Having worked in a preschool for most of my youth and early adulthood, let’s just say I have strong opinions about certain aspects of childrearing. One of the things I formed an opinion about alomst immediately was the big purple dinosaur. Yup, you know who I mean.
From the first time I saw the purple menace and watched his show there was no doubt about how I felt. I was scared. There might be some redeeming qualities and good lessons involved in the show. But could anyone like something that fake, low-budget, and cheesy? (oops, this coming from the woman who likes B-movies. ok bad argument). The clincher for me though was the midgets in costume. I don’t have anything agianst midget actors. I loved the movie Willow. But for a children’s show? Perhaps in my head there is an associational chain that begins with cheesy kid’s shows like Captain Kangaroo, which reminds me that the show’s star was convicted of child pornography. Introduce another cheesy show with midgets and a purple dinosaur and it just seems to reek of a porn plot. Suffice to say that for me, it was just too disturbing.
I suppose the true demonstration of my feelings toward Barney came in highschool. I had a long standing joke with a friend of mine. Whenever I asked her what she wanted for her birthday she would come up with a list of goofy or impossible tasks for me. For her 18th birthday the list consisted of things like a trip around the world in 90 seconds, and U2’s Bono ( the love of her life) on a platter. She had also worked at the same preschool I did that summer, so that same year she also asked that I kill Barney. I happily obliged. I found an 18-inch plush toy and proceeded to suffocate, hang, and stab him through the heart with a kitchen knife. Then I brought the corpse to school on her birthday. Needless to say she loved it.
Fast forward 12 years and here I am, wrapped in a towel, getting ready for work, and listening to my sweet litle daughter sing the Barney theme song. We’ve never watched the purple one that much for obvious reasons (i.e. keeping my sanity in tact), but that doesn’t mean that hte songs and images are not etched into my daughter’s brain. Another mom and friend of mine calls it Purple Crack because her kids just can’t seem to get enough of it.
But there is something sweet and charming about my girl looking at me and singing “I love you. You love me. We’re best friends and family. With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you. Won’t you say I love you too.” Perhaps it’s a blessing that she gets the words wrong because the sentiment behind it is so sincere and so loving that, even though it makes me cringe coming from a purple dinosaur, when my daughter sings it I can’t help but smile.
We have a deal though. She can only sing it twice and then she has to be done for awhile. Because even coming form my baby girl, by the 20th rendition my shoulders are up in my ears and I’m reaching for the kitchen knife. 🙂
Duck Duck Moose 