Tags

, , , ,

While watching Sesame Street yesterday with Olivia, I heard something that really gave me pause: This is the forty-fifth year of Sesame Street! I started watching Sesame Street while in college, from the very beginning. Kermit the Frog and Oscar the Grouch have always been my VERY favorites, although my list of my favorites goes on to include Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster (and I hate that the producers are being PC and having him love veggies as well as cookies), the Swedish Chef, and the two old dudes that sit up in the balcony and make rude comments.

Watching Olivia be charmed by the Sesame Street characters is as much fun now as it was when Joseph watched over 40 years ago. The magic is still there, brought to us by the number and letter of the day. (Friday’s number was 4, and the letter was W.)

I wonder if the dreamers behind what became the Children’s Television Workshop envisioned creating a neighborhood that would be this enduring. Did they realize that the legacy they were developing would encompass multiple generations? It is such a joy to watch a show geared towards children that does not encourage rude behavior or assume parents (especially fathers) are idiots; one I can view with my granddaughters without cringing at the language or the storyline.

Sesame Street, I wish you another 45 years of visits by and with happy children.