Howefitz Blog

Today’s kids are spoiled. They can have cartoons 24-7, on demand, no questions asked. Here at Howefitz Blog, I’d like to start  a tradition of making Saturday morning an event again. Cartoons belong on Saturday morning!

While surfing the worldwide web last night, I came across a review of Muppet King Arthur published by BOOM! Kids Comics. The review was on School Library Journal and was written by Katherine Dacey. I have not read this comic yet, so for those of you that don’t like to read reviews, don’t worry. This is not a review, it is commentary on what was said in a review.

Before I blow full steam ahead on this post, I want to take you back in time. Through the magic of YouTube, please go back with me to the 1970′s, and a very familiar television show opening. I bet you can sing along…

Now, did you notice anything? Kids? Ok. A big yellow 7 year old bird? Good! Notice anything else? Were the kids outside?! AND they were PLAYING!!!! Keep this in mind as I continue to rant…

Yesterday, Christina Warren of Mashable.com wrote a piece praising Sesame Street and their Elmo iPhone app. Take a look:

OK, it’s probably a little early for this blog to go into ‘reruns’, but when I originally posted this, I didn’t feel that it got the traffic that it deserved. Fatherhood Friday is always my biggest traffic day, but I posted this one late. So in an effort to rectify that, I am posting here again, ‘We’ve Heard the Talk of Wall Street and Main Street, but Who’ll Help Sesame Street?’

Obviously, this is near and dear to me, and I apologize to those who have already read this. I promise a brand new Fatherhood Friday post will be posted next Friday.

A lot of the time, it feels like having kids is just about the worst thing you can do if you are trying to be ‘sustainable’ or ‘green’ or whatever label a treehugger has to use to avoid ‘treehugger’! If they’re young enough, there’s the constant production of dirty diapers, the feeling that snacks need to be more ‘convenient’, so that even if you don’t buy prepackaged snacks, you’re putting them in snack size ziplocs. If your kid’s older, you’re still producing a lot of trash to the point that you find yourself saying, “Didn’t I take the trash out yesterday? Seriously, what could we possibly be throwing away on a daily basis?”

Calli slides to the future with Abby Cadabby.

I learned my ABC’s in my PJ’s. I would play games with a giant bird, swing by Hooper’s store for a soda, and try to avoid the grouch on the corner, but there was always something charming about him as well. I was watching Sesame Street.

I’m sure you have similar memories. Our kids will too. While I laughed at Ernie tormenting Bert, or watched as Kermit the Frog gave another Sesame Street News Flash from the planet Kuzbain or a familiar fairy tale, I was also learning. Today, my daughter loves Elmo and Abby Cadabby. The cast of colorful characters may change, but the wordly themes of cultural understanding and acceptance (While learning ABC’s and 123′s) never changes. Sesame Street is just as integral to my children’s lives as it was to mine.