Nick Jr. Rant

mrsj0423

I have been babysitting our friends children on Mondays for about 2 months now.  They are absolutely wonderful kids!  A 5yr old boy and 2 1/2 yr old girl.  Part of their routine is that after lunch, they have down time for about an hour and watch TV.  One of the channels they are allowed to watch is Nick Jr.... Let me just say that the shows they watch are completely void of any value whatsoever!  And yet the kids become these little non blinking zombies when they watch.  The shows I have seen are "The Fresh Beat Band", "Dino Dan" and "Wow Wow Wubbzy".  These shows are terrible!!  I have a great attention span, but I have no idea what is going on in these shows, they are all over the place.  They just use bright colors and catch phrases to hook kids. They are not even entertaining.  I have never seen one that had any kind of moral or educational value.  As a FTM, I am really REALLY hoping MH and I can keep our kids from this crap.  I know that an hour of silent kids can probably be enough reason to give in, but I would choose much different shows for them from the beginning!  And maybe in 3 years I will be singing a different tune, but I really hope I can stick to it!  Maybe I can put a parental guard on Nick Jr.... Lol

apollonia10

Oh my God, I so agree with you. My FB is full of parents who complain about programming changes on Nick Jr. and how their kids are devastated by these changes - my question is, why are these kids watching so much TV??

I'm sure I will be turning on the TV from time to time to get things done or to have some quiet, but I'd rather pop in a Disney movie or some Sesame Street. I'm even tempted to get DVDs of our favorite kids' shows from the 80's - I loved Pee Wee's Playhouse! 

mom2babyvitz

I know that every parent has a choice, but I would rather my DS watch The Disney Channel than Nick Jr. When he is with my mom and dad he watches the "Fresh Beat Band", which I am not a huge fan of, but since watching that show he has been singing all the time (which I love). I have watched it and even though I don't find much education in the show, there is nothing that I think is "wrong" that it is teaching my son. Because of this reason, I let my son watch 1, maybe 2 episodes of this, but majority of what he watching is educational. We have a time limit on TV and then he gets to choose what book to read. I think that Nick Jr. has gone down hill a little, but I am not complaining. I guess it is just like the stupid shows that I find myself watching from time to time. As long as it isn't all you do, I don't find it to be a horrible thing.

RTaylor12

I'll be a FTM, and I never babysat, but I have caught a minute here and there of the modern programming on that channel, and I'm crazy disappointed. I watched a lot of TV as a kid (only child...what can you do?) and I remember the awesome shows that I watched on Nick Jr. back then....David the Gnome, Maya the Bee, that one Koala show, etc. Those shows actually had a storyline and a moral. Most of the stuff I see for kids nowadays makes me want to gouge my eyes/ears out and beat someone with them. I'm totally on board with getting old DVDs for my kids to watch when they do get TV time.

mrsj0423

apollonia10:

Oh my God, I so agree with you. My FB is full of parents who complain about programming changes on Nick Jr. and how their kids are devastated by these changes - my question is, why are these kids watching so much TV??

I'm sure I will be turning on the TV from time to time to get things done or to have some quiet, but I'd rather pop in a Disney movie or some Sesame Street. I'm even tempted to get DVDs of our favorite kids' shows from the 80's - I loved Pee Wee's Playhouse! 

We were actually thinking of doing the same thing and getting shows on DVD.... Mecca lecca high mecca hiney ho..... HAHAHAH 

MrsPez07

We rarely have DS watching TV, but if we do, it's a DVD from the library or a show streaming from Netflix. These include seseme street, bob the builder and Thomas the train episodes. All somewhat educational/lessons learned. It seems all the other stuff on PBS is on at times we aren't looking to watch TV.

The library is one of the best resources EVER for this kind of thing. 

jellyjellybean

We are huge PBS fans (Dinosaur Train, Curious George, SuperWhy whoo hoo!), I was in the no/extremely limited TV camp too when I was pregnant/DS was younger and I'm still careful about what he watches but not as much as I used to be.

DS loves dinosaurs so we watch Dino Dan quite a bit and FBB is one of the few kid shows I will actually watch with him. DH hates it though.

Max & Ruby will be on repeat in my personal hell. Ruby is a beyotch of a big sister and so condescending.

