Talking back

In our lazy week of sickness, J has endured way too many hours of the Disney channel. In fact, Matt asked me how it came to be that J knew the entire morning lineup of playhouse Disney. Oops!

Some can claim that television is educational and interactive. Sure, you can try to pass it off as such, but let's call a spade a spade. The tv is a way for mommy to get things done, take a nap, check her email, or just sit in silence. Most kids sit through "interactive" tv with glazed expressions while Dora asks "who do we ask for help when we don't know which way to go?" silence "Right! The map. Good job!" silence. I think I can count on one hand, in my 15+ years of childcare, the times I've heard kids actually respond to these interactive questions. Yeah, they sometimes talk to the characters, maybe learn to count or say their abc's, or sing along. But never do they answer the questions.

So it is with shock that I heard James respond to Mickey the other day. It went something like this:

Mickey: Minnie is going to take some soup to Goofy. Can you help Minnie take some soup to Goofy?
J: NO! No, Mickey! I don't like Mickey to say that!
M: Great! Let's take the soup to Goofy.

Apparently interactive tv does not mean that Mickey will respond accordingly. Or maybe Mickey just likes to stay ever cheerful?? Whatever the case, I'm pretty sure that kids can see through the interactive ruse.