I am so grateful that my kids are past the age of Dora the Explorer and Caillou.
They moved on to shows that I actually enjoy,
Such as My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
But noooooo, my kids had to move on again from that awesomeness to this:
My kids are obsessed with this show now. Obsessed! Shouldn’t PokĆ©mon have died out like 20 years ago or something? Anyway, I need your help. I won’t watch the show because it sounds obnoxious and stupid. Yet, somehow I feel like I’m missing some sort of bonding opportunity with my kids.
Convince me why I should like this show. Why do I “gotta catch ’em all!”
Um, how old are your kids? Then again, I know some adults who love the show. At least it’s not Yu-Gi-Oh or anything. I hope that’s still not a thing. Well, I also hoped that Pokemon isn’t a thing.
Honestly, if I had kids, and they liked something bad, I’d talk all the time about how slightly younger kids love the show too. If that didn’t get them disinterested, then I’d find good cartoons for them and pretend that I didn’t want them to watch them. “No, no, kids, you should never watch episodes of the old show Batman: The Animated Series! You wouldn’t like it! It’s got violence and Batman and stuff!”
LikeLiked by 2 people
7 and 9. And I’ve tried those methods already, sadly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
BTAS!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, they aren’t into Batman. I know. I’ve raised them poorly. LOL
LikeLike
Oh, I forgot to mention that Pokemon is REALLY big at their school. All the kids watch it obsessively and trade cards. I blame the other parents for convincing their kids that this is cool again. LOL
LikeLiked by 1 person
Have you tried getting them to watch episodes of The Tick on YouTube? I’m talking about the cartoon, and not the lame live action show.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My hubby watches The Tick. Is it good? I think my kids were too young for that show before but maybe now. We’ll give it a go! Anything to get them away from Pokemon. Okay, not anything but just about!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Um, your kids might be a tad young for it. But you can look at the first episode and determine it for yourself!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Tick sure is beefy! Definitely looks amusing, but no not quite right for the kids. š
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you take a look at the second episode, the graffiti on the moon sticks around until the Tick fixes it. It’s great.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will look out for that. š Thanks for the suggestion, SB.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There’s also the option of not watching cartoons with your kids. You can use it for other time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not watching cartoons with my kids? No! I love it.Usually. But not Pokemon.
I do also like grownup cartoons occasionally.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Never seen it, so can’t help there. But my son just started playing the card game with one of his friends.
LikeLike
The game isn’t too bad. My son started teaching me how to play.
LikeLike
It’s like a complicated version of war, right?
LikeLike
Um, I dunno. I wasn’t concentrating enough to know. I know, bad parent. LOL
My son just got up, saw this post, and was excited. “Who’s Quixie?” He demanded to know what type of Pokemon I was. He then proceeded to tell me all 18 types. I’ve decided I am a Fairy Type.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds about right =)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Is WordGirl on where you are? Perfectly quirky. http://www.pbs.org/parents/programs/wordgirl/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well I like WordGirl, but my kids not so much. It’s so sad. I want to go back to MLP and Avatar. ::boo hoo:: Poor Mommy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Let’s hear it for PBS! They and their affiliates have produced a lot of good shows.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Agreed!
LikeLike
I asked my son recently if he had played Pokemon when he was little (I honestly couldn’t remember). He said no, it was popular at his school, but he never got into it. He then said, “And you know there are a lot of Christian families that wouldn’t let their kids play it.” (and he rolled his eyes, heh) It’s funny to see how the same Christian vs. D&D arguments that were big in my day, have come back around with Harry Potter, and apparently even Pokemon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is too funny! Probably because Pokemon characters evolve:http://pokemon.wikia.com/wiki/Evolution
We can’t have Christian kids getting ideas that creatures can evolve! š
LikeLiked by 1 person
EEEEEK! Get the matches…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Burn in Hell, Barney! Die, Barney, Die!
Wait…was that over the top?
LikeLiked by 1 person
No measure is extreme where The Purple One is concerned. š
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed!
LikeLike
http://breakintochat.com/wiki/Barneysplat
LikeLiked by 1 person
LMAO! This is so great. Thanks for the link.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I actually played it when it was current – on BBSes. š
LikeLike
Except that what pokemon are doing is not evolution, it’s actually metamorphosis. And the biology teachers are going to have their hands full straightening out that misconception in the future.
(Individual creatures don’t evolve, it’s populations that evolve over time. Wish the animators had gotten that right.)
