Anyway, when we came home tonight -- with no mention of Christmas or lights or tinsel or stockings -- and I offered my child a show post-dinner, what did he ask for? No, not Backyardigans or a Pixar show or Pocoyo or even Sesame Street, which we tracked down ... he wanted "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer".
Back in the days when I was a child, we only watched Christmas shows at Christmas time, because of course that's the only time they were on. And heck, I even remember the times before VHS and recording devices. So I considered telling him no, he couldn't watch it. Christmas is over, after all.
And then I thought ... meh. What the heck. This is the age of new media technology. He can watch what he wants.
But ... call me crazy ... aren't we kind of losing just a little something here? I mean, I love being able to pull up whatever I want to watch, on DVD or through iTunes or something. I mean, you can pretty much find any movie or any episode of any TV show you want. But there was something special about those old Christmas specials, because they were so rare. There was an excitement in the air when they came on, it was an occasion. It was something I remember looking forward to as part of the season.
What's my point? I don't know if I have one. This isn't unusual. Just ... while I think that there are some great things about moving forward, I guess I'm old enough to have some nostalgia for the way things were.
1 comment:
Yeah, I concur. I used to watch The Happy Prince, Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang,* and How the Grinch Stole Christmas every year, and I absolutely believe the experience wouldn't have been the same if I'd been able to watch them over and over whenever I wanted to.
Also, I think it must have been nice for my parents to be able to say, at a certain point, "There are no more cartoons on. Go outside and play, already." I cannot do this, because -- even discounting DVDs, iTunes, et al. -- there is no longer any hour of the day or night when there is not a choice of several cartoons on somewhere. So I have to be the Mean Mommy and say, instead, "You've spent quite enough time in front of the TV for today, dude. Go do something else before your brain turns into oatmeal."
*No, as far as I know these have nothing to do with Christmas, but for some reason some station in either Calgary or Spokane -- I can't remember whether this was before or after we got cable -- had both of them on every year at Christmas, and never at any other time. Don't ask me why.
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