Xander Week 66 - Curious George
January 28, 2008
When Xander was very young, Zach used to hold him on the couch and watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. For as long as we can remember, the sound of The Daily Show has been soothing to Xander - when he hears it, he will quiet down and listen - especially to the opening music.
I had read/heard that “excessive” television for children under the age of two alters the way their neurons fire in their brains. As a result, we have all but eliminated television from Xander’s daily routine. He’ll watch some on special occasions - as other family members houses, and sometimes in the late afternoons at day care. For the most part though, he doesn’t watch it, and rarely expresses any interest in it.
Recently however, we discovered a few shows on PBS that seem to be about Xander’s speed. Out of curiosity one day, we watched an episode of Curious George. Much to our surprise, our son (who up until this point never expressed interest in watching anything for more than a minute or two) loved it!
Although he’s still a few months shy of 1 1/2 years old, I decided that 1/2 an hour a day probably isn’t going to turn his brain to complete mush. Plus, it lets Zach and me unwind for a few minutes when we get home before we start with toys, books, dinner, bath, etc. Now, in the afternoons when we turn on Curious George, Xander squeaks with delight. This is one of the first characters that Xander has recognized. So much so that last weekend when shopping with his aunt (Mandy), Xander found a shirts with a Curious George logo and refused to let go. Mandy eventually bought the shirt for him. It’s a little too big, but he loves it…
After about 1 half hour show (2 adventures), Xander has had his fill. He gets down off my lap, and goes in search of toys. This makes me hope that my son won’t be a television addict, but I’m glad that we can relax together an enjoy this show. So Xander’s first official “favorite” character is Curious George - given his love of bananas and climbing, this seems somehow poetically appropriate.
