In The Night Garden- is RUBBISH - Ds loves it - I want to ban it-should I ?

[Oblomov]

Ds 3.5 tells me he likes it - he can see it on the mumsnett page - he can name all the characters.
I was a bit shocked, becasue I didn't realise that he had watched it
So I sat down to watch it myslef.
What a load of tosh.
And I hate these programmes where they don't speak properly = like telletubies - I think it is wrong - mind you buttton moon and the clangers were the same.
I think I should ban all tv programmes that are really bad.
When I kind of insinuated this to ds he went mad - telling me how much he loved it.

AIBU ?

One last thing and I think it is a really relevant comment from Anne Wood: "Being willing to share in our children's understanding instead of imposing our own is the first step towards fostering creativity in them".

yes i amfeeling very soothed by that. nice to think that some children's tv makers look beyond the obvious and adonyne.

Aloha! - Wow that was really interesting!! I can actually see the point of it from that perspective. ie the idea that it helps children to calm down b4 bedtime whereas most tv just excites them

I guess thats one of the reasons why it is of no benefit to us. Because in the half hour before bed we read stories and talk about stuff together.

I like the idea of a community of characters who all live together. Beyond that the point of is is still lost on me!

I think that's a good point, Aloha. DS sees layers in this programme that are completely lost on me he'll giggle and point at the television and say "is funny" and it's actually one of the things I like about it. It's not a programme I'd choose to watch on my own, but I like to watch DS watch it.

"Being willing to share in our children's understanding instead of imposing our own is the first step towards fostering creativity in them".

I am actually really inspired by that quote and will give it serious thought with regard to all the various things that go on in our house.

I would love to invite Anne wood to visit our house, watch night garden with my lo's and then experience how my ds will behave afrer he has watched it.

I would rather boil my own head than voluntarily watch Lunar Jim...

I don't think any child will be damaged by not watching it, of course, (Anne Wood herself grew up in a pre-telly age!) but I think sometimes we see things with our adult eyes and don't understand them, but to children, they make perfect sense. I like this because I see how it amuses my children and I like listening to Derek Jacobi!

Oh there are loads of programmes I run screaming from! My stepdaughter went through a phase of loving awful American children's sitcoms when she was about eight. That was a low point. I got her into carry on and Doris Day movies and thing picked up

DS and I were watching it this evening and I didn't realise the significance of the blue Wottingers appearing .

i missed them too, was cooking [oh dear] lentils.

Ah, that's a lovely thought Dino.
I can actually picture him.

dd is very worried that Igglepiggle doesn't seem to have a mummy! Ds and I were waving away and he was falling about with laughter. Almost as good as a glass of wine.

Oh yes please!! WE have had such a horrible time with school, it would be a real treat. Shall we do the Greenwich thing? Or we could visit you?

Am still bemused by the comments that your children prefer Teletubbies and whatnot to In the Night Garden. Hurrah for that. If you don't want to watch it, please feel free not to. I had a Swedish friend visiting this week and she feels exactly the same about her ds, i.e. she wants him to learn English and so learning to say "macka packa, wicka whacker" is not helping!

Why not simply choose programmes suitable to your needs? I see no basis for criticising those of us who choose to watch the programmes.

My dd loves ITNG. She hardly watches any TV (tends only to be on for background noise) and wont sit still for more that 5 minutes at a time unless reading - she will actually watch the WHOLE of this show.

She knows all the names and tries to do the dances and has started saying 'My programme' as soon as she sees the 'This programme is about to start' Sky banner come up.

My only problem is that she cries EVERY time it finishes. Really heavily as well, takes a good 5 mins to calm her down even with distraction etc (not even chocolate stops the tears lol). As soon as the Tittifers start singing their song she knows everyone is going to bed and will crawl on my lap, lip a-trembling.

I don't want to stop her watching something she enjoys SOOOO much, but can't stand to see her so upset........ and apparently it's not just my dd, there was a BBC news story about this. How weird is that?!

