Dora, Dora, Dora the Explorer

We have been watching a lot of Dora the Explorer here at the Durham house recently. I don't know what it is about that show that seems to just fascinate my children. Boo was a huge fan when she was young and Puck still watches it most mornings. But it is Little Man that is the biggest fan now. He knows where all the DVDs of Dora are and how to get them out of their cases and how to open the DVD player and the XBOX and try to get them in there. And he will ask for the show by name, although to be real honest at this point if you didn't live with him you would think that we let him watch The Simpson's because what comes out is "D'Oh" and that means Dora.

For real though, I'm not totally sure why it is that this show is so very popular in the 18 month -4 year demographic. I guess that if I were in that demographic maybe I would understand better what it is. As an adult though, I just have questions:

1) Dora is like 5, maybe 6 years old, and yet she runs around all over the place without ever letting her parents know what she is doing. Seriously, we have just recently started letting Boo walk to the post office alone, and it's only one street away.

2) Why is it that they always have to say the Spanish words and then follow it up with the English translation? Not saying that it is a bad thing to learn a new language, just I'm pretty sure that not everyone speaks Spanish. There was an episode the other day where twin brothers, who looked to be Swedish, automatically were able to speak Spanish to Dora. Weird.

3) Is it not weird/disturbing to anyone that Dora runs around with a talking monkey named Boots? Her parents seem to be totally fine with it, but again, it is a talking monkey who wears bright red boots.

4) Dora's backpack is from the same store as Mary Poppins' handbag it seems. I mean that kid carries everything you could possibly think of in that thing: scissors, markers, library books, life vests, ladders, English/Spanish dictionary, rope and stars...and it sings and talks to her too. I usually wear a backpack to the office or when I going somewhere, but her's is truly amazing.

5) Where does she live that every time she needs to go some place she has to cross rivers and climb mountains and out smart a fox that want to steal her stuff? "We are headed to the library to return my books. First we go over the crocodile infested river; nest we have to climb the nearly erupting volcano, and finally we go through the deep dark woods to get to the library." I think I would just keep the books and pay the fines.

6) One thing that might be really nice though would be to have the little insect mariachi band that plays every time Dora gets to a milestone of her journey. This would make it so much easier in the car to answer the question "Are we there yet?" "Have you heard the band yet, has the insect mariachi band marched past us playing the song yet? No? Then we are not there yet are we?"

Like I said earlier, I don't understand it, but for my kids its like baby crack (thanks Jon Acuff for that term). Peace and Love y'all.