Rebecca Davis
AFA Journal staff writer
March 2013 – My husband and I have a 2½-year-old. We watch a lot of Nick Jr. Honestly, probably more than we should. But I feel comfortable with most of the programming, which is predominantly educational. If not, I change the channel. (Anything and everything we watch, I monitor closely.)
So my heart sank when our son pointed to the TV and said “Mama” in reference to an advertisement for the network’s new block of adult programming called NickMom. It advertises during children’s programming. With images of cocktail dresses and mixed drinks on the screen, the promo goes like this:
“We know you love your kids, but after a long day of diapers, dishes, homework, you kind of love it when they go to sleep. Because when their day ends, Mom time begins. So get ready to say, ‘Good night Nick Jr. and hello NickMom.’ … NickMom is going to entertain you. Prepare to laugh. No kids allowed. … You already know how funny motherhood can be.”
The tagline for this programming is “NickMom: MotherFunny” – an obvious play on words for an explicit term.
Nick Jr., formerly known as Noggin, is a Viacom-owned channel geared to preschoolers. Until the introduction of NickMom in October 2012, Nick Jr. aired children’s programs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Now, the channel switches to a block of adult programming at 10 p.m. ET. The block consists of four half-hour shows separated by comedy shorts. The line-up is then replayed at midnight ET. But because the network does not separate East Coast and West Coast feeds, the adult shows that begin at 10 p.m. in New York, air at 7 p.m. in California.
All four shows, which range in format from reality TV to stand-up comedy, are intended to provide comical relief for overworked mothers. The shows are crude, crass and sexually explicit. They make light of marriage and motherhood – two roles the Scripture holds in high regard.
Like you, I’m disgusted by the perverse content on TV. That’s why I encourage you to contact Viacom. But what bothers me the most about NickMom is that it depicts motherhood as bothersome. It implies that children are worth nothing more than the punch line to a joke.
My son is a gift, not a nuisance. Caring for him is a joy, not an inconvenience. I treasure the opportunity to be his mommy. But I am also human. I’m a sinner. I get frazzled. My flesh rears its ugly head, especially as I battle the Terrible Twos day in and day out. I get tired, sometimes exhausted. Occasionally, I want time to myself. And, yes, often I completely fail when it comes to being a godly mother.
That is why I seek repentance and pray for grace to keep a biblical perspective of motherhood.
“Motherhood is not a hobby; it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.”
These are words of wisdom I gleaned from an article titled “Motherhood is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank)” written by Rachel Jankovic and found online at www.desiringgod.org.
I encourage you to read it. It’s convicting and challenging, a stark contrast to the way our culture, namely NickMom, views motherhood.
For example, Jankovic encourages mothers to: “Live the gospel in the things that no one sees. Sacrifice for your children in places that only they will know about. Put their value ahead of yours. … If you tell them the gospel, but live to yourself, they will never believe it. Give your life for theirs every day, joyfully. Lay down pettiness. Lay down fussiness. Lay down resentment about the dishes, about the laundry, about how no one knows how hard you work. Stop clinging to yourself and cling to the cross.”
I’m not there yet, but I long to be. And only by the grace of God will I ever be. 
Viacom
Pres. Mel Karmazin
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
[email protected]
Phone: 212-258-6000
