Treehouse TV

My name is Scott, and I am a parent. I am parent to a child who loves his Tree house; not the one in the actual tree, but the one on TV and all of the characters that dwell within. Pease don’t misunderstand, my son does not watch much television, only an hour or so a day – but the time and the shows inevitably differ from day to day. And even for a little guy, he sure has his favourites.

He loves Dora and Boots and Backpack, Diego and Baby Jaguar and Rescue Pack. My son knows that Franklin can count by two’s and tie his shoes; that no mess is to big for the ten second tidy. And his friends Emily Yeung and Daniel Cook are always tagging along for a crazy adventure!

For any non parent, you most likely think me mad. It’s okay, put down the phone, no need to call the doctors on me just yet. Because maybe, just maybe, you may have children, or be responsible for the care of a child and come into contact with this phenomenon known as Tree house television and experience all of these same joys that my wife and I have experienced with our son. You too may find yourself shopping in the frozen foods aisle, singing along with the Wonder Pets about teamwork, or reciting a poem that you learned from Four Squares. It doesn’t mean that you are in any way crazy; it simply means that your adult world is being over run by that of a child. It is perfectly normal for you to forget any semblance of the adult world and the concepts therein. It will happen. I promise. It happened to me. My grasp on the adult world, while arguably shaky to begin with, has never been the same since my wife and I entered into parenthood.

Parenthood is a tremendous amount of fun, and a lot of work. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. I absolutely adore the times that our family has together. But there are times, such as the aforementioned frozen foods aisle fiasco that make you realize just where the center of your world really lies. The whole world center’s around kids; their favourite television programs, their favourite toys and songs, the foods they love and the park toys they run to. And it is amazing what you will do as their parent to make sure that they get the best of these things. And you do it without even thinking. You just know what they like and love, and you do your best to provide it for them.

Yes, my favourite moments are when all members of our family are cuddled up watching the Dora the Explorer DVD, the same one we watch every single day. And even though I can recite every word by every character, it is the company I keep while it plays that keeps me tuned in.