Episode III

A POSSESSED TOY and LITTLE EINSTEINS

If you didn't already know, I have a daughter. As of this post she is 21 month old and has an amazing life story already (I'll save that story for another time). Of all the things in the world she has two things: 1) a possessed toy, and 2) a love for Disney's Little Einsteins.

The possessed toy has got both my wife and me baffled. My wife purchased it at Neverland Games in Waynesboro, PA, thinking that this simple puzzle would be fun for our daughter. It's kind of a cool puzzle, for a child under age two, as it has animals and these animals make a noise when the puzzle piece goes in the slot. Unfortunately it's not a sophisticated puzzle, nothing like a internal computer, no, it has these magnet looking things on the bottom of the puzzle piece, and there's a corresponding magnet on the board. So when the "magnet" passes over any magnet on the board, it makes the sound of the animal on the board. In other words, if I had the cat puzzle piece, I could put it in the dog spot on the board, and the board would bark at me. Or if the cat passed over the bird, it would squawk. But that's not the weird thing.

The weirdness comes when the board is just sitting still. Even when my daughter's not playing with the puzzle, it's just sitting in, or on, her toy chest, all of a sudden a random animal will sound off. And it's not like anything is shifting the board that would make a puzzle piece move. This puzzle will neigh, or meow, or whatever, without a puzzle piece even on the board. We don't even have to be in the room for this to happen either. My wife said she's heard it sound off while she's getting ready for bed.

There's been no puzzle pieces randomly flying off the board, so at least we know it's not a poltergeist or some angry spirit, but it's just weird. Possessed or cheaply made, it's still a mystery to us.

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If you haven't seen Little Einsteins, then you're probably not a parent or pay attention to the Disney Channel. This cartoon is about four youths who fly around the world in a ship and do things (nothing troublesome of course -- although one episode made me wonder), and it's all set to music and art.

The crew includes Leo, a redheaded boy of 5, who loves to conduct. Annie, Leo's sister, a blonde girl of 4, who loves to sing. June, the Asian girl, also age 5, who loves to dance. Quincy, an African-American boy of 5, who can play any instrument. And finally Rocket, the "can do practically anything" ship they fly around in.

At the beginning of each episode they announce the title of the episode, and then present "the art of the day" and the "music of the day". This is probably THE BEST part of the entire show. They use art from artists like Gogan and Michelangelo, and music from musicians like Chopan and Bach.  The art is cleverly inserted to the episode at one point, like in the episode A Christmas Wish they used "A Starry Night" as the background to a scene involving Annie climbing Mount Everest. The music however, is, in my opinion, butchered by Annie, who attempts to put words to it. And each episode tries to feature one of the kids as "the lead", even though Leo is the designated leader (as mentioned in one of the early episodes).

How my daughter came to like this show I will only venture to guess, but it wasn't her first favorite. It used to be Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. But when Disney came out with Little Einsteins, she got hooked. Perhaps it's because the characters are kids, rather than animals, or maybe it's because they don't "dumb down" the educational portion of the show. Shows like Mickey Mouse and Jake and the Neverland Pirates (also on Disney) seem to play around with concepts like sharing or helping each other. Whereas Little Einsteins is pushing historical art and music on children, who's minds are like sponges at this age.

I honestly believe that they helped increase my daughter's vocabulary. She asks for them by name, "Einsteins" (though it comes out more like Ein'tein). Calls them by name, Leo, June, Annie, and Rocket (Rocket only recently, and Quincy she still has problems with). And she even quotes a phrase from the title song, 'We Need You!' It's great!

But yet sometimes her obsession -- yes, obsession. even at this age she has grasped the concept of obsession -- get's annoying. While cute that she can ask for the show by name, she asks for it All The Time! It's like anytime my wife and I want to sit down and watch something for us, here comes our daughter asking for the Einsteins. And you can't just tell her No -- we used that word up when she first started talking (and it's one of her favorite words to use, as well) -- we have to be creative now, like, "No honey, they went night-night". Does she understand this? Probably not, but we keep trying.

I know we shouldn't let her watch it as much as she does (which is probably why she is so obsessed with it), but there are times when either of us just need 30 minutes to ourselves, and this show keeps her occupied.  Need to do some dishes? Or perhaps get on the computer? Better put on Little Einsteins or you'll never get anything done. Not that we couldn't try other things. We have. She likes to color. And that entertains her for a short while. But nothing, as of yet, has worked better than a string of episodes from this show.

It's a good show by-and-large, I've got to give Disney major credit on this one. So, Disney, if you ever read this, thanks for making Little Einsteins such a great show. I just hope that when we take our daughter to Disney World for the first time, that she gets to meet the crew, or you'll have a very upset little girl.