Illuminating Sesame Street’s Dark Past

A friend of mine shot me a link to an article examining Sesame Street through a pair of today’s politically-correct glasses. Based around the release of the show’s original episodes on DVD, Virginia Heffernan of the New York Times writes about her surprise when viewing the first disc at being met with the warning: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.” Say what?

Heffernan writes a splendidly tongue in cheek take on what is “wrong” with these old episodes, including such scandalous subjects as a lost lonely girl taking the hand of a strange man and going back to his house for milk & cookies with his wife while her mother is located; a character not only smoking a pipe, but then eating it; and of course, the biggest shock of all: the presence of grumpy characters! No “Prozacky Elmo” types, as she describes today’s painfully cheery regulars. Wow, how traumatic for kids to find out that once you could ask someone to help you find the way home, that some people smoke, and that (gasp), it might be okay to be grumpy once and a while, rather than medicate any unpleasantness away. Sunny Days indeed.

Things that make me laugh

I just happened to stumble upon a hilarious mommy website that has become my new addiction.  For anyone who likes to laugh and enjoys commiserating with others I strongly recommend visiting www.truemomconfessions.com  It is a site where real moms anonymously confess their deepest darkest.  If you have had a similar experience you can click the me too icon and make someone feel a little less alone.  You can also post your faux pas and see that someone else has done it too and maybe even a little worse.  Mothering is hard enough, it’s good to know other people are fumbling too.  There is also a companion site, www.trueofficeconfessions.com  where you can state your work related grievances.  You can get it all of your chest and have a good laugh at the same time.

Socializing with Toddlers

No, I don’t mean socializing the little buggers, though somehow it does always come down to them, eh? I mean finding time to hang with a couple you like who also has offspring of a similar age. Amanda and her kin get along pretty well with me and mine, so we like to plan the occasional dinner at one or the other’s home. Needless to say, dinner time has moved up a good deal since we had a child, from closer to eight, to six thirty on the nose. Luckily, Amanda’s family also dines around that time (could be the preponderance of under-4 year-olds on the guest list).

So when Amanda and I were trying to sort out when to arrive, we started with six. But that means, run in, eat, chat for about 15 minutes, pack the bags and head home. (At Amanda’s, that always includes doggie-bags as she is a frigging good–and copious–cook). Anyhow, long story short, we ended up saying 5ish and still the evening felt short to me. Yes, that is the sign of a good evening, when it flys by, but to combine the best of a play date with a couple’s dinner and conversation, the timing is downright wonky: Arrive at 5 (uh, isn’t it still brunch time?); dinner on table by 6:30. Then we have the rather lengthy meal given the requirements of toddler table management. Our collection of toddlers eat in three distinctive styles–mine mows down with enthusiasm, but then wants to get up and play; Amanda’s 23 month old eats everything in sight (with sour cream, please) then eats what is on dad’s plate and anything else in reach and is, in fact, never done; Amanda’s nearly-4 year-old suffers delusions that the food is poisoned and that we are clearly out to get him, but eventually takes solice in a sad microwaved facsimilie of the fabulous meal Amanda has prepared. Parents formulate fragmented table chat around various spills, demands, and other kid-chaos.

Hounds Kids are released from the table. As parents regroup with a round of beverages, children make short work of Amanda’s toy organization. 7:45: Men retreat to basement; luckily daddy-starved-kids soon follow. Women hunker down for a couple of well earned beverages and before you know it, it’s past bed time. One word: babysitter. For real, though: Multipurpose socializing may best be left to daytime gatherings, though god forbid we interfere with nap time…

Yard Camping

I am exhausted today. More so than usual because of my brilliant idea to build a tent city in the yard and camp out. Oh it’s all fun and games until mommy has to sleep on the ground. I wish that were the only thing that kept me awake, but no. I set my daughter up her very own tent, which she was very excited about and played in–refusing to get out–for at least an hour before bedtime. That’s right, I put her tent right next to ours in the hope we’d get to sleep al fresco alone. Nice dream, right?

All went well: we were really roughing it, so we watched our DVD on a miniscule portable player in the center of the tent village, with our three year old peeking out the window of her tent. Then it was bedtime and I began to fear that the reality of being all alone in a tent in the yard, far from the snuggly safety of her toddler bed, would set in. But no. She went down like butter. So we decided to watch the rest of the movie just outside her tent, figuring our presence would be a comfort. Within minutes, I could hear her sleep breathing so we moved out of mosquito range and into our tent. All was well… then it began to rain. No, pour. Then fireworks started up nearby (oh ya, in addition to both reading inaccurate weather reports, we forgot that the fourth is only a few days off!). And then… nothing. She didn’t wake up! Well shoot, we thought, let’s get a few winks before she wakes us. Which she didn’t. We woke up on our own at 8:30 in the morning; at least an hour later then we ever sleep. My night of poor sleep had absolutely nothing to do with my independent girl; it was all about my own worry about the wee thing, all alone in that big tent. She can hardly wait to do it again and now that I have confirmed that I am, in fact, a ninny, I do too.

