My original blog posting, or part one Signs of the Times, Children’s Cartoons was about a few cartoons or shows I had seen when my older daughter was a bit younger.  Of course, now there are a plethora of shows out there, all very interesting in my opinion, and a good reason why kids should not watch too much TV. 

picture courtesy of google search

Anyway, in my original post, I talked about Sesame Street and how much it has changed, Dora the Explorer and Spongebob.  In this update, I want to talk about Max and Ruby.  Several of us have talked about how odd this show is from a parent’s perspective.  Of course, all the cartoons are make belief and about imagination and that is how we end up with 5 and 6-year olds running through the woods with adventures but this one is about two bunnies- a brother and sister.  It’s odd for the first few times I saw this show, I thought Ruby (the one with the yellow apron on) was the mommy and Max was the son. Presumably, I assumed Ruby was a single mom since a daddy never enters the picture.  That was not the case as I watched the intro credits one day.  Ruby is the big sister and Max is the naughty, little brother.  It was interesting to all of us that Max & Ruby live alone, and Ruby is the parental figure to this younger kid.  Rarely is an adult present and only the grandmother comes to visit sometimes.  When she comes, it seems like Ruby is running around trying to make the place look nice and cooking.  The entire show is odd but I guess is supposed to show the kinship of siblings and the love between them including what happens in our society often these days:  an older sibling guiding and taking care of a little one.  It’s interesting to me because Ruby never attends school and neither does little brother Max.  I just hope Ruby is over 12 ’cause they shouldn’t be home alone!  🙂 

Stay tuned for future children’s cartoon posts and if you have any thoughts please share them here… I always love to see what other parents think of the children’s programming these days.  It sure has changed since when we were growing up.

If you’re a parent, you are used to the routine of buying good books and reading to your kids.  It’s a great time to share with your child and see their reactions.  Our little one just started day care/school and she currently loves scratch and sniff books – in fact, she loves a couple of her books so much, she wants to cuddle up with them in bed before she sleeps.  I’ve read this book in particular a few times along with the Usborne series of books.  What most interests me in a book as an adult is not the stickers or the pictures but rather the political messages and in particular, the gender stereotypes that are still prevalant in society. 

I’m very amazed by the stereotypes I still see in Children’s books – these are more dominant these days for gender than race.  I could write this blog for pages and pages but this is just a sampling of some of the books I have encountered that I believe contains stereotypical behaviors.  For example, the one book my little one likes is titled The Gingerbread Family.  This book is cute and all the pages smell yummy enough to eat.  But to me, of interest was the page where Mr. Gingerbread is fishing on blueberry while the Mommy is baking a cake.  I know, I know… I need to relax… after all, mommies bake and daddies fish right?  But what was neat was my reversal trick on my kid.  So, I was reading and changed their genders so mommy was fishing on blueberry lake and daddy was baking the angel food cake, and my older daughter immediately pointed to my “mistake”:  She said, “no mommy – daddies fish and the mommy is the one baking the cake…. you said it wrong!”  I asked her why mommies could not fish.  She immediately and urgently pointed out, “that’s just not how it is mommy! Daddies can’t bake and mommies just don’t know how to fish!”  It was quite interesting and made me realize the stereotypes she is already learning.  What next?

Another one of my favorites is the Usborne Books (First Experiences), wrought with gender stereotypes.  But I gotta say, out of all the children’s books where parents are depicted, the parents in the Usborne books look the most realistic – tired and often, exhausted.  In the Usborne (First Experience) book, Going to the Doctor, you see the Jay Family.  Mrs. Jay does not work and looks exhausted the entire book.  She is responsible for three kids, a dog and a cat.  She ends up taking the kids to the doctor.  Joey needs immunizations while Jack has a broken arm.  Mrs. Jay looks like she is on lithium the entire book- exhausted, somewhat alert but not really.  In any case, the best part of the book is the last few pages.  Mrs. Jay has her feet up on a recliner and looks absolutely wiped out after dealing with three kids, two of whom are sick, and two pets all day.  You see Mr. Jay returning from a day at work peering around the corner (assessing damage most likely) and again, the biggest gender stereotype is enforced which is not alive and well in today’s society:  Daddy works hard all day to bring home the bacon, goes to work all day, and comes home in the evenings, praying the kids are wiped out.    Hopefully, mom will get a break after daddy gets home but who can be sure?