If you are the parents of very young children, some part of your day probably consists of mentally drowning out the jingle of an insanely popular kid's TV show that evidently has more purchased airtime than CNN. Yes.You're going about your adult duties like the grown up grown person you are, not stopping for any reason except for the millisecond it takes you unconsciously mouth the answer to the questions posed by that jingle. 'Yat dat da da da da yat dat da da?' "Sponge-Bob-Square-Pants!" 'Yat dat da da da da yat dat da da?' "Sponge-Bob-Square-Pants!" It's like breathing. You don't notice. You mouth the answer in rhythm and you even do the whistle at the end but you don't notice that either. What you do notice (and at times rely on) is that no matter what time you turn on the TV, the maniacal laughter of that eternally optimistic cleaning pad will be there to greet you. It's the under age version of the movie Groundhog's Day. At some point will also spend time wrestling DVDs of The Sponge (you know you own 'em) out of your child's hands, explaining to him/her that they should read a book, clean their room, play outside, color, anything other than watching the Krabby Patty flipping fry cook again. After all, Billy and I are a hard working couple trying to set the best example we can for our son and we're not going to let some mindless TV get in the way of that.We want him to learn to seek joy in every situation. Find the good in people. Take pride in his work. Be a loyal friend. We want him to learn never to lie, cheat, or steal anything no matter how small. It's like that time Squidward wanted to go on strike against Mr. Krabs because Krabs is so greedy and SpongeBob didn't know what striking was because he truly loves his job so much but he was being a loyal friend to Squiddy and happily went along with it thinking that it was a fun thing and... uh... well what we are trying to teach our son is that he has a purpose in life and he doesn't have to be a celebrity to have self worth. Like the time SpongeBob ripped his pants by accident and then because of the reaction by his friend Sandy the squirrel and the rest of the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom he thought he needed to keep ripping them in order to be funny and popular but then he learned that he was special just as he was because... well... I know it seems like... but it was actually a great lesson for... it was a pretty good episode. Okay, I can't be the only person who has noticed over time that aside from having a laugh that makes you want to bang your head against a brick wall to make it stop, the Bobster isn't such a bad little guy... sponge. He lives in a pineapple under the sea without one bit of concern for whether or not his pineapple will be featured on MTVs Cribs, he is honest, genuinely joyful, encouraging to everyone (even when people... uh fish are openly mean to him), he's hard working, helpful, and yes, funny as H-E-double hockey sticks! So here's the deal... even though sometimes it may seem like you are fighting a losing battle with everything your kids are being exposed to, remember you are the parent. You're in control. TV, like anything else can be used as a learning tool and you have the power to use it a little or not at all. Not to worry. You are your child's first and most important teacher, and they are soaking you up like a... well you know.
