I dislike Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

[Anonymous]

It annoys me too. Too moralistic and perfect and pat

[Anonymous]

OP - when you’re feeling frustrated, take a step back and ask for help!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: it’s ok to feel mad sometimes. Little by little, it gets better ….

Perfect response. Thanks for the laugh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've literally asked myself in tough situations, what would Daniel Tiger's mom do?

I’m reasonably certain she would oppose the repeal of mask mandates and support additional bike lanes.

[Anonymous]

Actually, there are some episodes where Daniel gets so grrrrrr!!!!! mad at his sister and friends that it made us kind of nervous. Plus, he’s bossy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: it’s ok to feel mad sometimes. Little by little, it gets better ….

I think OP needs to take a deep breath and count to four

When you feel so mad that you wanna roar…

[Anonymous]

Listen, the real reason to not like Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is because they have tiger skin curtains in their house. Oh, and the pants thing, especially because the does where them when he in in pajamas.

[Anonymous]

Re old school Mr. Rogers.

My toddler and I recently watched an episode where he went to an art gallery. He asked the lady to show them the bathroom. And then they went in the bathroom and did a shot of all the stalls and showed that there was a toilet in each stall and then observed all the sinks. I thought it was so terrific. Just at a kids level, showing how things look and work so they know what to expect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids were watching it this morning and I really dislike this show (and, to a lesser extent, a lot of the PBS lineup these days).

They have very positive toddler-focused messages. Their representation is just so, sometimes a bit too much so (e.g. it's Daniel's mom who always fixes things with the tools, and never his dad? I get it, it's important to normalize women and girls as being able to do masculine work, but I guess now we can never depict a man doing that kind of work anymore?) But what really gets me is the thought doesn't go deeper than this thin veneer of sense/morality for toddlers.

Here are some examples:
Today, King Friday tells Daniel, "being a king is about helping others." No, it's not. I mean that's part of it, but it's about leadership, wisdom, honor, responsibility for those under your care. I get that getting into heavy detail is maybe too much for toddlers, but it feels like beyond the egalitarianism (reinforced by Prince Tuesday doing all the odd jobs around town), they didn't really think any deeper than that, how to render the idea of a "king" in a modern story and make it work (because for the modern morality it's not, I guess, but there was a King Friday in the original Mr. Roger's neighborhood!).

Or the other day, Miss Elaina was drawing pictures of leaves, insects, etc. - in particular, a snail - in her little sketch book and said, "I'm a scientist, which means I'm curious about the world!" Sure, we got representation of an African American Girl as Scientist, but that's not what the quintessence of a scientist is. Curiosity and recording are part of it, but a scientist tries to understand the *truth* about the natural world, dispassionately based on evidence and observation. It's about finding out how the world works. And if a scientist was writing that script I have a feeling they'd include that bit.

Or I remember one episode from a long time ago where the kids go to see a crayon factory. I was excited - in the old Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, they'd show a video of how things are made in almost every episode. In this one, they don't really give you an understanding how crayons are made. The color is added (great) but they don't pour hot wax into molds, or let them cool, or show the inner workings of any machines. The crayons just kind of materialize out of a closed machine. And maybe toddlers don't need anymore, but the better-done shows HAVE more, just like well-illustrated picture books, and good children's media (including books) in general.

I find this lack of thought, things that carelessly make no sense, in a lot of children's media and toys and it annoys me. (E.g., a polar bear in a puzzle with otherwise African Savannah animals, predatory animals being friends with their prey, tropical fruits growing along with non-tropical ones in the same forest....)

"Tell me you are a white conservative religious woman without telling me exactly that."

I'd say you pulled that one off.
Let's see...

Not into the following, are you? :
feminism

racial diversity

anything that looks like socialism to you

science as a process, (which it is, actually..and that's why it changes....)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP switch over to Amazon Prime, where last time I checked, all of the original Mister Rogers' Neighborhood were available. Daniel Tiger is fine but Mister Rogers' is a gem. The child development and cultural elements folded into it are done with mastery.

