Planes, Trains, and Four Dancing Men

Let me start this post with a little fun fact :) . Before I had kids I worked in a daycare. The kids would occasionally come in with a video that they wanted to share with the class. That was how I was first introduced to The Wiggles, Bob the Builder, and such. I had seen other kids shows before, such as Barney and Thomas and Friends, and I was never that impressed. Barney was just down right annoying with the children's extreme overacting and songs about everything from using your inside voice to the different kinds of bread there are. I was not too impressed with Thomas and Friends, Bob the Builder ...eh, and the Wiggles? The songs were catchy, but a bunch of grown men doing the "Shaky Shaky?" Seems a little off to me. I knew that I would never be playing these programs in my house! I would have to search out some Care Bears and Rainbow Bright before my kids came along. Then my sweet girl entered the world. Entered the world with an affinity for The Wiggles. I don't know how or when she saw them for the first time, but once she did it was over. She would jump up and dance like crazy whenever she heard them. And you know what? That was OK with me! Just to watch her having so much fun dancing along to the beat, singing every lyric, was enough to have me hooked on them as well. Looking back on it, I was a little harsh on Greg, Murray, Anthony, and Jeff. They must be some pretty smart guys. With their bright clothing, silly songs, and lovable friends they were sure to be a hit with little kids. And boy are they with mine! With Rogan came the world of Thomas and Friends on the little island of Sodor. He loves them so much that I don't mind the fact that I can name every engine, or the fact that we have a CD of some rockin railway tunes that we listen to in the car (yes, I can sing all of the songs, and the kids and I sing them in English accents). Chris built Rogan his very own "Sodor" for his bedroom that Rogan plays with every day. I am not annoyed with kids shows anymore, in fact I kind of like them now. We are finally at the stage where Disney movies are becoming a hit. Rogan and I had to play "Princess and the Frog" for weeks after we went to see it. I got to be the princess and he would give me a kiss. It was a pretty fun game :) . I can sing along to just about every Disney song ever released (OK, I could do that before, but now I have an excuse) and love it when Ameryn and I are belting out "He's a Tramp" at the top of our lungs. It is funny how your perspective changes as a parent. If something makes my child happy, I am happy too. I just had to learn how to look at things. Before I was looking at them as an adult who couldn't really get past the goofiness of some programs. Now I am looking at them through the eyes of a child, my child, and I love what I see.