The kids love Curious George books, and we read them often. But... I can't help but think every time that maybe George is a bad example of disobedience. Actually, he's quite a good example of DISOBEDIENCE but you know what I mean! A bad example to the kids. It always points out the nature of a monkey to be curious, and he does it anyway, regardless of the what he was told to do, and it ALWAYS leads him to trouble! The story problem always works itself out, making it appear that it wasn't so bad he disobeyed after all. But the truth is, the truth I want the kids to know and respect is that "mother knows best". In actuality it's about obeying the commands God has for them and obeying their parents, but I can't help but throw in that quote from Tangled. Because in a way it is true too.
Thoughts? Am I over-thinking this one? Can kids separate storybooks from life better than I think they can?
I think to some extent kids live vicariously through characters. So yes they know it's a silly story and he's a monkey. And certainly not a being that can even earn salvation if you want to get really deep.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big CG fan and my kids have never said: "I did it because George did."
It's always a good point of discussion too. When we watch Finding Nemo I also gasp when Nemo says "I hate you" to his dad. Then he disobeys and gets captured. I've told my kids a few times that he would never have been captured if he obeyed his dad.
And what about Ariel the Little Mermaid? She disobeyed too! So much of that stuff out there.
This is actually one that I've thought about too. We usually have a "what would you do?" conversation at the start of George's poor choices. We also have a "What should the man with the yellow hat have done?" conversation, because not only do I think that George is a bit too curious, I think the Man needs to pay more attention! Quit loosing George! Don't leave him home alone! Don't let him walk around town by himself! Etc... George is cute sometimes, but I'm not a fan. I do let my children be fans though, because there really is just something about him that's likable.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it's become a point of conversation. We try to make EVERYTHING into a conversation in general. So now that this George thing has been on my mind so much we hardly ever read those books without talking about his behavior. It's a good chance to look for cause and effect type things. Now I'll have to pay attention to Nemo although the kids are scared of that one and it's not a fave. And I don't even know the Ariel story. Thanks for your feedback! Sometimes I worry that I'm trying SO HARD to raise perfect kids that will never be perfect that I'm going overboard on areas where I should just let the kids be kids! But I'm glad to hear I'm not only one with curious thoughts about George! =)
ReplyDeleteGood thinking on your part -- what examples are set by the environment around us? Curious... that is a good word for what we talked about today for a child exploring. But Curious George puts a different spin on that exploration. Thanks for getting the topic of discussion started!
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