Why I Hate Caillou

Research has clearly shown that watching television is not terrific for toddlers. Of course, research does not always consider what reality is, either. Sometimes, parents need to use television to entertain their children, hopefully temporarily, or when they're on an important phone call, like with the satellite or cable company, to subscribe to some premium channels. It is important not to be bothered then.

My son watches a fair amount of television, but we try to balance his TV watching with active play and reading. He has liked several programs. Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (It's good to see someone encouraging children to have values - even if the show aired when I was a kid, in the 70s.) Thomas the Train (I enjoy the backgrounds, miniature waterfalls, tiny houses, and other cool landscapes.) Barney (Whom I despise, and, thankfully, he no longer watches). Curious George (Who actually is pretty funny).

His latest interest is an animated show, Caillou (pronounced KAI-OO). It's about a little bald preschool kid who lives with his parents and his sister. I don't know many other specifics - the names of other characters, etc. - but I recognize the irritating theme song and Caillou's familiar whining whenever the show is on.

Caillou soothes my son the same way a Prozac calms an adult. I wish this did not happen. My son is not a avid TV watcher but he will park his rear end on the couch for an entire episode. He sits there spellbound, practically. We do not have to worry about his well-being while Caillou is on. We could take a two mile jog and come home, and my son will be right where he was when we left.

The problem is that Caillou is not the kind of kid I want to have. He complains, tattles, is afraid of everything, disrespects his parents, and cries when he doesn't get his way. I am actually surprised the show made it on children's television, it teaches such crappy behavior. And, like any two-year-old, my son imitates what he sees. There are times he acts like dippy little Caillou.

I guess my son likes Caillou because he's a boy of similar age, going through apparently similar life events. Caillou's parents are annoyingly perfect, so I can imagine that other parents hate the show, too. (They do. I Google-searched "I Hate Caillou") To make matters worse, the program is narrated by a crabby-sounding woman, whom my wife can do a great impression of, by the way.

So the trick is to limit the exposure to this show. This sounds easy, but it ends up not being easy. It always seems that when we need my son to do something for us, we choose, typically out of desperation, to bribe him with Caillou. But then, our son expects Caillou to be on whenever he wants to watch.

It was good to hear today at a family Christmas party that our sister-in-law is going through the same struggles with our niece, who also likes the show. Our sister-in-law also hates Caillou and mentioned something about Caillou "going away" after the new year - kind of like how a parent explains what happens when a dog dies.

It's not such a bad idea.

Bye, bye, Caillou.