Sunday 6 December 2009

Thank Goodness for Peppa Pig

As a new mother I was very anti-television. I was one of those "I'll never use the tv as a babysitter" bores....

And now all I can say is that I have a lot to thank Peppa Pig for.... including, but not exclusively, getting J to wear panties in the summer and moving her from "baby" vests to "grown up girl" vests (both accomplished with said items emblazoned with PP of course), getting J to brush her teeth (like Peppa), go to nursery school (like Peppa), wear her wellies in wet weather (like Peppa), love her baby brother (like Peppa) and some significant leaps in her vocabulary when she first started watching it months ago.

J and O are usually allowed to watch tv for an hour a day - and for now the remote is firmly in J's control and it is all about Peppa Pig. Heaven knows what will happen when O is old enough to assert himself and he decides he "doesn't like this one Mommy".

J has been terribly ill this weekend. We considered calling the swine flu hotline and dosing her up with Tamiflu to knock this persistent cough/snot fest on the head once and for all. But sadly she did not quite live up to all the deadly symptoms. (That and a dear friend warned me off, as apparently the side effects of Tamiflu can be worse than the flu itself.)
However, she has had a very high temperature all weekend and the poor little sausage has definitely lost her spark. I cannot remember ever having such a peaceful weekend!

And so to the rescue, Peppa Pig. It has been on repeat all day, and while the continuous enchanting music has driven me to gobble down yet another comforting mince pie, it has kept J quiet, happy and restful.

The very clever makers of this show, do, in my humble opinion, deserve a medal. Peppa Pig is simple, but not stupid, happy, funny, educational and above all entertaining. J has a parallel universe in her head, that which is Peppa's world.

While I often bemoan the Peppa Pig books/toys/clothing/colouring books/weekly magazine/stickers that crowd our home, I sometimes wonder about how much she would have "missed out on" should I never have let watch television.

2 comments:

  1. Poor J, I hope she's feeling better. H has a heavy cold too and is complaining of a sore mouth. I'm not sure if it's tooth related or possibly ear or sinus related. He doesn't have a temperature so I'm just putting it down to general cold aches and pains.

    Peppa Pig is just about retaining his attention at the moment. Although he tells me that "we can't watch the telly all day mummy" and turns it off of his own volition to play "ice cream parlours"....or cave painting.

    Bit of insider info - Have you started watching the new series of Peppa? You'll know it's one of the new ones because it will be one you haven't watched 50 times already. If you listen carefully you'll notice that Peppa's voice has changed. That's because it's a new actress. The original moved to Canada and developed a bit of a 'twang'. She had to be taken out and shot.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ooooooooooh - a new series! Thank goodness, I think I know all the words to current episodes. Will keep an eye out for it. Thx. And as for poor PP #1....will think of her when I next have a bacon sarnie... (snort, giggle, oink, snort).
    Poor H - hope he's on the mend! x

    ReplyDelete