“Whatever happened to predictability… the milkman, the paperboy, and evening TV?” The opening notes to the theme song of Full House, one of the most beloved sitcoms of the late 80s and early 90s, immediately evokes nostalgic memories for a generation of neon-wearing children. For me, hearing the lyrics puts me in my parent’s basement excitedly awaiting the next half hour of my 8 year old life, wherein I would wish that I too was a member of the Tanner family.
This year with Valentine’s Day falling on a Sunday it means no sleeping in the next morning. Kids need to be woken for school, lunches packed, homework double checked and everyone out the door on time. Just the thought of going out for a romantic dinner and maybe dancing or a movie and having to get up early the next morning makes me cringe. Its hard enough to get everyone going on a Monday when I have had a good night’s sleep! So this Valentine’s Day we will be having a Netflix Date.
The New Year brings us more than an urge to make resolutions, clean out cupboards and start new regimes: it brings colds and flus. For parents with little ones, this is a most difficult time of year. Just when we were ready to bustle them into their coats and mitts and head back to school, they come down with something just ghastly enough to keep them from attending… yet not so debilitating it knocks them out for the day.
Some lies I have told I’m proud of and some I wish I could take back. I’ve never really been the ‘black and white’ person, to the extent where I’d question psychometrists during IQ tests… “But what if the car travelling 50km/hr was using high-octane gas?” “Do I have to count the triangle in 2-D or can I add a dimension?”…
As many readers know, I had to testify at a pretty nasty criminal trial and marvelled at the grey areas between truth and lies. There were always many ‘truths’ in the process – the evidence, the memories and the spin put forth by the lawyers. But all of these are filtered within people’s own experiences and understanding. Even the same word can mean different things to different people. Society was a certain way during the upbringing of the jury, the judge and those of us being cross-examined, and the ‘truth’ of our era is not necessarily going to be the same as it was interpreted in 1950, 1900 or 2050. So when it comes to ‘lying’, I’ve always seen 50 shades of grey.
As part of the Netflix ‘Stream Team’ I get a sneak peek of up-and-coming shows and this month my focus has been looking at shows that teach children, teens and adults about lying. As you can imagine, this has been tough for me, and has made me think of my moral compass over the past few years. Before I outline the spectacular shows available this month on Netflix, I thought I’d do a little soul-searching..
Lies I am Glad I told
1. The Internet is down so you will have to read a book about sharks instead of watching a shark show on Youtube.
2. We’re out of bread. Want to help mommy make some from scratch?
3. I left a note for the Easter Bunny before we left so he knows our hotel and room number on Easter Sunday.
4. Can you hang this picture honey? My nails are too long to work the drill.
5. I spoke to your teacher and he asked you to do this worksheet tonight.
Lies That Weren’t So Good
1. Instead of ‘I’m sick’ I should have said ‘I need a mental health day.’ It’s ok and I was just furthering the stigma. Sorry Clara Hughes.
2. I pretended that I didn’t realize someone had passed away because I didn’t send a card and donation swiftly.
3. “If you keep eating unhealthy foods and nothing else you will never grow.”
4. “You look amazing in that outfit.” (a close second to:”What a nice haircut.”)
5. I airbrushed a selfie and let judgemental, age-conscious relatives compliment me on how good I looked.
Have you told lies? Need some lessons on truth, lies and consequences? Maybe you just want to be entertained… on to the epic Netflix shows!
For the little ones on Netflix:
Super Why: Season 1 Episode 15
Curious George: Season 1 Episode 19
Clifford The Big Red Dog: Season 1 Episode 26
The Adventures of Chuck & Friends: Season 1 Episode 9
A bit older:
Monster High
H2O: Just Add Water
Mean Girls
iCarly: Season 1 Episode 12
And the Adults on Netflix:
Bloodline
Just Go With It
Liar, Liar
Pretty Little Liars: Season 1 Episode 12
So if you have a hankering to chat morals with your little ones, or revisit your own life, you can take in a few of these titles… of you can just stick to House of Cards….