Bored Games

I love board games.  I do.  I love to spend an evening playing Scrabble, or Trivial Pusuit.  I was so excited when my children became old enought to start playing board games.  Lucky for me, they love them too.  Their little faces light up at the prospect of Candyland, Chutes and Ladders can squelch almost any tears and a card game can make fights end. 

So, what’s the problem?  Childrens games can become down right painful for adults.  Fights erupt over who will win.  Arguments arise over what color pawn to be.  A single game can last roughly eight months.  My oldest refuses to land on a square that is not his favorite color du jour, my youngest only wants to land on the spot where his brother is, and the second I get close to the end, I pull a card that sends me back to the beginning.  While I understand that soon, they will be able to play correctly, I have come up with a few alternative ways to play games that have cut down on the drama associated with game play.  In games where cards are drawn, half of the deck can be removed to help speed up play.  Trust me, small children do not have the attention span to sit through lengthy games, consequently, neither do I.  Rules can always be altered to help move along a game, as long as everyone plays by the same rules, the integrity of the game is not altered.  A family game night is only fun if you don’t require medication to get through it.   

Begging to Differ

We just returned from a family vacation in Hershey, PA. As you’ve already guessed from the name, this is where you’ll find the chocolate factory. It is also the home of one of the most little-kid friendly amusement parks ever. No, it isn’t all rinky-dink rides. There are coasters large enough for the biggest thrill seekers, with stuff ranging  right down to those cute little carny rides. The best part, though are the scaled-down versions of big rides, like the mini Himalaya and Pirate Ship rides. This lets the wee ones go on rides ususally reserved only for the big kids. Nothing like getting to do what the big kids do to really brighten up the day of a 37-inch tall human. Hershey Park has rides toddlers can do alone (or on which a willing and flexable parent can go with an infant), others they must do with a parent, and then different stages moving up from there.

What I discovered on this particular vacation–other than how much I’d recommend Hershey to a mom with a three year old–is what its like not to “just” ride the rides my husband and I both like (mostly roller coasters). Rather, we took turns going on rides with our daughter, which allowed her to try so much more than she would have with only one of us. It also “forced” each of us to do things we otherwise probably wouldn’t have. We each thought we’d take turns watching our girl on the baby rides while the other ran off to do the other stuff. Instead, we both found we were having so much fun with her that I willingly went on a spinny ride (disembarking only vaguely nausiated) and my pale husband spent 1.5 hours in the new Boardwalk water park, exiting only slightly burnt. We all had a blast.

Kids Shows

I am a lot of things, but I am always honest.  I am honest enough to admit that my kids watch a certain amount of television.   I am not one of those mothers who swear that they never let their kid watch t.v., but the kid knows the names of every cartoon character.  My kids enjoy a few t.v. shows, some of them are good and teach them lessons, and some of them are mindless drivel and actually make them dumber for having watched. 

Sesame Street remains a childhood staple, some of the characters have changed from when I was a kid, (my mother remembers that I was inconsolable when Mr. Hooper died) but for the most part the show has remained solid educational entertainment.  While I do not enjoy “Bob the Builder”, my kids love it and there is just enough educational merit for me not to change the channel.  “Meteor and the Mighty Monster Truck Kids” is a tremendous pile of rubbish.  I really don’t like the show, I feel I may have lost IQ points while watching it, but I let my kids watch it because it entertains them.  I don’t learn from all the shows I watch, but I watch them because I like them, they entertain me.  So I give my kids the benefit of watching for the pure entertainment value.  Come on what boy wouldn’t like a show staring Monster trucks.  I used to enjoy Tom and Jerry and I’m pretty sure they didn’t teach me anything. 

 So, while I have a rather lenient view on television viewing, there are some shows I will simply not allow on my t.v.  ”Caillou” is one of those shows.  Just the sound of Caillou’s voice makes me cringe.  The cutesy way he talks is enough to make me want to puke.  I simply can’t allow the broadcast of that awful show.  “Teletubies” is another thing I can’t deal with.  I used to put it on so that I could get some housework done.  As soon as the fake sun rose on the television my kids would enter a trance.  This was great for me, I would have a full half hour to accomplish tasks.  One day, I sat down and watched with the kids.  With in minutes my mind had simply stopped working and I too gazed at the television in a trance.  I don’t really know what happened as none of the tubbies were speaking english and like I said I was in a trance, but I’m afraid that at some point in time the creators of the show will flip a switch and thousands of children and myself will litter the streets following the will of the tubbies.  We have all probably been brainwashed to purchase more tubbie merchandise.  I don’t quite know what that demonic little baby in the sun was doing, but I know that it will no longer do it in my house.