Sometimes watching TV with your kids is a good thing

I use to love going out with my friend J and his partner W. They were my parallel universe friends, because aside from asking how my kids were, we never talked about parenting. To them I was not a Mom, I was simply Sofia and it was actually refreshing.

But that changed two years ago when they, too became parents and we went from dishing about new restaurants, to talking about our kids and parenting issues. It’s still pretty surreal to see them in this new light. They are actually amazing, very hands-on-parents.

So at the beginning I was sharing the "mom knowledge" and now it’s them who give me good tips.

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They were the ones that strongly recommended Yo Gabba Gabba! In truth, I know little about kids TV shows, since Juliana and Diego are only allowed one hour (or less) of TV at the end of the day, and my daughter likes iCarly and Good Luck Charlie. But Diego, who’s 2 years old, doesn’t really dig them so I opted to lend him the iPad while Juliana watches her show and together we watch Yo Gabba Gabba! (Thank you, Netflix).

I'm not going to lie about it–my first impression of Yo Gabba Gabba! was "What the hell is this?!?" But then I looked over at Diego, who was laughing and had his eyes glued to the screen.

I read all the mom blogs trashing the show, they found the characters disturbing, blah, blah, blah but they mised the point. The show is full of simple life lessonsabout things like healthy eating, friendship, and sharing. How else do you teach pre-school aged children these lessons? The simple lyrics and unique techno-beats help, a lot.

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There’s this song "There's a Party in My Tummy", sung by the weird little green character, about how carrots and green beans want to join the party in his tummy. Deigo seems to understand that. Plus, the funky ’70s vibe and guest appearances (Elijah Wood dancing will make you laugh) and music from all kinds of bands I like including The Shins make it less painful for me to watch.

Now how cool is that!

Do you let your kids watch watch TV? What is their favorite show?

Image via Amazon