Where did "family hour" tv go?

I know I am probably dating myself when I say that I remember a time when TV was 3 network channels and the one boring PBS channel. I remember Sunday night of Wild Kingdom and Disney's Wonderful World of Disney show. I remember watching Happy Days, Lavergne and Shirley but then had to go to bed before Three's Company came on because that wasn't appropriate. Same with Saturday night and Love Boat.

So assuming homework is finished and there isn't Scouts (Boy and Girl)or some sports practice we have to run off to, we sit down after dinner to watch tv.

I am amazed at the language, the innuendo and the situations portrayed in these sit-coms. And at 7 or 8 o'clock at night which to me is the "family hour."

Most parents I talk to have relegated themselves to watching Animal Planet, Discovery Channel or other kid-friendly channels like Nick or Disney. We usually find reruns of America's Funniest Home video or we'll use On Demand to pull up a show we know is o.k. like the Cosby Show.

So what does this mean? It means we have lost sight of what is and isn't appropriate for children. It means that we choose to provide a buffer so that we are not pulled into a conversation about lesbians, teenage sex and drug use before we (and our children) are ready. On a lighter note, it means we can't participate in the next day conversation about Lost or The Office or sometimes event benign shows like American Idol or Dancing with the Stars.

The American Red Cross is now providing safe sex discussions for community groups for children as young as 12. It seems children these days are growing up way to fast and I know that our TV programming plays a part.

Some info and stats from http://www.cybercollege.com/frtv/frtv031.htm
In the violence-sex issue then there is the matter of decides what is too violent or too sexy? What is and isn't acceptable has changed dramatically over the years. In the early days of U.S. broadcasting the words "virgin," "pregnant," and even "stomach" were not seen as suitable for general audiences to hear; and, as we've noted, even an on-screen kiss was once seen as being indecent.

A public kiss still is in some countries. You may remember the cultural backlash recently when a well-known American actor kissed a popular actress on stage in India.

Not only is what's acceptable and not acceptable moving targets in the United States (they keep changing with the times), but as we've seen with the various motion picture codes, they vary with observers.



By age 18, the average American child sees 200,000 violent acts on TV.

By age 18, children witnesses almost 20,000 murders on TV — most by handguns.

73% of the time the people in TV dramas who commit violent acts go unpunished.

47% percent of violent situations show no real harm to the victims, and 58 percent show no real pain.

Only 4 percent of violent programs show nonviolent alternatives to solve programs.

80% of Hollywood executives think there is a link between TV violence and real-life violence.

Red Alert! Two Black Hairs Spotted

With an 11 year old girl and a 13 year old boy, we are on Puberty alert at our house. My daughter has come home with the horror story of so and so starting her period, which then requires a reassuring discussion that it is a naturally occuring thing and that she will not die from it.

My son however called me into the bathroom the other day to say he is growing hair. Upon close examination, there were indeed two darker hairs in the nether regions.

My husband, who kept procrastinating about having the talk, forced my hand. There are thousands of books, articles and experts who outline the correct way this topic is to be discussed (without leaving long-lasting emotional scars that will be revealed on Oprah 10 years from now)

So my son and I go walking along a greenway we have by our house. Luckily for us,it is close enough to spring that Mallard ducks (who mate for life) have already begun "hooking up." So praise God. Doesn't He always provide exactly what we need at exactly the right time?

So we have our talk. I think I raised more questions than answered. But I feel we have at least started down the path. And now my husband can do the rest!

Science Fair Nightmare Part Deux

So we have our houses built...now to test the effects of water on them. In my tub? Sticks, rocks and dirt? UGH. So we place a big rubbermaid tub in the bathtub. and put the houses down in there...one at a time and turn the shower on.

The sticks lasted the required 10 minutes. The cob houses fell apart right away. So with the reins firmly planted in my son's hands, I go downstairs to start dinner. 30 minutes later, I call everyone down. My son, who got caught up reading, had the shower raining on the rock houses this entire time.

I can't wait to see my water bill. I actually dreamed of confronting the science teacher with a plumbing bill for unclogging my drain and awoke mad.

I made my sone pinky swear that I will have "editorial" input for next year's fair topic.

I'll post photos of this mess later.

The Science Fair Nightmare

True story. We have two snow days then a weekend. Monday on my way home from work my son calls me and tells me to pick up straw, rocks, glue, sticks, dirt, clay and sand. All of this is needed for his science fair project that is due Friday...yes 4 days from now. The project is to determine the effect of water on stick, rock and cob houses. Cob houses (just so you know) are the dirt and straw houses you see in Africa.

So I head to Michaels and fill the cart. We decide to build the popsicle stick houses first because that is the easiest. WRONG. I built 4 sides but how to connect them and then there is the issue of a roof. So we put those aside and work on the rock houses. I found river rocks you use in landscaping or in flower vases and started gluing them together with some sort of epoxy the woman at Michaels said would work. WRONG. The rocks kept sliding and I started using the popsicle sticks to try to straighten them. My son exclaims...mom you can't mix the sticks with the rocks. The cat, who wants to see what all the hullabaloo is about jumps on the table, I go to shoo him away and accidentially touch him with my gluey, stick and rock hands. You think that was a mess!

Wednesday night we made the cob slabs for our cob houses. Believe it or not there were recipes on the internet on how to make cob. My son and I took dirt, water, handmade silt (ashes from the fireplace and water-YUCK) and started mixing in a large tub. We added clay, sand and sprinkled in straw. We patted this mess into squares and laid them on a board on my dining room to dry. If I don't get a mother of the year award for this, then I don't know what to do!

