Last night, I remembered where Michael gets that “honest to a fault” quality. He gets it from his mama! I was talking to the president of Nickelodeon/Viacom Consumer Products at Dell’s “Holidays in August” event. (She was there to premiere Dell’s new Nickelodeon-branded PCs.) While we were talking about my kids, she asked me if Michael liked the SpongeBob show. Automatically, I answer, “We don’t allow him to watch SpongeBob, because SpongeBob is a little naughty.” She was totally gracious about my comment, but I could tell that she wasn’t used to hearing that type of input. (For the record, Michael does like SpongeBob and eagerly anticipates the day when he can watch the show.)
Later I was speaking with one of the people on the president’s team. I mentioned that I hoped that I had not offended the president by my comment. The team member assured me that I had not. Then, she said something interesting. SpongeBob is celebrating its 10th anniversary, but she said that they had never heard that input (that he was “naughty”) before. I held my tongue, but in my mind, I was like, “Really?!” (I hear similar comments from moms regarding SpongeBob a lot.)
I guess the input that you hear depends on whom you ask. Granted SpongeBob is geared towards a little older demographic than preschoolers. Perhaps that is the reason for the different parental reactions. Michael is at that age (5) where he likes to repeat what he hears. That’s why my husband and I are very conscious regarding what we let him listen to and watch. It’s not just television. It’s all types of things that have the tendency to stick in your head (i.e. music, video games and movies). We even edit our own conversations. There are things that my husband and I can talk about in front of Sean (2) that would be reported to everyone within the reach of Michael’s voice if we said them in front of him! It really isn’t a “SpongeBob thing”. Rather, it’s a “how we parent” thing.
In any event, I wouldn’t be surprised if I never get invited to another Nickelodeon event. That is, unless they want my honest opinion…
Question: Do you censor what shows your kids are allowed to watch? If so, is there a certain age when you plan on lifting those restrictions?