At some point in your parenting journey, you will realize that you watch too many kid shows on TV. Not by choice, usually. But when you're home all day with the kids and trying to keep them occupied so you can work or clean or just get some much-needed quiet time, sometimes the TV is the only option. And it never fails - even though you put the show on for the kids, you end up watching it, too. Now, we don't mind a lot of kids shows, if we're being honest.
We're down with Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. We love us some sassy Peppa Pig. We'll sit and watch SEVERAL episodes of Sesame Street, if only to spot the celebrity guests. Generally speaking, there aren't many shows we can't tolerate for short periods of time. Except for one show, and one character. And many parents seem to share our disdain for the one, the only ... Caillou. There is just something about that kid that sets our hair on edge! Why do parents hate Caillou so much?! Let us count the ways.
Why do parents hate Caillou, you ask? First of all, that little dude is just ... SO WHINY.
We fully understand what it's like to have a whiny kid. Or be around a whiny kid. It's not the best! But we also, in most cases, the whining subsides when the mood improves/the kid eats/the kid sleeps. And we can deal with that. We can deal with fits and spurts of whining, just comes with the territory.
But Caillou? That kid LIVES whining. He wakes up whining, he goes through his days whining, he falls asleep whining. Even when he's happy, he's whining. We're not sure if it's his voice or the permanent pouty grimace, but just seeing his face on TV and hearing his voice make us want to hide in the bathroom.
On a purely technical level, the show is just terrible to look at.
We're not exactly animation snobs. Sure, our kids have grown up on Pixar and animation that looks real enough to reach out and touch. But we grew up on 2D, baby! Our cartoon characters weren't even fully dimensional.
HOWEVER, we cannot stomach the whole look of Caillou. Everything is so BASIC. Primary colors, simple shapes. Genuinely looks like it was animated by a child. And it's the same four colors over and over and over again. Even the house is primary colors! We're sure it probably has something to do with child development, but we hate it.
Caillou's parents are NOT THE BEST.
Listen, if Caillou was our kid, I'm sure we'd walk around pretending everything was hunky-dory too. At some point, you just don't to face the monster you've created. But like, can they even ATTEMPT to parent him?! Even once? One single time? Maybe a stern warning, or a time-out?
No, they just let him be his awful little self and smile at him like he's a precious gift. Not to mention, his parents are borderline negligent. At one point, Caillou gets chicken pox, which is fine and normal and not a big deal. But they didn't even do the bare minimum to keep his baby sister away from him, and lo and behold, guess who ALSO got chicken pox? Get a backbone, mom and dad, for crying out loud!
Caillou hate is one area where we're pretty sure all parents are on the same page.
Even professional athletes like Arian Foster know what's up. There's just no redeeming qualities to that kid. His sister is cool, but again, he goes out of his way to steal her spotlight and thunder and center the universe on himself, so it's not like we get to see a lot of her!
Caillou doesn't air on TV here, but your kids can definitely find it on YouTube and even PBS Kids, for some insane reason. The fact that they would air it next to our beloved Sesame Street is just wrong. And surely, if your kids see his little bald head on the thumbnail next to some of their other favorite shows, they're bound to click it at some point. And when they do, be prepared.
Be prepared for that annoying theme song (definitely not on our list of cartoon bops), be prepared for that narrator's voice, be prepared to watch that whiny little brat completely ruin every single episode of the show. And use it as a learning tool! A what-not-to-do lesson for kid and behavior, if you will. Caillou may be a terrible cartoon, but it makes for a pretty good cautionary tale.