I won’t lie. The summer holidays have been fun but tough too, and it is the trying to juggle the work/family time balance that has led to a lifetime ban of Horrid Henry in our household.
Being a WAHM in the holidays is like being the only actress performing in Mission Impossible, playing all roles yourself and not very well, and many even half-heartedly, as there are far too many jobs around the house which need doing, let alone looking after the kids and then trying to work too.
After dinner times with my energy levels flagging and almost disappearing, I’ve been bathing the kids and then allowing them to watch Netflix in my bed while I tackle the dishes and the tidying up in peace.
At the age of 5, Emmy can work this on her own now, so she is in control of flicking through and finding a program for her and Harry. She sometimes chooses one and just watches a few episodes as they just roll on once one has finished. Other times, she will get bored and change to something else. Netflix in my bedroom is played on our Roku streaming stick, so the control for this is very basic, making changing programs very easy.
I’m not sure if it is overtiredness or just a school holiday lack of routine, which tends to slip in, but the children’s behaviour has been questionable lately, and I’ve reached the end of my tether. There has been fighting, bickering, shouting, and ignoring many things I have asked them to do, and NO has been my favourite word.
It has been this that has led to me letting the children have some quiet time in my room watching TV; as a busy mum, I admit to needing a little time to myself, and this is my way of gaining 10 minutes’ peace and quiet.
A favourite program during these calm down and unwind periods has been Horrid Henry, I hadn’t paid much attention to it really. It’s put on upstairs while I clear up in the evenings, and I would then turn it off to read bedtime stories.
It was only when Emmy started calling her brother ‘worm’ and I questioned where that had come from that I sat and watched an episode or two. I wish I had done this earlier, as it is now banned for life!
Ban of Horrid Henry in this house
Henry really is horrid, and Emmy had been copying his behaviour, following things he had done on screen and generally being mean to her brother and me, which really isn’t like her. We, of course, know how much kids are influenced by what they see us parents doing and by what they are watching, so, for now, we have a ban of Horrid Henry in this household.
Now I know some of this behavioural change has come about due to the loss of her nanny; it’s still very raw for us all, and she is struggling to express herself and her grief. However, taking toys away from Harry, blaming him when she has broken something or lost it, and generally trying to get him into trouble isn’t acceptable, and I do think this is a copied behaviour.
With characters nicknamed in the show as Horrid Henry, Perfect Peter, and even Moody Margaret, it really should have been a red flag to the type of behaviours these characters would be involved in, and I wish I had picked up on it before.
I have now banned Emmy and Harry from watching Horrid Henry; it really isn’t a program I think is suitable for them and definitely isn’t behaviour I would like to encourage.
I posted about this on my personal Facebook page and found that I am not the only parent to have this ban in place.
Annoyingly, I have found that currently, you can not block shows on Netflix, so I do hope this is a feature that may be rolled out soon, as I just have to keep checking they haven’t put it on when I have left the room (they haven’t yet but I know they will).
You are able to set parental controls for each profile, so I have Emmy’s and Harry’s currently set for ‘Little Kids’ as opposed to ‘Older Kids’ and have ticked the under-12s box – sadly for me, Horrid Henry appears in the little kids selection, so there isn’t anything I can physically do to stop it being played.
Are there programs that you have now stopped your children from watching?
Still unsure why I dislike it? Watch some Horrid Henry YouTube episodes for yourself:
You may also like:
- Physical and Mental Stimulation: How to Keep Kids Entertained at Home
- Spending more time together as a family
- 8 Top Tips for a Successful Play-Date
Disclaimer: Although I am a member of the Netflix Streamteam, I have not been asked to write this post; it comes from sheer frustration and my hatred of this programme.
Related Posts:
Discover more from Emmy's Mummy
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Jack's seen a little bit of one episode and I was horrified by what I saw. He's not allowed to watch it now.
My kids don't watch it, thankfully they have better taste. I've never really banned them from watching anything but kids can be influenced by what they see so it's good to keep an eye on them.
Oh no what a nightmare for you – I have to admit I've never watch Horrid Henry before. x
I have to admit I have not seen it, but just the title makes me nervous. Anything that causes bad behaviour is turned off in our house
We have never really watched the TV show in our house, but the books have been a favourite for a few years. I have never seen a negative response personally, but I suspect that is because Luke doesn't identify with the character, as he doesn't have younger siblings. I can see why it would cause problems where children are more able to 'act out' the scenes, particularly since there rarely seem to be consequences to Henry's actions!
I've never seen this but it doesn't sound like one I would want my little sisters watching. If you don't think it's appropriate or causing bad behaviour you are spot on to take action. Stephen :o)
My girls watch it and read the books but they're older and although they giggle at the humour I haven't had any fall out with their behaviour. When they were younger it wouldn't have been something I'd have let them watch.
The bane of my life is some of the Shopkins Youtube videos which have some horrible "americanisms" (I hate saying that but it's true). Horrid Henry wasn't so much of a big deal for us, as CM thought it was funny rather than copying, but yes, I would definitely ban things which impact on behaviour, it's chicken and egg I appreciate as I know other things are a consideration- but if any aspect can be controlled for the better I think it should.
I haven't watched it, but I will make sure I don't put it on for my boys now! We love Netflix, and I didn't know you could do parental controls on there! They only watch it with me around for now, but I know it won't be long
Hmm perhaps the title Horrid Henry is more apt than people realise x
Thanks for this; at the moment we keep the TV away from my under 2 and if I change my mind, I'll make sure I check out whatever program he watches first. There's already so much to feed children's imagination, a Horrid Henry type of program is definitely not needed. 🙁 #Facebook
we have had to ban Toy Story films when our daughter called everyone she saw a moron after hearing Mr potato head say it oops
We've only read the books and dislike him from that so no horrid henry on tv here either
I have never lied HH either and banned the boys from both watching and reading it. I remember banning Ben10 when the boys were younger too. I also watch every movie before them to make sure it is suitable!
We don't have Netflix, and I've never seen Horrid Henry, but I do keep an eye what my son watches. I think it's perfectly reasonable to restrict access to certain programmes if they cause bad behaviour or attitudes.
Gosh I hate Horrid Henry. I try to watch everything my kids watch now to make sure I know what they are watching. Star Wars Rebels and Phineas & Ferb are the favourites at the minute which are both quite adventurous for them but without all the naughtiness!
We have banned Horrid Henry as Olive (4) started calling everyone a poo poo nappy baby! However ?Charlie (8) does read the books and I will allow a sneaky watch whilst she's out. I think it's an age thing too. At 8 Moo can appreciate the humour and understands this behaviour is wrong and that in most occasions Henry is misunderstood. However at 4 Olive doesn't get this at all.
I hear ya! we don't let the little kids watch the Simpsons or most of the stuff on cartoon network as I think its utter rubbish
I'm not sure Horrid Henry is suitable for five year olds. Henry's behaviour and those of the other children in it can be very mean. It's very difficult because you do trust TV programmes on children's channels to be fine to be able to put on and leave the kids to it.
The kids can really pick up things from their shows. In our case, my daughter (a few years ago) was into the American TV shows like Hannah Montana and Sabrina the Teenage Witch and she started to adopt Americanisms like 'put it in the trash' and 'go to the bathroom'! Horrid Henry was not a show we watched much, so I don't know about the language and attitudes within it.
We tend to avoid Horrid Henry for different reasons, but I have to say I heartily wish the books and the tv series had never been created.