Backyardigans

Nolan's favorite show is Backyardigans. The rest of us rather enjoy watching it too. The songs are cute and the characters don't talk to you like you are an idiot. Nick Jr. has been airing Backyardigans at 8 p.m., which is perfect. It ends at 8:25, Nolan turns the TV off, and the boys go to bed.

Clearly, no one explained to the programming geniuses at Nick Jr. how important routines are to preschoolers. A few weeks ago, they moved Backyardigans to 7 p.m. This was very tragic. The boys are rarely inside at 7:00. I certainly am not going to call them inside to turn the television on. Nolan was struggling with bedtime, since his show was gone. His routine was in shambles.

So I DVR'd every episode for a few weeks. Now we have about 20 episodes on the DVR. Genius. How did we ever live without that gadget? So, whenever Nolan asks, I can turn on an episode of Backyardigans. He can even pick which episode he wants to watch.

He's still confused, though. The other night, he was watching an episode while his big brothers were at a carillon concert with Daddy. The show ended and Nolan wandered down the hall. All he said was, "But Mama, I don't want to take a nap yet." ('Take a nap' means bedtime in Nolan's language). I was puzzled. It wasn't bedtime, and I hadn't mentioned anything about sending him there. Then I realized...the episode was over. In his mind, it was bedtime. I laughed and turned on another episode for him. He thought it was a special privilege.