[aargee]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

pbs kids has some really good programs, not sure if you can get it in india.

Nope; not in India yet

Originally Posted by Gansan

When my son was a toddler I found Pogo channel to be very good for this purpose.

Pogo is still a good channel Sir & its way better than Nick, CN, Chutti (worst) & Chithiram (in the queue to get worse). I don't intend to say Chutti is worst as there're several good shows, however certain programmes to be avoided. Anyway point is the quality of cartoons aren't that good that were aired about 10 years ago. Pogo still airs some good ones, but not that interesting though.

Originally Posted by sbraj

These days, my son reminds me to say Thank you/Sorry even if I don't (he has picked up this habit from teachers who remind the kids if the kids forget).

Very right; My Son does the same; when he feels he did something good, he asks us to say Thanks for which we promptly tell him.
Try this - When you want to make him on top of the world, give him a shake hand & say Thanks multiple times for any of his actions that are good. That will provoke him to do good things. When he does something which is not good, simply ignore it (trust me, kids do some action & expect the instant feedback). If you ignore, most probably he might land up doing one or two more times only.

Originally Posted by sbraj

I too find this weird. But until the kid is old enough to understand and differentiate formal vs informal interactions, I think I should follow school's advice.

Why until old, why not for lifetime I would say? I say Thanks & Sorry even to my Wife & Mother (though my Mother doesn't retaliate). I insist my Wife does that for our children's betterment. Infact I'm seriously thinking of saying Hi to strangers in our campus, just like we see in US.

Originally Posted by s3va

Now i am more concerned about his riding habits !!!... I think its hightime I scout around for riding gears.

Thanks for the heads up; I'll keep this in mind before even my Son starts thinking about these.

[PAVAN KADAM]

If we are talking about TV and cartoons.

Cartoon Network is a strict NO-NO, its become too VIOLENT off-late.

My kid limits herself to watching only Chotta Bheem on Pogo, nothing else.

We always used to set the timer to 30 mins initially , but now, <30 mins or almost no TV , she voluntarily shuts the TV off and goes to her drawing book.

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by aargee

Why until old, why not for lifetime I would say? I say Thanks & Sorry even to my Wife & Mother (though my Mother doesn't retaliate). I insist my Wife does that for our children's betterment. Infact I'm seriously thinking of saying Hi to strangers in our campus, just like we see in US.

I got "looks" when i opened the door with a smile for a female coworker (from some other project, unknown to me), and kicks from a childhood friend whom i said sorry 3-4 times after accidentally brushing in mumbai rush. he had come to airport to receive me, I had just returned from US.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

Cartoon Network is a strict NO-NO, its become too VIOLENT off-late.

Couldn't agree more; where're the good old Popeye show? Chutti TV used to air Dora The Explorer which was simply superb, now they stopped. Pogo used to air Oswald, which again was great. Now all that has gone & replaced with crap Mr.Bean. Trust me Pavan, CN is far better than the other two what I mentioned. I'd downloaded 5 seasons of Dora The Explorer on my desktop & my Son watches them.

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

My kid limits herself to watching only Chotta Bheem on Pogo, nothing else.

Yes, Chota Bheema is little popular & watchable these days; Maruti mera dost is another one, but haven't found it much interesting yet.

Yesterday I went to a nearby school for my Son's playschool admission & they gave a shock that the admissions for the academic year was closed by Jan 2010 & will reopen admissions by Sep end. I now wonder what would happen for KG admissions, should I have approach last year end . Apple Kids International preschool was ready to provide admission, but they're a great day robbers.

[s3va]

cartoons, junk food are some of the things that we strictly monitor.

some of the cartoons i let my son watch are li'l krishna(i have bought the dvds now as they have stopped relaying), chota bheem(innocently there is violence in both these, but better than the western ones), maruti, gali gali sim sim, mr bean and the evergreen Tom & jerry.

Fortunately my son is not interested in the sci fi ones ! Even i hate them, probably thats the reason

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by s3va

cartoons, junk food are some of the things that we strictly monitor.

some of the cartoons i let my son watch are li'l krishna(i have bought the dvds now as they have stopped relaying), chota bheem(innocently there is violence in both these, but better than the western ones), maruti, gali gali sim sim, mr bean and the evergreen Tom & jerry.