Once your child has already watched too much current children's TV, they won't likely have the patience for the original show. So sooner is better to try it out on them.

Yes I love Mister Rogers! And Daniel annoys me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It annoys me too. Too moralistic and perfect and pat

I mean that's what I want my toddler's life to be like. Don't worry, life will shatter their dreams soon enough. Or public schools will do that for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids were watching it this morning and I really dislike this show (and, to a lesser extent, a lot of the PBS lineup these days).

They have very positive toddler-focused messages. Their representation is just so, sometimes a bit too much so (e.g. it's Daniel's mom who always fixes things with the tools, and never his dad? I get it, it's important to normalize women and girls as being able to do masculine work, but I guess now we can never depict a man doing that kind of work anymore?) But what really gets me is the thought doesn't go deeper than this thin veneer of sense/morality for toddlers.

Here are some examples:
Today, King Friday tells Daniel, "being a king is about helping others." No, it's not. I mean that's part of it, but it's about leadership, wisdom, honor, responsibility for those under your care. I get that getting into heavy detail is maybe too much for toddlers, but it feels like beyond the egalitarianism (reinforced by Prince Tuesday doing all the odd jobs around town), they didn't really think any deeper than that, how to render the idea of a "king" in a modern story and make it work (because for the modern morality it's not, I guess, but there was a King Friday in the original Mr. Roger's neighborhood!).

Or the other day, Miss Elaina was drawing pictures of leaves, insects, etc. - in particular, a snail - in her little sketch book and said, "I'm a scientist, which means I'm curious about the world!" Sure, we got representation of an African American Girl as Scientist, but that's not what the quintessence of a scientist is. Curiosity and recording are part of it, but a scientist tries to understand the *truth* about the natural world, dispassionately based on evidence and observation. It's about finding out how the world works. And if a scientist was writing that script I have a feeling they'd include that bit.

Or I remember one episode from a long time ago where the kids go to see a crayon factory. I was excited - in the old Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, they'd show a video of how things are made in almost every episode. In this one, they don't really give you an understanding how crayons are made. The color is added (great) but they don't pour hot wax into molds, or let them cool, or show the inner workings of any machines. The crayons just kind of materialize out of a closed machine. And maybe toddlers don't need anymore, but the better-done shows HAVE more, just like well-illustrated picture books, and good children's media (including books) in general.

I find this lack of thought, things that carelessly make no sense, in a lot of children's media and toys and it annoys me. (E.g., a polar bear in a puzzle with otherwise African Savannah animals, predatory animals being friends with their prey, tropical fruits growing along with non-tropical ones in the same forest....)

"Tell me you are a white conservative religious woman without telling me exactly that."

I'd say you pulled that one off.
Let's see...

Not into the following, are you? :
feminism

racial diversity

anything that looks like socialism to you

science as a process, (which it is, actually..and that's why it changes....)

i stopped reading after her bit about Miss Elaina. Yep, the only reason Miss Elaina is the scientist is for "representation."

[Anonymous]

* ah, but if I had kept on reading, I would have seen that OP has used the word "quintessence" in a thread about a toddler show. Missed opportunity on my part.

[Anonymous]

Do you like Lady Rataxes?

[Anonymous]

To me Daniel Tiger is the equivalent of Barney in the 90s, too much moralizing and not very fun. My first grader still watches it to wake up in the morning but he would be embarrassed if his friends knew that.
My favorite PBS show is Curious George because it is slow paced and soothing.
I like Xavier Riddle because they picked a diverse group of heroes without being ham handed about it and it is a highly patriotic show. I would prefer my kids be proud of their country.
Also on the show Alma's Way there was a Christmas special which included scenes of the Nativity and the story of the three wise men which I found interesting. I can't imagine they could have gotten away with that without the ethnic angle.