Monday, February 23, 2009

Whatever Happened to Mr. Rogers?

Saturday morning, Emma Leigh got out of bed before me, as usual! She usually watches some television while I sleep a few more minutes and Bryan eats breakfast. The normal Saturday morning shows are bizarre to say the least. She likes one with robots and another with dinosaurs--I think. We don't have cable or satellite, so her choices are pretty limited.

On school days, she watches PBS Kids in the morning while we get ready for school. Her favorites are "Martha Speaks" and "Curious George," but she also really likes "Sid the Science Kid" and "Dragon Tales." I like these shows, and they all teach valuable lessons whether they are educational or moral. But I've always thought there was just something missing from them.

And then I saw my old friend Mr. Rogers! This past Saturday I focused my sleepy eyes on the television as I warmed my bagel, and there was Lady Aberline! She was standing at King Friday's castle! Emma Leigh squealed, "Look Mommy! It's a castle like I learned about at school!" I told her all about how I used to watch Mr. Rogers when I was a little girl.

After the trip to Make-Believe Mr. Rogers had a puppet of Mr. McFeely and soon he was singing, "I'll be back when the day is new, and I'll have more ideas for you; And you'll have things to talk about. I will too. Good-bye Neighbor." This reminded me of how Mr. Rogers taught me to use my imagination.

It made me a little sad that Emma Leigh isn't getting to watch shows like this. Even though she watches very educational shows, there's just something about Mr. Rogers and his willingness to share the truth with kids. I did a search for him on Wikipedia, and I discovered that he was somewhat of a controversial figure. He wasn't afraid to tackle big issues like war and divorce. That's what made him real to me!

I hope Em gets the chance to watch him again soon. Watching him made me proud to have learned so much from him. He truly was a Godly man!

5 comments:

Our Life Together said...

I was thinking about him a little while back too.

mheuermann said...

I preferred Pee-Wee Herman to Mr. Rodgers. JK! I think I saw all of half an episode of Pee-Wee's playhouse.

We're all about the old-school cartoons and tv programs. David gets a steady dose of Popeye and Mr. Ed.

Jaybird and Me said...

Hi, found your blog through the Petersons. Thought I'd tell you that you can get Mr. Rogers episodes on DVD. I have a couple of them for the same reason.

Anonymous said...

I just loved it when he would go to the factories and we learned how things were made. That was before shows like Unwrapped. :) H

Anonymous said...

From personal experience, I know that Emma Leigh has developed a great imagination of her own, even if the children's shows don't emphasize that like they once did!

My little ADHD brother, oddly enough, loved Mr. Rogers. He was rather soothing to listen to...