Life's about stages and if you haven't had the opportunity to experience forty, you're either an eye blink away or pushing up daisies. There's no in between. So, embrace your age, whatever it may be and quit clamoring about how you're 21 with 30 years of experience.
But I digress.
Remember how Mike and Carol Brady would sit the kids down and give them one of those speeches that A Very Brady Movie poked so much fun at. Or how Mr. Drummond imparted his words of wisdom about growing up, doing the right thing, and surviving in a world where racism is an ugly part of life on the two little inner-city black kids he was raising on his own. Or even how Mrs. Garrett, in spite of her man hungry ways, was able to give Tootie, Blair and Jo advice that only comes with having been-there-and-done-that-already.
Or how James and Florida Evans managed to instill morals and values into their three children while they suffered through life in the ghetto.
Occasionally, Ward and June Cleaver were even able to make ol' Eddie Haskell straighten up and fly right.
Although I'm not a prepubescent girl that needs to hear someone besides my mother's take on real issues that affect every child growing up, I still miss seeing strong adult role models on television for our kids.
I've watched far too much Hannah Montana, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, iCarly and that God-awful Drake and Josh! All the adults on these shows seem to have suffered a bad acid trip they never quite recovered from.
They serve as little more than "humans" over the age of 21 which, I guess, by law gives people the right to care for children under the age of 18. The adults are basically the comic relief for shows that are already not very funny....just extremely silly.
Sure these shows are for kids and about kids. Watching parents probably isn't something the show's viewers want to spend a lot of time doing. But watching incompetent adults pose as parents/teachers undermines the value and role the importance of adults have in a child's life in today's society.
Let's just turn the televisions off and let the kids explore life outside, read a book, play a great family board game. Sure those are great ideas but not always practical in a world where both parents work, sometimes untraditional hours and kids are left to their own devices which are rather plentiful these days.
Whatever happened to the ABC after-school specials? Those were some great shows exploring things that were a bit "taboo" back in the day but relevant, just the same.
I'd even take the parents from Charlie Brown over what we're subjected to watching today. You couldn't understand whether the squawk box voices were making any sense. You just assumed that they were based on the reaction of the Peanuts crew.
I know parents have always been an embarrassment to their children once kids reach a certain age. But they were embarrassments because they were our parents....not because they were embarrassments.