(she has also started saying how pretty upsy-daisy's bed is and how much she loves it with pleading eyes......... so much so that dh is going to price MDF up this weekend!!!!!)

I felt I had to respond to some of the posts.
I have sat down and watched it, 3 times.
I made dh sit and watch aswell. I am sorry, but I still think it is terrible. I thought the content was very poor. I do like Derek J's voice, but I thought that very little happened, and that there was very little learning. Atleast with Aunty Mable and Pippin, they find out where wellies are made, or find out something. Mind you, I suppose it is wind down to bedtime, so it is not supposed to be stimulating. Dh thought so too. Ds still seems to adore it, but I just don't get it.
Anyway, I have read Aloha's research and appreciate / accept it. I will not ban it (maybe i was a bit narked when I wrote my Op - it does seem a bit agressive) - so sorry.
But the truth is, so far, I am happy for ds to watch it, I am not that botherred, but i personally can't see what all the fuss is about because I don't think its very good.
And I thought that Tribpots post was very rude:
What exactly is your problem Tribpot ?

"Am still bemused by the comments that your children prefer Teletubbies and whatnot to In the Night Garden. Hurrah for that. If you don't want to watch it, please feel free not to. I had a Swedish friend visiting this week and she feels exactly the same about her ds, i.e. she wants him to learn English and so learning to say "macka packa, wicka whacker" is not helping!
Why not simply choose programmes suitable to your needs? I see no basis for criticising those of us who choose to watch the programmes. "
Who criticised ? Did I say, those who let their children watch it are bad parents ? No. Can't we have a discussion about something I don't like ?
And for your information, read my posts properly. I did not say that my children prefer teletubbies. I said I didn't like programmes - including nightgarden, telletubbies and many others, where the characters don't speak properly. Personal preference - is that o.k. ?
Rant over.

On the BBC4 programmes about children's television, and more specifically Teletubbies, the programme makers (and yes, maybe they would say that) explained that their viewers knew that 'eh-oh' was the way a Teletubby would say 'hello', but that the correct pronunciation was 'hello'. It seems children have an awareness of language and grammar that's often more sophisticated than we imagine, or can understand. I mean, to me it seems obvious where Teletubbies and Night Garden are superior in teaching children to the more obviously 'educational' shows like Story Makers and Numberjacks, where the intent to inform is written boldly at the outset and throughout - but to the parent. The child is obviously just looking for entertainment in either case. I think the subtlety of Night Garden, and bravo if your children are more sophisticated for it to be educational and only enjoy it for the sweetness, is for younger children much more likely to teach patterns, ways of communicating, difference, simple adjectives and so on. My daughter is tiny (6.5 months) and it's probably some kind of child abuse to let her watch Night Garden (the only thing I do let her watch and the only thing she will watch) but she clearly loves it. She is rapt, she gurgles, she squeals and she laughs. The songs soothe her when I sing them to her, because they're familiar, and the whole thing feels very restful in the background. But I don't mistake its softness for undemanding night time fare, I think the atmosphere is the best thing about it because it calms, charms and enchants, which is by no means the same as saying it's mindless.

Although to be honest, I don't give a fig how educational it is if she's enjoying it. I don't really expect/hope for television to educate my kid.

Oh, I absolutely adore this programme - am so glad I have 2 year old. Am pmsl at all these households waving at The Wottingers - we all were yesterday.

I find it all so soothing and moving. The little boat bit at the beginning and the end reminds me of listening to the shipping forcast in bad, all safe and snug.

That Book of Bedtime Nursery Rhymes mentioned with the books getting smaller sounds so familiar, am sure I had one.

Oh, I think it's a wonderful programme but do worry about Macks Packa, he seems so lonely.

I also worry about him. He has to go to bed with his favourite stone. I think he thinks he doesn't want anything to do with the rest of them because they're dirty, but if he just LET THEM INTO HIS LIFE he would be happier. When they're all in the Pinky Ponk drinking from their tit-cups and he has to sit at the back table alone, I feel saddest of all - sometimes, you're loneliest in a crowd.