Got the Blues

When I became a parent, it changed me in many ways. I have learned about an entirely new level of selflessness, I have grown in my faith, I have felt an indescribable joy greater than I ever thought possible.

But one change has occurred that completely blindsided me. Never in my wildest dreams could I have seen this coming! You may find it hard (nay, impossible!) to believe, and yet, it's true.

I...don't...mind...Blues Clues.

Blues Clues. The kids television program about a little blue dog and her owner, Steve. Ever seen it? Ever laughed at it? Ever made fun of it mercilessly? Yes, yes, and yes for me. It came out around the time that my brothers and I were too cool for kids shows, and my dad had a very impressive Steve impersonation. Ask him about it sometime, I'm sure he'd indulge you! (right, Dad?)


So my entire experience with this show until now has consisted of mocking, sneering, laughing and pointing. Then we got Netflix. Under the kids 2-4 section of "Instant Watch" shows, up pops an adorable little blue dog. "I wanna watch that one!" says Max. Sigh. "Ok, Max, anything for you."

And honestly, it's not too bad! It teaches problem solving, drawing, music, puzzles of all kinds, and I actually don't cringe when I watch it. Ok, Steve is still a little over the top. (a little?) But now that I have a three year old, I realize how much he appreciates the over-the-top acting.

As is Max's way, as soon as we were done watching the show he wanted to play Blues Clues himself. So I came up with this fabulously genius idea to bring our game to the grocery store! We made a little notebook for our clues, then I told Blue (Max) that the puzzle we were trying to solve was "What's for dinner?"

We went to the store and I pointed out the three clues as I found them: tortillas, enchilada sauce and ground beef. We drew a picture of each clue in the notebook with a special red crayon before we put them in our cart. Then we puzzled and puzzled until we came up with the answer. Enchiladas!

It turned out to be a great way to keep Max occupied at the store, and Lucian did his part by chewing on the red crayon until we needed it. I never thought I'd say this, but... Thanks, Steve.