My mom, ever the doting grandmother, showered Thing 2 with gifts on her second birthday a couple of months ago. As Thing 2 was (and still is) completely obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Gramma gave her a few DVDs of the show, including The Great Clubhouse Hunt. It has since become an almost daily must-watch in our house.

But it seriously annoys me.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is actually not that annoying in general, as far as preschooler shows go. I count myself lucky indeed that she’s not obsessed with Dora the Explorer, as Thing 1 was she was her age. I’ve had enough Dora to last at least seven lifetimes, and that is not an exaggeration. Anyone that’s ever sat through an episode of Dora knows exactly what I mean.

Anyway, this one particular episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse grates on my nerves.

This episode consists of Mickey deciding to throw an Easter party. Pete, being upset at not being invited, tries to crash the party and take over the clubhouse. In his attempt, he says the wrong magic words, and the clubhouse floats away. The rest of the episode follows the adventures of the other characters attempting to retrieve the lost pieces and put them back together.

That is all fine. What bugs me so much is that throughout the episode, Mickey and friends could really use Pete’s help, but Pete is busy hiding in shame. Mickey says over and over, “Pete must think I’m upset with him, but I’m really not.”

What. The. Heck.

I’d be totally ticked off if someone made my house float away. There’s nothing wrong with forgiveness, why doesn’t Disney teach that lesson? Why can’t Mickey say, “Of course I’m mad at Pete, but I’ve decided to be a bigger person and forgive him, and by the way, I wish he would come out so I could tell him that and he could help get the clubhouse back together.”

To teach children that they shouldn’t be bothered or upset when friends betray them is just wrong, in my very humble opinion. I think it is better to teach them that everyone makes mistakes, but when you forgive people, it’s possible to move beyond a superficial relationship into something real. By teaching children that they should not feel betrayed at betrayal, you’re hardly teaching them the skills they’ll need to deal with real life.

People will always let other people down, at some point or another. Why not give children real life skills, instead of teaching them to brush hurt feelings under the carpet? Along the same line, this episode seems to teach that if you betray a friend, the friend won’t care, so why is it a big deal? I think it would be better to say that betrayal is wrong and hurtful, but can be overcome in real relationships.

But maybe that’s just me.

PS- It turns out that Pete hadn’t been snubbed, but his invitation to the Easter party had merely been misplaced. It may or may not be relevant, but I thought it worthy of mentioning.

PPS- Thanks mom, for giving us this DVD, because we’ve had a lot of great conversations with our kids about it.