By By Thomas Tingle
Record Managing Editor
Our daughter Carlie will turn a year old next month.
She has really developed her own little personality and loves to watch television – especially television shows that come from the BBC in America channel (British Broadcasting Channel).
My wife and I enjoy watching two television shows on this channel – Changing Rooms and Ground Force. Changing Rooms has two sets of neighbors trading spaces in each other's homes for two days and completely redecorating a room. Ground Force is a show about three gardeners who transform terrible looking lawns into beautiful gardens in two days.
We usually watch the two shows beginning at 6 p.m. with Ground Force. Then at 6:30 p.m., Changing Rooms comes on. Carlie recognizes the introductory music to both shows, so she now knows what is coming on. For some odd reason, there are not a large variety of commercials on the BBC channel, so our son, Austin, has memorized several commercials that come on during these two shows.
By the time my wife Jennifer and I have prepared dinner for everyone, it is nearly 6 p.m., so we set Austin up with his little table and chair and we put Carlie in her seat to feed her. She has to be strapped in – otherwise, she's in constant motion turning this way and that way to watch Changing Rooms and Ground Force.
Whoever happens to be feeding her at the time has to turn their arm to get to her mouth because Carlie doesn't look at us while she's eating. She has to make sure she's watching television.
This month on BBC is mystery month, so there are several mystery-oriented television shows being shown. To let everyone know that it is mystery month on BBC, there is a commercial that is shown which features an old lady opening her eyes real big as if she's been scared by something. Carlie, who recognizes the commercial, automatically turns her head to see it on the television screen and laughs when she sees the old lady looking "bug eyed" at you.
What can Jennifer and I do? Carlie has become a television junky at the age of 1. Our son has memorized nearly every commercial on this particular channel. Oh yeah, there is a commercial that is constantly repeated that features the singer Patty LaBelle discussing the medication she's taking for menopause. She sings several high notes at the beginning and end of the commercial and Austin has memorized a lot of the words spoken by Patty LaBelle regarding the fact that she is now feeling a lot better because she's taking hormone replacement therapy. There are no more night sweats and irritability and her "beautiful" bones are now protected.
Well, we will continue to watch Changing Rooms and Ground Force because we enjoy watching them and Carlie will enjoy the shows and the commercials and Austin will have the storage box in his mind filled with the words and lyrics to those commercials.
Jennifer and I are just as bad. We know all of the decorators on Changing Rooms and their particular style. We know everyone on Ground Force and wait for it to rain on the gardeners when they are working so hard. We know all of the commercials by heart and we are both happy that Patty LaBelle is feeling good. She's not "running hot" or "running cold" anymore – She's got a new attitude.