About three weeks ago, my three-year-old son saw this video. (How he saw it is a discussion for another post on lazy parenting strategies, a topic on which I consider myself an expert.) Since that day, we have watched the video no fewer than four times a day. We have uploaded the song for him on our iPods so he can listen to it in the car. Is he running the show, you ask? Yes, he is. Isn't this my just dessert for not monitoring his viewing habits? Sure. But it still beats the more offensive songs in his repertoire: "The Wheels on the Bus," "London Bridge," "Twinkle, Twinkle..." You get the idea.
The question, of course, is what the long-lasting effects of repeated exposure to this video will be on his three-year-old mind. Pyromaniacal tendencies? A healthy fear of angry women? An unhealthy attraction to angry women? The ability to count backwards from nine? A bizarre and difficult-to-fulfill clown/transvestite fetish? Or just really bad taste in music?
Another question: have I inadvertently recreated the song's central message in my own home? "This used to be a fun house" (before we heard this song).
Aside from the counting, can anything good come of it?
