Get Sprouted

Monday afternoon I had high tea with a chicken puppet.  That's right, I spent most of Monday afternoon drinking mimosas and eating fancy finger food at the Hotel Bel Air while hanging out with a chicken puppet named Chica.  Just in case you're picturing me sitting at a table conversing with a chicken puppet and you're now concerned that I have, in fact, completely lost my marbles, rest assured that I was not alone and I dined with Chica for a specific reason.

I got invited by Sprout Television to ditch my kiddo and spend Monday afternoon at the incredibly gorgeous Hotel Bel Air learning about the cute new programming headed for your TV in 2014.  Friends, these people know how to treat a Mama right.  I was greeted with a Mimosa, there were delicious tea sandwiches and mind-blowing scones, and I had a great time meeting other Mom bloggers in the Los Angeles area.  If they'd only had roving masseuses giving shoulder and neck massages it would have basically been the best Monday EVER.

I don't really watch TV when the Muffin Man is awake, mainly because according to our Pediatrician it's bad for kids to have screen time before the age of two, but also because he's just too busy trying to climb on all of the furniture to watch anything.  I have to tell you though, that after seeing the programming that Sprout has going on, I think it's definitely going to be our go-to channel when Noah is interested in parking himself in front of the boob tube.  The "star" of Sprout's line-up is the aforementioned chicken named Chica.  Folks, this chicken is cute.  She sings, she dances, she tells little jokes...what more could you possibly want from a puppet shaped like a chicken?!  Every morning Chica and an assortment of cute, musically talented (human) friends host The Sunny Side Up Show.  It's a live TV show that's designed to help preschoolers get ready to start their day.  There's even an interactive element so parents can submit a birthday message and Chica and friends can give lucky kiddos a shout out on their big day.  There were a couple of kiddos at the event, and they got SUPER excited when Chica made her appearance.  They were jumping up and down and screaming like pre-teens at a Maroon 5 concert, so I guess that Chica is a superstar among the preschool set.

Look, Sprout is cute.  They air some of your kid's favorite shows like Bob the Builder and Caillou, but they also do really cool stuff like encourage kids to be kind with their "Kindness Counts" campaign.  Go over there and vote for one of the finalists in their Kindest Kid Contest - you really won't believe what these little ones have done for others (note to self: I really need to volunteer more).

Noah may be too young to watch Sprout, but it looks like he's already a big fan of Chica.  Hey, I am too; who doesn't love a chicken that let's you drink in the middle of the afternoon?

Sprout kindly invited me to this event and paid for my valet parking, but I assure you that all opinions are most definitely my own.