Educational television

There is very little television watching that goes on in our house, but while being housebound the entire weekend because of the weather, we were bored and looking for things to do so on went the television. Since we don't watch much we don't have cable or satellite so all we could watch was the local networks and PBS. My husband watched basketball most of the weekend and turned it to PBS Sunday afternoon after all the hoops were over.

To my surprise, when I got up yesterday morning, my older daughter had turned the television on and was watching PBS. I attribute that to my husband's bad example, but it's technically still the weekend since it was a legal holiday and there was still ice outside. Besides, they were being quiet. Cool shows like "Dragon Tales" came on, although I can do without "Barney," "Calliou," and "Teletubbies," being as they are all annoying. Now "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" is a whole different story altogether.

Many happy childhood mornings I spent watching "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." Thirty years later he seemed even more appealing with his darling gray hair and grandfatherly demeanor. He's still taking off his suit coat, putting on the red sweater, then taking off his dress shoes and putting on the comfy sneakers. This day he talked about trees, artists, and cycling! Wow, what a lineup. The death of Fred Rogers a while back was definitely a blow to all those who grew up with a dear grandfather on television, but it is comforting to know that his legend lives on.

Now the really cool thing is that just about anything can be educational. "Reading Rainbow" did a program on rhymes and songs that tell stories, and it featured none other than some awesome 1980s artists like Lionel Richie, Sting, Tears for Fears, DeBarge, and Run DMC! Talk about a 20-year rewind. Those were some of my favorite musical artists in high school, especially Lionel Richie. They even played a snippet of the video of my favorite high school tune, "All Night Long."

Now THAT'S educational! We'll have to start turning the television on more often around our house.

My website
My writing blog
My working mom blog