All things Peppa...

Now, since my last blog I have been away for a few days with the wife to recharge the old batteries. To make it even better, the whole time away was KID FREE!!
I can't tell you how much I missed the boys but it felt pretty damn good to be able to march to the beat of my own drum again.

Anywho, whilst away I was having a serious think,whilst supping on various alcoholic beverages , about what sort of things to write about in my next blog. I knew that the theme was going to be that darn Peppa Pig but I really had no idea what content was going to be in it. If, like me, you have to put Peppa on TV morning,noon and night then you may spot some glaring omissions from this post.  Don't panic though, i'm sure i'll be ranting again about PP very soon.

Onto the main topic of this weeks blog;

Where to begin? Before having children I can honestly say I had never even heard of Peppa Pig. Why would I? I never watched children's television, never ventured down the toy section of a supermarket and SKY+ had saved me from a lifetime of adverts.

So you can imagine my naivety when Rupert was around six months old and Peppa Pig was turned on in our household for the first time. At that time I was all up for sitting down with my son and watching this little innocent cartoon about a small pig turned girl, her pig family and all her interspecies friends. Looking back now, I refer to this day as 'The beginning of the end.'

Over the coming months, my initial optimism for P-Pig wained and I soon found myself struck with a full blown case of 'Peppaitis'. What is Peppaitis you may ask? Well, unofficial Dad About You dictionary describes it as 'The feeling of wanting to curl up and die every time Peppa Pig is on the television.'

Many of you reading this blog, I imagine those without small children, might be thinking I'm overreacting. Well, I challenge you watch up to ten episodes of this show every day for the next two years.I challenge you to try and reason with a screaming toddler who just keeps shouting 'Peppa Pig' and offers no alternative programme they want to watch. For anyone who tries suggesting 'lock the child up in a cupboard until they calm down',  just to let you know that I have tried this multiple times and it just makes it worse. Just joking....we don't have a cupboard that locks(anymore)

As much as I try to  get round watching this show, I am often forced to sit there and indulge in it so I have started to notice various floors with the show, things that just don't seem right.  Peppa Pig Pet Peeves, and I will!! Here are my ......

 Peppa Pig Pet Peeves

1.Miss Rabbit and her numerous jobs

Miss Rabbit is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. Whenever there is a job that needs doing, Miss Rabbit is always there to do it. She's been a pilot(pictured), school bus driver, checkout operator, ice cream seller, librarian, nurse and a fire fighter to name but a few. Two questions spring to mind here; how does she manage to do all these jobs and does she disclose all her income to the HMRC.  Her tax code must be really messed up. 

2. Your favourite character and mine, George

From the start, i've always liked George. He's cheeky, mischievous and..... too well behaved. Come on, what two year old can follow directions and stand there for long periods like George does. It just seems so unrealistic. On the flip side, he can only say one word, dinosaur. Surely Mummy Pig needs to take him to speech therapy.

3. Peppa and her friends

Peppa and George are around four and two respectively and , quite rightly, always seem to be accompanied by Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig when they go to meet Peppa's friends. However, it seems that Peppa's friends, Danny Dog, Suzie Sheep, Rebecca Rabbit and Pedro Pony never seem to be with their parents much. I personally would not let my four-year old out on their own, even if it's in a made up setting where different animals co-exist in a civil setting.

4. Peppa Pig and the Golden Boots

Back in February there was a Peppa Pig 'movie' released at the cinema. Of course, Rupert wanted to go as he's such a big PP fan so I couldn't exactly let down the lad by stating we couldn't go. One Sunday morning, myself, the wife and Rupert trotted down to our local cinema to see what I only could imagine would be front runner for the Best Picture at the Oscars. Boy, was I disappointed.  It turned out that Peppa Pig and the Golden Boots was an almighty ten minutes long with the rest of the time filled with old Peppa Pig episodes, episodes that Rupert, and I, had seen countless times. We had paid nearly £20 to watch a ten minute new episode that wound up being shown for free on Nick Jr less than three months later.

There's so much more I could say about sweet little Peppa Pig but I don't think I have the energy left to do so. Next time you are out, look out for all things Peppa. Clothing, toys, DVD's. This thing is a marketing machine and I don't think the wheels will fall off anytime soon. I have already come to terms with the fact that I will have to endure it for at least the next three years and that, folks , is the saddest thing of all.

Hopefully my next blog will be more up lifting. Until next time....