Backyardigans

I claim that we Tivo the show everyday "for the kids" ... but I get just as excited about the new episodes as they do.

I pretend to buy the CDs "so the kids can listen to it in the car" ... but I have "Born to Play" in my favorite playlist on my MP3 player.

I say that sing along and dance around the living room to "play with the boys" ... but I really just can't help myself.

I have to face the facts: I'm hooked on this show.

I should point out that I am not a "fan" of kids shows in general. Most of them make me feel like my brains are oozing out of my head. Barney gives makes me twitch - not in a good way.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I've helped the kids find Blues Clues (and I admit to preferring Steve to Joe), and I know the theme song to Little Einsteins and the magic words to make the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse appear as well as any preschooler mom.

But I make myself watch those because the kids like them.

I watch Backyardigans because I like them. I love the imaginative stories, the cute dialogue, the great dancing ... and especially the music!

I love how they use so many different kinds of music - and how it's never what you'd expect ... like mixing hip-hop with a cowboy story, funk with a scifi plot or rockabilly with a viking voyage.

I would never have believed four years ago (pre-kids) that I could be a "fan" of a kid's show ... especially one featuring a blue penguin in a propeller hat, a shy purple kangaroo, a mellow orange moose, a girlie yellow hippo and a pink ... thing playing make-believe in their backyard. But I am. I love it.

Shhhh. Don't tell the kids.