Allison Perkins's Page

Every generation has one — the lovable cartoon character villified
by us parents. Usually, it's some strange creature our kids adore
beyond compare. Barney was my generation's parental nemesis. Now, I
have met mine: Yo Gabba Gabba.

Haven't heard of it? Check out the toddler channel, Noggin. First
off, what on Earth are those things? There are five, I think, five
characters that sing and dance in some kind of mini, puppet-like
world that appears to all be under the control of a frizzy orange-
haired disco DJ. The characters are robots or aliens or some kind
of creatures whose costumes truly could not have been designed by
any kind of professional. I've strung together Halloween costumes
with glue, a sheet and paperclips that were more convincing.

I'm really confused by it all. The characters sing in rap tunes
that are beyond catchy to the point that I find myself humming them
while I'm in the shower. It's like that horrible song that goes
over and over and over in your head that you can't get rid of. AAGGHH.

And the worst part is, kids loooooove Yo Gabba Gabba. I happened
upon the show before my kids ever saw it. I vowed to do everything
in my power to turn off Noggin during its airtime because I just
didn't think I could stomach sitting through it. They saw it once,
for a few seconds as I dove across the room in a lame attempt to
reach the remote before they could become interested. I see that
moment in my head in slow motion as I fly across the room in an
attempt to protect my children from all that is just plain weird
and annoying. I think they might have heard me yelp as I landed
face first, nowhere near the remote. Otherwise, it took a few
seconds and they were hooked.

So now, our household is a loyal fan of Yo Gabba Gabba and I all of
a sudden feel a sort of kinship with the parents who cringe at the
sound of, "I love you, you love me ... ".

They'll grow out of it eventually, right?