid his age since I say a lot of outdated phrases. For instance, I still say “grody” and call Weinerschnitzel “Der Weinerschnitzel.” If you’re scratching your head, you’re not as old as I am.
It occurred to me that I’m 45 years older than my son Bash. When I was his age (five), it was 1980. Our family had one black-and-white TV with three national channels and a few weird UHF channels. We watched what our parents watched except on Saturday mornings when we got to watch cartoons. Now, cartoons are everywhere at all times, even on demand. Cocomelon anyone?
Choices, Choices, Choices
Is it a good thing that kids have so many choices? Not only do they have “Cocomelon,” they also have “Little Angel” and “Bebefinn” - each is a duplicate of the other with slight variations. There’s also “Bluey,” “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” “Paw Patrol,” “Blippie,” “Super Simple Songs,” “Daniel Tiger,’s Neighborhood” and the list goes on and on. It’s overwhelming!
With Bash, we limit screen time and exposure; meaning that Bash does get to watch TV but it’s not whenever and whatever. I like to limit his choices so he doesn’t get overwhelmed. I lean towards Pixar films since they aren’t repetitious and require a longer attention span. If he gets YouTube, he tends to devolve to having the attention span of a goldfish. Also, we shield him from bad stuff - things that are too scary or confusing or contain harsh language. He’s still a boy, and I can’t shield him from everything.
To TV or Not to TV?
Some say that kids shouldn’t watch any TV at all and there’s a discussion to be had there. If we lived in a closed-off community where all the kids didn’t watch TV, that would be one thing. But we don’t. If Bash is going to interact with other kids who are familiar with some of the kiddie pop culture, it’s good for him to have an idea of what’s going on. It’s tough enough to be a kid, why make things harder if we don’t have to?
Of course, these are our practices. I respect other parents’ decisions regarding kids’ entertainment. If a kid who didn’t watch TV were to come over to play with Bash, I would ask the parent what they’re comfortable with. If it’s no TV, then no TV it is. But what are the chances these days?
It’s not 1980 anymore. Things have changed. I, as a cartoonist, love all the cartoons but I can see how a kid can get caught up in watching TV instead of living life. We want Bash to have so many experiences that he relates to the cartoons instead of living vicariously through them. Fingers crossed.
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Until next time, stay oddly beautiful!
Jason
