Now on ScienceBlogs: The 1/6th People
The Egyptian goddess Isis was celebrated as the ideal wife and mother. The blogger known as Dr. Isis has some fancy-sounding degrees and is a physiologist at a major research university working on some terribly impressive stuff. She blogs about balancing her research career with the demands of raising small children, how to succeed as a woman in academia, and anything else she finds interesting. Also, she blogs about shoes. In fact, she blogs a lot about shoes.
...And behold, he raised the motherfucking Jameson on high as Isis bedecked her feet in glory, and the masses were sated. -- The Holy Gospel According to PhysioProf
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Posted on: January 26, 2009 12:15 AM, by Isis the Scientist
Alright. I think Dave Munger might be screwing with me. Earlier today I confess that I let my two year old watch Caillou and then I see highlighted on the ScienceBlogs front page that he's posted this.
My delusion that Little Isis might have been getting something from his Caillou-time is shattered and I am a terrible mother for having stunted his development.
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Comments
Cognitive Wars!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, this should be more interesting than Framing Wars, Chamberlainist Wars, Expelled Wars, Crackergate Wars, Roosevelts on Toilets and perhaps even the Invertebrate Wars!
Posted by: Coturnix | January 26, 2009 12:36 AM
Don't tempt me, Coturnix!!! I am rolling my mo-fo labcoat sleeves up for a round. Munger has violated my sacred Sunday morning coffee hour by making me feel guilty about Caillou.
Posted by: Isis the Scientist | January 26, 2009 12:39 AM
Off to bed now. But tomorrow morning, I'll fix some good coffee, sit back and enjoy the Waaaaaar!
Posted by: Coturnix | January 26, 2009 12:46 AM
Link is bad.
Posted by: Anonymous | January 26, 2009 1:03 AM
Nuh uh, Anonymous.
And I'm ready, Coturnix. I'm going to start carb loading tonight.
Posted by: Isis the Scientist | January 26, 2009 1:07 AM
Did Munger pull his post offsite? Scared of the War already? The link to his post does not work for me either....
Posted by: Coturnix | January 26, 2009 1:09 AM
Maybe I win already?
But, seriously, it has worked for me the last 6 times I've clicked. I'll link again here for you lazy peeps.
Must the goddess do everything?
Posted by: Isis the Scientist | January 26, 2009 1:17 AM
Ah, I see - the link in the main post contains a \ at the end which borks it. The link in your last comment is correct...
Posted by: Coturnix | January 26, 2009 1:21 AM
Nuts!?!?! And yet is still works for me when I click it?
Still, the mightly Coturnix has spoken. I will remove the errant "/" added by MT. Damn it!
War on!
Posted by: Isis the Scientist | January 26, 2009 1:23 AM
Are you never going to swear again for fear of looking hypocritical? Laaaame.
Posted by: Arikia | January 26, 2009 1:27 AM
I've already expressed my opinion there that the study studies only a very narrow avenue of learning. And if there is anything that parents have learned over the ages, it is that the avenue of learning is wide... wide, baby, wide.
Posted by: Donna B. | January 26, 2009 1:41 AM
Oh give me a break. Do we really want them to connect a giant gay purple dinosaur "back to the real things they encounter in their world?" I don't think that's the point of most of those shows, and I was never convinced that "educational" kids shows did much educating. They're just slightly less junky than the regular stuff. And Caillou? Educational? Hardly. (My kids like Caillou too. I figured it was their latent Canadian genes.)
Posted by: Anonymous | January 26, 2009 8:21 AM
Nuts!?!?! And yet is still works for me when I click it?
That's a bug in The Browser Which Must Not Be Named (a trailing backslash is not valid HTML.) Needless to say, there is a bit of an inverse correlation between computer-geek-cluefulness and use of said browser.
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | January 26, 2009 8:35 AM
My kids like Caillou too. I figured it was their latent Canadian genes.
That little bald fucker is Canadian!? I thought he was fucking French.
Posted by: Comrade PhysioProf | January 26, 2009 9:08 AM
No, Prof. Canadian. See?
Posted by: Isis the Scientist | January 26, 2009 9:13 AM
I blame Greta. She finds the articles, I just report on them.
But in many ways, we are the same, Isis. Greta and I let our kids watch TV when they were toddlers. Now my daughter wears Naughty Monkey shoes. And she is a *fierce* science student!
Posted by: Dave Munger | January 26, 2009 9:47 AM
Isis -
I think you need to keep in mind that just because something may not be entirely educational, doesn't make it inherently bad. My one year old absolutely adores the shit out of Elmo. As in Elmo = baby crack. One year old happens to be cranky? Throw in the Elmo and all is well. (or get big brother to act silly)
And I would tend to think that whether it's accompanied by a picture or not, hearing the dialogue can't hurt the language development.
