The mysterious allure of Calliou

Darling daughter loves Calliou. Absolutely loves him. Loves him to the point where she'll stare at the television in a trance, watching his adventures. The trance is only broken when the show is over. You can't capture her attention when Calliou is on. She has the attitude of don't bother me at the moment. Can't you clearly see my show is on? Talk to me later. I'm busy.

Darling daughter got hooked on Calliou during the World Cup. Since CBC was airing games in the morning, her usual morning television fare was interrupted. No Bo on the Go or Busytown Mysteries. For whatever reason, we found Calliou and since that day there has been no turning back.

But every mother I have spoken to haven't been big Calliou fans. In fact, many have said he is whiny. I can see that. There are some episodes I want to tell Calliou to suck it up. But one shouldn't say such things to her daughter's hero as her love runs deep.

She talks about Calliou and his rubber boots. As well as Gilbert the cat. So we caved and got her some Calliou books which we have read a million times (well, more like a hundred, but it sure feels like a million). Calliou? Calliou? Calliou? is a common question at story time.

I must say that Calliou did come in handy during our trip to PEI. On our return home, we were about an hour away from Edmundston and darling daughter clearly had enough of the long car ride. So I quickly came up with some exciting Calliou stories, stories I had watched on television and read to her. I even came up with some Calliou stories that we a bit elaborate. I talked about Calliou for a good half hour, trying to take her mind off the long car ride.

I'm still unsure of the mysterious allure of Calliou. It seems kids love him. For me, the allure is mysterious.