I have a little schedule each day and this really seems to be working for me. It's a really lame schedule, but I've had to tweak it a few times to get it just right so that the days go by relatively quickly.
It revolves around a few things. The top priority is finding baby and pregnancy-free entertainment. In the course of this pursuit I have stumbled across an interesting sociological observation. Americans are fairly obsessed with babies - despite the fact that they are not particularly tolerant of kids. There are shows on all day that are all about watching woman after woman be pregnant, go into labor, and show off her baby. The plot is so unbelievably predictable I can't believe anyone watches - but apparently it's popular enough to have spawned spin-offs. There are shows about high-risk deliveries, people having multiples and even, God help us, models having babies. And avoiding baby-centered shows doesn't keep one safe. Today Ellen will be have some juicy bit of pregnancy advice from Ricki Lake apparently. Now we can add her advice to the best-selling (again, god help us) books by a not one, but two former Playboy playmates. Shew, I thought a daytime talk show host would never give up some reproductive wisdom to complete the trifecta.
So here are my fairly safe baby-free viewing choices if you are so inclined:
1. Wedding shows. These are great for getting my mind off the high risk pregnancy bit, but they often offer some cheap drama too. What? The caterer delivered 72" round tables instead of 64" oblongs! Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion...
2. What Not to Wear. In my opinion the best makeover show of them all. The hosts aren't as funny as the hosts of the BBC version (mostly because they aren't allowed to says "tits" as much and to such great effect), but they win me over every time by taking regular women and telling them they are beautiful and them showing them how to look beautiful in great (and not always astronomically expensive) clothes. To my knowledge they have never dressed a pregnant woman.
3. The Barefoot Contessa. Great recipes, great ideas, babies and Cuisinearts don't mix, so you are safe here.
4. Old movies. When people didn't talk about you-know-what or you-know-where. Remember Lucille Ball appearing pregnant on TV was a big deal and a watershed moment so you are safe with anything before then. Lucy - you got some splainin' to do...
Hitchcock movies are a good bet.
5. The Closer, Monk, Psych, Burn Notice. I love these shows, they always suck me in, and they don't do many baby-related story lines. Give those writers more money I say.
It's not that I'm trying to forget I'm pregnant, but I'd like to get sucked into something completely different for 30 minute or an hour. Here are some shows I generally avoid for potential not only for a baby-related storyline, but for tragic pregnancy story lines:
1. Oprah. Lord, those montages with the vasoline-lens-effect and the sappy music about tragic stories could send someone into pre-term labor.
2. Grey's Anatomy. Sniff. (sidenote: the spin-off which I think is called Private Practice, deals regularly with a main-character OB's feelings about being infertile and although the entire thing is full of the sort of thing I generally avoid, this balance makes it ok for me). Horrible, horrible things happen to pregnant women on that show. Ferries fall on them, they get massive tumors, they are in car accidents, it's a blood bath - don't watch.
3. Morning shows like The Today Show. Currently almost every segment is about gifts or holiday recipes, but when the holidays are over they'll be looking for people who had quadruplets in the middle of a wedding on top of a mountain.
My best accomplice in all this is my DVR (also known as Tivo). I can pause and then fast-forward through anything I don't want to watch, or delete a whole show.
stats for today:
days until I'm 24 weeks: 10.
days until I can say I'm "practically 24 weeks": 7!
weeks on bedrest so far: 4
gifts yet to wrap: >4
days since I left the house: 3
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3 comments:
I watched Grey's Anatomy once...heh. And I can honestly say that some of the channels are nothing but baby and wedding stories aaaallll morning long. Have you caught The Baby Channel yet? That's some sick stuff. I mean, honestly, isn't the point of having a baby being, y'know, a parent and teaching it stuff?
Now, I will disagree with you on one thing...Americans are far less obsessed with babies than you might think. Overall, until the middle teens, kids of all ages tend to be talked about and considered (even if it's just in that 'ZOMG Jamie Lyn Spears is pregnant!!! way).
However. Britain takes the cake on babydom. Babies are great, babies are cute, babies and pregnancy and buying baby stuff and let's have lots of babies!!!! And then nothing until 14 or so and school issues start cropping up. Seriously, older kids and pre-teens need not apply...it's surreal.
Oro
Interesting. In my head I was comparing the US more to Latin America, where babies aren't on tv as much (not that I've scanned all the Latin Am. tv channels available...), but people seem to welcome them more out in the real world.
I've noticed an East Coast/West Coast difference too. When we lived in Southern CA babies were welcome at chic restaurants (before 8 of course). When we moved here we brought her (she was 3 and a half and very well behaved) to a casual, but nice restaurant and everyone looked at us like we'd brought along a giraffe.
Overall, I think Americans like babies, but want to compartmentalize them (and children too) into kid-friendly or family-friendly places and tv.
I don't feel like I'm being very clear. Maybe I'll think on it for a day or two and blog on just this.
I think that Oro's right: there is a fair amount of baby-related reality TV on here in the UK; some of it imported from the US, some of it homegrown. We also have a slew of parenting programmes such as Supernanny, which it strikes me may be mainly watched by middle-class parents who want to feel superior because their children aren't as naughty as the ones on television!
I didn't realise that there was a US version of 'What Not to Wear' - I can't imagine that it would be the same without Trinny and Susannah!
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