THE television has become a battle ground of late.

And I realise this is a sign I am slightly failing at parenthood. There should be restrictions and regulations. I absolutely should not let my three-year-old watch Paw Patrol on a rolling basis.

He shouldn’t rush in from the kitchen ahead of his much older sibling in an effort to get to the screen before she does for fear she turn the pups over, or off.

And I shouldn’t have to wait until 9pm when the older one has finally settled to sleep before I get to watch my viewing choices.

But this is what is happening - on a regular basis.

I should point out here they do partake in other activities other than watching television, but when they do want to watch it finding a happy medium is proving painfully hard.

And I think all three of us in the family who are not aged three, are united in our mutual hatred of Ryder and his band of specially gifted and trained canine friends.

Just the strain of the Paw Patrol theme tune and the tinkling of the pup pup boogie set my teeth on edge.

The whole premise is bewildering - I have given up trying to explain to my husband why Mayor Goodway has a pet chicken called Chickoletta and also why they seem to spend inordinate amounts of time saving her and other random animals.

I am pretty sure your average rescue team would not have the resources to save a butterfly trapped in a cave.

But whoever is financing Ryder and the Pup Patrol has unlimited funds with which to assist.

There is also only two series on Netflix so we are watching the same ones, over and over again.

Like Groundhog Day only without Bill Murray. And any kind of comedy.

When we have managed to wrestle the viewing rights from the small child - in order for the big one to watch a programme of her choice, we are treated to Coach Trip : the Road to Tenerife.

This differs only from Paw Patrol in that it is not animated and there has at least been an end to it now they have arrived in the sun-soaked holiday isle.

But it is mindless rubbish with an undercurrent of meanness in it. You get to see very little of the places they visit along the way because the screen time is mainly taken up with people doing silly tasks and then moaning about each other.

Still, it replaced Tamara’s World so I should be thankful really. I would rather watch a lifetime of pup pup boogie than have to sit through ten more minutes of that programme.