Schoolhouse Rocks "Fireworks"

When my wife and I first became parents, we did a lot of reading to prepare ourselves.

Maybe too much reading.

There are lots of horrible, scary things to be horribly scared about, as parents.

One bit of advice for parents-to-be:  Don't read "What To Expect When You're Expecting" from front to back.  Just use it like a reference book, and look up stuff as you have question.  If you read the full laundry list of everything that can go wrong, about every possible orifice that can ooze fluid from, about every disease you and your baby might possibly have, you'll lose your f-n mind.

We read a lot about TV, and TV consumption by kids.

Most research says to limit your child's TV time.  Some suggest that an hour of TV is too much.  Others say that any kid until 2 years old should not watch any television whatsoever, for fear of warping their small brains.

So early on, we didn't even have the TV on, if the kid was awake.

But slowly, slowly, we started letting her watch.  And when the 2nd kid arrived, we were much looser about the whole thing.

The turning point for me, was when my daughter would start telling me about the things she learned on PBS.  Having a 3 year old explain to you what a herbivore is or what nocturnal means, did make me thing that her mind was not shut off when she was watching a show.

And I thought about my own childhood.

I can still recite the entire Preamble to the Constitution. 

How?  Not because of something I learned in a classroom.  I learned it from Schoolhouse Rocks.

They set the Preamble to music, and even today, I can still sing the whole thing.

I first learned that a noun is "a person place or thing" from Schoolhouse Rocks.  And I knew exactly what qualified as an interjection from their song on the subject.

So when I was thinking of a song to post for the 4th of July, I thought this one would be good.

Names like Phillip Livingston and Roger Sherman may not have otherwise crossed your lips today, but it's good to remember some of the details that make up Independence Day.

Happy 4th!


Hear the song on Youtube.