Blast From the Past: TV Shows

Next up in my Blast From the Past series? TV shows!!! 

As a kid, I watched a lot of TV. I mean, I played with friends and played outside and went to school and everything. But, really, our family had the TV on pretty much all the time. We watched Saturday morning cartoons every Saturday until we were old enough to be at sports games on Saturday. And, we watched TGIF every Friday night! I have vivid memories of being frustrated with my mom as a small child because she was vacuuming while I was trying to watch Eureka's Castle! Ha!

So, in honor of my favorite pastime, here are the shows I watched as a kid...

1. Under The Umbrella Tree - Okay, this is one of those things where I absolutely remember it fondly, but I absolutely can't remember what it was about. Oops. I know this show came on the Disney Channel when I was really young. We had the Disney Channel off and on until I was about 8 or so. Then, we always had it. But, I remember watching this when I was 4 or 5. These 3 puppet kids lived in a house with a strange lady. Maybe the girl puppet was named Gloria? I really don't know. But, I know I loved it! And I can still sing the theme song, so that's gotta' count for something, right?

2. David the Gnome - This show came on Nickeloden back during its prime. (I'm sure they'd tell you right now is their prime, but come on. We 90's kids know the truth!) David was a gnome who lived in the forest. He had a wife and a pet fox that he rode around on. Awesome. There were always forest emergencies and David would jump on his fox and swiftly swoop in and save the day. There were these troll people who were always causing problems and I remember one episode especially when a troll baby got stuck in the middle of a river and David helped save it. Even though they were the bad guys. What a stand up guy. Er, gnome. 

3. Full House - As a kid, I just absolutely, positively could not get enough of this show. I adored it. I'm a year or two older than Mary Kate and Ashley, so it was pretty much on every Friday night for the entirety of my childhood. Michelle was always my favorite, but I have to say that upon watching reruns of this show in the last few years, Michelle was obnoxious. So was Stephanie. They're kind of entitled little brats, actually. You don't notice that as a kid, do you? How everyone in that whole house drops what they're doing 24/7 to deal with those whiny kids. But, the kids in my class still love this show today. So, it's longevity can't be denied. Duh!!

4. The Jetson's - This wasn't made during my childhood, but it's definitely a show I watched as a kid. We loved some cartoons over at my house. This futuristic cartoon was one of the best. Judy and Elroy were kids just like us, but they seemed so cool! And Rosie the maid could do all this neat stuff like clean with a feather duster that came out of her body. Oh, and they rode around in rocket ship thingies and lived in outer space. Yeah, this show was totally one of the good ones.

5. The Flintstones - This is the other good one. Who didn't love the Flintstones?? While The Jetsons was set in the future, this show was set in the past. Fred, Wilma and Pebbles were your average Stone Age family! I loved every single minute of watching this family and their friends, the Rubbles. In fact, one Halloween, me and my brother and our neighbors dressed up like the gang from The Flintstones and went trick or treating together. If that's not dedication to a tv show, I don't know what is!

6. Rugrats - I loved me some Rugrats, y'all! Loved it. It was just always on. Always. Tommy, Angelica, Chuckie, Phil and Lil were the sassiest babies ever and they always found some trouble. A lot of my friends weren't allowed to watch this because.... I don't really know why? Because Angelica was mean, I guess. Well, my mom didn't care that we watched it and, boy, did we watch it!  Tommy was always my favorite. That bald little baby had a lot of spunk!

7. Doug - Here's another Nickelodeon classic! Admit it, you watched Doug too. He was the straight man to his eccentric friend Skeeter and his tomboy love interest, Patty Mayonnaise. Doug was just like Rugrats in that it was a half hour show that included two 15 minute shorts. This was Nickelodeon's method of choice back in the nineties. Extra points to anybody who remembers Doug's alter-ego name!! (Okay, I'll tell you. Quail Man!) 

8. Reading Rainbow - If there was ever any doubt that I was destined to be a teacher, my love of this show should put that to bed. Reading Rainbow: making teachers out of kids since the 1980's.

9. The Cosby Show - I can't really remember what age I watched this. Probably middle school? But, once I caught on, I tuned in to the reruns every day! I loved Theo and Vanessa and, of course, little Rudy. This was just one of those shows that sucked you in because it was funny and heart-warming. A winning combo. 

