Curious George has been axed from ABC Kids and parents are pissed.

Outraged parents have taken to social media.

Finally dinner is complete. The kids are bathed and zippered tightly into their animal onesies. That fresh damp smell of baby wash that makes you forget the frustrations of the last hour. The sheer relief of getting through another day.

You pour a tiny splash of wine. You cozy them up together on the couch and turn on the TV ready to attack the peas scattered across the floorboards, trying to ignore the smattering of mashed potato sticking to the ceiling.

But instead of the lyrical tones of the brass band and the swing of Curious George you are faced with DINOSAURS.

DINOSAURS.

Those dastardly TV programmers at ABC Kids.

They’ve done it again.

First they moved Peppa Pig and In The Night Garden. Now they’ve gone ahead an axed Curious George from the 6:20pm time slot.

The programmers obviously don’t have preschoolers in their homes. Otherwise they would realise that wiping George is screwing with the pre bedtime schedule of almost every toddler around the country.

There is mayhem in houses across Australia and the ABC Kids Facebook page has been bearing the full brunt of the anger.

Another read, “OMG I thought I’m the only mum that had a child melt down because he couldn’t watch curious George anymore. Please ABC Kids bring back curious George, I’m begging you so I could have half an hour to clean my kitchen after dinner in peace!!!!”

There was begging:

“Curious George is the only show my daughter will drop the iPad and run to the TV for. The minute she hears the music she’s off. Please, please, please bring it back.”

Anger:

“Bring back curious George! I don’t think you understand how much it can disrupt an evening and sometimes morning routine when you change time slots of shows. You do it often enough. My daughter, like other children, had a meltdown when she realised after Peter rabbit there was no George. Its the quiet time period before milk and bed and trust me you have stuffed it up. Who cares if you repeat it a million times! The kids love it! I think that’s what counts.”

And total hysteria:

Don’t they understand?

“If only the people making these program schedule changes had kids of their own they might understand how important consistency and predictability are to toddlers!!!

Maybe they should spend a bit of time at our house at meal time next time they take a much loved show away and see the consequences of their decisions!”

For some the problem was more than just a few tears:

“Hey guys!

Just a friendly message to inform you that a little heads up in regard to programming changes on ABC kids would be appreciated!

Being a kids channel, one would presume the people at ABC know that many children love routine. Especially children with autism, like my own son. Curious George is the one show my son actively calms downs and watches each night, and to find out with no warning that it won’t be on tonight resulted in one of the most severe meltdowns ever.

I get that kids shouldn’t be so dependent on television – believe me, I was one of those parents who preached the wrongness of children watching so much television that they know the schedule. But that was back when I was naive and inexperienced. Now I know better. And my son is currently sitting next to me with an ice pack on his head after trying to smash it through a wall during a fit of anger after realising he wouldn’t be watching Curious George tonight.

Regards

Mother desperately in need of a glass of red.”

Others though weighed into the debate telling parents they needed to be less reliant on TV and teach their kids some resilience.

“Come on parents. Your children need to accept change as well. They will be okay. It happened to me and I survived. Some monster changed the time slot for the Goodies, Dr WHO and the Banana Splits when I was all of 5. And if this wasn’t enough,  they moved Sesame Street as well.  Being the diverse 5 year old I was, I settled straight in to Monkey Magic and pushing my brothers Tonka Truck with the cat strapped on the tray. ”

And those who thought the parents, more than the kids were the ones affected.

“Can the parents post a picture of themselves throwing a hissy fit alongside the kids?

Seems like TV is a central part of these kids lives as many parents use it as a electronic babysitter. What happened to dinner, bath time (with lots of toys and bubbles) and a good bedtime story?”

Meh.

Really?

I’m on the side of the primate lovers here. If a bit of Curious George-as-baby-sitter gets you through to bedtime then damn the naysayers.

We need a bit of help when we can get it.

Lucky for the devastated children of Australia ABC Kids has informed us that it’s only a temporary break. He’s back soon – at 5pm on Monday October 5th.

Only… 33 days to go.

Maybe it is time to get Netflix.

Has the TV schedule ever affected your evening routine?