Fortunately my son is not interested in the sci fi ones ! Even i hate them, probably thats the reason

The best we can do is, let them watch appropriate programs.

Even Tom & Jerry is a NO-NO. Lot of violence and extremely fast paced, kids get restless to see their real life being slow and steady.

Junk food....! Hmmm... Thats something we need to strictly monitor, usually we cultivate this habit out of happiness, once in a while is OK.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

I got "looks" when i opened the door with a smile for a female coworker (from some other project, unknown to me), and kicks from a childhood friend whom i said sorry 3-4 times after accidentally brushing in mumbai rush. he had come to airport to receive me, I had just returned from US.

Well, before starting this to ladies, I would say, start with all gents until women understands that "he's like that only". Then you may want to try. Oh!!! infact, I say "Hi" to everyone (again Mother doesn't respond back) when I get back home, be it from office or from wherever; again Son picked it up & says the same to his neighbourhood friends.

If we as parents stay away from junk food, children will develop the same habit. By the time they develop taste for it, we as parents should play a role to state the harmful side of it. But again, we only have a limited role as it becomes little awkward to control these things after certain stage.

[Deep Blue]

Cbeebies from the BBC is a very nice channel for kids. Lots of educative stuff.

[ghodlur]

My son is hooked to just one show on the idiot box i.e Ninja Hattori on Nick. Its this show he religiously watches and come 7 pm he plonks himself on the bean bag and does not bat an eyelid till the show ends at 8pm. I dont know from where he has developed this fascination for the character.
These days I try to get him outdoors more often from 5.30 pm to 7 pm, play with him in the playarea of our building. Got him a cycle (since most children of his age and bit older cycle around the building complex) and he's happy to follow others - a good way of exercising also. On alternate days its either Cricket or football or whatever games he's interested in. I make it a point to play with him for a few min - a good way for Dad-son bonding which I feel in very much essential in today's time. If not me, then he plays with my father who takes some time out his evening walk routine.

[aravindr]

Originally Posted by Deep Blue

Cbeebies from the BBC is a very nice channel for kids. Lots of educative stuff.

Yes, I do agree. My daughter 2.5 yr old watches just the two programs in Cbeebies (reverse of BBC) "In the night garden" and "Teletubbies" and food just goes in without her knowledge !! And most of the programs in this channel are very good and I have not seen much violence here.

[sbraj]

If your kid watches POGO channel, make sure that he/she does not watch Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean. This programme is classified as PG and often has content not advised for kids.

There was a particular program where Atkinson navigates the car with his feet while changing dress. My son saw this episode and now my son wants to try out this stunt in my car.

[Deep Blue]

Mr Bean should be banned. He teaches all sorts of pathetic mannerisms to children.

[s3va]

Originally Posted by sbraj

There was a particular program where Atkinson navigates the car with his feet while changing dress. My son saw this episode and now my son wants to try out this stunt in my car.

True. The cartoon version is better off.

Hey you guys should also try out PINGU, absolute clean fun cartoon. though it is not being aired these days, there are zillion donwloads available out there.

Sad, i dont get this CBBs ! I have the normal cable, does this come as part of the direct boxes ?

[aargee]

Originally Posted by sbraj

If your kid watches POGO channel, make sure that he/she does not watch Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean. This programme is classified as PG and often has content not advised for kids.

Agreed beyond questions!!! There're even worse scenes aired in Pogo than this episode.

Originally Posted by s3va

True. The cartoon version is better off.

Nope; both are almost the same, except that in cartoon its little mild.

There's one more good cartoon aired in CN - Stuart Little; its very good & always carries a good message at the end of the show by little Stuart

Now days I'm switching to PC than TV to get my Son watch the downloaded cartoons such as Dora or Nursery Rhymes.

[Guite]

While other kids his age group are into cartoons, my son have no such inclination. He watches whatever shows we watch:- science, reality (music/dance), cooking, soaps, etc. Watching Jackie Chan movies with him may not have been a very good idea afterall :-(

He likes noodles a lot. So I have a question: is Maggi considered junk food? Are there better alternatives?