Mary Angel

(10/2022) The other day I was telling the kids a story about when I was young and made the joke, "Picture it, Sicily…". For those of you who don’t get the reference it is from The Golden Girls. At a very young age, I started my kids on the classics. We watched everything from The Cosby Show to The Golden Girls to I Love Lucy. I believe my kids had a better childhood because of it. The also learned a lot of life lessons and a few clichés!

It turns out that many of my favorite quotes would get me "canceled" these days. One of my favorites was a Cosby quote, "I brought you into this world, and I’ll take you out!" This was always my favorite quote for my second son when he was being a knuckle head. Inevitably, after hearing that quote, he would calm down and burst out laughing. There is something about a goofy quote to make everything seem a little silly and not so difficult. When my kids would ask me to buy them something that cost a small fortune, like top-of-the-line tennis shoes or some Tic Tokker’s merch, I mention that "No 14-year-old boy should have a $95 shirt unless he’s on stage with his 4 brothers." For those of your too young to remember, that is a reference to Michael Jackson.

When it comes to the classics, all of my kids loved (no pun intended) I Love Lucy. My wild child, first daughter, heard "You got some splainin’ to do" more times than I can count. I even think she was developing some of Lucy’s trademark looks. I remember one time when she was trying to insist that she should have the right to have ice cream for dessert and she quoted Ethel from I Love Lucy by paraphrasing, "You mean to tell me I have equal rights as you and dad, but you don’t give me a chance to act like it". When I pointed out that Ethel was talking about Women’s Rights, not ice cream rights, she didn’t want to hear it, nor did she understand what I was talking about. I know I have used a Ricky quote on all of my children, when they give me one of those looks. You know the ones I am talking about, they either come from a toddler or a teenager. When I get one of those looks, I respond with my best Ricky voice, "I don’t like that tone, you’re thinking!" Again, some of the best quotes can be paraphrased into a useful point made to my kids.

The kids would all agree that the most beloved of all the classics would have to be The Andy Griffith Show. That always came in handy, because above all of the shows, this is the one with the best teaching moments for children. When they were being sore losers, whether it be at sports or board games, I would break out an Andy Taylor Quote. "It doesn’t take courage to be a winner. It does take courage to be a good loser…now, you wanna be a good loser, you’ll be proud of your friends that did win, and you’ll congratulate them for it." The Andy Griffith Show was not just about life lessons, although there is no show better. It was also full of quotes to simply make you laugh. Anything that Barney Fife said was always bound to make me laugh! Barney said, "Boy, giraffes are selfish." That is not to say he didn’t have wisdom in the midst of the laughter. "Because today’s eight-year-olds are tomorrow’s teenagers," didn’t ring so true until I realized my eight-year-olds were suddenly teenagers in the blink of an eye.

There are so many wonderful old shows that I would recommend families watching together, not only for life lessons, but also for some good old fashioned family bonding. The memories we have made will stay with all of us through our lives. My oldest still likes us to call him "Norm" at the top of our lungs when he comes home from work. My oldest daughter is fondly referred to as "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" by her little sister. Any one of the four of them could be overheard at the dinner table stating, "No soup for you!" Not as old as some of the quotes, but you can hear someone saying, "Joey doesn’t share food" when one of their siblings was trying to make off with part of their dinner. Additional, when one of the siblings were about to get grounded, another one would mumble under their breath, "Ruh Roh!", in their best Scooby Doo.

No matter what shows you watch, do it as a family. There are memories to be made, laughs to be had, and tears to cry, not to mention years and years of quotes to share with your family. Think of me when you go on your next three-hour tour.

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