...it must be Saturday Morning!
If there was ever a time where I can appreciate lounging about in your favorite brightly colored p.j.s for several hours on end while eating breakfast fare of a sugary, questionable nature, it would be this week. I'm positively whupped and here's why~
This week (beginning with last weekend) started with the finishing and delivering of not 1, not 2, but 3 First Communion cakes. Then, of course, there was the clean up aftermath for the rest of the weekend...my favorite! Then on Monday, I went back into the classroom for the first time this school year to substitute in a 4th grade class down the street. Normally, this would be no big deal, but on top of this I was planning and preparing for a tea party themed birthday party for 12 5 year-olds and their moms. Holy Mackerel!
By Wednesday I was sleep deprived and I no longer recognized my own house past the piles of party supplies and bags of groceries. I had to just power through and rise above, remembering at the height of my exhaustion very late Friday night, that in just a few hours it will all be over and I could sleep all weekend if I wanted. The dishes can wait...
Having survived the party (actually, all went very well) I raced home (I never packed the car so quickly!) to my Hello Kitty p.j.s and napped the rest of the day away. It was GLORIOUS! It got me reminiscing about the days where this was seen as a normal Saturday behavior and not just submitting to "Couchpotatoland".
I have always been a self-proclaimed night owl, but by some wonder, I would bound out of bed and rush to the downstairs t.v. on the Holy Grail of weekdays-Saturday! Smurfs, Carebears, Scooby-Doo, Voltron, Thundercats, Speed Racer, Hannah-Barbara, Rocky and Bullwinkle...the list goes on and on. Towards the end of my childhood, there were a few missteps in the cartoon world-Snorks, Rubik the Amazing Cube, The Real Ghostbusters, PacMan? Really?! And, sure there were a few memorable commercials thrown in between for things that would later pepper my Christmas list; Easybake Oven, Shrinky Dinks, Barbie Dreamhouse, Star Wars action figures, Cabbage Patch Dolls; but the quintessential, the ultimate in all Saturday morning regalia, is hands-down Schoolhouse Rock!
I don't think there is a single person from my generation who can't recite "Conjunction Junction" word-for-word at the drop of a hat. And who hasn't heard the melody to "I'm Just a Bill" floating around in their heads from time to time? It's genius! To this day, I still have a soft spot for "Three is the Magic Number".
What's so great about Saturday morning cartoons is that it allowed you to be awake but without the pressure of having to get dressed and start the day. Well, that and the perfect excuse for that extra bowl of your favorite chocolate flavored or marshmallow-laced cereal (or both! Count Chocula anyone?). The best part? The "chocolate" milk at the end!
And then there were the Hostess Donettes-powdered or chocolate, yes please! The trick was making the pack last all morning-almost impossible unless you had a strategy. If you had the ability to resist it's power, it is possible to have them for the duration of the Saturday morning marathon. With iron will, eating them only at the end of the episode, it could last 3 delightful hours.
But it all came to a screeching halt when you heard that all to familiar choo-choo sound. As the Soul Train came in, the fun ran out and now that it was around 11:00, it was time to get dressed and go about your day.
I know I made no mention of a few pinnacle moments in Saturday Morning cartoondom-PeeWee's Playhouse, Beetlejuice and anything Jim Henson related. But they're too fabulous for just a quick mention here-I'll give them their proper due on another post.
It's time to kick up your bunny slipper feet in your favorite p.j.s, buy a box of cereal that has more color in the box than out of it or a package of powdered Donettes, click on Cartoon Network and get back to the best part of childhood-Saturday Morning Cartoons!
"Rrr-After these messages.....(ruff!) we'll be right back!"
Update 5/12/08
I know it's no longer Saturday, but as I was flipping through the channels for something to have on while I cleaned the house this morning, I came across something that gave me a wicked case of giggles. Brought to you by the lovely people at Boomerang (a "sister" channel to Cartoon Network that features the earlier generations of cartoon shows) I give you...
..."No Undies Mondays"!
No, this is not some degenerate underground cartoon show reserved for the hours between midnight and 3 a.m. This show features all those long treasured characters who, for whatever reason may be donning a shirt or hat, but seem to go through life sans pants. It's brilliant! Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "No Pants Dance" doesn't it?
Happy "No Undies" Monday!
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