is there an age requirement to start a petition?

Dear Head of Children's Programming for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation,

My daughter hasn't been napping very well this week. Actually, she has barely been napping at all.

Many parents would blame screwed up sleep schedules on switching off of daylight savings time, but I'm blaming you and your televison station's newly unveiled preschool programming schedule. You see, my Madeline used to watch the last 10-15 minutes of George Shrinks after she finished her lunch every weekday, while I cleaned up the dishes. As soon as the end credits began to roll to the backdrop of the jaunty George Shrinks theme song, she'd jump up, turn off the tv, and announce "Naptime!" And, yes, she really would take a nap.

After lunch on Monday, we discovered that the noon - 12:30 NLFD time-slot was now occupied by the Gill Deacon Show, which hardly enchanted my toddler long enough to sweep the crumbs from our sandwiches off of the kitchen counter. And at 12:30, Madeline wasn't ready for her nap. Instead, she was quite insistant that we wait for George to come on.

Do you know what three days without a nap does to a routine-loving two year-old? What is does to the state of her home and the state of her mom? Please, please, please return George to his proper time-slot ASAP!

Sincerely,

Laura, Mom of a Disgruntled George Shrinks Fan

Comments

[Chantal]

I've SO been there. TVO used to do that to us all the time. Not a fan of the schedule change.

[Sarah]

Oh man, PBS recently did the same to us, and that, combined with daylight savings has morning hellish over here!

[Stephanie Olsen]

Laura,

I'm writing an article about what makes a good preschool parent, and am talking about how important consistency and schedules and habits are to little ones.

I'd like to quote some of this post as a "real life" example of this importance. I would link back to your blog, of course.

Please let me know if you're okay with that.

Thanks!

[Fid]

Hi Laura,

Yes! Boo to the CBC for airing that Gill Deacon Show during prime time hours for our little ones. I flipped to CBC the other day to let my baby watch a few minutes of Zoboomafoo (she is mesmerized by the animals), and, to my dismay, it was some rather dry talk show. :-( Oh well...

BTW, I am interested in getting an Ergo carrier and am wondering if you could tell me more about how you like it. I plan on using it for a vacation to Europe - do you think that it is a good idea? Will it fit comfortably over a winter coat? Thanks!

[laura]

Stephanie - will email you ...

Fid - I really like the Ergo Carrier. It distributes weight very well, so I can still haul Madeline (somewhere b/w 25-27 lbs) around in it comfortably. The only issue I ever had with it was the learning curve with loading Madeline into it for a back-carry. The "official" method requires the baby to be scooted across one's back, entering the carrier apparatus from the side, but I could never do this with confidence that I wouldn't drop Madeline. Instead, I set-up the back-carry by hooking the Ergo's hip belt up, but not the shoulder straps (which are just hanging down with the body of the carrier). Then I kneel or crouch down, and get Madeline to get into a piggy back position, so that she's centered behind me with her arms around my shoulders. Then I lift her bum/legs up (and around, in the care of her legs) a bit, tip forward so that she's balanced on my back, and then use my hands to ease the body of the carrier and the straps up. Then I check the positioning of the back in a mirror/bus shelter window/car window to make sure that it's up around Madeline's armpit. If not I pull the shoulder straps out a little and bounce until Madeline is better positioned. Sometimes some of the body fabic bunches up under her bum.

There are a few other carriers that you might want to look into that are similar. One's called the Patapum (less expensive than an Ergo), and another is the bECO. I ended up with the Ergo because it was the only one of these that I could find in Canada at the time. Have a fabulous trip, okay?

[Terri]

Sorry to hear Madeline has been protesting naps for the last few days. I know how frustrating that can be. I hate it when a tv channel changes their program lineup. Treehouse is especially bad for that I have found, thankfully Hayley is now enthralled with her new Barbie Mermaidia video which I now have to watch every night before bed.

[Jaime]

Sorry to hear, I hate it when they do that too. You might have to invest in getting the dvd to help you out.

[Mary P]

Jaime beat me to it! My kids had a similar love of Pingou, way back when, and when the timing of the show changed I taped a bunch of shows so we could watch them at the RIGHT time.

[laura]

I kind of wish that we had PVR or TIVO because I could then just record the show when it comes on at 7:30 in the morning ..

I'll have to look up Pingou!

[Fid]

Thanks for the carrier info and the wishes for a good trip! :-)

[hemorrhoidal treatment]

I have a 3-year old nephew and niece who are supposed to have a habit like your daughter. Yes, they tend to memorize the timeslot of their favorite cartoon show and everyday, except weekend because we tend to have a different activity during weekends, I notice also that after watching their favorite show, they began to do other sort of activities. One time I asked them why are they playing outside, they should go inside and watch TV instead, they replied in unison that their favorite cartoon show is already done, so they can now play outside.