That's Life... Kiddies Shows

Just the other day I happened to watch one of those Sri Lankan kiddies' shows. I say one of them because I assume there are many others, but it could be that this was the only such programme in the country.

I suppose it started out well. You know, nice studio with toys and balloons all over the place and all. The host kiddy announced that there are quite a number of songs, dances, recitals and instrumentals on the agenda. It all sounded quite nice, so I thought I'd give the show a try. And boy was I surprised.

It was unlike any other kids' show I've ever seen. Poetry recitals were probably the only thing which came even remotely close to living up to the idea of a kiddies' show.

I mean, there they were, girls and boys, and they had all chosen to dance and sing-a-long (at the same time, mind you) to well... to not-so-kiddish songs. They weren't dirty songs or anything, but it was not a very pleasant sight to watch little girls doing the whole Britney Spears act in Britney Spears clothing. I hope you get the picture of what I'm trying to explain to you. You know, the hey-I'm-in-my-twenties outfit and the whole shake 'em dance? Yep, that is what I mean.

At an age when even violent elements in age old Mother Goose nursery rhymes are denounced, this sort of kiddies' shows really seem a bit over-the-limit for well... kiddies.

There are parents who actively keep their offspring from "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie" and "they all ran after the farmer's wife, who cut off their tails with a carving knife", and I find it very disturbing that there are parents who don't really mind their little children singing "Hit Me Baby One More Time" and other songs with the gist of 'You cheated on me/I don't like you now/I don't really want to do it, but ciao!'

And sometimes some kids can't carry off the songs they have chosen for themselves. Maybe they really like the songs they have chosen, but it appears that their voices are more suited for different songs.

Maybe some of these kids sing alto in their school choirs. For example, Daddy-Boy loves to sing hymns, but he won't be the first person to be invited to sings the descant for 'Once in Royal' when we sing carols in church for Christmas.

It could be that I'm totally out of touch with this whole kiddies thing. Maybe it was only I was a kid when ten-year-olds sang songs meant for ten-year-olds in dresses with Peter Pan collars and borichchi sleeves. Maybe somewhere along the line when I was too busy to notice they decided at a mass parents meeting that since no one really owns up to saying that children should be children, they might as well get rid of the whole idea, and why should children be children anyway? They are all going to grow up, right?

So, you really must excuse me if I'm not quite right in saying that all kiddies' shows should follow in the footsteps of 'Sesame Street' and 'Barney and Friends' and suchlike. You see, I missed that parents meeting.