Fatty Owls

Monday, January 11, 2010

There are things that you hope for your child, when you are in that dreamy stage of the last trimester...or even when you are laughing at the beginnings of their attempts at humor. Things that you want to give them, things which were important to you.

Of course, you can't be sure that your child will like the things that you treasure, be that Winnie the Pooh, or The Red Sox. Sure, you can surround the baby with those items. You can show them your enthusiasm, sharing your love and excitement for the idea with them.

BUT...You can never be really sure if the child is merely going along with it, trying to keep their poor pitiful parent happy under whatever delusion they may be suffering, or if the kernel of the love is truly in there.

Over the past Christmas holiday break, I did a little experiment. I borrowed the Fawlty Towers series from a friend with the idea of watching them with Emily.

It will shock none of you that Terrance dislikes British humor, particularly that related to Python or offshoot projects. Vehemently dislikes it. I - in the long standing traditions of spouses who are diametrically opposed to their partners tastes - LOVE British Humor.  Monty Python, in particular, was formative in my humor development and I have gone on to love everything up to the delicious absurdity of "The IT Crowd".

But would Emily like it? Would she latch onto the absurdity of the situation? The facial expressions? The wordplay? Would the physical comedy prove too dated  for her?


She loved them. While she didn't entirely understand some of the references ( I had to do a lot of explaining about the Second World War and any "adult" humor flew right over her head), she really enjoyed them.

I was tickled. I was beyond tickled. I was glowing with pride. I had done that most mysterious of things - passed on a love of British Comedy to my child. I had done this directly in the face of a Non-believer with a gene pool of which 50% did not understand or enjoy Monty Python AT ALL.

Which leads me to my next project:



After the first disk last night, I am pleased to report that her favorite bits have been the Funniest Joke in the World and the Famous Deaths. Dirty Fork also produced some hearty guffaws, as did the Musical Mice.

I am so proud.

6 Baleful Regards:

Madeleine said...

Oh, joy. I cranked up youtube the other night to show Snuggly Girl some Monty Python because the "wafer-thin" phrase is used much at our house. I had forgotten just how much vomiting there was in that sketch, but she seemed to like it. (She's seen the Spam song, too.)

My real parenting pride moment was when she loved the Zoombinis as much as I do. (Nerdy computer game. Teaches set theory with animated blobs. Must be tried.)

MOCK! said...

Awesome! Good work, there.

jwg said...

Next introduce her to The Goonies. Did your husband ever meet with Dragon Lady?

Jenn said...

Brilliant work. There should be a parenting award for passing on the love of Brit Com, no?

Anonymous said...
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jenn said...

Introducing my two to Monty Pythong was a huge deal for me. Favorite in our house is "The Twin Peaks of Kilimanjaro" and the one with the dead parrot who isn't really dead, just "pining for the fjords." After watching them crack up at the skits, my husband turned to me and said, "Yup, they're going to turn out OK."

 
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