Not just for kids

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

I became a child again by watching the TV cartoons Zayne watched on a daily basis. Zayne, in a way, became the adult when we watched his cartoons together. 

Life works in weird ways, doesn’t it? (a quote from Lauren Willig in her book The Passion of the Purple Plumera).

I'm not ashamed to tell you I have never watched a cartoon on TV while growing up. I was busy growing up and we don’t have TV that time. 

As a kid, I watched cartoon characters play in my mind through the books I read which was a lot. In the past four years here in the US, I've been watching kid TV programs five times a week.

I've memorized all the characters and the programs like Peter Rabbit and Mouse. I love the lessons they give during their stories. But this story isn't about me. It's still about my five-year-old ward Zayne Mojica. 

A year old and and Zayne knew which TV program he wants to watch. Usually he watches TV while eating. His favorite cartoons were Mickey Mouse and Little Einstein. 

Zayne's parents have this app on their TV which can record his favorite programs so if he's in the mood to watch some Disney it can play the episodes several times until he's tired and seeks to play a game with me or just rest.


Hot Dog Song
Good thing he's no TV coach potato. At most he watches 15 minutes of TV unless the TV program catches his fancy. He knows Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Daisy, Pluto, Goofy, Chip and Dale, and the rest of the Disney studio gang depending on the episode. 

Who doesn't love Daisy Duck with her big shoes and the funny antics of Pluto and Goofy? Not to mention their colorful dresses or suits. These cartoon creators really know how to create visuals that attract kids. 

Zayne is familiar with the magic words "Meeska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse"  and that's the cue for me to do some magic act.  

I have to watch it because there are times he would ask me to imitate a TV scene and he would be upset if I couldn't act along. 

The two of us would dance to the tune of the "The Hot Dog Song.” Sometimes the adult in me knows already what is next and I think that after a while Zayne just lost interest in the program.

Zayne also watches Little Einstein which is completely different because it features classical music. I was amazed and I completely fell in love with it. 

It just doesn't play classical music, it also tells who's the composer and the basics of  music like adagio, forte, diminuendo and crescendo in terms simple enough for kids like Zayne to understand.

Values
I love all the characters of Quincey, Annie, Leo and June (?). Zayne would say he would be Quincey or Leo if these two would lead a team to the rescue of some character.

He role plays either of the two characters and we pretend that we are in a plane and he was the pilot and I have to hop in. But I love the music in Little Einstein best. It was as if I was learning classical music again.

While the music is played, the featured kid characters are on an adventure that keeps Zayne's interest. One other thing I really like about this show is that it does not talk down to the children watching it

I like Little Einstein because it treats a child with respect and not as if they're stupid. It's one thing to talk simple to a child; it's another to talk down to them. Times have changed indeed that values can be learned in TV. 

It is imperative for the nanny and the parents to select and recommend which TV programs can best teach their children positive values.  There are still a lot of programs both Zayne and I like that I can tell you about. 

He still watches some programs that he patronized as a one-year-old and there are silly programs that I don’t want him to watch. Who says kids TV program is only for the kids?  What TV programs does your kid/s or ward/s watch? Tell me.

(The blogger/author is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who works as a nanny in North Carolina. Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis)