There’s a Party In My Tummy
I figured I'd better request a guest post from Sarah James immediately because she'll be taking over the world any second now. The woman is everywhere -- a personal blog, a hair blog, a parentish blog, and I think she was recently named Time Magazine's hairstyle podcaster video person of the year. Soon she'll be too famous and important for the rest of us down here in the gutter, so enjoy her while you can.
There's a Party In My Tummy
by Sarah James
Am I the only parent who experiences a total meltdown when his or her child doesn't nap?
(Um, I'm not referring to the children.)
You see, people, I NEED that time to decompress. To be alone with my thoughts, to return emails, maybe write a guest post for Danny or just eat a six bowls of Peanut Butter Crunch. If I don't get that time, well, it's just death and destruction all over the place.
Now, I have a pretty good napper, so this isn't a huge issue, but yesterday was so wrong. Picture this. You are driving home from errands/a playdate/whatever, and you're just on the brink of naptime. You look into the rearview mirror and see your toddler nodding off, and the fear sets in. You know that if your toddler falls asleep, he's going to wake up when you pull up to the house and assume that the 8-minute snooze in the car was his nap for the day, leaving you to deal with him for 7 hours straight.
This was not going to happen. I cranked up his kiddie music CD while singing some horrid, sugary-sweet Jumping Josie song at the top of my lungs while tickling his leg.
"Isn't this fun, sweetie?! Jump along, Josie! Tickle, tickle, tickle!"
*eyes half mast*
"No! Don't sleep, precious! We're having SO MUCH FUN! We're so close to home! You can sleep in your crib in like, 10 minutes! The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round..."
*drifting off to dreamland*
"Big boys don't sleep in the car, RIGHT? Are you a big boy? ARE YOU A BIG BOY? IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT CLAP YOUR HANDS, GOD DAMNIT!"
*totally asleep*
And what do you know? When we pulled up to the house 8 minutes later, his precious little eyes sprung open like a little bear cub coming out of hibernation at the first sign of spring.
"Park, mommy? Park? Walk and run outside? Helicopter up in the sky? Kick the ball? Outside? OUTSIDE? OUTSIDE, MOMMY? OUTSIIIIIIDDDDDE!"
And so it goes.
Eating Peanut Butter Crunch while staring off into space just wasn't in the cards yesterday. I played with Wito from noon to 5pm, when I suddenly noticed him drifting off into space. He was approaching his limit - the lack of nap was catching up with him.
Like HELL if you think I was going to let him fall asleep at 5pm and screw up his bedtime/my evening. This time I meant business. No silly songs, no nursery rhymes. It was time to turn on Noggin and let him marvel at the elusive television of which his viewing time is so limited.
I turned on the television and this is what we witnessed.
Holy shitballs.
Now, please feel free to mock me. We don't watch a lot of television over here, so this show might be old news, but OH MY GOD, it is fascinating. FASCINATING, I TELL YOU.
Fresh beats? Crying carrots? What exactly IS that overly enthusiastic purple liquid? "We're sad! We want to go to the party in your tummy!" Am I over-analyzing? Dude, the show is BRILLIANT.
Needless to say, Yo Gabba Gabba kept Wito and I completely captivated until dinner (which was So Yummy! So Yummy!), followed by his prompt bedtime.
And the world was right again. Thanks, Yo Gabba Gabba.
I do remember those days. But, I confess that at five pm, if I put said child in front of the tv and he fell asleep...I put him to bed, no supper, clothes and all. He always slept through. Of course, I never did win Mother of the Year because, oh dear me- I let him go to bed hungry!! But I got my shower and wine in without feeling that my last marble was falling down the steps one clink at a time.
I was home with a sick toddler and was getting sick myself. In the midst of my fever, I finally turned on Noggin to give her something else to look at other than Mommy's half-death pallor. Then Yo Gabba Gabba came on.
I thought it was a hallucination brought on by my fever. I was wrong.
I'm still scared.
My kids are 11 and 9 now, but I remember how important that nap was! I used to take my girls to a kiddie music class. We'd play instruments, sing, do hand motions, dance, have play time and a snack. Then it was time for the 30-minute drive home. I would bring juice for them to drink. I would sing ridiculous kid songs, turning the volume on the CD player way up. I would reach behind me and grab their feet - anything to keep them awake in the car. PLEASE don't take that nap now! Pretty please? I can't take hours of crabby tot until Daddy gets home to relieve me! Mommy needs a break! On the days where the 10 minutes in the car seat was the entire nap, I relied heavily on Teletubbies (are they even on anymore?) Luckily for me (unluckily?) there was no Yo Gabba Gabba to fill the gaps and get stuck in my head all day.
Children's television scares me.
OMG! Yo Gabba Gabba is brilliant! Do you think the whole party in my tummy thing will actually get a kid to eat anything? I am so glad I never had to deal with toddlers...
My wife and I took our toddler daughter across town to a park once where they had live kids' concerts at a bandshell. It was around seven and as we drove she started to nod off. We panicked just like you. Kept shouting loud things. Kept tapping her on the foot enthusiastically. How much fun she would soon have. She would crankily awake momentarily, then her head would drop again. We were so intense, trying to keep her awake till we could park, it was like that scene where Gene Hackman speeds, grim-faced, in "The French Connection," except with Elmo and Goldfish crackers on the back seat. (We all enjoyed the concert).
Clearly I've been away from the infants/toddlers for far too long. I took that whole "party in my tummy" to a bad bad place. So yummy....
Used to HATE IT when the kids would nap before their designated, actual naptime.
Now they don't nap at all, so I don't have to worry about it. But I do miss that afternoon quiet time.
I'm glad that more and more people are catching on to Yo Gabba Gabba. My son loves this show and we would die if it got cancelled. We have every episode recorded and we have seen each on a million times. We need news fast.
Wow. After seeing this video, I think my unborn daughter is now scarred for the rest of her life. Or maybe she just refuses to be born because, where in the real world, can you party with green beans and cheese?
What happened to Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, Jetsons, and Flinstones! Childrens TV certainly scares me...although it is probably a bit more educational than watching a mouse outsmart a cat day after day! Great post!
OK, so it has only been a couple years since I stayed at home with my kids and had to endure thru those kids show. Well I remember a commercial that was about a kid chosing the correct foods that had the song - "There's a party in my tummy, so yummy!!" I used to sing it with my kids. It does work!!!
I melt down totally. TOTALLY. And seeing as my daughter has resisted naps since she was about, oh, 2 days old, I've been melting down pretty frequently for over two years now.
Re: Yo Gabba Gabba - hellz yeah. Makes one nostalgic for drugs. (Which, come to think of it: missed-nap-induced meltdowns make me nostalgic for heavy drinking. I could become Amy Winehouse reeeal easily.)
A) If my kid doesn't take a nap I pretty much want to kill myself. Since moving to the suburbs that scene in the car is all too familiar.
B) Holy Crap. Willa doesn't watch TV, so I had no idea that there were such wacky kids shows. I only wish that show had been around when I was younger and smoking massive amounts of weed.
This one came out a bit too late for Declan to be obsessed with it. But I bet I could still get him hooked if I tried.
I was totally gonna skip the kid-vid. The I saw it. The magic phrase. "Holy shitballs." Thank you for sharing my new favorite phrase and the obviously-acid-induced kiddie entertainment. Lewis Carroll got no mad beats like dat.
The music is fun, it definitely works, but then there's that terrifying huge muppet and the food with faces, which should cancel the music out, but it doesn't. Yay for the power of music!! I wonder if this show will be as horrifying in 30 years as the banana split show is now?
Yo Gabba Gabba, loved by toddlers and stoners a like.
oh man, I'm so glad I'm not the only one who freaks out when the kid starts to fall asleep in the car right before nap time! I have been known to BLAST the radio and dance and sing and do ANYTHING to keep her awake. Usually with a big, giant FAIL, but I try my best.
Kids shows on tv are just freaky. Whatever happened to Sesame Street?
oh man...isabella watches that song on youtube. all the livelong day. she LOVES it. she even agreed to get rid of her pacis if we would send them to Elijah Wood (who sings another yo gabba gabbs song...noma noma...look it up. you won't be sorry) in exchange for a gift in return. worked like a charm. we are paci free!
When I saw the title of this post, I immediately thought of a HILARIOUS Jim Breuer stand up sketch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4sfJr10wFs&feature=related
Yo Gabba Gabba is all sorts of crazy! We watched one with the kids where the "talent" portion was a guy making fart noises with his hands. Matthew and I were laughing so hard there were tears involved.
umm..a monster eating talking food is enough to give ME nightmares.
By the way, we all know what happens next to those loveable morsels of vocal cuisine....'There's a party in my colon..A party in my colon... YEAAAAUUUUUUHHH!"
Holy crap, that's a brilliant show! I literally "raised the roof" for the carrots , YAAAAAAH. Plus it made my baby dance around in utero. Now THAT, I don't mind plopping my kid in front of the TV for. It's nice to know a lot of these shows keep in mind the adults who'll be watching this stuff with their kiddos.
My 20 month old daughter loves Yo Gabba Gabba. I think it's quite creepy. I prefer shows such as Blue's Clues and Wonder Pets myself :)
Holy Shitballs... after watching that my four year old has proclaimed all food off limits! I think he needs a therapist now. THIS is why he doesn't watch TV... LOL
Yo Gabba Gabba weirds me out. Kinda like the Tele Tubbies used to when my older child was a toddler.
I love Noggin channel and sometimes (ssshhhh, this a secret) I tape episodes of Little Bill and the Upsidedown Show and watch when the kids are in bed.
Napping is a gift. That eventually is returned to Target - like everything else.
Yo Gabba Gabba! is my second favorite kids show of all time - Lazy Town being my first. Yeah. I'm 33. I have no kids of my own. I've never smoked an illicit substance in my life. I'm just childish.
this show has so much indie cred that it's ridiculous, and I will cry if this show gets cancelled before it's done.
I giggle at the end of every show when DJ Lance Rock says, "Can you help me? Can we daaaannce?"
I'm frightened. What the HELL was that??
What the hell was that? I really wish I hadn't watched that. A lot of children's programming today is just strange. What happened to all the good stuff? LOL. Gummy Bears. Tail Spin. SMURFS and SCOOBY DOO!! Eureka's Castle even!
Dude? Yo Gabba Gabba is WEIRD. I've only seen it once. And there was this weird, minor-chord sounding musical number... IT'S OKAY TO WINNN... IT'S OKAY TO LOOOSE... SOMETIMES YOU WINNNN.... SOMETIMES YOU LOOOSE.... LOOOOSE LOSE! LOSE! LOSE! Super scary. I turned it off because it felt like I was being brainwashed or something? Besides, everybody knows losing totally sucks. What are we teaching our children?!?!
And to all my old-school peeps, they still play Smurfs and Flintstones and shit on the Boomerang channel. Which-BONUS-has no commercials. Double BONUS... they don't sell a bunch of BS merchandise for Smurfs and Flintstones anymore, so your kid can't ask for a Smurf karaoke thingy that they saw on the commercial that... wasn't on... whatever.
OH, and forgot to add, that the happy partying food in the stomach? Reminded me of this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZAcN_fZTjI
Holy shitballs (my new saying for today, going to use it in my next meeting).
I feel like a dork now... I guess I'm the only one who has driven around the block 20 times to get that extra few minutes in while they slept in the backseat or stopped at Sonic and had myself a root beer float in silence while they drooled on the seat.
I must have the nap, too. For mama's sanity. Generally, if the kids don't nap, mama either has a melt down or needs a time out.
As to the Party in my Tummy, we use that song all the time, only it's not "party" it's "poopie" and it's not "Tummy" it's "Potty."
I thought I was the only one who thought this way--my son is napping right now and I am petrified that he will hear the keys clicking and wake up ...
Even when exclaiming, "it's like being on acid" to my 3-year-old, she doesn't seem interested in the show.
OMG - Yo Gabba Gabba is the product of someone's woebegone acid trip. Don't you think the giant red one looks like a sex toy? I mean come on - it even has ONE EYE. I can't even watch it!
And BTW - I have the same psychosis when driving home close to nap time - suddenly everything out the window has outlandish importance - LOOK at the giant TREE - TRACTOR - CAR - BUG - whatever!
Is that the one where Elijah Wood teaches the dance? Man, if he wasn't a certifiable hobbit from the LOTR he sure was around all that technicolor fur.
The only reason I have heard of Yo Gabba Gabba is because this past year on The Soup, (my t.v. boyfriend) Joel McHale featured it weekly, and even brought one of the little acid-induced kiddos on the show to dance one of his acid-induced jigs. Perhaps needless to say it was AWESOME.
I clicked on the vid and the first thing my 6 year old asked is if I was watching Yo Gabba Gabba. We don't get Noggin; now THAT'S scary. I can't wait for next week's episode "There's a Party in my Colon".
YGG still weirds me out a bit....DJ Lance is a little freaky and have you seen him dance???! Oh and one of the characters reminds me of some kind of sexual aid......am I the only one that feels that way? DD loves it though and I have been known to do a rousing round of Party in my Tummy at suppertime. Party on YGG!
We LOVE Yo Gabba Gabba at my house! My 14 month old son screams with excitement when he sees DJ Lance Rock's orange hat come on. I like it because I get off the couch and dance around to it and entertain my son. I know that it freaks lots of people out, but it's so much fun (to us)!
Yo Gabba Gabba.. just another reason weed should be legalized.
I'm totally on board with Yo Gabba Gabba...(I have a 4 and 5 year old and I'm in my early 40s and all I can think is H.R. Puffinstuff when I see this show!)
Given my age, the lead singer from DEVO is the guy who draws stuff on the show (Mark Mothersbaugh). That gives it the "new wave" or maybe "punk" credibility. As a previous poster said, Elijah Wood is on doing a "dancy-dance" and I believe that a singer with some popular songs out now - Sean Kingston - is also on (I sound like an old woman). My point is, it hits all the age groups...
That said, if I hear the "Party in my Tummy" song one more time I might punch someone.
Thanks for the great post Sarah!
Hello!! The purple magic liquid? Its the Purple Passion mommy had lying around to help her cope with children who skip naps.
We don't watch kid TV either, tempting though it is. Man, I had no idea it was that hypnotically messed up. I could watch that over and over again-- it fascinates and entertains me on so many levels
The first time I saw this on Nickelodeon, I stared at it.... then I called my husband in to see it. "Do you think this is a real show? Or one of those shows making fun of a show? Or one of those shows making up a show, to make it look like they're making fun of a show?" We continued to watch, mouth agape, until we noticed our toddler standing in front of us, between us and the TV, doing a funky dance. I think the show was about some robot brushing his teeth. It seemed so wierd... yet enthralling... yet peculiar. Did I just teleport myself back to 1975? Would Electric Company be coming on next??? The only other TV show that even compares to this one is Boo Bah. Have you seen it? The characters are big colorful hairy blobs. The only thing I can think of to say about them, is that they fart. And enjoy it. And communicate through the sound of farts. It is on PBS and made by the same people who do Teletubbies. If you can check it out, do. Maybe get lit first.
I think the only way I could watch that clip again was if some vodka joined "the party in my my tummy, so yummy! so yummy!"
And I have a 4 year old. I've almost killed myself trying to turn that show off more than once..."Here you go, sweetie, here's some nice bootlegged German porn. Watch this instead."
Great guest post! Good idea to scoop up some Whoorlness before she takes over the world!
I really like the look of your blog, haven't been here before, but I think I'll come back!
That video scares me.
What have we been missing out on? Having only watched the same Curious George episode 592 times, I may try to liven things up one of these days. I however fear that this will scare the living shit out of my fairly sensitive kid.
This song was stuck in my head before I read this post...as it was on Noggin I believe tonight sometime...now it's stuck for sure!
My son loves Yo Gabba Gabba. I know, I know, TV is baaaad and all that...but he's autistic, and it seems like the goofy LSD-induced shows are the ones that really draw him out.
Like a commenter above, I've totally driven around and/or sat in the car and read to take advantage of a 'car nap'.
My wife produced the UK version of the show - we bloomin' love it :-)
Our son still won't eat anything mind....
Just catching up on the guest posts...
I have teenagers and no cable, so I've only heard of this Yo Gabba Gabba business, never seen it. Thanks for the window into a different world.
I totally agree! Yo Gabba Gabba is totally awesome. I have a 10 month old that loves it. My parents are the ones who told me that she liked it. Of course when I sat down and watched it for myself, I didn't know what to think! Now it is a must in my home. If my daughter don't get her daily dose, she will cry all day!
That Gene Hackman reference in the French Connection is hysterical! FUNNY! I totally remember the panic and fear...DON'T FALL ASLEEP NOW!