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February 6, 2012

Modern Family Doesn't Have the Only F-Bomb Dropping Preschooler

A preschooler swearing on TV? Oh, my heavens!

But it happened last week and the world did not end. Toddlers did not walk around dropping F-bombs from the top of the slide, preschoolers did not turn to their mothers with a forked tongue. Society just kept creakily moving along.

Last Wednesday, Modern Family aired an episode called "Little Bo Bleep!" in which three-year-old Lily starts sprinkling some F-bombs around, even during her starring role as a flower girl.

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January 29, 2012

Things That I Care About, But You May Not: Greg Wiggle Is Back!

The news that Greg Wiggle is re-joining The Wiggles after a five year absence has made me ridiculously happy.

I'm not sure why I care, since it has been at least a year since a note of Hot Potato was wafting through the house. And Greg was never my favourite Wiggle anyways. He always had a dour, priggish way about him. And his magic tricks were awful. Anthony is the one with all the charisma (sorry Murray and Jeff).

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January 13, 2012

Anderson Cooper Heats Up the So-Called Mommy Wars

Did you hear that shot through the momosphere? That was Anderson Cooper firing up a new round of mommy wars using the term "lazy" as his weapon.

*Disclaimer: I hate the term mommy wars. I think it has been created by the media to place women's choices into boxes that need public approval, but not reflective of women's lives or their relationships.

On a promo for an upcoming show, Cooper had a group of stay-at-home moms and working moms arguing over who was happier. On the Anderson Cooper website the episode was called: "Are Stay-at-Home Moms Lazy? Plus, Kathie-Lee and Hoda" (Kathie-Lee and Hoda and their giant glasses of wine are just a bonus.)

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January 6, 2012

Break Out the Glitz: Toddlers and Tiaras Comes to Canada

Some people discount extremists like the Human Barbie mom who gave her daughter a credit for liposuction for Christmas. But I am more apt to see those people as a sign of our cultural times.

I don't think it is normal to give a child a credit for a future plastic surgery, but the fact that the story is dominating our news cycle is a clue to what we hold dear in our society. It's gross, and yet we want to hear more.

It's the same with Toddlers and Tiaras. We love to hate it.

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December 29, 2011

Demi Lovato Blasts Disney for Eating Disorder Joke

Inappropriate comments and suggestive jokes are becoming more and more commonplace on Disney's tween shows. But Demi Lovato, a former Disney star took to Twitter to call Disney out on them.

Lovato who left the show So Random, to enter rehab for bulimia and self-injury, blasted a tweet to the Disney PR team after a hearing a joke making light of eating disorders. A character on the dance show Shake It Up said: "I could just eat you up, well if I ate."

She tweeted: "I find it really funny how a company can lose one of their actress' from the pressures of an EATING DISORDER and yet still make joke about.."

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November 8, 2011

Duggars Announce 20 Kids & Counting

The world's biggest user of names that start with J, the Duggar family announced they are expecting their 20th child on the Today Show.

 

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October 26, 2011

No Screens for Toddlers? No Sanity for Parents?

The American Academy of Pediatrics came out with a revised policy last week saying that kids under the age of two should have NO exposure to screens. No TV, phones, tablets - nothing.

The AAP goes one step further saying that adults should not have TV on in the background while their kids are around.

Great, it's too late for my kids. They had lots of screentime as babies and toddlers. I used to watch TV while feeding my babies. What else do you do at 5 a.m.?  And occasionally, Oprah was on in the background as I played Hot Wheels for the 1000th hour in a row.

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September 12, 2011

SpongeBob Is Bad for Kids' Brains And Other Obvious News

I love it when a big bag of guilt gets served up with breakfast, as it did yesterday in the form of this story about a study saying SpongeBob SquarePants inhibits preschoolers' ability to think.

I find the show inhibits my ability for higher brain function, so it's not really surprising that it can be measured in nine minute increments. I just hope it isn't permanent. 

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September 11, 2011

Parents Television Council Slams Toddlers & Tiaras And More...

Did the horrific Toddlers & Tiaras finally jump the shark by showing a three-year-old dressed up as a hooker? The episode caught the eye of the judgmental Parents Television Council who is now calling for a boycott of the TLC show. 

The conservative lobby group has been busy lately, condemning the kiddie pageant show, the Playboy Club and the sexual nature of annimated cartoons such as Family Guy. 

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August 22, 2011

Do Kids' TV Shows Have to Be So Bad?

Television is a big part of our lives. Partially, it is situational - the television is part of our family room/kitchen set up - and partially, it is just who we are.

Because I am physically around for a lot of my kids' TV watching, I have hours of programming from the Family Chanel, YTV, Disney XD and Teletoon wedged into my brain. Ask me about a certain Wizards of Waverly Place episode or the lyrics to the Johnny Test theme song and I can tell you. It is not a skill I am particularly proud of.

This weekend, I was asked by someone who works in kids' television what I would like to see in children's programming, especially for tweens. I think my answers surprised him.

I would like to see: 

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Emma WavermanEmma Waverman

Emma Waverman writes five days a week about the chaos of modern family life here at MSN.ca. She is the co-author of the family cookbook Whining and Dining: Mealtime Survival for Picky Eaters and Families Who Love Them and is hoping to one day to finish her certification as a parenting coach. She lives with her three kids, ranging from tween to grade schooler, and husband in Toronto. Emma has written for a variety of national parenting and lifestyle magazines and papers. When she’s is not making typos, telling you what she thinks, and thinking about dinner - you can find her on Twitter at @emmawaverman. You can contact Emma at embracingchaos@hotmail.ca

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