nightmare on sesame street

Eddie doesn't watch tv. The tv is really only on during the weekends when Daddy is around and we limit the intake to sports, often changing back over to our xmradio music station when the commercials get going. But since it is the 40th anniversary, and since it was such a major part of my own childhood, I decided to let Eddie watch a bit of Sesame Street yesterday. I turned it on while he was still in his high chair, finishing up breakfast. The first skit was a take on 'High School Musical' - a bunch of muppets singing 'Pre-School Musical' and the sight of all these creatures bobbing up and down and squealing in high-pitched tones literally made Eddie cry. The next skit was with this new character whose name I think is Murray - a big red floppy hyper thing that interacts with people on the street. I have to say that the whole skit made my own head spin. It felt like the producers were on crack or heavy doses of caffeine. The pace was just so fast, so loud, so in-your-face. It made me realize that this is what our society, in particular, our youth, are all about - fast-paced hyperness. Scary. Luckily the next skit was with Bert & Ernie and had a familiar banter and slow, yet up-beat tune. Eddie was memorized and a few times pointed at the screen saying his noise of the moment: "kkkkk." But again as it switched into high-gear with Elmo's World, he started to whine and was then relived as I changed the channel back to classical music. Ahhh. Then he went back to Eddie's World and played with his toys on the door mat, rubbing his feet along its rigid surfaces. He is very tactile, very hands-on, and I so I think the overload of visual stimuli is something he is not ready for. And me either. I guess I am a classicist - Sesame Street to me is the dopey, friendly waddle of Big Bird, the humorous funk of Oscar the Grouch and soothing sounds like 'C' is for Cookie and 'Rubber Duckie.' Today's viewing was more reminiscent of a video game or thriller movie, in terms of its pace and cantor. It undoubtedly disturbed Eddie because I put him down for a nap shortly thereafter and what should have been a nice solid 2 hr. sleep was instead a quick 20 minutes that culminated with full-blown screaming, which is not usually the way he wakes up. I thought maybe he hurt himself up there. Nope, he was fine. He must have just had a nightmare on sesame street.