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Late Wednesday night, far past my own bedtime, the kiddo wakes with a whimper. Then a whine. Then a cry. Dad-oo sneaks in to assess the situation. Everything seems in order, so he sneaks out, as “Momma” echos his footsteps. Knowing that I should just let him cry, I jump up to see if I can help calm him back to sleep.
But he’s inconsolable. Tears that a back rub, hushing and soft, comforting words won’t cure. Against my better judgment, I pick him up. We walk, we rock, we hush and snuggle. But nothing works. There are tears, struggles, and eyes that haven’t never even opened.
We talk a walk through the living room, hoping that the brighter lights will fully wake him, and that the thing causing this upset will disappear. It doesn’t, so we walk around again. Back to the living room for a second time.
And then…
His eyes peep open slightly. A small smile bubbles at the corner of his mouth. The kiddo is peering over my shoulder. At the TV. Where a cartoon is currently showing. A cartoon at 11:30 at night. Which can only mean South Park. Yes, that’s right.
His face lights up as Dad-oo and I snuggle with him on the couch. Watching South Park. Dad-oo on one side, the kiddo in the middle, me on the other side. Arms wrapped around each other. Watching South Park. For just a few minutes, until it was off to bed again, with only a whimper of protest before the kiddo was off in dream land again.
Through all of the tears, the fears, the unknown, the only thing that brightened the kiddos night, was a cartoon that is wildly inappropriate for toddlers. Sigh. But it was such a sweet moment, the three of us, all cuddled up on the couch, that it is my finest and my favorite moment this week.
Now, before you get all huffy at me, we don’t normally watch South Park, and if we (and by we I mean Dad-oo) watch it, it’s after the kiddo has gone to bed. This night I only allowed him to watch about 5 minutes, keeping a close eye out for any bloody, disgusting or other wise visually sensitive scenes. So don’t judge me too harshly.
I posted this question to my Facebook fans a few weeks ago. Here are some of their responses.
Kristin M. loves to “snuggle, read stories and generally anything that makes The Munchkin giggle! Bath time is also usually a blast (also because of the amount of giggling associated with it). : )”
Mike E spends time “playing New Super Mario Bros. on the Wii for about an hour at a time – usually only on weekends during Daddy time. And by that I mean they watch me play and give me encouragement. Every time Mario falls off the level, they yell, “Let’s try again, Daddy!!!” and they always want to get to the next level, and to see the … See MoreEvil Bowser, and they ask me questions about all the bad guys and the different environments (Lava World, Forest World, Water World) and they generally distract me until Mario (again) falls off the level and they tell me I need to try again.”
That was our moment. The best moment I had all week. My Finer Thing and my Friday Favorite.
What was yours?
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
That is hysterical!
Yes- my kids watch way too much tv- and I’m the first one to admit it.
But, they aren’t watching cops or HBO original series or anything; it’s all educational (they’re watching sesame st. right now) and age appropriate (not that I’m condemning south park; I’m a fan of What. Ever. Works!) so I don’t feel TOO terribly bad about it. They also play all day outside when they can, so let’s just hope I have some well balanced kids in the end. And if they know the songs to every cartoon that’s okay, too!
@Hillary @ The Other Mama, I’m guilty of letting the kiddo watch too much TV in the mornings during the last few weeks. I’m trying to break that habit now that it’s nice outside. It’s just so nice to have some time to catch up on things w/o little eyes looking over my shoulder.
I had a bad day yesterday, found out a good friend has HIV!
and so when I got home my son asked me to look at a LEGO catalog with him. I asked him if he wanted to listen to the “Bad Day” song. We sat and sang the song and I felt so much better. 
@Laura B, Oh NO! I’m so sorry to hear about that. I’m glad that your son listened to Bad Day with you, I hope that lifted your spirit a little.
ha ha… that is funny! with kids, I am learning to expect the unexpected… glad you had such a sweet family moment… even if it was during south park!
.-= LifeAtTheCircus´s last blog ..Filing this one under “Conversations I never expected to have with my little girl” =-.
My boys are teens, and still watch too much TV, at least the youngest & oldest do. I know it’s not good, but…
~Liz
.-= Liz@HoosierHomemade´s last blog ..Shamrock S’Mores =-.
@Liz@HoosierHomemade, Sometimes a little TV for the kids keeps the mommas sane.
LOL, oh MY!
.-= Muthering Heights´s last blog ..A Few Noteworthy Notes =-.
too funny! South Park put him to sleep =)
.-= Melissa Multitasking Mama´s last blog ..Buzzed Driving is… stupid. =-.
Ugh, I hate those times when kids are inconsolable. It makes you feel so helpless. Our son had night terrors for a while and that is just crazy. You have no idea what to do! I’m glad you had some snuggle time and I’m also a fan of Whatever Works for You. I highly doubt he will remember watching South Park for five minutes as a toddler!
.-= Jen @ Little Bit This n That´s last blog ..Great Harvest Bread Co. =-.
@Jen @ Little Bit This n That, I think that he has been having night terrors on and off for the last few months. It seems to go in streaks, he’ll have them for 3-4 nights, then they are gone for a few weeks. Strange. I feel so bad for the little guy.
You do what’cha gotta do sometimes. Bonus for the precious family snuggle time!
LOL – how funny that it was South Park! I remember when my boys were pretty little, maybe about 4 & 3, I came into the family room to see them both piled on top of Dad who was snoozing, watching the TV. I walked around the sofa and about had a FIT because they were watching Alien! Thankfully it was on a regular TV channel with lots of cuts – I flipped that channel just as fast as I could!
@Angela Pea, I always figure no harm is done until they start repeating what they saw on TV. That makes me feel better at least.
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