An irreverent, inclusive, alternative parenting community
Is This Normal?
I fully realize at this point when I ask whether or not a behavior is normal for a 3.5 year old, the answer is usually "YES." That doesn't make it any less annoying.
So, yes my son was in speech therapy, but he graduated out of this and now basically does not shut up. At all. It's like verbal diarrhea all the time. That's not really the problem.
It's summer, there's a new baby, so we've been a lot more lax on the television than we'd like. He really only watches one show incessantly (is that bad?), Curious George on PBS. He'll watch 2 episodes in the morning and then another 2 in the afternoon. I'm fine with that, we'll fight that reduction battle once school starts up again. However, the issue is his speech is now PEPPERED with lines and entire soliloquies from these episodes. We only DVR 5 episodes at a time, so he's watching them probably 3-5 times each--but DAMN. The problem is he will respond in a conversation with one of these lines, sometimes in context , sometimes not. Sometimes out of the blue he will come up to you and say things like, "Tomato juice will get that smell out!" He does this to neighbors and random people on the street and they look at me, "What's wrong with your kid?" Sometimes he can get probably 30-60 seconds of dialogue at a time. At bedtime he will relate the plots of each episode he watched back to me, and does this several times a day.
It seems every leap in learning he's made this summer has come from that damn show. I sit down with him, we look at letters, numbers, telling time, etc. etc. and that's like teflon compared to the facts gleaned on that show (what certain vegetables are, how to make a water lock system, the concept of "trading" blah blah blah). Now if only George went on the potty.
Is this normal?
So, yes my son was in speech therapy, but he graduated out of this and now basically does not shut up. At all. It's like verbal diarrhea all the time. That's not really the problem.
It's summer, there's a new baby, so we've been a lot more lax on the television than we'd like. He really only watches one show incessantly (is that bad?), Curious George on PBS. He'll watch 2 episodes in the morning and then another 2 in the afternoon. I'm fine with that, we'll fight that reduction battle once school starts up again. However, the issue is his speech is now PEPPERED with lines and entire soliloquies from these episodes. We only DVR 5 episodes at a time, so he's watching them probably 3-5 times each--but DAMN. The problem is he will respond in a conversation with one of these lines, sometimes in context , sometimes not. Sometimes out of the blue he will come up to you and say things like, "Tomato juice will get that smell out!" He does this to neighbors and random people on the street and they look at me, "What's wrong with your kid?" Sometimes he can get probably 30-60 seconds of dialogue at a time. At bedtime he will relate the plots of each episode he watched back to me, and does this several times a day.
It seems every leap in learning he's made this summer has come from that damn show. I sit down with him, we look at letters, numbers, telling time, etc. etc. and that's like teflon compared to the facts gleaned on that show (what certain vegetables are, how to make a water lock system, the concept of "trading" blah blah blah). Now if only George went on the potty.
Is this normal?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Herasmus B. Dragon on
-
So you've bred yourself a pop culture junkie. Introduce him to Offsprung and your job is complete.
Seriously, it will pass. Once school starts he'll have a lot more to tell you. But CG is a pretty good show for kids. I've learned stuff from it.
-
Permalink Reply by ks on -
A was exactly the same way about exactly the same show, and George is *still* his favorite show, at 6. It is normal and it will stop eventually. And if he must obsess over a show, George is a good one.
-
Permalink Reply by wookie on -
I would only be worrying about wether or not his ability to spontaneously communicate instead of parrot is being hampered.
And for my own sanity, I'd be introducing other shows (Magic School Bus, Zaboomafoo, etc.) to his roster, so that I am not hearing Curious George all day every day. Maybe let him watch one curious george and then switch it up with a magic school bus or a zaboomafoo about monkeys. Again, trying to gentle in the change in routine which I get the sense is giving him a lot of comfort.
Is it normal to be obsessed, sure! Having been through a lot of speech therapy, I'd be wary about the parroting of lines but not enough to freak out, just enough to watch and maybe try to model more back-and-forth conversation.
