YouTube is my babysitter

When I worked in a cube farm, I had coworkers who spent every off-task moment scrolling through the endless photos, profiles and bulletins they had found on MySpace. That site never held my interest for very long, perhaps because I am further on in years than the bulk of those who make MySpace their space, but I recently have found myself visiting and revisiting YouTube with a similar fervor. I use it mainly to entertain my toddler, of course, but I can’t say I’m immune to the hypnotic trance induced by the campy, kitschy and sometimes downright bizarre things to be found in this corner of the innerwebs.

Who are the people who make these videos?

Like many children, Meryl is amazed by animals. The sheep and the donkey, the geese and the goats along with kittens and puppies and horses and monkeys all make for suitable cybertainment judging by the look on Meryl's face when I click play after finding a video that features one of these creatures. This also gives me an opportunity to teach her new words and expand our conversations beyond what she’d like for breakfast or whether she wants to sit on the potty, two topics that become more and more tedious with each passing day.

Outside of watching creatures from the animal kingdom, Meryl also likes to watch human babies in various stages of pleasure or distress. I think in the past three weeks alone she and I have seen just about every laughing baby on YouTube there is to see. There are babies who laugh at throwing food, babies who laugh at a mommy making silly faces, and babies who laugh at other babies. Some babies have a giggly laugh, while some have a screechy laugh. Still others have what can only be described as a maniacal laugh. It's the ones in this last group that make me fear for our future. Well, I guess when it comes right down to to it it would have to be a tie between the maniacal laughing babies and this one kid who takes a huge Dora the Explorer doll on the potty with her while her mother films the whole thing. Then again, we can only blame the parent for this last one.

When I'm jumping around the internet and come across one of those big tv-screen-like YouTube links where the first frame of the video is visible and whoever orchestrates the site is inviting me to click on the link to view the video, I usually pass. What people think I should find amusing and what I actually do find amusing are generally two different things. Kinda like when someone prefaces a joke by saying I heard a great joke yesterday; wanna hear it? At least on the internet we can politely pass and not be socially forced into hearing a joke we don't want to hear.

With that disclaimer, here are links to a few videos I discovered that Meryl or I found either funny, moving or just plain baffling. Click if you will. If not, no hard feelings.

Laughing Babies

Devil Sheep

Patches the Horse

Woman Dancing to Dora's Theme She needs to quit dancing and clean that room!

YouTube is My Life

Gooble Gobble One of Us