Daddy's Fish BowlA Clear View Of A Father's Family Experiences

Hi, my name is Tre & I’m addicted to Hip Hop Harry. Those are the words that I’m so desperately waiting to hear my son utter. But you can’t force an addict to admit they have a problem, the healing can only come from within. Which is one of the reasons why it’s so difficult to be the parent of a toddler who has a media abuse issue. You try your best to avoid being an enabler, but when you hear that little 2 yr old voice crying out for Hip Hop Harry over & over, it just gets to you and you break down. The next thing you know, you cave in and willingly give in to their next fix.

It started out all so simply, those many many months ago. Flicking through the channels while the kids were away, I stumbled across a program that had children competing in a dance competition with a big fluffy bear as the judge (see video below). The kids were very talented in their dance moves and I ended up watching for about 10 mins. Then I thought to myself, hey this would be a good show for Ty, I pressed record and have been regretting that day ever since.

Ty watched the show a few times and quickly got bored, but an unanticipated side effect was Tre’s infatuation and complete concentration on Harry and his antics. His previous addiction to Mickey Mouse could never hold his attention for more than 5 mins at a time, but this new high he was receiving from Hip Hop Harry was much more potent and he wouldn’t budge from beginning to end of each episode.

Soon after, the obvious signs of an addict began to show loud and clear. One “hit” wasn’t good enough anymore, he’d need 2 or more episodes to satisfy his desires. Then Tre started imitating the dance moves and singing all of the songs that the children on the show would perform. Have you ever seen a 2 year old attempt “pop n lock” dancing? It’s both wildly amusing and slightly frightening at the same time. Soon after that, things took a turn for the worse. Hip Hop Harry needed to be on at all times, even when we weren’t near a TV. It got so bad that the boy actually screamed for Hip Hop Harry while we were at the swimming pool and refused to get in the water because he wanted Harry. There are certain episodes that he has memorized and requests them by name, all hell breaks loose if a specific episode was accidentally deleted.

After carefully looking over all of the facts and reviewing Tre’s actions over the past few months since Hip Hop Harry had been brought into his life, we knew something needed to be done. If left to his own devices, we’d have a preschool drop out on our hands and we’d be filming an after school special about how this show has ruined our toddlers’ chances at being a productive member of society. The only problem is, we didn’t know what to do; there were no Hip Hop Harry anonymous meetings to take him to, or no get help now groups that could offer assistance with his specific addiction. So we struggled along, using whatever means at our disposal to help him kick this addiction, but they were all in vein. No matter what we tried (distractions, other shows, no TV at all) we still constantly heard those fateful words: “I want Harry”. After exhausting all possible options, we just gave up. I know, I failed as a father, but there’s only so much one parent can take.

We let the Harry abuse continue in a controlled environment for quite some time and I’m now happy to report that it appears Tre has kicked his addiction all on his own. He hasn’t requested Hip Hop Harry in almost 3 weeks, he just stopped cold turkey. I don’t know what caused it, or who to thank, but I’m surely appreciative. I’m not sure what I would have done if I had to endure one more “I love to learn” song. Hopefully he will remain committed to staying clean, but we know relapses are a common occurrence in this arena and are preparing to support Tre through his struggles.

Hi, my name is Tre and it’s been 21 days since my last Hip Hop Harry binge.

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