A trip down memory lane

I have strong memories of being home sick from school as a child.  My dad used to do his "in the real world, you can't have sick days for every sniffle" - so when we were allowed to stay home sick, we had to be sick enough to be bedridden.  Hmmm, looking back, maybe the 'bedridden' rule was just to make sure I stayed out of mum's hair all day!  Either way, it was pretty special to be sick, because our big old TV set got wheeled out of my parents room and into MY bedroom for the day.  And what did I watch?  Well, I remember some pretty dramatic but boring "Days of our Lives" episodes, and some ridiculous "Ricki Lake" shows...but I used to most look forward to 2pm, when "The Love Boat" was on.  It was such a fun show to watch, and I remember making sure that I was still sick the next day when it was one of their "to be continued" cruises!

This memory came up when Marty let me know about a new channel that was going to start airing on Sky yesterday.  I was just about jumping up and down with excitement to hear that "The Love Boat" would be back on tv (and I wouldn't have to wait for an odd sick day to watch it).  I swooned when Marty read out more shows of my childhood memories: MacGyver, Doogie Howser, The Wonder Years and Cheers.  Dare I admit that I have set them all up to record?  Who knows when I will watch them, but sneaking a peek down memory lane sounds like fun, and who would pass up the chance to see the pilot episode of these shows!  Marty and I had such a giggle watching these shows last night, and shared fond memories of other childhood favourites.  Do you remember Full House? The Cosby Show?  Home Improvement?  Beverley Hills 90210? Saved by the Bell?  Ah....I do hope that these classics get a rerun too, although I am aware that The Wonder Years is not quite as fascinating to watch as a 31 year old as it was as an 11 year old.....

Anyway, speaking of this nostalgia journey,you may recall a blog I wrote several months back, whinging about the lack of quality shows for the girls to watch?  I was quite appalled by Hannah Montana and icarly - these shows are way too old for my girls! What happened to the good old family sitcom that we could all watch together?  I did a bit of hunting around on the internet (really, its an attic of surprises isn't it?!) and found the first series of Full House, one of my favourite shows as a girl.  Ok, so Uncle Jesse was a bit of a player when it came to the ladies, and it may be a little weird these days to watch 3 males raise 3 girls together...but the girls in this show didn't wear ridiculous tight skimpy clothes, and boyfriends is in the distant future for the very young DJ Tanner.

Jaimee was home sick with a cold yesterday, so we snuggled up on the couch to make some TV memories for her very own.  Jaimee loved that we were watching something 'grown up' together, and mummy loved catching all those jokes and storylines that probably flew over my head as a child!  Full House had my girl captivated, with 5 year old Stephanie dancing around the place and Joey's silly voices.  Baby Michelle was 'so cute' and mummy noted that tween DJ was wearing a full length loose denim dress!   Jaimee didn't say a thing when Uncle Jesse made sly comments about a girl (although I cringed a bit as a mother), but she did tell me she felt sad that the girls mummy had died.  At the end, she begged me to let her watch more.  She watched two more episodes that day, before I said enough is enough.  14 year old Katie watched one with her, (I think I may have intrigued her with the fact that that baby was actually the famous Olsen Twins) and concluded that it was quite funny.  So Full House still passes the test of the child, the teenager and the adult, making it an ideal family show to join our other family favourite: The Zoo.