Good Morning, Captain

To judge by how many days characters from the show have shown up on the Google home page recently, the fellows who founded the search engine, or at least the one who passed his preschool years in Michigan rather than the Soviet Union, seem inordinately fond of Sesame Street. By the time it came along, I was too old for it. I don't actively dislike it, but I don't have a strong sentimental attachment either. Likewise for Yuriko, who reports that the show's Japanese version didn't exist until she was in junior high.

Were our children fond of Sesame Street? No more than their parents, it seems. When Lilly was young enough for it, I was working in an office while it was on. But I heard that she was a little scared of Big Bird, which put a damper on things for her. "Birds shouldn't be that big," was her reasoning. Which makes me wonder: For all his good-guy pretensions, does Big Bird occasionally go out late and commit a few hate crimes against cats? You know, just to even the score?

As for Ann, she would watch it sometimes, but back in her PBS Kids days other shows commanded her attention more. Some of which were annoying pablum (Caillou), while others had modest charms (Arthur). Unfortunately, neither of my daughters had the benefit of a kid's show that taught the valuable lesson, as I learned, that ping-pong balls might fall on you at any time.