-
Permalink Reply by bap2 on
-
Wookie: Were you the one that said my son might be a "What's in it for me?" kid. Because you were SO FLIPPIN' RIGHT. Every time he does something I think, "Is he "what's in it for me-ing"? It's brought a whole new perspective to things, thank you.
Things I like about George: muted colors, diverse cast, slower than molasses plot line, slow transitions.
Things I hate about George: THERE ARE NO CONSEQUENCES FOR THIS MONKEY SCREWING UP ALL. THE. TIME. "George is a monkey. He can do things you can't do." Like steal wood from a chicken coop to build his own treehouse. "Oh it's OK George, you shot first and asked questions later, but you went through all the trouble of building yourself something out of the stolen wood, we'll just let that fly." "Oh, it's OK George, you traded something permanent for something edible and we'll bend over backwards to get you something else once you drank all the cider, blah blah blah." This monkey gets away with murder and it drives me NUTS.
The funny thing was, I met this guy on the playground and when Dom launched into his George Greatest Hits speeches, I told the man it was from CG and the guy freaked out. He does "NOT in any way support his child watching shows that are based in colonialism and the capture of animals!" Well, then!
I'm convinced that the Man with the Yellow Hat is actually living in a special needs community and that George is his helper monkey. He's given little tasks that are easy to complete by Professor Wiseman ("Demonstrate this shovel on a camera!") to try to integrate him into typical life. Huntley and the doorman make sure MWTYH's comings and goings are documented and he doesn't get lost. Bill is also an annoying know-it-all, and there's some other kid in the city who is the same way, but we just call him "City Bill."
Sometimes we are able to switch it up with some episodes of Arthur off Netflix. Now that's a funny show. Except my husband has a psycho sister, so every time D.W. comes on he leaves the room mumbling about what a bitch she is. Zooboomafoo isn't on anymore is it? They replaced it with "Wild Kratts" which is not bad. They mixed superhero tech and animals, so that's A-OK in this boy's book.
-
Permalink Reply by BunnyKrygowski on -
Sigh, just be glad it isn't Caillou.
-
-
Hey, he's just a kid who's four. Each day he grows some more. He likes exploring...he's Caillou.
-
Permalink Reply by Boring User Name on -
My three year old refuses to obsess about anything. I find this strange (not really, but I just keep watching for obsession to strike--hasn't yet). But as a result, one week he watches Word World, the next Super Why, then a week of Thomas or Bob the Builder, then back to Cat in the Hat. (Netflix has all of the above, BTW). So, his speech is peppered with phrases that I can't identify. It is also annoying. I have tried to work with him that repeating TV shows verbatim is kind of boring conversation. (Although I reserve the right to ask him what happened if, as usual, I as showering or doing chores while he was watching.) There's a few adults I know who need to learn to stop repeating shows in their entirety as well!
As for Curious George, we have an original book and it really is about colonialism and the capture of animals. Beyond CG himself, the circus is terrible. I do actually have a hard time getting past all that watching the show. Otherwise, your plus and minus list is also mine. And I like your helper monkey theory, it might help me stand to be in the same room when CG is on.
-
Permalink Reply by Mommy Monster on -
My kids are 10 and 8 and now I get to hear whole plot lines of stupid Disney shows. "This one time, on Wizards of Waverly Place...." Meredith started on me again the other day and I muttered "This one time, in band camp..." and she wanted to know what that meant. Oops!
-
Permalink Reply by SweetJudyB on -
We had to ween E off the original Scooby Doo. That show drove me batshiat.
I also can't stand that George can do stuff we can't do. But we'll make a whole show about it and make all the horrible stuff he does look like fun.
-
Permalink Reply by MamatothaMax on -
If you can't beat join em. The boys and I love Adventure Time and The Regular Show. We Use quotes all the time but in context, inside jokey kind of way.
But they also talk about and quote the stupid shows they get to watch at the hotel. Living in our cable less new house will be bliss.
© 2013 Created by Offsprunger.
Powered by
