Wednesday, November 23, 2011

November 23 – “Caillou”

 
 
I really miss Mr. Rogers.  And Sesame Street, although Sesame Street always made me tired.  Bouncing from one letter to another to a number, keeping track of all those furry characters.  The only one I was ever sure about was Cookie Monster.  And then they made him start eating vegetables.  Tragedy.  Kel was really into Sesame Street.  Josh loved Mr. Rogers.  Much calmer.  Easier transitions.  Coat to sweater.  Dress shoes to tennis shoes.  And he had a whole song to do it.  One basic character to keep up with, except maybe King Friday and the puppet guys.  Mr. Rogers was a lot like the dudes I grew up with – Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Green Jeans, minus the Captain's slapstick.  Or how about Mr. Caboose?  Now there was a classic.  I know there was some kind of cat lady named Kitirick, or something like that.  She always scared me.  Probably contributed to the less than positive approval rating for cats I maintain today.  I don't remember what Nathan watched.  He didn't much like staying inside and watching tv.  Too much to do outside.  On the roof.  Or up in a tree.
 
Yesterday I finally learned who Caillou is.  Cailyn talks about this one all the time.  It's pronounced kai-you, I think.  She wanted to see this Caillou creature, so we took a journey into Google-land to look for him.  I had no idea how to spell it, and CAIOU appears to be some kind of teachers' organization or something.  But to my amazement, there it was.  I just had the spelling wrong. 
 
It seems Caillou (kind of a Spanish pronunciation) is a little cartoon boy with a bald head.  He lives with his Mom and Dad and Sarah, an older sister.  He has a cat named Gilbert (or that might be a really ugly dog with a long tail and whiskers).  There is also some little dinosaur toy, but I don't remember its name.
 
Cailyn and I ended up playing some computer games for preschoolers.  They were educational things.  Matching.  Dress up Caillou kid for different weather conditions.  Memory.  Paint the kid – Cailyn painted him purple.  She seemed to really be enjoying it.  Honestly, it was quite annoying.  Every time we did something right, an eerily high-pitched child's voice blurted out, "Yay.  You did it."  Over and over.  Frightening.  But every time they said it, Cailyn doubled up her fist and lifted it in the air in a rousing display of victory.  So I did too.  What can I say?  I'm a granddad.  It's my job. 
 
Isaiah 6:1-3 says, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.'"
 
Father, thank you for past memories and present discoveries.  Amen.

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