10. Home Improvement - Tim Taylor never met a domestic disaster that he couldn't fix. Well, that's not true. But, he sure did try. And his three sons were always up to all kinds of shenanigans. I'm pretty sure I watched this for two reasons: Tim Allen was funny and Johnathan Taylor Thomas. And that really needs no more explanation... Remember the very-special-episode when they thought he had cancer? Tears for days, y'all. Tears for days.

11. Smart Guy - Tahj Mowry was the little brother of the stars of Sister, Sister. I never really loved Sister, Sister. Although my mom sure did! Ha! But, when Tahj starred in his own show, I was alllllll about it! Mostly, I liked this show because Tahj's older brother and his friend were really funny. I remember my brother and I watching this all the time and laughing our heads off. Plus, Tahj played a really, really smart kid who went to high school with his brother and sister. As you do...

12. Boy Meets World - Has there ever been a more perfect love affair? Have two people ever spent more time together? Have you ever seen two people stare majestically into each other's eyes so happily? Shawn and Cory: the bromance of the century. Plus, Cory and Topanga liked each other a lot, too! All that was great. We all loved Shawn and laughed at Cory and rolled our eyes at Topanga. But, you know the reason you really watched this show. Eric Matthews, the funniest tv character of all time. Oh, and Mr. Feeeennnnyyyyyyyyy! 

13. Dinosaurs - You know, if you do any research on this show or see it on nineties blogs, people are very fond of this show. They all talk about how it was ahead of its time and how it shed light on social issues of our time and all that. Sure, I guess. You know why I was tuned in every week? I'll give you a hint. A baby dinosaur who sat in a high chair and hit his family on the head with a frying pan. "I'm the baby, gotta love me!" I did love that baby. I did. 

14. Double Dare and other Mark Sommers shows - They just don't make shows like this anymore. Where else can you tune in to watch families compete against each other, slide down giant noses into pools of slime, get pied in the face and get utterly and completely filthy? Mark Sommers used to host about four of these shows and they were all good. They were all filmed at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida in front of a live audience, or so they told us about ten times an episode. This is quintessential Nickelodeon television right here, folks. 

15. Family Matters - Or, as it was formally known, Urkel. Why they didn't name that show Urkel is beyond me. Because, I'll just say it. You weren't tuning in to see Judy Winslow's latest adventure and neither was I. All we wanted was to see Urkel knock Carl off the roof or back the car through the kitchen and say "Did I do that?" That's all we wanted. 

16. Growing Pains - Two words: Mike Seaver. There was never a more adorable, lovable, disaster of a teenager. But, although he found his fair share of trouble, he always managed to do the right thing in the end. He bugged the heck out of his sister Carol (who wouldn't, though)  and his brother Ben (who grew up to do his own fair share of bugging people.) But, then, he became an adult (kinda) and took in a homeless kid named Luke and got all mature and stuff. And, boy, did they bring in Luke just in time! Because, Ben Seaver never turned into a heartthrob and Mike Seaver was now to old to be a proper crush for all the Tweens. I'd say a young Leonardo DiCaprio saved the last season of Growing Pains - just on his looks alone! 

17. Saved by the Bell - I've seen every show. New class, original class, middle school version, the awful Tori years, the beach episodes and, of course, the often loved college years. Boy, they milked this series for all it was worth, huh? Zach Morris was cut from the Mike Seaver cloth: hot, charming, mischievous, and, ultimately, a good guy who gets it right in the end. But, ya know, I learned a lot of life lessons from Saved by the Bell: never take caffeine pills (they make you too excited!), oil spills are not good news for your animal friends (never mind that I lived in Tennessee), and there's no hope with dope ( I know, I'm shocked too!) 

18. Brotherly Love - Look at all that hair! The Lawrence Brothers starred in this show about three brothers who lived in Philly who worked at a car garage. I just remember this being funny. 

