“Dibo gives to all his friends…didi boding dibo dibo ding!”

You know you’ve watched too much kiddie cartoons when you start singing their theme song or saying magic words at random.

My kids have been watching Dibo the Gift Dragon on Disney Junior. Dibo is a purple dragon who grants wishes when you say the magic words: didi boding dibo dibo ding! Then he opens his zipped tummy and brings out a gift box.

Kinda weird I know, but my kids find it fascinating. Besides the other characters are adorable too — Cro, Elo, Bunny and Annie. Their stories always have lessons about things like good manners, confidence and friendship.

Like one time, they had an Easter episode and Bunny wanted to be the Easter bunny so she could be the center of attention. Dibo fulfilled her wish and gave her an Easter bunny costume. She was to give gifts to all her friends but there’s a catch: she can’t be seen and her friends must not find out she was the one giving gifts.

In the end, Bunny learned there’s greater satisfaction in making her friends happy than being the center of attention. She was thankful to learn her friends valued her just the same. (Thanks to Easter store online for the cute basket pics.)

In another episode, the four friends were talking about talents — Cro about his smarts, Elo about being a fast truck driver and Bunny being a high hopper. Annie, who is the kindest among the four, felt embarrassed that she didn’t have any talents. Dibo had to call in a talent fairy to tell her what her talent was but the fairy couldn’t tell her either.

The fairy got tired of figuring out her talent and asked Annie for an orange muffin.  Everyone tried to help out thinking cooking was easy but it was only Annie who could bake the muffins effortlessly and perfectly.

Of course, in the end Annie learned that every one’s talent — even a seemingly ordinary one like cooking — is extraordinary. You don’t need to compare yourself with others, just look inside yourself and find what you’re good at or what you love to do.

I guess you can tell I’ve watched more than one episode, I think I’ve actually watched all the episodes, I’m so close to memorizing them. It’s a shameless pleasure that I indulge in. Compared to watching dramas and the news, I’d choose cartoons like these any day.