So I’ve had my newly adopted son home for about three weeks now. He is doing an amazing job at picking up English, but he still needs to work on his alphabet and counting, so a couple of days ago I started Tivo’ing “Sesame Street” so that I could sit with him and watch it (he likes “Blue’s Clues” as well, but since I want to limit his tv time, it will be losing out for now, except as a special treat).
Last night, we watched our first episode together, with him on my lap. The show is currently (or it may have been a repeat) celebrating its 35th anniversary on the air, and as it mentioned that (I’m 34 myself), I realize that the show that helped me to learn, to help me become who I was a child, is now doing the same thing with my child 30 years later.
The thought of that, along with seeing a really old sketch (10 chocalate cream pies, whoooooaaaaa, crash), and then a compilation of scenes from the shows history: Mr. Hooper running his store, a brief skit when they talk about his death, Big Bird losing his house after 9/11, Maria and Luis having their baby, Gordon and his wife adopting theirs; was too much and I think I cried almost non-stop for the full hour. Hell, I’m weeping up again now from my cube at work thinking about it.
I still have the episode on Tivo and while we will continue to watch the new ones each day, I have to believe I will be keeping this one around whenever I need a good cry.
(oh, and the gloating father like guy will again point to www.abunchof.us if anyone wants to see his photos or videos of him home)
I watched that too, and turned into the same mess of tears and blubberingness. (Though I still don’t understand why Big Bird lost his house.) The kids totally didn’t get it, I think that episode was designed just for the grown-ups!
It took me a minute to figure it out, but as I was trying to tie recollections to the years displayed, I saw that it was 2001, in particular, I am sure it was shown not long after 9/11.
It is good to see I’m not the only one who got all bubbly though, but I am sure it was made for adults and kids as it had Journey to Ernie and Elmo’s World (I caught glimpses of both of these of other episodes while waiting in the hospital for my son to have his blood drawn a couple of weeks ago).
Thanks for the kind words. I cannot begin to describe the joy and excitement that goes through me every time he does something ‘new’ like last night in the bath tub he put his hand in his generic looking puppet/wash cloth and said Cookie Monster over and over. And the joy in his eyes when I come home from work and he sees me makes me feel happier than I have felt in a long time.
Opal, I don’t really have any VCRs in my house anymore, but I can try to burn it to DVD. I haven’t done this yet with Tivo, but I can easily send the .tivo file to my pc and I THINK I can burn it that way. Would that work for you?
The “Ten chocolate pies” sketch actually was applied to a few digits, with the same chef-dressed actor, and always to my uncritical delight.
TommyTutone, all children are born into this world beautiful and curious and mysterious and with all their future debts paid in full, just by demonstrating the miracle of life that they are. Cherish him, and by being the person you want him to be, give him the chance to cherish you.
If you want a good cry on demand from the Childrens’ Television Workshop, there’s a VHS issue of the Muppets’ trip to the Metropolitan Museum.
The first time I sewed a dress for the Weeping Princess, I got all teary and nostalgic, too–not because my mom sewed dresses for me, but just because I couldn’t believe I was sewing a dress for a little girl I never thought I’d have.
Kids do some powerful stuff to parents, don’t they?
I want you to know that every woman who ever made the gut wrenching, life altering decision to surrender a child to adoption wants to, no, change that, needs to believe that the child will have a better chance in life than she can offer him.
They may say they want financial security for their child. A stable two parent family. A chance for a good education, decent healthcare a shot for a better tomorrow. They say these things, they believe these things. These ARE important things.
What they don’t say, can’t bring themselves to vocalize, maybe not even admit in their heart of hearts is they want their child cherished, adored, worshipped. They want to believe that the new parent will ache with love for their child. They want their child to grow up bathed, no, pickled in love, love, love. To live in a world where faces light up everytimes he comes into a room. It is this, more than anything, that shines through in your words and pictures.
It brought tears to my eyes, he’s a beautiful, beautiful boy. You see, 31 yrs ago I was one of those women. God Bless You.