19. Bug Juice - It doesn't come in a jar. Bug Juice comes from who you are.  Omg. I could not get enough of this show about the true life adventures of real kids, making friends, having fun, on Bug Juice! (Dare you not to read that like the song. Couldn't do it, could you?) This was a reality show before reality shows were all the rage. The Disney Channel featured this show of kids going to summer camp. I can't remember how old I was when this came on. Probably too old to watch it as religiously as I did. But, after an episode or two, I couldn't wait to tune in to see who had a crush on Hassan this week. And would Asa ever stop being so annoying to everybody else? And would Caitlin be a giant baby and want to go home? (Spoiler alert: she did.) Just as a side note, I found this show on youtube recently and watched the entire series. On my iPad. And it's still just as good. It's full of 90s fashion and slang, which is always funny to relive. 

20. The Brady Bunch - Remember when Nick at Nite used to play the best television of all time? Me too. Sigh. I used to watch all kinds of good shows before bed. And the Brady Bunch (and I Love Lucy) were my faves! It's just so quaint. And happy. You physically can't watch this show and be in a bad mood. It's just not possible. 

Honorable Mentions: Doogie Howser: MD, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, California Dreams, Rocko's Modern Life, Eureka's Castle, Salute Your Shorts and Hey, Dude.

Well, those were my favorite tv shows as a kid. What were yours?

Mice Play and Ice Day

Oh, y'all. This week has been a rough one. Why is it that having days off school just make it harder to be there? I don't know. But, two more weeks and then it's Christmas Break... so I'm just pushing through!

In the last two weeks, my kiddos have been giving me a lot of notes. And, they like to hide them around the room so that I randomly find them. How funny is that?

I love this one! This sweet girl was my buddy in first grade. And, I do hope I'm a good "ant!" I'm not sure why she drew a foot, though?

And, homemade hand cards? There's nothing better!

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, we had all kinds of fun at school! In my class, we made a colonial village to talk about how the pilgrims lived. They made homes, shops, rivers, boats, etc... They pretty much had a blast!

Then, in our after school program, we pretty much just dumped a million craft supplies in the front foyer of the school and let the kiddos go to town. They had a blast, too! 

I'd say the adults had even more fun :) This is our principal's office, ha! 

Wednesday night, we headed to my grandmas. This turkey was pretty much straddling my stomach and holding on for dear life! She doesn't love the car at first, then she falls asleep. Kinda like me!

We watched about a million episodes of Friends on Thanksgiving Day. Just like the pilgrims! Ha!

My mom got to practice her "grandma" skills. But, sweet Baby K wasn't in the best mood. She was sick all day :(

While my mom was holding the baby, this is what the other baby was doing. Such a    brat! She LOVED my cousin, Steven. And, I'm just judging by the fact that he couldn't put her down, but I think he was fond of her, too ;)

And, I was holding this big girl! She's my buddy.

On the way home, we stopped in Waverly, TN to see the war memorial that was built on the site of my great-grandparents home! Kinda cool, I have to say! And, check out the brick with my grandfathers name...

On the way home, this little punk slept like a baby. Literally. Like. A. Baby. And, look. Don't judge me for wrapping her up like that. I only do it because it prevents her from clawing me to death. You can just think of it as a puppy straight jacket. 

When we got home, I switched her collar to one with a little Christmas cheer! 

Monday night, I got really sick. I guess it was a stomach bug? But, I felt awful. So I stayed home from work Tuesday. And you know, cats away, nice playing, all that jazz. Just know that my normally well -behaved class took advantage of having a substitute. Big time. Granted, she was a terrible substitute, but still! I expect more from them than I do her, ya know? 

So, long story short, but those little monsters, er, I mean darlings, totally made a mess out of the library. The library that I had spent three recent weekends organizing. The library that I only let them visit once a week because I'm trying to teach them to read the books they choose all the way before getting a new book. The library that I painstakingly monitor because we're just, overall, a really immature class. 

So, drastic measures had to be taken. There were some gasps. There were a lot of tears as clips were moved down. There was denial and, finally, confessions. And, frankly, I'm 100% satisfied with my decision to come down hard on them because they can do better. And they will do better. They better! 

So, after a long day of wailing and knashing of teeth, I took my self to the Urgent Care clinic, which is such a scam because they were ANYTHING but urgent! They said I have chronic allergies and sinusitis. What else is knew? They did give me a Z-PAC (sp?). Then I came home and watched Christmas Vacation on ABC Family. Nothing soothes the weary soul quite like the Griswold family!