I could watch Phineas and Ferb all day long.

jlthompson19

As most of you don't have an outside child yet, I'll just say "just wait".

My almost 2 year old watches about a half hour of TV a day and she wants it to be "Beat" aka Fresh Beat Band. She loves the singing and dancing, which is actually great for her development.  When Nick Jr changed it's time slot, I complained b/c it makes her happy and keeps her from not wanting to be held while I get dinner together. Now we just DVR episodes of it.  Is it ideal? No, but you do what you have to do to keep the household running smoothly.

mrs.sewell

I subjected my husband to 5 minutes of Caillou the other day and he was like, "What the f*ck is this?!"

I will say that the Backyardigans seem alright. The Wiggles don't bother me (my husband wants their belt buckle). And for some extra awesome mind-numbing time, Spongebob is still a favorite.

But educationally, I have noticed a huge void on channels like Nick Jr. and Disney. We get the Baby channel, so we might turn that on for him occasionally. My sister (who is 6 years old) watched the baby channel a lot when she was young. Her attention span is shot to he!! but she's smart when she wants to be.

beacbabe

As a second time mom... i know to "never say never" Pre kids I always said my kid will never watch any of the garbage on... but guess what. When you want 30 mins to make dinner, or 10 mins to go to the bathroom in peace... Nick JR becomes your BFF!!!!

Im not saying tv all day is the answer... But My 2.5 year old watches about 1 hour a day of tv... He loves Dora, Diego, Umi Zoomi, and bubble guppies... I honestly Find them a little educational... He follows along and listens to the directions they give. When they ask how many elephants do you see... he will count them and yell the answer... Umi Zoomi actually does math problems.. so again... becareful who you judge... because you will all be there soon!! lol

bookworm982

kitchencolors:

I haven't ever seen any of the stuff you're talking about, but I am in the anti-TV camp. I am very sure that this could be my i-judged-parents-until-i-had-kids issue, because I know I'm way too judgy of people who put their kids in front of the TV.  So easy to say "I will never do that with my own child" NOW. I just hope that once the LO is actually here I can avoid it...

I haven't seen the programs mentioned, but I agree with kitchencolors. In fact, we sold our television a few months ago after being annoyed that it was taking up prime closet space. Before that, we only pulled it out about once a month for movies. Honestly, I know I'm extreme. However, since I was raised without television (though we did have one for occasional movies), I'm confidant in my ability to avoid it.

jerseygirl09

chipmunk112511:

Seriously there are FEW shows on those "kid" channels I can stand.  My child will def not be watching most of them.  I plan on getting some old school Reading Rainbow, Magic Schoolbus and Seasame Street for him to watch and the only thing that I have seen on currently I would let him watch is Max and Ruby (they have some decent little lessons on there and its not just about bright colors and sounds), The Backyardigans seems ok and then Wonder Pets I can deal with.  Besides that PBS has some ok things on (including Magic Schoolbus reruns) and they actually still teach them something!

 

I love the magic school bus! They still show it, and me and my son watch it.  

jerseygirl09

Lol my son watches nick jr and Disney ... sprout drives me INSANE!! I noticed that they have changed "Franklin & friends" (nick jr) and now it looks 3D... It's ridiculous!  I remember watching little bear (which they still air) and a few other nick cartoons. To be honest, teen nick has been showing old school cartoons late at night like Doug, hey Arnold, rugrats..all shows I grew up watching so I DVR them and my son LOVES them! we had such good tv in the 90's.....  Rugrats, reading rainbow, magic school bus, adventures in wonderland, I can go on! Lol

mrsj0423

jerseygirl09:

Lol my son watches nick jr and Disney ... sprout drives me INSANE!! I noticed that they have changed "Franklin & friends" (nick jr) and now it looks 3D... It's ridiculous!  I remember watching little bear (which they still air) and a few other nick cartoons. To be honest, teen nick has been showing old school cartoons late at night like Doug, hey Arnold, rugrats..all shows I grew up watching so I DVR them and my son LOVES them! we had such good tv in the 90's.....  Rugrats, reading rainbow, magic school bus, adventures in wonderland, I can go on! Lol

Really?  I might have to check this out and get my Doug on!.  And I may become a full on addict if you tell me Rocco's Modern Life is aired to! Lol