Help! My Son is Addicted to Vlad and Niki

I’ve been thinking about writing this post for awhile now, but for a couple of different reasons have been putting it off.  Firstly, I’m always hesitant to say anything bad about Russia in writing, unless maybe if I’m talking about Rocky IV and how much I wanted to see Ivan Drago get beat. And secondly, I still can’t really wrap my head around the Vlad and Nikki YouTube channel.

I’m not even sure how we stumbled onto Vlad and Niki.  The autoplay feature at the end of each video is to blame…I know that…So whether we were watching Blippi, or JackJack Plays, or some of their random kid YouTube channel, or my son just clicked on the video because it looked cool, we are now fully immersed into the world of Vlad and Niki.

I should back up a minute to explain who these kids even are.  Basically, it’s two Russian brothers around the ages of 6 and 8, along with their younger brother Christian and their mom and occasionally the dad who make tons and tons of money on YouTube playing.  They started out reviewing toys and then devolved into running around in superhero costumes chasing aliens.

Did I mention these kids are millionaires and eventually could be billionaires at the rate they’re going?  Yearly, they’re making anywhere between $50 million to $(0 million.  If you don’t believe me just Google it.  They make an insane amount of money.  More than most athletes do in a year.

They aren’t just making money on Youtube either; they’re selling their own toys…some which your child will actually like….like this one (click here)

**I receive commissions for purchases made through links on this post**

What do I have against these cute little boys from Moscow?  Well, here’s just a couple things that give me nightmares about their channel.

They Teach Children Terrible Habits

I’m not sure if I’m just getting old and being an overprotective parent like mine were when I’d sneakily watch South Park at sleepovers in elementary school, or if I have a legit gripe about these kids.  But they’re constantly reinforcing bad habits every time I’m watching one of their crazy videos.  For one thing, they are always fighting with each other, saying “No, it’s my toy” or “Hey, it’s my room” to their mom.  The mom, who, basically lets her kids run wild without really disciplining them…I guess mainly because they’re making $50 million to $90 million a year so at that price tag, I guess the leash is a little bit longer for bratty kids.

They’re also doing things like breaking stuff around the house (including a Christmas Tree) which just drives me bananas.  Why do you have to show my toddler that it’s funny to knock over a Christmas tree.  Now I will say when I was younger and my parents Christmas tree would tip over due to natural causes it was funny, but that’s beside the point.  They treat their house like a junkyard and in turn, it shows kids that it’s okay to run around the house destroying things.

The Videos Are Insane

When I was younger, a crazy night on TV was watching Wile Coyote chase Roadrunner around the desert.  These kids are like the Tasmania Devil on speed.  Watching these videos makes my brain cells dance around in my head.  I’m not sure what that means, but it’s not a good thing.  It’s like the opposite of watching golf on TV.  If you want to wake up in the morning and don’t want to drink coffee, put on Vlad and Niki, because they will give you an extreme jolt of energy.  This probably explains why my son wants to put it on the second he opens his eyes.

The videos are just a mess of scenes mashed together with a million different things going on.  It’s way too much on the brain of an adult, so I can’t imagine it on the brain of a child.  Parents worry about their child getting CTE and I’m honestly starting to worry about my child getting TMVN (Too Much Vlad and Niki).

The Content Is Addicting for Children

If I can try and see it through my son’s eyes as to why he likes it so much, Vlad and Niki are the cool kids in the class who are too entertaining to take your eyes off.  They’re playing with the best cars, trucks and toys that are on the market today (because they can afford it) and they also have their own line of toys.  If you want to support them for some reason, visit their website.  They are kind of like Macho Man Randy Savage if you took away the wrestling ability…. Crazy. (RIP Macho Man).

They also have about 200 million videos (a slight exaggeration) so it’s easy to get lost in their content for days and weeks and months.

The Bottom Line

Right now, my toddler is into these kids potentially even more than I was into 24 at one point.  I hate to even admit it but before that show would come on, I’d basically be panting like a dog so excited for it to start.  So, are Vlad and Niki all bad news?

I try and find the good and teaching moments in times like these when the options are either deal with a 20-minute-long temper tantrum or let my son watch another video and hope that he’ll get out of this phase.  I am always watching these silly videos with him and telling him when Vlad and Niki are acting like idiots (in toddler terms “fresh”) and show him the right way to do things and what Vlad and Niki are doing wrong.  Although, they must be doing a lot right if they’re getting billions of views and I am not even in the same galaxy.

So, for now, I’m feeling like Rocky Balboa in the first few rounds of Rocky IV…getting my parenting skills beat up and knocked down with a few black eyes…not sure if that made sense but it did in my head…. but don’t worry Vlad and Niki, I’ll wind up like Rocky in the end and you’ll fade off into YouTube oblivion in my son’s life…. with all your millions and millions of dollars.