Today, during our morning meeting, we had us a good old fashioned Fiction/Non-Fiction sort! It was a great way to review our reading standard this week and the kids really enjoyed it! Of course they had to prove how they knew the book was either fiction or nonfiction.

Then, we read Ibis. It's a story based on a true story of a humpback whale who gets caught in a net. We read it because we had read an article the day before about whales. So I had them use their Reading notebooks to take notes as I read of proof supporting whether it was fiction and nonfiction. They did such a good job! It was a tricky book because it was realistic and based on a true story. 

And, that brings me to tonight. Oh man. They're predicting ice here tommorrow afternoon so the entire city of Nashville is panicking. Will they cancel school? Will they not? What if we get trapped at school? What if? What if?

My opinion? We'll have school tomorrow. 100% 

But, let it be known that this teacher just flushed an ice cube down the toilet and is wearing her pajamas inside out. 

So nobody can say I didn't do my part! 

Cause if ever there was a day when I'd like to kick up my feet and enjoy a snow day, this would be the day. Whew!!

Blast From the Past: Books

As a kid, I loved to read. LOVED. I would sit for hours on end and ask my parents to "read it again!" Or so I've been told. So, it only makes since that I grew up to be an adult who loves to read. And a teacher who loves to read to her kids.

Kids today want to read Spongebob books and Captain Underpants. And there is nothing wrong with that - whatever gets them reading! But, as teacher, I feel it's my duty to expose them to some classics. And, by classics, of course I mean books from my childhood! Ha! 

This post is a trip down memory lane to the books I used to curl up with as kid/middle schooler.

Here we go! 

1. The Bear in the Bathtub - As a small kid, this was absolutely my very favorite! Every single time we went to the library at my grandma's house, I chose this book. In fact, my family still teases me today about my love of this book! Ha! But to my little four-year-old self, this book was pretty amazing.

2. Go, Dog. Go! - This was another book that I loved as a little kid. All these different kinds of dogs are traveling all over and then you find out at the end that they're all going to a huge party. As dogs do, naturally. I remember learning to read with this book! 

3. The Monster at the End of this Book - Oh, man. This book was awesome! The whole book, Grover is telling you not to turn the page because there's a monster at the end. And, of course, because you were a three year old dare devil, you just had to do it. And the giggles would ensue as Grover warned you again and again. Really, this book taught you to not listen and just do what you want. And I would think that after the first time you got to the end, the book would lose some of its appeal. But, apparently not! Because it was read in my house about 14 million times! 

4. Little Bear - This was back before Little Bear was a tv show. The adventures of Little Bear and his friends were perfect to read when you were just starting out reading on your own. In first grade, I read every single Little Bear book and became the proud owner of many of them. They were just simple, cute little stories that I loved every minute of.

5. The Berenstain Bears series - I'm pretty sure I had at least twenty of these books. I was obsessed. Now that I'm a teacher and sometimes read these to my class, I realize that every one contained a practical lesson about being a good kid. But, back when I was a kid, I just enjoyed reading about the antics of Brother Bear and Sister Bear. Sure, I realized they were often kinda bratty, but I didn't realize those zany Berestains were teaching me how to be a good person! Sneaky, sneaky... 

6. Little Critter series - We loved these books in my house. I think they were my mom's favorites because she always wanted to read them for bedtime. Which, looking back, was probably not due to their riveting storyline but moreso due to their short storyline. I'll have to ask her about that... 

7. Care Bears series - I had a ton of these Care Bears books. Back in the late 80's when I was 3 or 4, the Care Bears were everywhere. There were lunch boxes, tv shows, movies, etc. So it only makes sense that they made some books, too! Each book featured a different Care Bear. There were always lessons to be learned, of course. Notice the theme?

8. Donkey-donkey - I'll be honest. I remember nothing about this book other than my undying adoration of it. I had this book at my grandmother's and since she babysat me while my mom worked, she read it to me a lot! A LOT. My grandpa recently gave it to me and I added it to my classroom library because I couldn't bare to part with it. Ha!

9. Where the Sidewalk Ends - In elementary school, I remember us begging our teachers to read these poems to us! Begging! And I remember every time I went to the school library, I tried to check this out but it was always already checked out. One day, I got it and it made me soooo happy. I ran back to my classroom to show all my friends, ha! Those little poems were a riot when I was a kid. Whyyyy were they so entertaining? 

