Caillou.... your thoughts??

[BnInTheOvn]

My 2yo recently started watching tv.... it is occassional, but she really seems to like Caillou. I watched it with her a few times and to be honest, I don't really like it. Not that anything BAD happens, but he seems a bit whiney and it is never adressed by his parents in the show.

Does anyone have thoughts on this show?? She hasn't picked up any "habits" from it, and there are some things about the show that seem fine. But like I said, he's whiney and seems to be a bit obnoxious at times....



Any comments? Anyone let/not let their kid watch it?

[ChaoticMum]

Not one we watch here - he IS whiny....

[riversong]

My dd loves Caillou. She's not so into it right now, since she overdosed on it for a while. There are lots of Caillou episodes to watch for free on Netflix.

Caillou's whining has never bothered me. I don't actually find him whiny. He seems to be portrayed as a pretty normal kid. Kids get upset and complain. I think the parenting is pretty gentle on the show as well.

[Norasmomma]

My friend won't let his kids watch it for this very reason. IDK-my DD seems to bore of Calliou really fast, but she is a major upbeat, frenzied, go-go girl who loves to run. Calliou is a bit dull for her, I never noticed that she picked up whining from it. She's more of a Sesame Street kid who likes Elmo because he's active with singing and dancing. When she was smaller though she did watch Calliou and it never made her whine.

I've heard people say the same about Little Bear-which my DD loves and could watch all. the. time.

[Whistler]

My DD loves Caillou but I agree with OP that he is whiny and he bugs me. I am glad that the time schedule changed and now they watch Super Why and Sid the Science Kid. When she does come across a Caillou show I let her watch it but I get enough whining from my own kids to need more on TV!

[brackin]

Had to comment here, since both of my children loved/love Caillou (DD, age 6, now "hates" it and finds it "boring," but DS, 2.5, loves it). I found Caillou really annoying at first, and my sister (who has no children) insists he's whiny, but when you've watched every episode, as DH and I have, you realize that he's not really whiny all that often (percentage-of-the-time-wise, anyway). And I do love, as a pp noted, that the parenting is done gently in pretty much all situations. So far, the only things DS has come away with are knowledge about things he otherwise may not yet have encountered. He asks me questions about what he sees and we discuss it quite a bit (he's very verbal). Anyway, all this is to say that I have ended up liking it. I even told DH yesterday that I'll be kind of sad when no one in our house wants to watch Caillou anymore.

[ChaoticMum]

Originally Posted by brackin

And I do love, as a pp noted, that the parenting is done gently in pretty much all situations.

That is true....but I just can't get his voice out of my head! LOL

[LynneAndLynn]

My son loves this, and I don't. The only way he can watch it is if there's a sitter lol. I'm still wondering why a 4 year old has no hair...but that's just me.

[scrappingmom]

I find the whining annoying but as a PP said always passed it off as kids DO get whiny... a few weeks ago however my kids were talking about various shows for toddlers, pros and cons(the8,10 and 12 yrolds) The 8yr old i think it was, said, well the song explains why he is such a whiny brat(i did point out the term wasn't nice EVEN for a cartoon kid ) "with mommy and daddy i always get my way" .... It was a mis-quote but WAS what she heard and what his actions/attitude tend to portray.

I dont think ALL of his whining IS whining, i think some of it is simply his voice and some is tired whining, where he generally gets encouraged to rest or ahve a snack.

I have 5 kids who have liked (to varying degrees) caillou at one point or another and i've liked/disliked it for varyous reasons ovr the years. all in all, i'm fairly neutral I guess. whining bugs me ALOT but there are some good lessons too.

[Freefromitall]

His voice just drives me nuts. I don't know why, but it makes my teeth grind, lol

So....we don't watch it. But there are enough shows that I like and they like, that I'm not too worried about them missing out on this one

[simplehome]

This is about the only show DS ever watches (on Netflix )

I don't find Caillou terribly whiny---I hear him complaining about things that real kids have trouble with, and then learning about appropriate ways to deal with his frustration. I think DS likes to watch this show because

A) it isn't scary

B) he doesn't want to talk to me about his own frustrations, and seems to really get a lot out of seeing a character dealing with things that bother him (baby sister, having to share mommy and daddy, not being as physically capable as he wants to be (because he's 4), etc)

C) The parents ARE so gentle. A friend showed us Pingu the Penguin once, and he just didn't know what to do with all of the yelling and scolding by the parents (in penguin-ese, of course, but still...) I think that scared him.

