You’re a Good Man, Matthew!

On Friday night I took the boys to see a production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” I’ve seen this particular show three times and it is always super fun. If you’ve never seen it and have a chance, you should go. Anyway, last year Matthew went through a phase where he was listening to the “Charlie Brown” soundtrack multiple times every day. So I thought it would be a great thing when he got a copy of the cartoon version for Christmas. Except that he really didn’t care. He didn’t even bother to take it out of the shrink wrap. Until last weekend, that is.

He absolutely loved the play on Friday. Not only was his cousin, Sarah, playing Lucy, but he was sitting in the front row in a small theater situation. He sat cross-legged on his chair, super still, and grinned for two hours. He has watched that cartoon three times in the past two days. I have a feeling this is going to be his newest t.v. jag, which has got me thinking about some of the never ending t.v. and movie loops I’ve endured in the past decade.

Daniel was a Sesame Street kid. We used to time his naps by Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers. Then they changed up the t.v. schedule (this was in the days before Netflix, of course) and we had to come up with something different. He loved Winnie the Pooh for a while. And then there were the Thomas the Tank Engine years. But my favorite of Daniel’s movie obsessions was “Singing in the Rain.” Seriously. He was four years old and he watched it over and over and over. And I was perfectly okay with that.

Nathan watched Thomas for a while, but he was a big fan of Bob the Builder. There was a recording of a live Bob the Builder show (think ice-capades minus the ice) that he watched non-stop for a while. It only made me a little bit crazy, so it definitely could have been worse. And then he went through a “Doodlebops” phase. You would think that would have made me super crazy, but there was something strangely mesmerizing about that show…not to mention the fact that Moe Doodlebop bears a remarkable resemblance to my brother, Seth (except for the fact that Seth is not orange all over).

A couple of years ago Matthew had a very serious Lightning McQueen phase (Cars, Cars 2, Mater’s Tall Tales). He played “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” in a constant loop for a while. I don’t have anything against Donny Osmond, but I really could only handle that particular video in small doses. But I didn’t mind listening to the soundtrack ad nauseam. Go figure. He loved Curious George for a while and more recently had a period of time spent watching “Superhero Squad.” And of course he had a big old “Iron Man” phase. He still watches that one, but not every day anymore. Lately he has been watching Transformers cartoons. I have a feeling that Charlie Brown and Transformers are going to be taking turns for the next little while.  But I’m okay with that. Considering some of the things I’ve endured in the past decade, I’ll take Charlie Brown any day.

It will be interesting to see what kinds of things Malia will be into. I’m kind of hoping she has a “Sleeping Beauty” phase or even a “Beauty and the Beast” one. Those kinds of flicks have been a little bit neglected at my house.