Imaginary Friends

Lots of kids have imaginary friends. It fosters creativity and, hello, imagination. Holly's imaginary friends are generally princesses or unicorns. Atley's imaginary friends are usually based on whatever TV show he's been watching lately. Apart from his actual friends (mentioned here), Atley has been making lots of imaginary friends, too! Unlike his real friends, his imaginary friends have a tendency to drive me crazy. Here are some friends I will not be sad to leave behind.

Tree Fu Tom

Yeah. Tom and I don't get along. Atley isn't even allowed to watch this show around me because it makes me so crazy. What makes it so annoying? Well, as you may have gathered, Tom does magic (called tree fu) to 'save the day'. That's alright, but then they try to get the kids involved and doing the magic too. I understand they want the kids to interact and get up and move, but can we at least have a consistent rhyme scheme? Here's an example of the "magic."

I know I posted this, but I will not be watching it. Like I said, it infuriates me. Also they have a character that is supposed to be a cowgirl type. Her accent is weird.

Everything's Rosie

I like Rosie. Her funky hair is just the right balance of crazy and tidy. Rosie and her friends all go around playing different games and learning how to be kind and treat each other right. All good things, right? Well, there is one character that takes the bad behavior to the extreme--blue bird! She's always so grumpy and yelling at everyone. For all the good parts of Rosie, I will not miss it because of that annoying bird.

Not all of the shows have been bombs of course. Atley has found some real gems among his explorations. Our favorites include:

Octonauts

Animals take on human characteristics as sea explorers. They teach about different unique animals and team work. 

Mike the Knight

Mike is a Knight in training. He learns how to "be a knight and do it right." He makes mistakes but he quickly learns from them and sets everything right. Atley loves pretending to be a knight and Mike even has a little sister who is a Princess so Holly loves it too! They often will ask us to prentend we're the dragons from the show. 

Cloudbabies

The cloudbabies are the caretakers of the sky. They polish the sun, give rainbow his colors, and make sure everything is running as it should. I like that they have chores and responsibilities even if they are babies. It's not a show children will watch forever because it does seem to be geared toward a younger audience, but for now it seems to entertain them. It's given them more interest in the sky and everything that goes on up there, too so I guess it's mildly educational too. 

Thankfully we have recently learned that Mike the Knight and Octonauts have started in the US as well! We will get to take some friends back with us I guess! The others I feel like I can't get away from fast enough.

What are your favorite and least favorite shows your children watch?