D) It isn't flashy and jarring. He LOVES Bill Nye the Science Guy videos from the library, but they're so ridiculously choppy and flashy that I feel like I'm going to have a seizure watching! I can tell it stresses him out, too, even though he loves the content.

[aspenleaves]

My DD also loved it.... she has moved on to other things now, but Calliou was her first favorite. I agree with most posters here.... he is a little whinney, but nothing too bad and all other aspects are really fine.

One note to say that he is a little whiney because most 3 and 4 year olds are. My DD has echoed Calliou but I don't think it is because she watched it.... I think Calliou echoes most kids... that is why they love him they can identify with him

[yogachick79]

I just have to laugh because a gf and I were JUST talking about this the other day. The show drives me up a wall and I avoid it at all costs. Thankfully there are other shows that my two younger ones enjoy, it would drive me crazy if they ever loved it lol. It is all of the whining and his voice that are like nails on a chalk board for me.

[GuildJenn]

I love Caillou because to me he is much more realistic a child than a lot of kids on TV who are Perky! All! The! Time! Andiamos! If you know what I mean!!! I'll take a bit of whining over being on speed.

I like that he struggles. I especially like that the family doesn't have a lot of money (there's one episode where they go to look at new cars (used) and decide they can't afford one). I like that they use what they have, like the episode where the dad makes the streamers for Caillou's bike.

I don't know, I just like how Caillou's family works. :-) There are parents around, they're gentle, there are grandparents, there are other kids.

I am Canadian though and I recognize a lot of Quebecois culture in it so that might well bias me.

[Spirit Dancer]

I can't stand Cailou but then again I dislike most kid shows so I am very glad we are a TV-free family.

[claras_mom]

Dd (4yo) loves Caillou. I think he's a stepford kid. I mean....I've never ever seen Caillou throw a complete hissy fit; he usually only has to be reminded to do something once...etc.

[lolar2]

I think it's all right. There are some very clever, subtle Peanuts references dropped in now and then, which are fun to spot as easter eggs. There was one episode where Caillou wore a shirt with a Charlie Brown stripe part of the time; and another where they were picking out Christmas trees and Caillou pointed to a tree that was drawn to look like the Charlie Brown tree, and just then there was a snippet of piano music in the score which was written to sound like part of the Charlie Brown Christmas music. There was even a reference to a "Li'l Folks" comic strip (Charles Schulz's pre-Peanuts strip), I'm pretty sure.

Caillou does whine, but no more than DS does.

[green betty]

I used to find Caillou annoyingly whiny until I started watching it in the original French. Now the English voiceover strikes me as an attempt to mimic the French Caillou, who sounds a bit more nasal/whiny because his Quebecois French is more nasal. He doesn't come off as whiny in French.

[NaturalMindedMomma]

Originally Posted by BnInTheOvn

My 2yo recently started watching tv.... it is occassional, but she really seems to like Caillou. I watched it with her a few times and to be honest, I don't really like it. Not that anything BAD happens, but he seems a bit whiney and it is never adressed by his parents in the show.

Does anyone have thoughts on this show?? She hasn't picked up any "habits" from it, and there are some things about the show that seem fine. But like I said, he's whiney and seems to be a bit obnoxious at times....

I hate whining. Caillou is whiney, but most 4 year olds are from time to time. My daughter loves the show, so mommy grins and bears it! LOL

[Oliver'sMom]

Ds LOVES Caillou! And I like it too. I've noticed that the earlier episodes where Caillou is closer to 3 are much more whiney than the newer ones where he's 4...at least IMO. I appreciate the pace of the show and how it's very calm and not flashy.

I can totally understand not letting your kids watch a show because it annoys you though! Barney, for example, is NOT allowed in our house. I litterally feel sick when I hear that dinosaur's voice lol.