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Month of Joy: Top 5 Kids’ TV Shows by Catherine Hill

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My son is almost 2 years old and has started enjoying TV, so I find myself—for the first time in over two decades—watching TV for little kids. The main channel I watch is CBeebies, the BBC channel specifically for under 7s. As with any broadcast channel I watch at certain times, so I certainly haven’t seen all the available shows. There are some I don’t like much, and a few I mostly ignore, but there’s some good stuff for small people. Below are the five little kids’ shows that I most enjoy and feel good about watching with my son. Also, he’s currently really interested in octopuses and 2 of the shows below cause him to shout out “Oc-pus!” while we’re watching, which is pretty cute.

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Month of Joy: Busy, Busy, Busy… by Becca Evans

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This past year has been kind of crazy for me. I graduated from undergrad, started grad school, found myself struggling with my mental health and motivation a lot. I’ve been late on several things, from posts (like this one—sorry Jen!) to buying gifts for the holiday season, to getting more work done. But! Even though I’ve been stressed to the max, the past year has held a lot of joy for me, and I’m looking forward to the next year!

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Month of Joy: Summertime in Sydney by Thoraiya Dyer

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December in Sydney is summertime. Some of my greatest joys this time of year: My animal patients, the creativity of winter decorations in Sahara-like heat, the sound of cellos and the taste of chocolate. It’s a privilege being a veterinarian, and my patients come in two varieties – domesticated and wild. The sadness of their short lives, being there to see them sicken, staying stoic while they succumb to age or injury, as you shepherd them through their decline, are all balanced by the beauty, the brilliance, the miracle, that we get to share our time on the earth with them.

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Month of Joy: Patterns by Dave Robison

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“What brings you joy?” Such a simple question, right? WRONG! You’ve fallen victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is ‘Never get involved in a land war in Asia,’ but only slightly less well known is this: ‘Never ask a wordy over-thinker a simple question when… well… ANYTHING is on the line.’ Definitions So first… what IS Joy? The dictionary says it’s “a feeling of great pleasure and happiness,” so that narrows the field a bit. Ice cream, warm sheets on a cold night, sunsets, and the purring of a cat all evoke feelings of pleasure but I wouldn’t qualify them as a “great” pleasure.

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Month of Joy: Collaborative Creativity and the Joy of the Great British Bake-Off by Vlad Barash and Lorraine Fryer

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1. The Great British Bake-Off It feels like joy is a precious commodity today. It can be hard to remember good things when our TV screens and social media feeds are so overwhelmingly full of bad news. As a way of keeping ourselves from despair, we have tried cultivate a collection of things that give us joy. One of the most undiluted experiences of joy for both of us is sitting down on the couch, warm drinks in our hands, and hearing the upbeat strings of the opening to the Great British Bake-Off. We’ve watched nearly every episode that we can find; we’re just a few tantalizing episodes from the finale of Collection 6 on Netflix (Vlad has not been spoiled for the ending; for the moment, neither has Lorraine).

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Month of Joy: Werewolves In Space… Why not? by Joyce Chng

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This is supposed to be my Month of Joy post. You know, where I post what makes me happy and joyful. To be honest, I am not feeling joyful now because I keep getting reminded that I am not welcome in the science fiction and fantasy community. The gatekeepers, the old guard, want to keep people like me out of the picture because I don’t write hard science fiction.  Or legit science fiction, even. Or that I am not white, not USian, not trad. pubbed etc. And besides, you all get my country confused all the time. No, Singapore is not in China. And no, Singapore is not just like the land of Crazy Rich Asians. It’s like so much more. The old guard will probably think werewolves in space is too far-fetched, too preposterous. Oh wait, it’s also space opera — but where’s the hard science? Where are the hard scientific facts? I doubt they will ever read it anyway. And it has slice-of-life and domestic scenes — probably too ‘girl cooties’ for their masculine sensibilities. Already I hear the mutterings of ‘sjw’ and ‘POC’. Whatever.

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