The Good Old Days

This past weekend, my husband and I took the kids to the movies to see The Muppets. We all enjoyed it very much, but what I particularly enjoyed was all the memories that came flooding back from my childhood. At the ripe old age of 37, I don’t consider myself “old” per se. However, sitting in the theater looking at my children entranced in a fun movie, I couldn’t help but think of how television and movies have changed in the last three decades. Family shows that I used to love to watch after dinner with my parents and siblings have been replaced by reality TV, sitcoms with a lot of inappropriate innuendoes and cartoons that are now said to cause ADD. What happened to good old-fashioned family television like The Muppets? Lost are the days of Half Pint and Pa talking over a problem on the front porch, the Huxtable parents deciding on what the proper punishment was for lying or the sibling rivalry between Malory and Alex on my all-time favorite Family Time...wholesome shows that families could watch together. These shows helped us to understand how good families work, as opposed to leaving us feeling empty about how difficult and, at times, utterly insane people are on some of today’s reality shows. I am sure my parents might have expressed concern over my childhood shows back in the day or thought the shows of their youth were better. Who knows? Maybe when my kids have kids they will long for the days of SpongeBob Squarepants and Drake and Josh. I sure hope not though. And while we are on the subject of the good old days, have I ever told you that I used to walk two miles to school and wore the same pair of shoes every day for two years?