Parenting is no child’s play. Trying to provide your children with a balanced life that serves as a foundation for the lives they want to live is an ongoing task as well as a major responsibility. When I was growing up, factors like ‘screen time’ just weren’t an issue and the risk of our children being exposed to video programming that contained sex, violence and other inappropriate content wasn’t that high. I still remember how even seeing two people kissing and the suggestion of more was often as far as it went on telly.
While studios like Warner Bros and Walt Disney delved into programming for kids, with films like Pinnochio, The Jungle Book, The Aristocrats and the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, there wasn’t as much programming for children as there is today. The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie still holds a special place in my heart; I probably wore out two Betamax videocassettes of the ‘movie’, which was a compilation of cartoon shorts with Bugs Bunny serving as ‘host’. I still have a copy.
The world of children’s films, particularly animated ones, has grown exponentially over the last decade or so with studios such as Pixar Animation Studios (which became a full Walt Disney Animation Studios subsidiary in 2009) leading the way. The beauty of animated films today is that they have something for everyone, from children to adults, which makes children’s obsessive viewing habits slightly easier to bare. I have probably watched Frozen, Madagascar, The Toy Story series, The Incredibles and many others a good 50-100 times. But, they make for good bonding with my children in the evenings and on weekends because of the lessons interwoven in the stories.
Let It Go:
It’s funny how some distance
Makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me
Can’t get to me at all
It’s time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me I’m free!
Let it go, let it go
I am one with the wind and sky
Let it go, let it go
You’ll never see me cry!
Here I stand
And here I’ll stay
Let the storm rage on!
My power flurries through the air into the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallises like an icy blast
I’m never going back
The past is in the past!
Now, with the holiday season upon us, parents across the country are trying to figure out how to keep their children entertained. We work to use the time to spend together, doing different things, including watching movies. And for the season, M-Net is running the M-Net Animania Festival, on M-Net Movies Family (Channel 105). They will be playing various animation films, such as Big Hero 6, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the Shrek series, the Toy Story series, Up, Penguins of Madagascar and Finding Nemo.
To get the full programme, check the micro site M-Net Animania Festival. There’s also a Dubsmash competition running on the site where you can win one of 40 R1000 Takealot vouchers – for Christmas presents. Dubsmash is a ‘selfie video messaging app’ that enables you record yourself lip-syncing everything from songs to popular quotes and uploading on social media. Something fun to do with your children, especially if they are like mine, who sing along to everything.
I’m definitely looking forward to family time in front of the telly with the little Baffoes. Fortunately they are extremely active, to the point where it can be a mission to get them to settle down and chill, which they’ll do for a good movie. Plus, once they’ve found their spot on the couch – I have two arms – the bickering stops.