Bob the Builder

Forget Thomas. Forget Fireman Sam. Forget Super Why and all the other shows on the planet. Bob the Builder is the new sheriff in town. It's got everything that a 3 year old needs. Construction equipment, animated characters, annoying voices that drive Mommy and Daddy up the wall, and ridiculous story lines. You can tell when Owen loves something because we are not allowed to enjoy it with him. As he's singing the wonderful Bob the Builder theme song, we cannot even think about bobbing our head and yelling "Yes we can!" to Bob's question "Can we fix it?" If either of us dare get involved with the theme song, he will turn, stomp, and scream at the top of his lungs "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!!!!!"

I don't see why Bob is any different from the average kids show. One of Bob's machines steps out of line by doing a job too early, their own way, or by destroying something through carelessness. Pretty much exactly what Thomas the Tank Engine does. Or Chuggington. Or Norman Price in the Fireman Sam series. Bob should send the offending piece of equipment to the scrap heap and buy a better model. But no, he laughs it off and spends his client's dollars and time to fix it. Probably with a big change order.

I suppose that even a kids show needs a little drama to make things more interesting. Everyone wants to see a crash. Especially when it's a big cloud of dust and a bunch of cartoon limbs strewn around. At least that would be more entertaining to Daddy until it's 2 AM and there's a 3 yr old boy having nightmares. The lack of serious consequences is good for the little ones and their imaginations. But, I'm sure that's the main reason my boy has never had a cautious moment. He sees Scratch the Excavator get crushed under tons of rock without a...well...scratch. His scraped knees can't possibly be caused by the gigantic feet and clumsiness I blessed him with.

I think I'm going to start my own kid's series. Maybe a giant purple dinosaur that does nothing but hug people and provide good lessons. I think everyone would enjoy that, and my boy would stop face planting on concrete.

CK