I Love You, You Love Me, Now the only thing on DD's Netflix is Barney #StreamTeam

Until recently, the only Barney on my Netflix was a wicked awesome New Yorker who throughly enjoys high fives, being awesome and making up rules for everyone to follow, while looking great wearing a suit (I'm talking of Mr. Stinson, from How I Met Your Mother, of course).

Hannah has taken to watching Netflix on my MacBook. It's a lot easier for her to scan shows that way, and one day she discovered Barney - the purple dinosaur. As a kid who loves to sing and dance, it was only a matter of time before she became obsessed - and obsessed she is.

When asked, why do you like Barney? Hannah responds, "Well, because he's my friend."

#DinoTrux latest and greatest from Netflix and DreamWorks #StreamTeam

Actual conversation I had with my daughter's preschool teacher:

Miss F: Hannah really likes dinosaurs.

Me: Yeah, she really does.

Miss F: She picked up a dinosaur earlier today and told me, 'This is a Brontosaurus', and when I looked at the bottom of the toy, she was right!

As you can see, dinosaurs are big in our household. It's mostly emerged from Hannah's obsession with a show called Dinosaur Train. It's about a time-travelling train that's filled with dinosaurs. What preschooler wouldn't like that show?

So when I heard about DinoTrux I was pretty sure we had another Netflix Original show that would quickly make its way into our usual rotation. (Recently when we were on vacation in the United States we picked up a King Julien beatbox as part of a Wendy's kids meal that plays the theme song, which of course thrust that show back into the spotlight.)

Preschool Confidential

A few weeks ago as I was approaching Hannah's preschool playground I heard some crying. As I got closer, I recognized the crying and saw my daughter with one of her best friends and a teacher close to one of the trees. Part of me wanted to run to Hannah, but another part of me wanted to stay back and watch the situation unfold to see what happens when I'm not there.

I decided on the later, and my appreciation for her centre - and the amazing people who take care of her - improved even more, which to be honest I never thought it could.

Adventures in Preschool

Considering the last preschool I was in was my brother's in the late 80s, the only recent knowledge of preschool I had was Sesame Street's ear worm parody "Preschool Musical" (based on Disney's High School Musical, of course). There's a snippet from Sesame Street's YouTube channel below, you can watch the full video on the Sesame Street website.

So about six weeks ago when Hannah became a "Preschooler" while she checked out the room I did too. I was ecstatic to see there was indeed "Block Corner" (they don't have "Dress Up Corner", but they do have a dress up box near the toy kitchen).

A Tale of Two Tees

Yesterday Hannah wore her Thomas shirt to school. The one I purchased at Walmart. In the boy's section. (The girl's section had no Thomas).

Since she's a preschooler now, I couldn't help but wonder if other kids would notice that she was wearing a boy's shirt. Some of the kids she's with now are 4 years old. When you're only 2.5 you don't notice much of fashion (OK, my kid doesn't). She just notices the characters or colours. She doesn't care what section it was purchased from or who it was "intended" for.

And obviously, since I made the decision to purchase it, deep down I don't care either. Thomas is a non-offensive show that she enjoys. There are two Thomas backpacks in her new coat room - guess what she shows me every day?

But a part of me couldn't help but wonder if the older kids would pick up on it. Would they think she's cool for liking Thomas? Would they question her as to why she's wearing a boy's shirt?