Bad Parenting Lessons from Curious George

benlreed —  August 9, 2011 — 12 Comments

Ever read a book from the series, Curious George?

image via Zap 2 It

I’ve got a 2 year old son, and we read a lot to him. Curious George is one of those books he likes. “Monkey book!” he says.

And I’m a critic. I read and listen to things with a critical eye. Sometimes, that’s really helpful. But many times, it’s just annoying.   I wish I could just read and flip that little switch off in my brain…because I’m sure that the author producer wasn’t trying to communicate the strange things that are now running through my head about his book…but I can’t help myself.

Curious George is a great children’s series…but when I read it, here’s what I see.

5 Bad Parenting Lessons from Curious George

  • Don’t worry about listening to your Dad. Everything will be okay. Even if you do what he would never want you to do, within 20 minutes, he’ll be laughing with you.
  • Don’t worry about listening to your Dad.  You’ll have more fun that way.  Especially if ice cream is involved.  And at the end of the day, the disaster you caused means everybody wins…except the ice cream shop.
  • Don’t worry about listening to your Dad. In the end, it doesn’t matter. Everybody will love you more.  The more trouble you cause, the more people will end up liking you.  Ignore the rules!
  • Don’t worry about listening to your Dad.  You won’t ever get punished. (The man in the yellow hat never dolls out any consequences).  That chocolate factory that you nearly destroyed…ahh…don’t worry about it, little guy!  Just laugh about them losing thousands of dollars of chocolate!
  • Your poor decisions don’t ever cause any real trouble. You may wreck the local library, let all of the animals out of the zoo, and ruin everything of value in your friend’s new restaurant, but just give it a few minutes…everything will be even better because of your mischief.  In fact, thank you for your bad decisions.

Question:

Ever read Curious George?  Am I the only one who sees these things?

 

 

Share and Enjoy

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • LinkedIn
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • RSS
In Parenting , ,
permalink

benlreed

Posts Twitter Facebook

Christ follower, husband, father, writer, pastor of small groups at Long Hollow Baptist Church. Communications director for the Small Group Network.
  • Beau

    I have those same feelings about Where the Wild Things Are. I used to love that book growing up, but now that I’m a dad, it is such a bad message.

  • http://scottdwinter.com Scott D. Winter

    When my kids were little, I felt that way about the Disney movie “The Little Mermaid” – disobey your father and still get what you want in the end. There may be some scary moments along the way, but no real consequences.

    I also feel that way about the teen shows on the Disney channel. Teens acting (and sometimes living) like adults, with no adult supervision. Most adults are portrayed as bumbling idiots at worst, a nuisance to the kids as best.

    I’m not bashing Disney, per se. “Harry Potter” is similar – break the rules by taking matters into your own hands (i.e. – ignore the adults), but as long as you are being a hero it’s okay.

    Subtle, but disturbing, messages in my opinion.

  • Sue

    What runs through my mind is that being curious gets you in trouble, and I don’t agree with that. Yes the trouble is always laughed off or flipped into something good in the end but I have an issue with the trouble being a part of it at all. The disobeying part is less of an issue for me because in real life you can make sure this is not how you react to disobeying. Thanks for bringing this up, I got here because I was curious if I was the only one thinking “hmm, there is something up with the messages in these books”. Cheers.

    • http://www.benreed.net Ben Reed

      Thanks for chiming in, Sue!

    • fjdklsa

      It’s not really curiosity that is George’s problem, it’s lack of self control.

  • Chris

    Really?   Maybe you should think about lightning up a little….teach your kid right from wrong and they wont wind up acting like a monkey….

    • http://www.benreed.net Ben Reed

      Hey Chris,
      Thanks for jumping in the comments. 

      I actually see myself as a pretty laid back parent. I was just pointing out a few things that you could deduce from Curious George. I also wrote a follow-up post where I laid out 5 great jewels of wisdom we can learn from Curious George.  You can check it out here: http://www.benreed.net/index.php/2011/08/10/5-leadership-lessons-curious-george-teaches-us/

  • Chris

    here is another lesson: LOVE YOUR CHILD UNCONDITIONALLY…I think thats pretty much what the man in the yellow hat does

    • http://www.benreed.net Ben Reed

      That’s a fantastic lesson…one that I’m trying to put into action each and every day!

    • jop

      If you believe loving unconditionally means encouraging bad choices and not punishing being bad, then I hope you rethink your parenting…

  • Jefftj86

    I am a dad of two and i totally agree with this, I hate curious George, but you can’t ever win, it just gets worse from here.

  • Guest

    I agree… any good books to suggest for a two year old instead?