Although this show came out in 2018, I didn't watch it because I don't have HBO at my house. Luckily, the show came to PBS in August 2019, so I got to watch it for the first time. I wasn't expecting much from it at first, but I was pleasantly surprised.
This show involves Esme and Roy, who babysit monster kids. In every episode, there's a conflict, which causes the kid to have a Monster Meltdown. E&R help cheer them up by calming them down and solving the solution through imaginative play. What I commend most about the show is that it's not afraid to show negative emotions. We see kids get scared, angry, sad, etc on the show, which shows that NOT everything has to be sunshine and lollipops. You may be asking, "BoxwoodExpress, why do you hate Caillou for being a brat and don't hate the monster kids on Esme and Roy when they act up?" ANSWER: Sympathy. If a character is interesting, you care about them and sympathize with them. You feel happy when they succeed, and sad when bad things happen to them.
The kids on Esme and Roy have a wide range of personalities and designs, making them diverse. It even breaks gender stereotypes by having a little girl who likes playing pirates and a little boy who likes ballet. They're also relatable to kid viewers, as they have meltdowns over things a typical kid would: like baths, thunder, yucky foods, etc. Since they're realistic, you can sympathize with them. As for Caillou, he's a blatant jerk in many episodes, he bullies his sister, has meltdowns over stupid things (like not going to the circus), and almost never gets repercussions for his actions. Even worse is that unlike Esme and Roy, the show doesn't teach us what you're supposed to do if a kid has a meltdown and how to help them. Instead, it teaches us about....nothing. It's just colorful people doing boring things.
But enough of my Caillou tangent, let's talk about the other positive qualities of the show. While the show has good morals for kids, I also find it to be greatly helpful to parents, guardians, and babysitters. It has good advice on how to take care of kids when they have meltdowns. For example: glitter jars for mindfulness meditation. Imaginative play is seen A LOT throughout the show, and it's a good thing really, because play is super important to a child's development.
If you don't have HBO at your house, I recommend tuning into the show on your local 24/7 PBS Kids channel on Saturday mornings. It's a cute show with great lessons.
