Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Calamitous Constancy of Caillou



I knew it would happen eventually.

It didn’t even start with the mysteriously hairless Caillou himself, but with his little sister, Rosie. With Rosie, I could look beyond and say she was ageless, a constant without any real designation, no definitive pinpoint to obsess over…

I’m just a kid who’s four
Each day I grow some more
I like exploring
I’m Caillou…

A kid who’s four.

Caillou is four.

Always. Forever unchanging.

Developmentally correct.

Samantha is just over a month away from being officially older than Caillou.

I knew this day would come.

After watching little Caillou on his explorations and observations of the world around him for the last 4 years, after seeing him learn to tie his shoes/make art projects/play ice hockey/ride a bike, after hoping against hope that Samantha would catch up, I feel like this Mommy should bid Caillou a lovely French Canadian adieu and send him packing to a cartoon hell reserved for all those other unsuspecting parents who really don’t want to know how old the damn kid is.

But Samantha still loves him. And I will probably still allow him to usher in the hour of sleep for my little girl every night.

Because it doesn't matter to her.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Caillou...I always feel like I suck as a mother cause I am not like his! she is calm and always says and does the right things...Caillou is really a good kid...mine do not follow suit..and on the episode with the child born with a disablility...I want to know what it is...I am ready to say goobye because they changed the voice of Caillou and I am not sure I can handle the whining tone! smiles

JC said...

Ahhh, Caillou. It is insane how many years I have been watching that bratty little bald kid! Raist use to LOVE that show, that was 12 years ago!! And thats the thing I struggle with right now...Not that kids the same age as Russell are doing more but that kids YOUNGER are now starting to pass him...but whatever, right...OUR KIDS ROCK!

Rob Monroe said...

But remember that he is a cartoon so it's MUCH easier to make him do things like skate an fly - he is perfection in a single person. Don't compare ME to him, even, much less Samantha!

Monica Crumley said...

Couldn't stand CAillou... such a whiny brat (IMHO!) But my kids did love watching it and I even was happy to see one episode where Caillou had a new friend in preschool who was developmentally delayed (I think they tried to make him look like he had Ds with his eyes...) Anyway, I liked it. But if Samantha likes it, there's no reason to take it away unless you think it isn't good for her. I think my older kids phased out of CAillou around age 5 once they started Kindergarten. We didn't have cable back then and PBS was only available in the a.m.