I am a mother of two children, and like any parent, I’ve spent countless hours watching what my kids are watching on YouTube. And honestly, I started noticing how much nonsense exists there. Videos that not only aren’t educational or meaningful, but sometimes are actually harmful or annoying.
So one day, I decided to do something: to create a channel with children’s stories. Stories made by me, using LEGO pieces or other toys. Material that I would be proud for my own kids to watch, something I wouldn’t feel embarrassed about.
I started with enthusiasm. I filmed, edited, re-recorded voices where needed. Everything manually, with enormous time and effort. And oh, how much each video took from me. They probably didn’t look professional like big studio productions, but at least they were clean, with nice stories, without unnecessary noise or violence.
But my dream of doing this full-time collided with reality.
To monetize a channel, you need over 1,000 subscribers and thousands of watch hours. I managed to get over a thousand subscribers — but that didn’t significantly increase the watch hours. So, the income was obviously zero.
Basically, the channel became a second job from which I earned nothing.
And, of course, all those hours of filming and editing came at the expense of family, household chores, and time with my children. I even tried involving the kids a little — arranging toys for the story, lending their voices to a character — at least we had some fun together.
Gradually, my motivation started to fade.
“Okay, today I didn’t manage to film and edit, but I’ll definitely do it tomorrow.”
And you know how it goes… tomorrow becomes the day after, and the day after becomes next week. The breaks kept stretching. I would occasionally come back with an episode or two, but then again a pause.
And inevitably, I asked myself: is all this effort really worth it?
What frustrates me the most is seeing videos made with AI, with irritating synthetic voices, with stories I wouldn’t recommend to anyone, and yet they have thousands of views and subscribers.
And I can’t help but wonder: what is wrong with people? How can they watch such content for hours? What is wrong with me that I can’t reach them with my material, made with effort and heart?
Yes, I know, I probably had unrealistic expectations. I didn’t dream of becoming rich. I just wanted a monthly income enough to continue doing what I love. Like a normal job, but with the freedom to create and invest in quality material for children.
But reality hit me hard. And I took another break.
The kids are growing up in the meantime. Maybe they are no longer at the age to sit for hours watching my stories. Maybe they will watch only occasionally, maybe not at all.
And yet… it remains there.
My videos remain. Because regardless of monetization, views, or recognition, there is the feeling that I have done something beautiful, clean, and educational. That I put a part of myself there, my time, my love for stories and for children.
And sometimes I wonder: is it really so hard to try to change something? To create something better in a world where algorithms and superficiality seem to be the rules of the game?
But maybe, in the end, even for just one child who watches with delight, all the effort is worth it.