Lessons Learned From My Favorite Cartoons

I have a 2 year old daughter, Evelyn Rose. She is a beautiful young lady, thanks to her mom. She is also very smart, curious and funny. (Of course I am biased). She loves to play outside, but she also loves to watch her shows. Like many of adults she has her shows that she has to watch and they have become so important we DVR them. Her shows include Yo Gabba Gabba, Caillou, The Wonder Pets, and Ni Hao Kai Lan. My shows include Law and Order, Lost, Survivor, and Friday Night Lights. We use to DVR my shows, but know we do not have enough space for my shows because we are recording hers. I have become a big fan of several of her shows and know most of the lyrics to most of the songs. Everyday I find myself singing songs about sharing, teamwork, eating my snack, and helping others. Those songs were not learned watching my shows-and has made me ask the question- which shows make me better? I am 35, and most would think I am to old for cartoons, but I think I learn more from them and probably even better I am reminded of the core values I learned as a child.
We were watching Yo Gabba Gabba, (I am a big fan of Plex-the magical robot), they were singing about continuing to try and never give up. I had a particular difficult day that day, and had run into a situation I was ready to quit on. After watching Yo Gabba Gabba, I was reminded not to give up and to keep trying. Then we watched The Wonder Pets, and their main message is helping others with the use of teamwork. “What’s going to work-teamwork!” I found myself thinking the same thing and even humming the song at work the next day as we prepared to tackle a project.
We have also tuned in to shows like Dora the Explorer and Ni Hao Kai Lan. Dora is Hispanic and Kai Lan is Chinese. They teach and translate words both in English and Spanish. I am able to go to school and speak with our Hispanic students and Chinese students about their culture and use words in their language I have learned from the show. They usually laugh at me but it opens up a line of communication that might not have ever existed.
Why have we become so adult, that we forget the lessons we learned as a child, and are embarrassed to be reminded of them by watching cartoons? Sometimes we needed to be reminded about teamwork, sharing, and to never give up. We need to be reminded that all people are important and we have to try to reach them at their level instead of expecting them to come to ours. Who cares who teaches the lesson? Sometimes learning from a magical robot or three little pets might be just what we need. I encourage you to tune in to Nick Jr. every once in awhile to be reminded of the things that can make us better and maybe even a little more successful.