Monstermania

Emma Lynn is a hard core Sesame Street fan. She is working very hard on that tongue twister. Susie who sells seashells by the sea shore must be from Sesame Street. As soon as I mention it, she starts in with her S's and bee-lines to the TV so she is sure to get a front row seat. She nods her head and blinks her eyes hard as she spits out her buzzing attempt at her favorite words of the day. When she sees the first monster, Murray, come on the screen, she goes into a screeching fan frenzy like Beatlemania: "EEEEEEEE!!!" and her breath puffs in and out. It's Sesame Street-mania! Her body stiffens, her fists tighten and she stomps her feet as fast as she can in pure exhilaration. She is locked in from that moment on. There's no use in calling her name. Ethan is not as captivated by "The Street" as Emma. He usually wants to play with Momma during this time, now that he finally has me all to himself. We read a book or play with blocks, but every time a song comes on, you'll have to excuse him for a moment because he can't hear a word you are saying.

Emma sits Indian style for most of the show, and hangs on every word that's said by those little colorful Muppets. But when cartoon Cookie Monster comes on with his song for the letter sound of the day, it's back up on her feet for her uncontrollable huffing and puffing, stiffened, squeaking, stomping square dance in the middle of the living room floor. She is all the entertainment we need. She inspires her dad and me to sing along: "e,e,e,e,e,e,e,e,e,e-elephant! Elephant is a word that starts with E, e-e-e-e-!"

Go, Emma!! :)

I love that the show promotes language development. If you've never watched, there is always a word of the day, which is now referred to as "the word on the street." A small word, big word, any kind of word is featured and discussed in different ways in an episode. There is still a letter of the day and a number of the day, too. It's just good stuff. Never mind Elmo and Cookie Monster, who just can't seem to get their pronouns right, or the bear who, despite his mental sharpness, cannot seem to pronounce his R's. I cannot seem to justify the reason for the presence of these issues, other than promoting tolerance of differences, which does seem to be a strong overtone of the show.

I love that my babies love Sesame Street. I loved it when I was little, too. I really can't believe it's still on. What's even more amazing to me is that there are still some of the same people from the cast that I remember. Maria, Louis, Bob, Gordon and Susan all still live on Sesame Street. I think it is very cool how they have remained relevant by updating their slang and keeping up with the times. I can tell that they are conscious of political correctness and of all different cultures and types of people. I like watching it just as much as the babies do. There are always cute little puns and allusions to culture and expressions that are detectable only by the parents...some of which are even a little racy, surprisingly. There are some new residents on The Street, some new monsters, but a lot still remains the same and that appeals to my love of tradition.

I remember a time when I was a little girl that I stayed home sick from school. My dad called me several times to make sure that I was drinking plenty of 7up and that I was watching Sesame Street, as if Sesame Street were part of my recovery.

Watch on, Emma and Ethan, doctor's orders!