Meal or No Meal

The t.v. was on in my house this morning, even after mr. waaz had retired to his lovely K.O.Q. bed. Most of you are probably aware that this is NOT a normal occurrence. I watch one or two shows in the evening on the days that mr. waaz works, usually after the boy is in bed so as not to dilute his still-forming synapses. Even during that hour or so, I am rarely on the couch knitting (though the idea is alluring). Instead, I am often fulfilling the portion of my overall job description entitled "housekeeper" that is purposely left off my daytime resume. During the day, we are so fully consumed with real life that I couldn't even tell you where the remote is unless the boy has just handed it to me--he's still at the stage where he typically hands me everything he's not supposed to be playing with as opposed to acquiring a strange glint in the eye and retiring to a remote corner to play with the forbidden fruit. Therefore, the only time the t.v. is on is if I happen to catch an interesting radio program (our t.v. has NPR as well as one or two local stations) or if, like this morning, mr. waaz has turned sports on to help his brain transition from work mode to sleep mode.

**sidenote** I often hear other moms of toddlers talk about how their child is delighted when the tune of various kids' shows comes on, and how he/she will sit entranced for an entire show, allowing the mom to "get something done", or I hear how the shows are "educational", so the moms don't feel bad about letting their kids watch. I mean, many of the shows have spanish words and conversations about sharing and pretty colors. That's gotta be good, right? And it's not like they can read, so why bother even pulling out the 5 board books on the high shelf and offering them instead, you know?(PLEASE read the sarcasm in the past couple of sentences). Ugh. **sidenote over**

This morning, however, I actually am the one responsible for the t.v. staying on past mr. waaz's bedtime. Let me explain. Last night there was a small accident of the liquid variety involving my very wonderful microfiber loveseat which resulted in the denuding all the cushions of their covers--why stop at just one--and tossing them into the washing machine. I did this at night because the back cushions are full of actual stuffing as opposed to a pillowform like the seat cushions. Having that stuff out while the dog, cat, and boy are awake sounds like a recipe for a "snow"storm to me. Unfortunately, I didn't get the cases washed, dried and restuffed last night, so this morning I was faced with one pile of fluff in the book/toy corner and another in the dog bed corner of my living room, and a very antsy boy and very confused dog in between. So, the dog is outside, the t.v. is set to Sesame Street, and I have just finished putting the couch back in order. Of course, my child did not actually watch the show until just this very moment (they're doing songs with real kids and he's dancing and humming, quite cute), preferring instead to "help" me stuff, but the fact remains that it was on in the background and one of the humans in the room was paying a modicum of attention. Enough attention to note (and this is the real impetus for the post...did you wonder when I was going to get to the point?) that Sesame St. has adapted to the times over the years. You know what I saw this morning? Elmo has a computer that alerts him to "elmo mail" (just like the aol "you've got mail" alert), and they are not above doing spoofs of popular gameshows. Today it was "Meal or No Meal", complete with a Howie Mandel puppet, the ladies, and all the quirky tidbits that make up Deal or No Deal. Are they serious?? They tried to educationalize it by asking whether the foods on the trays were meals or not, and bribing the contestant with cookies instead of $$, but all I could say was "wow". I had no idea it was such a popular show. Although, I guess if the Italians can have a version--with shoeboxes and a crazy-haired host--then kids are entitled to their version as well. sheesh. Click here for a full run-down of the episode, complete with MANY more signs of the times (Outkast music, "Traction Jackson", and a Law and Order character appearance, among others).

Maybe this no-t.v. thing isn't such a bad idea after all. On the bright side, after turning Sesame Street off we were able to go on a very nice walk to deposit the recyclables and pick up a box of clothing I'd noticed the night before. We also scored a very practical kid-sized step-stool for the boy and a knockoff nalgene. Most of the clothing was size very very fat, but there were a few very cute name brand little boy items, the most immediately useful being was an 18m. white button-down shirt that will complete a certain Christmas outfit perfectly. Hooray! I saved two of the humongous shirts to turn into diapers and/or wipes*, and the box has been topped off with a few items from my own closet and re-labeled "thrift store". I cannot imagine what wonderful kids' programs we missed out on, but somehow I'm not too disappointed.

*check! might update with a pic, but in case I don't they're cushy brown velour and newborn sized. Baby#2 is already spoiled.