Sunny day..sweeping the clouds away

My husband and I purchased the tickets for Sesame Street Live on a whim after we saw the commercial on PBS. For a week leading up the event we rolled our eyes and made jokes about drinking before the show started in order to dull the pain of attending a kiddy program. I played it cool while we watched the show, singing along softly to a few songs, laughing at the corny jokes and only occasionally whispering a sarcastic comment to my husband about the songs or the lead actress. But when I heard the first strains of the song, and saw the hand poised over the pinball machine my cool demeanor evaporated and I lost my mind. I screamed, I cheered and I made a complete idiot of myself. Yes, it is true; I had a complete meltdown at the Sesame Street Live show because they played the “Pinball Countdown Song.” I am sure you know the song I am talking about- it was the cartoon where the Pointer Sisters sang “1.2.3.4.5..6.7.8.9.10..11.12…doo doo doo doo doo” while a pinball machine was used to count down all of different numbers This cartoon was my favorite when I was the little one sitting in front of the TV.

I was born in 1974, so I am part of the first generation of kids who were exposed to Sesame Street. I have very fond memories of my time spent watching Bert, Ernie, Big Bird and Grover. Sesame Street helped me not only learn my ABCs and 123s, but it taught me to love and respect people even if they looked or talked differently from me, to not be afraid of trying and failing and that sometimes (in the case of Mr. Hooper), people die. Sesame Street didn’t talk down to kids; rather they let us in on the joke and made us feel like the smartest kids in the room. Now I watch the show through an adult filter and I laugh at how clever the writing really is. I love it when there is a guest star on Sesame Street, like REM singing “Shiny Happy Monsters”, Norah Jones singing to a letter or Rachael Ray marveling over a dancing tomato puppet. Just the other day my husband and I were cracking up over Robert De Niro’s explanation to Elmo that all an actor does is get paid to pretend. You haven’t seen funny until you see a dog puppet with De Niro’s voice. I have also found that Nicholas responds better to Sesame Street’s teaching of the alphabet than my instruction at the kitchen table. I know that while Nicholas enjoys the show he is also learning something, which I don’t feel happens with other kid’s programming.

Ok, so maybe I was a little more excited about seeing Sesame Street than I let on. And yes, I did get a little lump in my throat when Nicholas picked out Cookie Monster as his souvenir from the show because Cookie Monster was my favorite character when I was a kid. I laughed when Nicholas spent the rest of the show holding up his Cookie Monster toy so the real Cookie Monster could see it whenever he came onstage because I used to do the same thing whenever I saw Cookie Monster on tv. For one day all the parents in Phillips Arena lost our adult cynicism and let Sesame Street come alive for us again. We forged another connection with our children over a mutual love and admiration for the characters on a classic TV show. My son and I now have a weekly standing date where we fire up You Tube and watch clips from classic Sesame Street episodes. And you better believe that when he gets older we are moving on to Schoolhouse Rock and The Electric Company!

Just for old time’s sake, I present to you “The Pinball Countdown” from Sesame Street