10. Sister of the Quints - I was a little older when I read this. Probably fourth grade. But, I read it a bunch of times. This girl's father and his new wife have quints and she moves into their house. At first, she feels left out and cheated and everything. Then, one day, one of the babies gets kidnapped (or something equally frightening) and she realizes how much she loves her brothers and sisters. I've always liked babies, so as a kid, I loved this book. Having quintuplet brothers and sisters sounded like a dream to me!

11. The. Ramona series - Everybody knows about these books. In fact, I read the one pictured above to my class this year and last and both classes have LOVED it! Ramona's family is just like your family: they fight, they aren't rich, they have problems. I read every single Ramona book as a kid and loved them all. Ramona was the original Junie B. Jones: spunky, precocious, and always a little sassy.

12. Blubber - this book was about a little girl who was kind of fat. That's all I remember. But, I know enough about Judy Blume to know that it wasn't necessarily the story that sucked me in as a 5th or 6th grader, it was how impeccably it was written. We all know Judy Blume was the best. This wasn't the only book of hers that I read, but it's the one that stands out most in my mind.

13. Superfudge - Here's another Judy Blume classic! In fact, I'm reading this to my class right now and they are obsessed! They can't wait for the last ten minutes of the day when they get to curl up and here the latest adventures of Peter, Fudge and Tootsie. I'm actually considering reading another book from this series to them because they're enjoying it so much! And I have to admit, I'm enjoying it too because it reminds me of my one childhood. I was always thankful that Farley Drexel Hatcher, aka Fudge, was not my brother! Whew!!

 

14. The Babysitter's Club and Little Sister series - I started off with the Little Sister books and first got to know Karen and Andrew. And, then, when I got a little better at reading, I moved on to the hard stuff! Ha! When I started reading them in fourth grade, I became obsessed. I read them ALL over a few years. I would harass my mom to take me to the library and I would get about 6 Babysitters Club books, 2 Judy Blume books and Sister of the Quints. Every. Single. Time. 

15. Popcorn - I always enjoyed this book about a little Bear who makes too much popcorn and it takes over his house. It always made me hungry for popcorn, too!

16. The Poky Little Puppy - I adored pretty much all Little Golden Books. I had a ton of them. But this is the one I remember the most. That cute little puppy made quite an impression in my mind, apparently! 

17. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - Ohmygosh. Y'all. These books were so good! This old lives in a neighborhood full of children and they all love her. Every chapter focuses on a different family whose children are suffering from a common childhood problem: like, never wanting to go to bed or talking back. These mothers just don't know what to do so they call Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and she gives them practical advice. If they don't want to go to bed, let them stay up all night, every night. So these weary parents do what she says and hilarity ensues until those pesky children finally give in and behave themselves. I loved these books, and there were several. I read this one to my class last year and they loved it, too! 

18. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark - I was never a fan of scary stuff. Still aren't. But, I liked this book. It was perfect for sleepovers! One story stands out in my mind, about a girl with a red ribbon tied around her neck. She finally unites it one day and her head falls off. I,told that story at every camp out I ever attended, ha! 

19. The Outsiders - We read this in 8th grade. I'm including it because it stands out to me. My reading class absolutely fell in love with this book. Our teacher told us NOT to read ahead and I think every single kid in the class read the whole book WAY before we finished it in class! We were all talking about it. It's just one of those books that makes a lasting impression on you. If you can't get attached to characters like Ponyboy and Sodapop, there's no hope for you as a reader...

20. Pippi Longstocking - Here's another one that I've read to my class this year! Notice a theme? Ha! They loved this, too! As a kid, Pippi is just so whimsical and silly! I will say that, as an adult reading this aloud, I thought it was very weird and boring. But, my kids were engrossed. And I adored it as a kid. And that's all that matters.

Honorable Mentions: Corduroy, The Chocolate Touch, The Twits, Clifford, The Boxcar Children, Little House on the Praire and Where's Waldo. 

I hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane! I know I did! If you want to read more of my Blast from the Past series, click on the tab to the right under the Labels sign. 

Thanks for stopping by!!