Care and keys
Bubby's "cared" face.Bubby has learned a new word. More importantly, he's learned how to use that word to identify an emotion -- which is pretty high-level stuff, if you ask me ... even though it was the low-level "Yo Gabba Gabba" that initiated his intellectual leap.
Here's the story, according to Megan: Bubby and his friend Ro-Ro were recently watching the Nick Jr. show "Yo Gabba Gabba," something Bubby hadn't seen much of but Ro-Ro was a dedicated fan. At one point, Ro-Ro pointed out to Bubby how scary one of the characters is. "Scare, scare" he said again and again to Bubby, using his vocabulary that's nearly as limited as Bubby's to make it perfectly clear the character wasn't one he or Bubby should ever want to share their Teddy Grahams with.
Fast forward to naptime the next day. Bubby slept for a bit, then Megan heard him singing and playing and happily entertaining himself in his crib afterward. Being the psycho playful mommy she is, Megan decided to surprise Bubby by quickly swinging open his bedroom door to enthusiastically welcome him back to the land of the awake.
Instead, she scared the hell out of the poor kid. And he now, thanks to Ro-Ro and "Yo Gabba Gabba," knew how to express his fear with something more than a scream. Wide-eyed and staring at his crazy mommy, Bubby sadly uttered, "care ... care, Mommy." He was scared -- and he knew how to use the word "scare" to identify that.
Of course Megan felt awful and apologized again and again to her frightened little boy. But he was more than frightened -- he was empathetic to Megan's discomfort at startling her baby so he sweetly smiled at her as if to say "It's okay, Mommy." Then he held out his little arms and said, "keeze," which in the Bubby household means "squeeze," the condensed version of "let's hug and make everything all better."
Sounds like a simple exchange between mommy and son, but it speaks volumes about Bubby's development.
My only question: Why in the world is there such a creepy character on a kids' show that it teaches them how to identify their feelings of fright? Or is that just how kids learn such things nowadays?
I guess learning from creepy TV characters is better than being able to do nothing more than scream and cry when Psycho Mommy bursts into your bedroom unannounced.
Today's question:
What television show do you remember being scared by as a kid?
My answer: "The Twilight Zone" (the original one) -- specifically the episode where the main character keeps seeing changes in a painting on the wall, where a grave is being dug deeper, and deeper and deeper. Scary stuff!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Reader Comments (8)
The Dark Crystal gave my nightmares, but now I love it! I think much like adults, kids on some level like to be scared. At least when it's on TV, maybe that reinforces how safe they feel everyday at home?
Poor Bubby. But then, we all survive Psycho Mommies one way or another. And I'm constantly amazed by how children learn to communicate their feelings. It's such a mystery to me.
As for shows I was scared of - the main one that pops into mind wasn't a tv show but a movie. Willy Wonka scared the crap out of me. Gene Wilder was downright creepy and all those kids meeting a grisly end... <shiver>. (Okay, I know they explain that the kids don't actually die but when you're little, you tend to miss that after seeing a child get sucked up a chocolate tube). I still, to this day, do not like that movie.
The Leopard Man (a 1943 B-movie, I looked it up) was a late-night movie on TV and scared the day-lights out of me-- one scene with a girl banging on her door and screaming, then snarls and scratching and blood trickling under the door re-played in nightmares for a good twenty years of my nights.
Megan must feel awful for poor little Bubby. That stupid "children's" program is NOT politically correct, in my opinion.
There was this show on PBS from the '70s that ran well into the '80s called Vegetable Soup. I was terrified of the cartoon characters in the trippy opening sequence.
www.yourememberthat.com/media/12570/Vegetable_Soup_-_Theme_Song/
And to make things worse there was a part of the show was acted out by creepy mannequin looking puppets.
I think Yo Gabba Gabba is way cooler. It has better music anyhow.
That's a great story... I scared my son once too and it broke my heart!
I can't think of a tv show that terrified more than the Wizard of Oz! Of course I had to watch it every time it was on and every time, I'd have nightmares for weeks after... Mostly tornado nightmares, death and destruction. Gah!
What a great story! I am enjoying watching the development of my foster kids in a similar fashion. So fun to watch.
Hmmmm...I wasn't really allowed to watch tv so I would have to say the documentary on the murder of JFK that I could hear through my cracked bedroom door (my parents were watching it in their bedroom). I thought for sure the killer was coming after me next!
I remember that episode but I was an adult when I saw it so it wasn't as scary as it would have been if I'd been a kid.
I remember another show(Night Gallery) that was on when I was 10 or 11 and one of the episodes showed a scene where each time a person flushed a spider down a sink it came back bigger. A few days later I did that and the spider came back up I freaked. :)
All scary ones! Amber: I don't like the Willy Wonka with Johnny Depp ... but I loved the old one. Cherylann: Maybe it WAS Night Gallery that was that episode with the grave digger; now I'm confused because they both scared me. (As did "Dark Shadows" but there was the element of romance with DS that made it so intriguing for a young girl to watch!).