Fayette-Mom: Mom loves The Muppets; will the kids?

How cool is it when we watch our own kids play with and love things that we enjoyed as children?

My daughter has even more Barbies than I did as a child, and she can spend hours dressing them and role playing.

My son is a Star Wars fanatic just like his dad, and can tell you which Jedi fought with which light saber in any number of battles.

It’s fun to watch them discover things that we hold dear, but it’s also disappointing when they don’t like what we did as kids.

Like Peanuts. Every year, I can’t wait to show them "A Charlie Brown Christmas," or "It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." They seem excited to sit down with us and watch these holiday specials, but if I’m being honest, they are less than impressed.

Well, OK, even I can admit the whole Snoopy/Red Baron thing is a little out there.

I guess it’s easy to understand — when we were growing up, we didn’t have channels that ran kid’s programming around the clock. It was a real treat to be able to watch a cartoon during prime time.

But still — how can they not love Lucy shaking the money can, exclaiming “Nickels, nickels, nickels!” as much as I???

And so it was with trepidation that I readied my children to see the new Muppet movie.

I cannot tell you how much I love Kermit, Fozzie and the breathtakingly beautiful Miss Piggy. Growing up, I watched their show every Sunday night, I collected their toys and I watched their movies. Would my kids be able to understand the sheer love that is Jim Henson’s creations? Inexplicably, their reaction to Sesame Street has always been lukewarm, never their favorite. Would their response to the newest installment of the Muppets be more of the same????

I needn’t have worried. My kids came home from the theater singing “manah manah" and asking when they can see the movie again. I then showed them Kermit singing “The Rainbow Connection”, and by goodness, they “got it”.

Sure, they love some TV shows that truly make me want to poke my eye with a fork. But at least, thankfully, we will always have The Muppets.