Snips Snails and Pigtails

I loved Sesame Street as a child. It was an integral part of my childhood that I remember very clearly. I would find myself mesmerized by the psychedelic pinball with crazy music…. The juice glasses that came alive, climbed down from the cupboards and danced the night away…. the sequence where a girl holds an orange crayon up to her eye and suddenly we’re transported into a crayon-making factory. Ahhhh! Such wonderful memories.

For some reason my boys never really got into the show. The Princess however can’t get enough of it. It’s the only show she’ll sit for. In fact, she even requests it. That’s huge when you consider she doesn’t talk much in the first place!

At some point over the years between my days of Sesame Street and now, Snuffleupagus was revealed! It came as a surprise to me one day when I was watching the show with The Princess. I saw him conversing with other Adults. That never happened in my Sesame Street days. Remember, Snuffy was Big-Birds imaginary friend? None of the Adults believed he existed. So why did Snuffy become “real”? I had to look on the trusty internet to find out. (Am I the last to hear about this?) Apparently Snuffy was revealed in light of high-profile stories on pedophilia and sexual abuse of children. Several shows had aired on 60 Minutes and 20/20 . The thinking was, if nobody believed what Big Bird says, children who were sexual abuse victims might be afraid to report what happened, since the adults would not believe them. Hmmm, well okay…seems reasonable but they took all that magic and mystique away. Also, what about the fact that the idea of Snuffy taught children to stand up for what they believe in? I’m on the fence here. I just don’t know what to think.

Sesame Street was the first truly multicultural children's program including cast members of all ages and races. Bilingual counting, the alphabet, and words are integrated into every program. Even the Muppets are a diverse group of monsters, animals, and people of all shapes, sizes, and colors and never in the traditional "red and yellow, black and white." I love that! I want that for my children. I also love the fact that Adoption has been brought into the show on more than one occasion. In 1985, Susan and Gordon adopted baby Miles. More recently, Veterinarian Gina adopted baby Marco from Guatemala!

There are a few things I am upset about though. I could do without Baby Bear and his speech impediment! In that regard, Sesame Street is no better than the Teletubbies. BAH! And who the HELL made the decision to change Cookie Monster's cravings to VEGGIES?!? I just think that goes over the edge. It’s a fantasy for crying out loud. I can’t remember ever thinking I needed to eat tons and tons of cookies as a child- just because Cookie Monster did. That’s just ridiculous. Finally, let’s talk about Elmo. While The Princess absolutely adores him and goes RUNNING to the TV when “Elmo’s World” song begins to play, I think he is a little over rated. I’d like to see other characters more and less of the annoying red guy.

On a side note, whatever happened to Math Net, Electric Company and 3-2-1 Contact?? There were all such great shows…. I wish they were still around for my children. Hannah Montana or Zach and Cody just don’t do anything for me. At least the other shows were cool AND educational!