TV Shows You Can Watch With Your Kids

When Sabrina was little, there were some shows that she loved - and I hated. Some of them made me want to poke my eyes out. Barney - for example - somehow charms every child and horrifies every parent. Even worse for me were the Teletubbies. Dipsy and Yoo-hoo - or whatever their names were - were spooky brightly colored aliens who bounced across a creepily deserted landscape with a baby peering out of a giant sun. Of course, my daughter loved them. She even had little creepy tubbie dolls. My husband also mentioned how much we hated The Big Comfy Couch and Bananas in Pajamas. While I enjoyed the cartoon Spongebob Square Pants - I had to be sitting down and watching it. If it was on in the background, the voices made me want to climb the walls.

But there are some shows we have both enjoyed. I love when we find tv shows we can watch together. Here's my list. Add yours!

1) Project Runway - We both enjoy the fashion creating. We like the odd characters and the mentoring of Tim Gunn. I think this even inspired both of us to buy sewing machines. (similar favorites include: Top Chef and Design Star).
2) Mythbusters - It is like science class gone wild. This is a show even my husband will stop and watch. Things exploding, people being lifted by balloons, deadly spiders...what's not to like?
3) Cash Cab - This quirky show is all about trivia - in a New York cab. The questions are tough - but we enjoy trying to get the answers before the contestants get booted onto the street. (Jeopardy, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader also make my list.
4) Everybody Loves Raymond. Family comedies are fun - especially family comedies where people of all ages are included. Raymond appeals to my daughter and to my 83-year-old mother in law. It works for all of us.
5) Gilmore Girls - This is a boxed series that we were given as a gift and immediately became addicted to. While my husband can't stand it (too much talking for him) - my daughter and I fell in love with the quirky characters and the town. It also inspired some thoughtful conversations about dating and parenting and sex. We actually have watched it twice in a row...time to take a break and find a new series!

What shows have you enjoyed watching with your kids?

What shows couldn't you bear to sit through?

Mary McLeod Bethune: She Has Given Her Best

I first heard about Mary McLeod Bethune when I was a student at Moody Bible Institute. She was an early graduate of my college - and an African American woman. I knew she had gone on to become one of the greatest women in our country. She was so well known that she earned the status of being featured on our postage stamps. But I didn't really know much about her. As I researched Mary McLeod Bethune for my book, When Others Shuddered: Eight Women Who Refused to Give Up . I learned a bit more about her remarkable life: She was the 15th of 17 children, born to former slaves. From an early age, she hungered for education. She graduated from Moody Bible Institute with a desire for missionary service to Africa - an opportunity she was denied because of her race. Undeterred, she started a school for African American girls in Daytona Beach, Florida, that went on to become Bethune Cookman University. She was asked to work with Franklin D. Roosevelt and led many African Am

Pacific Garden Mission: A Bed, A Meal and the Bright Light of Hope

In 1877, a woman named Sarah Dunn Clarke and her newly-wedded husband George started a rescue mission on Chicago’s south side. They were wealthy, but their hearts were broken by the men and women who struggled to survive on the city’s streets. The Pacific Garden Mission is the 2 nd oldest operating rescue mission in the United States. Now located on 14 th St and Canal – just south of Chicago’s loop – they offer shelter to as many as a thousand men and women on any given night. As part of my book research to understand how the work of Sarah Clarke continues today, I visited the mission with my friend Dawn Pulgine. Entering through the side, we felt a bit out of our element. Men, black and white, old and young, clustered near the doorway. Some carried bags of personal belongings. Others were working the desk and security. It was mid-day at the Mission. We were given a tour by one of the “program men” – residents who choose to stay and live at the

Your Roots Are Showing

I'm older. I know that. But, honestly, I still feel pretty young. Well, most days at least Today I received a not-requested senior discount at Einstein Bagels. It appeared as a $1.03 credit on my receipt, along with the cheery explanation. And if other people don't tell me I'm older, my body definitely does. I traveled to and from Chicago last week with my daughter and her friend. Being the self sufficient woman I am, I helped the girls boost their luggage into the airline's overhead bin. Later that day, I felt my mistake. My back has not been happy ever since. I've been putting those sticky heat patches on it, Ben Gay rub, ice, heat wraps, you name it. And still when I turn incorrectly . . . ouch. There are other signs too. I wear glasses now . . . all the time. It started with readers, and then progressed to progressives. And I HAVE to color my hair now. Those pesky roots keep reappearing in an ever-shinier shade of silver. I (briefly) considered embr

Jamie Janosz

Search This Blog