Anon -
While I don't see it as uber-educational programing, even the vile Caillou has something to share. (Although the BBC's Charlie and Lola is far preferable) My oldest has become very fond fo Charlie and Lola, since becoming a big brother. Why? Because he wants to be the sort of big brother that Charlie is (as apposed to be a whiny fucking bitch like Caillou).
I think it is also dependent on what your expectations for learning are. If you expect that anything educational has to drive everything it's supposed to be teaching home the first time they watch it, then no, no tee vee is educational. But by that criteria, there is very little that is. If OTOH, you're merely intending what they learn to be foundational, something that can be built upon later, then there is a lot to be said for quite a few shows out there.
Our eldest is very polite. The first year he went trick or treating, he said "trick or treat," at only one door. He didn't forget to say "thank you" once. His favorite movie for a time was Barney's Best Manners.
Posted by: DuWayne | January 26, 2009 9:51 AM
I am so happy I am not the only one who feels this way.
Posted by: Isis the Scientist | January 26, 2009 10:19 AM
Not sure if it would help you, but when the eldest was rather smaller, we managed to get him off Caillou with a fortuitous accident. I was listening to the Dianne Rehmes Show on an odd day off. As soon as he heard her voice (she's the narrator on Caillou) he climbed into my lap and sat through almost the entire first hour. After that we found that he was fine with missing Caillou, as long as he got his Dianne Rehmes fix...
And you are far from the only one. Most everyone I know hates Caillou. I recommend Charlie and Lola as much bigger fun than Caillou and far more imaginative than most children's tee vee......
Posted by: DuWayne | January 26, 2009 10:47 AM
"My kids like Caillou too. I figured it was their latent Canadian genes.
That little bald fucker is Canadian!? I thought he was fucking French."
Well, you're not that far off since he is French-Canadian... (or Quebecer...)
Posted by: BdN | January 26, 2009 12:29 PM
all you fuckers wanted to move up here when Bush was President. Now that you have Obama, you're all too cool for Canada, eh? You fuckers gave us Barney and those stupid teletubbies.
That said, I was pretty damn happy when Monkey's Caillou doll broke.
Isis - that let me google it for you link is way cool.
Posted by: ScientistMother | January 26, 2009 12:58 PM
Caillou doll? I had better not hear of Monkey telling Little Isis about this!!!! We live in blissful ignorance.
Posted by: Isis the Scientist | January 26, 2009 1:03 PM
Caillou is a sweetie-pie! And per educational value, I think it demonstrates a lot of behavioral stuff and problem-solving, not just for the kid but for the family as a whole. I find the show quite helpful, honestly! Then again, I am kind of Aspergery and need instructions on a lot of aspects of life that other people seem to catch onto without help. :)
Posted by: The Perky Skeptic | January 26, 2009 1:11 PM
"as apposed to be a whiny fucking bitch like Caillou
I am so happy I am not the only one who feels this way."
Anyone else find this ironic after the last post? I think "caillou" sounds like a swear word all on it's own, anyway.
Posted by: Becca | January 26, 2009 2:49 PM
hey, scientistmother, the teletubbies are british! and wait til you get this one: in the night garden , voiced in perfect queen's english by the incomparable derek jacobi.
personally, i don't see what's wrong with a little vegging out now and again. after all, you can't be learning all the time.
Posted by: perceval | January 26, 2009 4:46 PM
""as apposed to be a whiny fucking bitch like Caillou
I am so happy I am not the only one who feels this way."
Anyone else find this ironic after the last post? I think "caillou" sounds like a swear word all on it's own, anyway. "
Well, in French, a "caillou" is a little rock and there's an idiom that goes "ne pas avoir une poil sur le caillou" which means approximately "not having any hair on your head" where caillou is head. There you go. That's where is name comes from.
Posted by: BdN | January 26, 2009 6:27 PM
TV is a babysitter. But there are times when a babysitter is needed. If you can handle Caillou, go ahead.
Posted by: Lilian Nattel | January 26, 2009 9:20 PM
Caillou is such a pain in the ass.
Posted by: gnuman | January 27, 2009 7:35 AM
...
Dr Isis says...
Dr Isis says ... 'HTML is hard..!! ' ...:minism:...
...tom...
.
Posted by: ...tom... | January 27, 2009 3:47 PM
Watch your shit, ...tom...!
Posted by: Isis the Scientist | January 27, 2009 3:49 PM
My kids love In The Night Garden The characters are well thought out and they way they portray childrens imagination through dreams. The characters are bright and bold colours like Iggle Piggle, Upsy Daisy and the talk in there own, simple repetitive, made up language. This helps younger kids to associate with the characters.
Posted by: dexter | April 24, 2009 2:24 AM