Cartoons. When you’re a kid they are literally the best thing ever. When I was a kid I had to wait until Saturday morning cartoons came on to get my fix of my favorite shows. And I’ll tell you what, kiddos, being a kid in the 80s, we had some seriously awesome cartoons to watch. G.I. Joe? Hell yes. He-Man? Oh you didn’t know that was the greatest show on TV? Get out now. Transformers? For the win, my friends. FOR THE WIN. And, my personal favorite: M.A.S.K. Funny story about M.A.S.K., I have a scar on my face from the toy truck they made for series. Word to the wise: Never run across a rock driveway with a toy truck unless you wanna fall and face plant on said truck.

I know what you’re probably thinking: “Here he goes with a ‘BACK IN MY DAY…’ rant”. Nope. Not what I’m doing. Really, I just want to talk about the cartoons that I’m bombarded with in my house. There are many, MANY parents out there with strong feelings about a lot of the cartoons that pop up on our TVs these days. What’s funny is the transition that comes from when your kids first start watching cartoons and see shows on Sprout, like Caillou, aka the worst effing show on the planet, and then quicklyish move onto shows on Disney Junior. If you wanna read the greatest take ever on Caillou, head over to HowToBeADad to be enlightened. There are a lot of great cartoons on TV right now for kids. Even more if you have Netflix. I even posed the question on Facebook last week about what peoples’ favorite cartoons are that they have to watch with their kids. Some of the responses were shows I hadn’t seen and am now starting to watch. My own personal favorites were Phineas and Ferb and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Others that were mentioned to me Transformers: Rescue Bots, which is AWESOME. I hadn’t seen it before, but it seriously takes me back to my days as a kid. Wordgirl was another one I hadn’t seen, but it gets pretty good reviews. And lots of people like Doc McStuffins. Well, everyone except for Ron Swanson.

Right now, we watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates A LOT. And most recently, Sophia has discovered Justin Time, but only chooses to watch the same three episodes over and over and OVER. I don’t mind those shows, at all. Some even make me chuckle. And, some like Wordgirl and Doc McStuffins even seem to have stay-at-h0me dads.

But, there are shows that I just can’t take anymore. Sofia the First just drives me insane now. It’s an okay show. I don’t hate it. But I’m just so tired of watching it. I’m glad we’ve moved beyond Sprout, which is a good network, but there’s only so much Barney and Sesame Street a guy can take!

I know there are plenty of shows that I haven’t yet seen, considering that Sophia is only three right now. There’s a great site by a fellow blogger The TV Mom, where she talks about, you guessed it, TV shows, movies, and more, which is great for parents looking to find out info on the shows their kids wanna watch.

A few weeks back, Phineas and Ferb did a Star Wars movie parody and IT.WAS.AWESOME. If you are a fan of Star Wars and the show, then you have to watch it. It’s shows like that that really make watching cartoons with your kids worth watching–when they bring in something from your childhood and meld them together. It’s awesome. I can only hope that more shows do this. That way, it gives me something more to watch. Plus, I can tell Sophia and Maddie about how old Daddy was when that movie came out. Or where Daddy was when he saw that for the first time.

I love that I can share cartoons with my kids. Now, if only I can get them to watch the old episodes of the ones I watched as a kid and mix those in with the ones they love, it’ll be even better!

What are your favorite cartoons or kid shows to watch with your kids? What are the worst? Share them here, on Facebook, or Twitter!