She’s an only child, and we didn’t grow up in America, so she’s a bit naive on a lot of things. Her teacher advised us the other day that she’s such a sweet girl, but middle school could be brutal for her because of that. What are some wholesome shows I can watch with her that helps her get ready for the world?
EDIT:
This is an astounding collection of shows. Thank you so much! We’ve started watching Amphibia, and really enjoying it so far. I’ll add all these to the backlog. Thanks again!
Adventure Time.
The early seasons are pretty weird and random but as it goes on the characters and story get fleshed out with real depth and complexity and there is a heap of valuable characters, themes and life lessons in them for kids to absorb and for you to discuss with them.
I watched it as an adult and loved it!
So for the “watch together with my kid” part, this one is 💯
I’m not sure if that’s what you or the teacher meant, but I don’t agree with the thought that somebody is “a bit naive” because they didn’t grow up in the USA.
She actually grew up here, but my wife is a ‘bit’ conservative, and doesn’t want to expose our daughter to the ‘bad parts’ of the western culture. That’s fine, but too much of anything is not a good thing, and it’s causing our daughter to grow up sheltered. (for instance, Craig of the Creek used to be her favorite show a couple of years ago, but my wife found out it has some queer representation in it, and banned her from watching it. I have to pick my battles, so I can’t argue with her for every single thing). Her friends are already starting to make fun of her for how ‘ignorant’ she is on some topics. I’m in a tough spot, but trying to do the best with what cards I’ve been dealt.
I realize this probably won’t change anything given what you’ve said, but I felt compelled to reply.
I do not think banning something because it has queer representation or something similar is a good idea. I haven’t watched that show, so I cannot comment on it in particular, but if all it was doing was going “here are these queer people living normal lives like everyone else,” then there’s no real harm. All banning stuff like ylthat really does is cement in your child’s head that these people are weird and abnormal when she finds out they exist (especially if she asks your wife, it sounds like). Importantly, hiding stuff from your kids isn’t gonna stop them from learning about it, they’ll learn through alternate sources eventually.
Anecdotally, my conservative parents did something similar with my younger brother. They banned certain children’s networks on TV when he was growing because they didn’t like the content. Well, he eventually got unfettered access to YouTube and the internet as a whole and is now a fascist (self-described). Presumably the only reason he isn’t virulently anti-LGBTQ+ is because I am LGBTQ+. I, on the other hand, had to research practically everything myself because I felt like I had no one I could talk to given my parents’ views (especially given some of the horror stories on the internet). Note that I grew up when LGBTQ+ representation in children’s shows was pretty much nonexistent or super minor still.
Yeah I totally get your point. You’re preaching to the choir here. Funny thing is, even if my daughter comes across anything like that, she just assumes that’s normal. There’s a show she watched where a boy had two dads, and she never even asked me why there are two dads lol. My wife got into the YouTube deepend on many topics, so it’s pretty much impossible to change her mind about pretty much anything. Any time I try to go against her in any of the parenting choices, I immediately become a ‘bad dad’. At this point I’m smuggling contraband for my daughter.
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avatar: the last airbender
lots of good life lessons and one of the best finales of all time
We’ve already finished that one. Awesome show!
Another vote for Gravity Falls.
The Owl House: it deals with a teenage girl who gets stuck in a world of magic, and explores being an outcast, found family, LGBTQ+ relationships, bullying, and underdogs who save the day. Devastated that Season 3 didn’t get to get fleshed out, but the creators did the best with the constraints the network placed on them. Super wholesome, 10/10 no notes.
Honourable shout out to Gravity Falls as well!
Less wholesome but still great:
Carmen Sandiego (2019): it is centred around an antihero who escapes the clutches of a criminal empire and uses their teachings to take them down. It involves geography, sensitivity of cultural norms and how they differ, found family, and drawing the distinction between intent and action to determine when it’s justifiable to do things that are viewed negatively but for the right reasons. Lots of flawed characters, but nonetheless rather unique in that sense.
Loved the owl house seasons one and two! (I haven’t watched season three though.)
Another vote for Gravity Falls. Excellent lessons, protagonists are slightly older than her, will still keep you entertained, very wholesome. I haven’t seen Owl House, but I’ve heard it is somewhat of a spiritual successor so if you like that, this should be right up your alley. And only 2 seasons!
I’m gonna suggest Owl House as a must see pick. The entire run is just so good, and hits all the right buttons for a cross generation watching. I watched it with my kid, originally reluctantly, and eventually came to love it myself.
I’d also suggest Monster High. While it leans a little bland in terms of messaging and characters, it makes up for it by being visually fun and easy to watch in random sessions since there’s very little mandatory order to watch things in. Depending on how you view such things though, there’s the goodbad fact of there being dolls and toys linked to it.
But both have a reliable foundation of accepting people as they are, being kind, and treating others well. There’s good conflict resolution moments, good affirmations on finding one’s authentic self, etc. I’d err on the side of Owl House being the better of the two, but monster high sometimes hits a little better for some kids
Avatar the last air bender. Not exactly what you are asking for, but an amazing show for all ages that has deep meaningful lessons about life.
Bob’s Burgers could be good, but much of the focus is on siblings. There is a lesson to be learned though:
There WILL be hard times, socially, at that age, but the kids in the show don’t seem to let it change them.
We’re on the last 2 episodes of The Good Place with our 10 year old daughter. She loves it.
We like Hilda
Quantum Leap is a good one from the late 80s/90s
He travels through time and experiences the lives of many different people. Every episode has a pretty good life lesson about the worth of ones life and the importance of treating others well. It also shows the ugly side of society.
A fair warning though, the sidekick in the show is always making remarks about women’s looks (product of the time I suppose) but the protagonist most of the time disapproves of what he says. That being said, I expect that those comments would go over the head of a 10 year old.
Hey Arnold! It’s a little older but wonderful to watch and subtley shows some serious issues (one character’s mom is pretty obviously an alcoholic, even if you never see her actually drinking, but it’s not too blatant for naive minds)
Also, Pepper Ann is criminally underrated. It never gets particularly serious or anything, but it’s a good coming of age show with a pretty relatable female main character. One thing that’s stuck out for me is that pretty much anyone would think she’s a pretty cool girl they’d want to be friends with, but she feels hella awkward around most people. Good way to bring up that you may feel a bit awkward, but sometimes you need to fake a little confidence and others may take it better than you’d think
Craig of the Creek- All the neighborhood kids hang out by the creek and have adventures.
Steven Universe- A sweet show that that deals with heavy topics but not ina heavy way.
Anphibia- A girl ends up in a world of frog people and has to figure out how to get back home.
Phineas and Ferb
Great show so much fun.
