WIBU to not allow popular kids characters/music in the house?

[Elilanna]

No kids yet, but I'm hoping to have them in the near-ish future, work in the early childhood sector and have a young niece and nephew so I'm quite aware of what's popular with the little ones these days, but I'm personally not a fan and would rather not expose my own children to any of that media, at least not when they're very small - but I've heard a lot of criticism of this approach, that "only crunchy hippie mums do that!" and "it's part of our culture, you're depriving them of an important part of childhood!" Specifically I'd be avoiding Disney, Cocomelon, and the Wiggles, and even things I don't mind wouldn't be on baby's clothes & other belongings as I don't believe in turning your child into free advertising for a popular brand. I'm otherwise not very "hippie" or "crunchy", this is just the one thing where I'd like to limit their exposure.

So... tell me I'm not the only one who wants to do this?

You're getting a hard time OP but it is possible!

Of course it's possible but if cocomelon stops you colicky high needs child from screaming for 10 minutes or a few wiggles songs gives you time to breathe and stop contemplating throwing your child in the bin because they've whinged and tantrummed for hours and it's somehow only 10am why the fuck wouldn't you allow them?

Parenting is hard enough without martyring yourself on shit that in the grand scheme of things doesn't actually matter.

Nothing wrong with having a plan. When something really matters to you of course you're going to want to factor it in.

I too had a very brilliant and well thought out plan about raising children before I had them.

it went to shit very quickly. I think I was a far better parent before I had children than I ever have been afterwards 🤣

5 kids here OP ranging from 11 down to toddler age 2. I have no idea what cocomelon and the Wiggles are.
We watch Disney occasionally but not often. They have all loved Mr Tumble and the Julia Donaldson recreations for the TV though I have to admit.

We are not massive TV watchers, there's no playstation/Xbox whatever and the eldest has only just got a mobile phone as off to seniors in September. So not a tech loving family.

I don't think I'm depriving them of anything.
So it can be done if you'd rather they not watch those kind of things

It just doesn't work. Before I had children, we were never going to have weapons in the house. So DS found some chopsticks and they became swords. We were never going to have My Little Pony either, DD saw some in a friend's house and fell in love, and I realised that actually they were harmless.

Your choice, though I think you will need to accept that children may come across the brands and characters either at school or from friends elsewhere.

My brother banned The Wiggles from his house when his kids were small he hated them with a passion. His mother in law in a bid to wind him up bought them a Wiggles dvd. He kept it at their house. His kids did take over and he hasn't watched his beloved Formula 1 in years so swings and roundabouts. Good luck.

Be careful you don’t become too much of a puritanical hair shirt.

The first year undergraduates who often went off the rails were ones who had been under very strict parental control. It is a balance that none of us gets right all the time.

Will they still be around by the time you have kids ? There is always new stuff. I know none of the exemples mentioned but I am personally simply addicted to Duggee, Bluey and any fireman thing, Justin fletcher, Ben and Hollie, ok I'm dancing on my sofa right now to the tune of Bluey. They never were into Disney, but it was never forbidden, very simply. Barbie and lego are cool.. It's the forbidding bit that I don't get, what are your guiding principles ? What is wrong with the programs you mentioned? There will always be something that you do not know or that you are not aware of. This is the cool part of parenting too. You have to adapt to your kids. I don't do branded clothes, it's not a thing in our household, especially when they are small, and yet, I bought the lego movie tshirts, I wanted one my size. That is not the hardest part of education IMHO.

Good luck with that 😂

What the fuck is wrong with the Wiggles? They seem one of the more wholesome choices you could make, with their songs about eating fruit and peanut butter allergies!

We did a 'no Disney' policy in our house (except for a couple of the non princess classics like Jungle Book). They saw snippets and some content at friends houses (which was fine and they weren't too bothered one way or another), we just didn't buy into the whole princess, submissive , pretty pink thing that the older Disney (and some of the newer non cartoon) content pushes all the time,

I'd also avoid fecking paw patrol too. Always the boys in the lead, bossing everyone around, with one token girl doing the shit jobs. Seriously sexist crap. Shocking actually. And it gets in their little brains right from the formative years -know your place, be kind bullshit. Makes me quite angry.

My DD -now 23- is convinced that this has helped her to grow up an assertive take-no -bullshit person. And my son a respectful feminist/ally (whichever term floats your boat) .

I'm not a hippy or crunchie at all, just a feminist who believes strongly that Hollywood , and Disney in particular, have historically been endemically sexist (although DD tells me that Disney now have some kick ass female leads , so that's progress).

If they never see it, they won't miss it.

Good luck with conceiving and living with your future kids. It's such a wonderful thing being a parent

Do you have a dog? Coz it's the exact same

We watch shitloads of TV including crap on YouTube and the kids are lovely.

All I can say is come back when you've tried to fill a few 14 hour days of non-stop rain with a toddler...

On a serious note my DD really struggles with imagination, so watching Paw Patrol and then "acting out" (and later on, extending and adding our own) the scenes with the branded toys was a great way into small world play for her.

I have a 3 yr old and 6 yr old and other than Disney during lockdown they haven’t seen any of the stuff you mention. My oldest did watch Netflix briefly to watch something her friends were watching but I didn’t like the content or her behaviour so it went.

I was the same way before I had children. I never said my children wouldn't watch television (I do, so it'd be hypocritical to not let them), but I wanted to have control over it.

Then my baby became a toddler and I learned to pick my battles. He wants to watch The Wiggles, Cocomelon, Disney, and the odd Cebeebies show (Numberblocks, bloody Peter Rabbit, JoJo and GranGran, etc.). Life becomes a million times easier if I let him choose what he watches while I make dinner.

That said, The Wiggles and JoJo and GranGran are actually pretty good. Same with a lot of Disney films.

Come back to us when you decide to have children and then you can make that decision 🤦‍♀️

Pretty sure you’ll have a lot more to think about when a child actually arrives!

good luck, your going to need it

I bought several tastefully neutral coloured wooden toys for my PFB before he was born. PFB wasn’t keen, much preferred brightly coloured plastic. Guess what DC2 got?
PFB got to see the Fimbles at Nursery some days and loved them. PFB had a Fimbles plate and bowl and nightly pre bath Fimbles program to see. Why? Because he ate and slept much better with them than without. I loathed the Fimbles. I have countless other examples.
Good luck OP. I’ve been there.

I actually quite liked The Wiggles’ ‘Rockaby Your Bear’…

I also think I briefly fancied one of them, back in the sleep-deprived days.

Do what you think is best for your own children, OP. We're all different.

We chose to be screen free until over two but I didn't want DC to be ignorant of the cultural touchpoints of his age group so we just went to the library lots and he got to know Peppa, Bob, Night Garden, Teletubbies etc. really well without ever seeing an episode.

They all grow older and the outside world has an increasingly large influence so there's really nothing wrong with doing what you feel is best while they're tiny. Lots of parents don't like branded clothes, we mostly stay away from Peppa clothing etc. as it costs more for the character.

You're so cute.

I learned early on that parenting is less stressful if you stop trying to control everything.

🤣

You do realise that children are their own person with their own thoughts, feelings, likes and dislikes? Not just an extension of you? How would you feel if you were told you can’t like what you like?

Also, frozen is life so yeah you’re failing already, poor imaginary children!

I was that kid.

It didn't help me at school, or while playing with other children when everyone knew what things were and all talked about them. Or when everyone played together doing dances/making references and I had no idea what they were talking about.

Don't be that parent, OP.