The Educational Value of Dr. Demento

A couple of weeks ago Malia came to me and said, “Mom, I better not smoke two joints.” I laughed because 1) it was completely out of the blue, 2) it is not something you expect your four year old to say, and 3) it is just further proof that my kids are probably more interesting (“interesting” meaning “screwed up”) than most other kids. And she’s not wrong. But lest you think that Kev and I are cultivating “weed” when we talk about how great our weeds are growing, let me give you the back story.

When I was a kid, I remember staying up late on Sunday nights to listen to the Dr. Demento Show. This behavior was in no way was condoned by my parents. Jon and Patti (my older brother and sister) and I would go to bed like obedient children, but then lay awake so we could turn on the radio at the appointed hour and quietly listen in the dark. Dr. Demento was funny then, but it is far more hilarious now that I’m an adult and actually have a frame a reference for all the things the songs mock. I mean, back then I had no idea what a lavatory was and so the song “Seven Old Ladies Locked in a Lavatory” did not spark much laughter. However, “I’m Looking Over My Dead Dog Rover” was funny in spite of my youth.

Many years later, I married Kev and was pleased to learn that he was actually familiar (and a fan) of Dr. Demento as well. I gave him several “Best of…” albums as a Christmas present a few years into our marriage and now we are busy exposing our children to the extreme randomness. It’s actually pretty bizarre how often one or another of those crazy songs works its way into our conversations…

Anyway, one of the tracks on one of those albums is a song called “Smoke Two Joints.” Our kids have all heard it and since they had no idea what a joint was, it sparked a conversation about marijuana which included the word of wisdom and why it is bad for you, including how it makes you stupid…just like the song. So in spite of the fact that the talk was precipitated by a completely random comment (mine, if I remember correctly) about smoking two joints, it did, in fact, have some value to it. And in my opinion, anything that leads to a good teaching moment has value.