If you think this article is about using cartoons to babysit your kids, you’re dead wrong. It’s about knowing you kids, their joys, fears, and what brings them to tears. If you don’t know what your kids are watching, you’re not watching your kids! No! This article is about knowing your kids - inside and out!
‘Nick Jr.’ is a very popular network for children’s programming and includes cartoons that are much different than those I enjoyed in my childhood. I loved ‘Roadrunner’, ‘Beany and Cecil’, ‘Rocky, the Flying Squirrel’, etc. They were more pure entertainment and less into teaching life lessons. In today’s world you won’t see the violence of Wile E. Coyote being blown up or Popeye beating up on Bluto. I guess that is a good thing, although I give kids more credit than some do for knowing reality from the humor of cartoonish violence.
But this is about fathers spending time with their children. Kids like cartoons and you should let them watch a few within reason. Many of today’s cartoons have lessons that are good for children regarding friendship, handling fear and anger, and much more. If you sit and watch with your kids you will know what is and isn’t appropriate.
More often you should play with them, read to them, and very importantly, watch them play and interact with others. This includes those their age, those younger and older, and adults. How else can you guide them if you don’t know how they are acting or where they are headed?
This takes time - knowing your children. While a few are not interested enough, most fathers just get caught up in careers, bills, and other distractions and just forget to stop, look and listen. It only takes a subtle reminder caused by a remark, an incident, or even an article like this to bring these dads back to reality. There aren’t many things more important than our children and we know this. It’s because each day runs into the next day and they are so accessible, making it easy to put important things off to later.
If you have young children who watch Nick Jr., or if you have older children who play video games, know what they are doing. Always be vigilant. Video games have, potentially, far more serious consequences if not monitored. Younger gamers who are fathers know this. The grave violence of some video games put the silly violence of ‘The Roadrunner’ in true perspective.
Your monitoring and interest in your kids should never die because you will always be an influence. Hopefully and likely, a very positive influence.
Dads, be the protector, caretaker, advocate and nurturer you are meant to be!
‘Nick Jr.’ is a very popular network for children’s programming and includes cartoons that are much different than those I enjoyed in my childhood. I loved ‘Roadrunner’, ‘Beany and Cecil’, ‘Rocky, the Flying Squirrel’, etc. They were more pure entertainment and less into teaching life lessons. In today’s world you won’t see the violence of Wile E. Coyote being blown up or Popeye beating up on Bluto. I guess that is a good thing, although I give kids more credit than some do for knowing reality from the humor of cartoonish violence.
But this is about fathers spending time with their children. Kids like cartoons and you should let them watch a few within reason. Many of today’s cartoons have lessons that are good for children regarding friendship, handling fear and anger, and much more. If you sit and watch with your kids you will know what is and isn’t appropriate.
More often you should play with them, read to them, and very importantly, watch them play and interact with others. This includes those their age, those younger and older, and adults. How else can you guide them if you don’t know how they are acting or where they are headed?
This takes time - knowing your children. While a few are not interested enough, most fathers just get caught up in careers, bills, and other distractions and just forget to stop, look and listen. It only takes a subtle reminder caused by a remark, an incident, or even an article like this to bring these dads back to reality. There aren’t many things more important than our children and we know this. It’s because each day runs into the next day and they are so accessible, making it easy to put important things off to later.
If you have young children who watch Nick Jr., or if you have older children who play video games, know what they are doing. Always be vigilant. Video games have, potentially, far more serious consequences if not monitored. Younger gamers who are fathers know this. The grave violence of some video games put the silly violence of ‘The Roadrunner’ in true perspective.
Your monitoring and interest in your kids should never die because you will always be an influence. Hopefully and likely, a very positive influence.
Dads, be the protector, caretaker, advocate and nurturer you are meant to be!
Beanie and Cecil
