The Magic of Sesame Street

On his first birthday, Daniel had no idea who Elmo was. He hadn't yet watched a single episode of Sesame Street, and he thankfully didn't have one of those Tickle Me Elmo dolls (though he did get freaked out by one at a playmate's house -- I mean, the thing looks like it's having a seizure). After his first birthday, however, Daniel's interest in cartoon characters grew. He took a liking to Diego (mostly because the show aired right around the time he was finishing his morning bottle). Then he caught on to the Thomas craze. He also began to enjoy The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Thank goodness for Comcast On Demand, because we could summon any one of these shows at a moment's notice. Not that we did very often. In the beginning, Daniel watched no more than 20 minutes a day (which is all that his short attention span would allow). Even now, at 2 years old, he never watches more than 45 minutes at a time. I'm not saying that makes me a superior parent, it just illustrates the reality of trying to keep a toddler engaged.

Enter Sesame Street. I don't really recall how it all started. It's a chicken-and-egg puzzlement: Did Daniel's love of Elmo lead to his interest in Sesame Street, or did he first watch Sesame Street and automatically gravitate towards the pink furball with the baby voice? Who knows? All that matters is that Daniel has become a full-fledged Sesame Street junkie. And his Mommy, who's a recovering Children's television Workshop junkie herself, couldn't be happier!

One of the amazing things about Sesame Street is how it encourages viewers to participate. Once Daniel had been watching the show for several weeks and had grown familiar with the format, he began to interact with the TV. I've heard him counting, labeling characters or objects on the screen, and dancing to the music. His vocabulary has exploded in the past month -- due in no small part to his obsession with Sesame Street. His favorite segment of each show is Elmo's World, of course. He loves when Elmo talks to his pet fish, Dorothy, and when he asks a baby a question (and inevitably gets whacked in the head by the baby). He also loves Mr. Noodle's antics, and the ubiquitous closing song which draws its lyrics from that day's topic and it's melody from Jingle Bells ("Nose nose nose, nose nose nose, nose nose nose nose nose...").

But even with his deep devotion to Elmo, Daniel still enjoys the other characters. He can now identify Cookie, Abby, Bert, Ernie, and Zoe. We're working on Big Bird and Telly. I'm not sure if he'll ever get Snuffleupagus, but he seems intrigued by Slimy. He also thoroughly enjoys the animated segments which feature the number or letter of the day. I don't mind him sitting in front of the TV to watch Sesame Street because I know he is absorbing so much information, just as I did so many years ago. The lessons taught by Sesame Street will help him in his academic endeavors as well as his social relationships. How can that be a bad thing?