Thursday, September 23, 2010
Bye, Bye Dora!
By Susan B, Charlotte Smarty Pants
Dora the Explorer has been an unofficial part of our family for the past 3 years. All of this came to a grinding halt last week when I had a little “run in” with Dora. I strive to deal with conflict by addressing it instead of sweeping it under the rug. So, here goes…
Dear Dora the Explorer,
You need to remove the Dora cupcakes recipe and video from the Nick Jr. (see Noggin) website and also stop talking about them on TV.
After seeing a promo for your cupcakes on Nick Jr., my daughter bugged me for weeks. Everyday, it was: "Mommy, are we going to make the Dora cupcakes today?" I thought she would forget if I simply ignored her. She did not. I finally cracked.
Let me put it bluntly, Dora: these cupcakes were a total P.I.T.A. Your recipe says 70 minutes and that is a total crock. Admittedly, I'm a bit slower than your average professional cupcake decorator. But, c'mon, Dora. It took me more than 70 minutes to get everything prepped and mixed. Plus, this doesn't even count the time it takes to mix, bake and cool the cupcakes.
The entire process from buying the ingredients to piping out the hair to baking the cupcakes to dying the icing the correct color to decorating the cupcakes was very stressful!
I need you to know that before this unfortunate event, you were a she-ro in our house. We were all big fans of yours.
I'm concerned that you are being misrepresented. I recommend that you contact your people at Nick Jr so that you preserve your good name and save some other poor mom from falling victim to this scam.
I hope we've all learned from this and can move forward.
Dora, saying goodbye is always hard and I'm sorry it had to end this way. It pains me to tell you this but my daughter has moved on to the Disney Princesses.
Goodbye, Dora.
Susan Bowman, scarred for life
5 comments:
Thank you! My girls have also ben bugging me to make these cupcakes. Now I know to hold strong to my first inclination NOT to do it. very funny.
My 2 1/2 year old daughter did the same to me! I finally broke down and we made the cupcakes. I am glad I had the idea to buy the cupcakes already baked from the deli in the grocery store (non-iced) because I knew she would not have the patience to wait through that whole process. So, after all the mess and stress put into decorating, she ate one and never asked for anymore. What a waste and no, it did not go as easy as they made it seem!
When I was a kid, my mom and I baked together a lot. One fall we decided to make a blue ribbon recipe from one of her cookbooks—pumpkin cookies. I love pumpkin and all things spiced, but these cookies were awful—wrinkly, cardboard-y mush. Yet to this day, whenever we talk about baking together, we laugh about those pumpkin cupcakes. You watch, those Dora cupcakes will be one of your daughter's fondest memories! Ironic, isn't it?
Fortunately, I have not been asked to make those dreaded cupcakes yet, but I did however, have to cave to making the Mr. Sun cupcakes on the back of the betty crocker cake mix box! $15 later and 12 sun cupcakes with candy pieces and black icing for glasses, no one wants to eat a single cupcake. But the joy of seeing my three year old enjoying the baking and decorating process with mommy was priceless. :)
Thank you for taking the time to post your experience. My four year old has been beggin to make them as well - and who wouldn't since they make it look so easy on TV. Anything might be easy if it is all prepped for you by a staff! I will hold my ground to not make them. She also wants to make the Moose & Z little pillows they demonstrate, like we all just have 20 different colors of felt laying around the house! I need to turn off the TV!
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