Sesame Place a must visit for Sesame Street fans #SesamePlace

If you could travel anywhere tomorrow, most people would choose to visit an exotic location or travel to family far away. Not me. I'd want to go to Langhorne, Pennsylvania. My family travelled there this summer and our day in Langhorne was by far my favourite of the entire vacation. As soon as we drove away, I immediately wanted to go back. Because, even though Sesame Street is set in New York City, Sesame Place is in Langhorne.

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).

The Three Worst Children's Shows for Earworms

Yes, I let my daughter watch TV. Educational TV. That reinforces numbers, counting, the alphabet. Being kind. Sharing. All the good stuff I try to teach her, but has more weight coming from Elmo.

I always watch with her. Which can be problematic when it comes to the songs. Often I find myself, at my desk at work, humming "Build Me A Building" - a song from Bubble Guppies.

And so I present, the worst three children's shows for earworms. (According to Wikipedia, an earworm is a catchy piece of music that continually repeats through a person's mind after it is no longer playing.) I based my unscientific list more on original songs specific to an episode, versus a song that is in every episode of a show.

Everything lame is super cool again at 123 Sesame Street

With the wonderful ice storm kicking us out of our home for a week, the main highlight of my holiday break happened downtown at the Sony Centre. We took Hannah to see her first-ever show - Sesame Street Live.

The last time I saw Sesame Street Live was in the early 1990s. I was 8 or 9 years old. And I gave my Mom a really, REALLY hard time for taking me and my brother (who at 5 or 6 was still prime Sesame age). I complained the whole way down to the O'Keefe (at least that's what I think 1 Front Street East was called at that point.) Living in Scarborough and taking the TTC, that was at least an hour. In an attempt to shut me up, my Mom bought me some sort of flashy light toy. Once the show began, I was still making snide comments from my seat about how I was so happy no one from my class would see me at a show for babies. But when Grover came out and danced to the Beverly Hills Cop theme song complemented by strobe lights that shut me up for the rest of the night.

It's funny how more than two decades later I think Sesame Street Live is the hottest ticket in town.

The Hot Toy of 2013 - Playskool's #BigHugsElmo (Review & Giveaway)

I was 14 years old when I discovered Tickle Me Elmo in a toy store in August 1996. You squeezed him and he let out his signature giggle. Elmo’s laugh is so contagious, I just knew he would make me feel better on crummy days. I begged my Mom to buy him for me for Christmas. “What does a girl entering high school need with a Sesame Street toy?” she retorted.

Fall came, and the colder the weather got, the more popular Tickle Me Elmo became.  There were stampedes of people whenever a retail store got a shipment. It became pretty clear that no matter how badly I wanted Tickle Me Elmo, he was not going to be under the tree. Christmas Eve came and along with it, the tradition of our parents allowing us to open our “biggie” (aka most expensive) present. My box was roughly the shape of the one Tickle Me Elmo came in. It couldn’t be him….could it?

Unbeknownst to me, my Mom had returned to the toy store that day in August. My very own Tickle Me Elmo had been hiding in our hall closet all those months I openly pined (and whined) for him, my Mom holding her breath that he would stay silent in the box, preserving the surprise. 

Ladies and gentleman, Big Hugs Elmo is the hot toy of 2013, and I’m so happy (and a little relived) that my daughter already has him before the holiday rush.

A Daughter's Hug, A Monster's Hug #BigHugsElmo Giveaway

I was never a hugger until Hannah was born and I became a mother. My favourite times of the day now revolve around her hugs – that awesome first, sleepy hug in the morning, extra cuddly because she’s still waking up. The second is the daycare pick-up hug – the excited, gripping, so happy to see you hug (which is often accompanied with a slobbery kiss and comes after the “MOMMY!” yell from across the daycare’s playground).

But, my favourite hug of all is Hannah’s surprise hug. These come at random times, in random forms and often catch me off guard. Sometimes she grips my leg while I’m washing dishes. Other times she climbs on top of me while we are watching TV on the couch. And then there’s her reciprocal patting on the back hug – which she has been doing for almost a year now!

Sometimes I think she senses I need a hug, other times she needs comfort.

She loves giving hugs ALMOST as much as she loves Elmo.

For the Love of Zed #TGCBB

When I write, I make sure to use the Canadian spelling of words. (I am so ecstatic when I type the u in words like favourite, neighbour, favour, honour, etc. and it doesn't result in the red squiggly underline...this was not always the case.)

But pronouncing things the Canadian way? That's a little more difficult.

When people ask me what my blog name is, I make a conscious effort to pronounce it "Why-Why-Zed" Bambina. Because it's the Canadian way.

I shouldn't have to make a conscious effort to say something I've known since I was little, but it's hard.

Especially when Sesame Street and many other children's programming is American. When Elmo, my daughter's favourite monster of all time, opens his mouth to sing his ABCs, I cringe. All because of the last letter he sings - Z.

Baby DVDs - the Good and the Interesting

As I mentioned in a previous post, becoming a mom has renewed my love of Sesame Street.

I've tried not to buy Hannah too many Sesame Street DVDs, but so far I have purchased Big Elmo Fun, Elmo in Grouchland, Elmo's World: The Street We Live On and Let's Eat! Funny Food Songs - all of which were relatively inexpensive at Walmart ($5-$10). Save Elmo in Grouchland (which is a movie), the DVDs are clips already shown on Sesame Street grouped together with a common theme. So you know upfront what it is you're buying to watch.

For her three month birthday Chris bought her a Baby HaHa Music Video Adventures DVD from the TIFF store downtown, for around $10. I haven't watched an actual Baby Einstein DVD but I would imagine it is quite similar from clips I've seen on YouTube.

A CGI baby (or sometimes multiple babies) in just a diaper dances and sings with CGI farm yard animals to the classics. It was a lot different from the Sesame Street DVDs I'm used to. But Hannah seemed to like it, and certain songs even kept the attention of our cat Booyah. And I did like singing along with the subtitles to Hannah and the DVD did jog my memory as to some of the lyrics. In all, it's an OK DVD. I just found it interesting...maybe next time Chris will watch with Hannah and feel forced to sing!

My Renewed Love for Sesame Street

Every weekday at 10 a.m. (if I'm home) I automatically turn to PBS to watch Sesame Street.

About a month ago I found it by chance and Hannah saw Elmo and got really excited. This made me really happy as Elmo has always been a favourite. Watching her watch him, my love for the furry red monster was reignited.

So now, even if Hannah is already having her morning nap, I uh, tune in anyway. Without her.

Sesame Street is amazing on so many levels. When I was little I assumed the skits and segments were written with me in mind. As an adult, I realize the skits and segments are also fashioned in a way to entertain parents and caregivers of young children. I know that many children's movies are written with adults in mind - but a lot of them only have over arching lessons and don't directly teach numbers, letters or the meaning of words. Sesame Street does all of this and more.

One day I decided to YouTube the 12 And Pinball Animation as the song was in my head, and I realized Sesame Street had uploaded a bunch of classics from my childhood. I've spent hours since looking them up and watching them. When Hannah is a little older and it becomes easier for her to focus on my MacBook I'll show her too.

For now, I'll just enjoy reading her Sesame Street books, playing with her and her stuffed Elmo, and tuning in every weekday morning at 10 so we can watch together. If she's awake.