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good point ubi! I hadn’t considered that. I’m going to go explain this to my children right now. They know what metamorphosis is so they’ll get it, I think.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My son’s favorite shows when he was really little were Lamb Chop (Shari Lewis), and Thomas the Tank Engine. I thought those were pretty good.
My nieces and nephews at that age, however, absolutely loved Barney & Friends. Now THAT was an agonizing show to watch as an adult. That giggly laugh… that insipid “I LUV U” song… guuuhhhh. I was very glad when that era ended.
LikeLike
I had to watch Barney when I was a kid at daycare (late elementary). It was AWFUL. Why, Brent, WHY did you have to bring it up? I’m traumatized! LOL. Now I have, “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family. With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won’t you say you love me to.” Aggggggghhhhhh!
Lamp Chop? Is that the one where they sing, “This is the song that never ends…yes, it goes on and on my friends…some people started signing it, not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue singing it forever, just because…”?
My son used to like Thomas. I’m a little sad that he doesn’t any more because it was a good show.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, Lamb Chop had its own annoying song, but I’d take “The Song That Never Ends” over “I LUV U” any day of the week and twice on Sundays.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Me too! I have a voice recording of my friends and I singing The Song That Never Ends. We’d sing it over and over and and over and drive our siblings and parents crazy. It was fun!
LikeLike
And YOU!!! You just reinforced it in MY head! I told Brent he was to blame, but you just made it GROW!! :p
LikeLiked by 1 person
Now you all shall suffer along with me! ::Muhahaha::
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good one Brent! Now I have the Barney song in my head…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Earworm FTW! [insert devil-and-horns emoji here…]
LikeLiked by 2 people
You better watch out for that Brent, JJ. He’s a little hellion.
LikeLike
There are no good cartoons anymore. Like DinoSaucers and The Poddington Peas. And Voltron. And SilverHawks. And Thundercats. (Hooooo!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will see if I can locate those shows and expose them to my children so that they can see real quality cartoons. š
LikeLike
As it should be.
And…Youtube!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Will do.
LikeLike
The best shows I can think of for kids the age of yours:
The Electric Company (Don’t know if reruns are available, but worth it if they are)
Other old PBS shows to watch if you can find them are Between the Lions and Square One TV.
Bill Nye the Science Guy (reruns available on Netflix right now).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bill Nye! We love that show. Thanks for the suggestions.š
LikeLiked by 1 person
My kids got into Pokemon late, as teenagers. But it’s not the cartoon that they are into, it’s the video games.
They each have a Nintendo 3DS (that they bought themselves), and they play Pokemon quite a lot. I see them discussing strategy, and it seems to call for learning the game rules, and then doing a lot of thinking about strategy. Since it makes them think, I don’t really have a problem with it. But they know that I don’t understand what they’re talking about when they discuss it, and we all realize that this is something I’m not going to share with them.
(Love MLP and Avatar. And The Tick, although I think the humor more for adults than it is for kids. Sort of the way Bullwinkle was when I was a kid.)
I asked my daughter why kids might be into the cartoon. She said it’s a high-energy action show full of cute and/or awesome animals shooting each other with fire and stuff in a non-lethal way, and then they get to play with those pets afterwards.
It might just be one of those things that’s awesome when you are a kid, but doesn’t hold up later. Some shows I loved, I go back now and just cringe when I see them. I tried to go back and watch the original Battlestar Galactica recently. Eeurrgh. It might be worth a whole blog post about that experience.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I would love to read a blog post your thoughts on that. Did you see the newer Battlestar?
Bright, high energy, non-violent fighting of cute characters. Yes, to a kid I suppose all that would be attractive. Unfortunately they are not old enough to get why mom may not be interested. Lol.
Sounds like it’s a good DS game. My son has some cards and he’s teaching me to card game.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did see the Battlestar reboot. It had a lot of potential, and good production values, but it reminded me of Lost, in that the writers acted like there was a grand overarching plan that we would see work itself out, and then that wasn’t what happened at all. It was more like the writers hadn’t thought at all about where things were going past the season they were working on. It would have been hugely improved by a writer who can plan out the whole multi-year plot from the beginning (someone like J.K. Rowling.)
LikeLike
Blog post duly blogged: https://boldquestions.wordpress.com/2015/11/17/things-that-were-great-when-you-were-a-kid/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh! Thanks for the mention! I’ll give it a read and give you a comment.
LikeLiked by 1 person