Next post...the water test on these little houses...in my bathtub!

Mush Part Duex

Martha's Perfect Pancakes


Ingredients
Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons butter, melted
OR 3 tablespoons Crisco® Pure Vegetable Oil
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups Martha White® Self-Rising Flour
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar


It is the Sunday after Christmas. My son (13) is packing to go to Boy Scout Winter Camp. I have a huge tub I am loading with hand warmer thingies, his lantern, leftover Christmas cookies, Chex mix, etc. And think...I'll make him his favorite breakfast...blueberry pancakes.

So I pull out the old Aunt Jemima all you do is add water box and it is almost empty. Undetered (he is leaving to sleep in a tent in the dead of winter after all) I pull out my Martha White cookbook (my husband says that should have been the first clue to abort this mission). How hard can it be?

So I am making the pancake batter from scratch and after pouring some on the griddle, remember the blueberries. There is no time to puree them, so I sprinkle some on the batter. These pancakes now look like they have the mumps. My son said they looked like the surface of the moon.

So my husband purees blueberries for the next batch and unfortunately, the berry-to-mix ratio was way off...the batter wouldn't even stick together! So I am using my spatula to scrape off the blue steaming mush and my son says...maybe the food will be better at camp!

Below is the recipe for Martha White made-from-scratch pancake batter.


Preparation Directions
1. HEAT griddle or large skillet to medium-high heat (375°F). Spray lightly with no-stick cooking spray.*
2. BEAT eggs in medium bowl. Add milk and melted butter; mix well. Add all remaining ingredients; stir just until large lumps disappear.
3. POUR about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto hot griddle. Cook 1 to 2 minutes or until bubbles begin to break on surface. Turn; cook 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown.
TIP *Griddle is ready when small drops of water sizzle and disappear almost immediately. Pancakes will stick if griddle is too cool.

Prep Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 3 min
Serving size: 12 pancakes

The mush incident(s)

It is post-holiday but I am still faced with leftovers...ham, turkey, veggies and rolls. I have made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, I have made ham and cheese omelets, I have made veggie soup. I'm running out of options.

Then I think of the Hot Brown sandwich that Louisville is famous for. I google the recipe and get to work. It is basically turkey on toast with bacon and a cheese sauce. My husband comes into the kitchen and laughs saying the kids will just pull the turkey and bacon out and leave the rest. What does he know? Did I mention this is a famous dish that Louisville is known for? How can the kids not be impressed.

So I serve it. It looks fab. It tastes great. My son wants to know what the cheese mush is on top of the turkey and bacon. A survey of the post-meal dishes shows my husband was right. They picked out the turkey and bacon and left the rest. I give up. From now on they get leftovers, unadorned, barely heated...that'll show 'em.

Check back for mush incident number 2 the next morning.

I need to be needed...does that make me needy?

So I spent yesterday wallowing in self-pity and melancholy because my baby was turning 11. She is but a driver's license away from total independence. She has even figured out how to make her own instant Mac-n-Cheese. I am nearly obsolete. Then this morning, from the dim light of the kid's bathroom I hear..."mommy." I brace myself for whatever might be spewing from whatever opening and find my son sitting on the side of the tub with a nosebleed.

So he jumps in the shower and I have my arm in there with him, pinching the bridge of his nose while he shampoos and washes. Then he takes over pinching while I dry him off and we move to his bedroom to tilt his head back onhis pillow. I pick out his clothes for school (which I haven't done in years) and dress him while he lays on his back waiting for the bleeding to stop. Sheer bliss!

So while I am worried about the bloody nose, I am happy, at peace almost, to know that I am still needed.

The Leftovers that Saved Christmas

My daughter said she felt queasy Christmas eve. Being the mom (and cook) I immediately poll the rest of the family to make sure it wasn't my cooking. Christmas morning, we awoke to the sounds of my daughter throwing up. And she had a fever. We all went downstairs to open presents and she laid on the couch and said she was too sick to open gifts.

We typically go to my husband's family for the noon meal Christmas day. But decided not to go. We didn't want to risk getting others sick.

So my husband and I are sitting in our chairs. The fire is going. My son is off playing with his new X-Box and my daughter is asleep on my lap. It just didn't feel like Christmas.

Later that afternoon, the doorbell rang. It was my husband's brother. He had leftovers from the family meal. So as I began unwrapping the ham, turkey, green beans with the little bits of ham, sweet potato cassarole with the praline topping and my sister-in-law's pretzel salad...my daughter walked into the kitchen and said it smelled good and that she thought she could eat. Finally...it finally felt like the holiday.

OK. So New Year's Resolution #1 is met. I have created a blog. I did this for several reasons...
#1 it seems everyone who is someone has a blog
#2 I am too verbose for twitter and facebook. My designers at work tell me this all the time when I am writing promotional copy
#3 I am thinking that one day I may follow in the footsteps of my own authors and our fiction editor and write my own novel and felt this was a good way to start.

But my main reason is that I feel I have stories to tell...lots of stories. I am the obnoxious person at the office, who not matter the topic of conversation, has a story to tell. Some think this is my attempt to one-up the speaker, but really, I have had sooo many adverntures that I do have a lot of stories.

Some of you may remember the old Mac Davis tv variety show. At the end, he would sit in the audience and allow guests to offer a word or two and after collecting about 10 or so words, we would put them into a song.

My brain works the same way. When I hear a conversation, I usually can pull a story out of my life or the life of someone close to me. But I can't sing, so for now, these stories will just stay in written word!

All for now.