To Glee or Not To Glee

The children in NYC public schools just returned to school today after having 9 days off. Many families go out of town for this vacation. In fact, I believe it is one of the school breaks when the most New Yorkers travel. I, on the other hand, had nowhere to go. I still had to work, which somewhat sticks my children to just hanging around town. The yucky weather in the beginning of the week didn't help us any. It kept us inside for a couple of snowy, blustery days.

What is a mother of 4 to do on such nasty days with a baby in tow? We have played most games in our house and if we haven't, there is a reason. It's hard to find a game that both satisfies and challenges EVERY age in my household. Plus, chaos generally ensues. I admit to turning to something that most moms would cringe at. At the very least, most would deny using such an inferior tactic. I turned to the television!

I'm not talking about our normal, daily routine of Nick Jr. and Disney and Nick. I had secretly wanted to catch up on Glee since I had never taken much interest in it and apparently "all the kids in school are talkin' about it". So, I got the first season. Just 2 episodes in, I began to wonder about the appropriateness of the content for my kids.

I am a pretty liberal mom, as far as moms go. I am very open with my children and I give them a lot of credit for being more mature than what they should be at their prospective ages. My uncertainty with the Glee show quickly went away when I continued to watch and realized that for every potentially provocative scene, there was an equal or greater number of scenes with both a lesson and a good example. There have been lessons about drugs, sex, acceptance, prejudice, teen pregnancy, and much more.

One scene in particular that sends parents over the edge is the "hot tub" scene. My husband happened to walk into the living room at that exact moment and was appalled by what he saw. The truth of the matter is that although we, as adults, knew exactly what the scene implied, our kids did not. It passed completely over their heads. As well, it should have. While we watch the show, they catch everything they should and everything else kind of sails right by. Then the GleeKs sing a relevant song and not much else is remembered.

Another thing that many parents have a hard time dealing with is that one of the characters is openly gay. This particular character went through a phase of insecurity and then self acceptance. It was touching. As a matter of fact, most of the characters went through the same phase. The jock, the "cripple"(as they call it in the show), the head cheerleader, the bully, the minority, etc. The writers have put a strong emphasis on the camaraderie the glee club has built and maintained. The kids in the club have learned to accept each other and their differences. Kids nowadays should see those kinds of things more often.

Beyond the lessons and inspiration the show instills, the cast is superbly talented! They do all of their own singing and dancing, and are all great actors. That in itself inspires and impresses my kids.

We watched about 2 shows a day, on most of these vacation days. We all sat together and enjoyed and laughed and got excited and celebrated the groups victories......together. I have become teary-eyed more than once and have begun open conversations with my children about the subject matter in almost every episode. We even talked about it when we weren't watching. I think we spent much of our time trying to talk others into watching it too!

I am excited to check out the next season. I am fighting off the urge to simply pick it up in the middle of the season, but will try my best to hold out for a few more months. I have to admit that watching a show with no commercials really makes the experience much more enjoyable. Perhaps we can start the second season on our next vacation? Seems to make a good bit of sense!

I am glad that I got over questioning myself as a mother for letting my children get into the show. I love it. They love it. The questionable topics/scenes have either sparked an inevitable conversation or have gone completely over their heads. They could be watching many worse shows and movies. I remember a time when my daughter would offer to clean the house so she could stay up and watch Jersey Shore because her friends were watching it! She was nuts! And my son begs to watch Spongebob. Now THOSE are two shows that are equally lacking in substance! I think Glee will just be a thing that we will enjoy together for as long as it lasts. I could use a Tuesday evening where we all want to be in the same place at one time for an entire hour. That is no small feat in my neck of the woods, so I will be forever indebted to the creators of GLEE!