SpongeBob Teaches AM~Erica: Part Duex

So anyway...

We had to get up early this morning. On a Saturday.

Ugh.

Teen Boy had day 2 of his speech & debate tournament this weekend, so I made sure he was actually up & moving (he doesn't get much sleep on Friday nights before having to be back on Saturday morning), and hubby gets up to drive him to the school...well, we don't get a lot of sleep on these nights either.

So, up & at 'em before the bright of early, we managed to get him up & out the door. Since I was already up, I decided I'd wait a bit for the weekend news to come on to catch the weather & stuffs...mostly the weather. In the meantime, Lil Guy got up...just before the bright of early. Just before I could get the remote to turn on the news...Lil Guy grabbed it!

He turned on the news...at first...
...I got a quick moment with the weather...
...then...it changed...

Next thing I knew, Nickelodeon was on the TV showing an episode of Big Time Rush.
I questioned Lil Guy about it by exclaiming, "REALLY?!?"

He answered with, "Well, it's what's on right now since 'SpongeBob' doesn't come on yet."

I was a little frustrated in that moment...and then my inner child hit me on the back of the head!

What hit me the hardest was this:
It was recently reported that there was a sad end to my childhood, along with so many others', when the beauty & fun of Saturday morning cartoons officially came to an end. *cries*

Days of waking up early on a non-school day to find sugary-fruity-chocolatey character-type cereal or pop tarts to eat while filling the morning and killing time watching hours of animation on the small screen. Still in pajamas & sitting too close to the screen to ruin our eyesight with brightly moving colors of crazy characters & bizarre hilarity was a weekly staple.

And now...it's gone. All gone...

Come to think of it, my own kiddos had very little of that. Probably because we are all so busy all the time. There was always a practice, a game, a program...something we had to be at on a Saturday morning. There was no time to hang out in pajamas eating cereal too close to the TV to watch cartoons on local networks. We filled our time with crazy schedules...and the demise of Saturday morning cartoons caught the brunt of it...and are now extinct.

Well...that hurt.

And here we are on a Saturday morning, up before the bright of early, to get a kid ready for a tournament...but the other kid here was up by the bright of early...to search out...a cartoon!

I realized he was longing to take in what we have lost. Yes, it took tracking it down on basic cable...but it was a cartoon!

It was a cartoon that our family actually enjoys taking in from time-to-time. Why? It's stupid-simplicity is ridiculously fun & doesn't take a lot of thinking. It's child-like innocence, though brain-numbing at times, can be just the perfect thing to recharge every one of us!

Yes, we need a break from it, too. It can get to the point of annoying...but we still come back to it. We find ourselves watching it, laughing at it, enjoying it, quoting it...

Yes, SpongeBob is a ridiculous cartoon. But what Saturday morning cartoon from our own childhoods weren't ridiculous?

So...here's SpongeBob, again. First, SpongeBob SCHOOLED ME ON HISTORY, and now about my inner Saturday morning child.

Well played, SpongeBob...well played...

It's Saturday morning...I'm in my jammies. Let me finish my cereal while I watch SpongeBob with Lil Guy & hubby. Even with my grown up coffee...I'm taking this little bit to get back in touch with my childhood...again.

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

The Holiday SpongeBob Reminds AM~Erica to Actually Celebrate

So anyway...

Even though today is a so-called federal holiday, the only way I will be celebrating Columbus Day is to not get mail & not go to the bank. Yep...that's pretty much it.

We have been celebrating a holiday of a guy who took things over & pushed actual natives out of the way. As actual events come to light, we shouldn't be surprised that the federal government would celebrate such a day. But that's a whole POLITICAL SOAPBOX I won't get on right now...

Instead, I will be disappointed in myself. Why? Because I missed a holiday that should have been celebrated instead. And it's a day that was declared a holiday in the United States...but it gets passed right over! Yet, SpongeBob had it right!

On October 9th, Teen Girl looked at me & proclaimed,

"Happy Leif Erikson Day! What are we doing for it?" 

Since she is more than well aware of my passion of CELEBRATING WEIRD & ALL HOLIDAYS, she was waiting to hear my plan. But there was this deal that I was totally oblivious & didn't have a plan. She was shocked at me!

"Ummm...don't you remember watching SpongeBob? He wakes up to celebrate Leif Erikson Day on October 9th!"

I only vaguely remembered the episode, but did remember him in a viking hat & a beard.

So, on Columbus Day, I had a good history lesson! I learned that October 9th is officially, for really-really-realz, Leif Erikson Day. SpongeBob just brought it back to light! (Yes, I said back to "light"!)

Well then...Hinga Dinga Durgan!!!

And, because it's how I do & how I roll, I am doing some serious research! I must plan for Leif Erikson Day on October 9th of 2014! *face palm*

Here's the deal with celebrating weird holidays...
Like I've said before, HERE, if you find out you missed a day, you can get about a year, a few months, or a few days to learn about what you missed or what's coming up. It really allows you to learn more about history, people & events. Knowledge is power, people! Embrace continual learning beyond school. Learn stuff everyday! And weird holidays are a fun springboard & trampoline in doing so! Jump in on that!

It's going to be interesting learning about the Norse culture & more about how Leif Erikson (Ericson...either way) settled in part of Canada & northern U.S. 500 years before Christopher Columbus got lost.

So let's mark our calendars together: October 9th! And I will continue to look into the why behind the date (like it being recognized in Wisconsin in 1930 to commemorate the Norwegian arrival of the Restauration ship on Oct. 9, 1825...and then nationally recognized in 1964) & learn about some Norwegian cuisine to have throughout the day! How about you? It's literally a learning process...

And maybe we could push this instead of Columbus Day. Amm-i-rite?

So...in the wise words of the free-spirited philosopher, SpongeBob SquarePants: "Hinga Dinga Durgan!"

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

Armpit Hair & Bikini Bottom Talk with AM~Erica

So anyway...

My kids are funny. They just are. And sometimes the conversation I end up having with them are nothing less than entertaining.

Last night was a great example of that. It was a discussion with lil guy as I was tucking him into bed. Here's how it went down:



Lil Guy: (scratching armpit) My armpit itches. Did you know that when you grow up, you get hair in your armpits? On boys anyway.

Me: Ummm...yes. I know that.

Lil Guy: Like Patrick [Starr]! But how come Spongebob doesn't?

Me: Well, I don't know.

Lil Guy: Do you think it's because he's a sponge?


Well, there's one to ponder for you. Would the molecular makeup of a sponge prevent it from growing armpit hair? Hmmmm...

And , yes...I couldn't help but start laughing. I never know what is going to come out of his mouth.

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica