Tuesday Television

Tuesday nights around our house are typically centered around the T.V. We don't watch much of it any other day, but when we do we do it with gusto.

Usually it is non-stop Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch" series that keeps our blood pumping and our guts sore from laughing so much at all the greenhorns' antics. But with "Deadliest Catch" on hiatus until next season, we stumbled across something new.

Have you ever heard of a show called "Reba"? It's Reba McEntire, the singer!!! She's absolutely hilarious. It's a 30-minute sitcom about a single mother whose husband left her for his younger assistant (who, by the way, actually becomes Reba's friend), whose 17-year old daughter becomes pregnant and the father is kicked out of his own house (so they end up getting married and living with Reba), and the whole thing is an absolute disastrous and chaotic mess.

I love it!

I can so relate to several things in this sitcom, even those besides the single parent saga. Yes, they deal with some touchy subjects. Yes, it is irreverent, but they approach everything in such a way that is refreshing and yet still somewhat honorable.

The daughter and son-in-law got pregnant, but he did the honorable thing by marrying her and she by keeping the baby. They have their moments of selfishness and teenagerness, trying to walk a line between high school and adulthood. But then he holds her head while she's pucking her guts up (even though he whines about it), and she supports his efforts to try to improve his grades in school (he's a football jock) since he now has responsibilities.

Reba has her moments of anger and bitterness toward her ex-husband and his new wife (who is also pregnant with his child). But then she also shows her ex honor by encouraging the stiff relationship with their younger daughter. She works hard to accept the fact that the new wife is now a part of their lives, though she gets some of the best one-liner put downs before anyone catches it. Kinda like a "who goosed the moose" moment.

This crazy show is so relatable. I've personally seen how a teenaged pregnancy can affect an entire family and how it helps when the family accepts it and gathers around. I've seen how divorce affects people and how bitterness can be hard to overcome but can be done with alot of work. I know how it feels to be a single mother and worry about how it affects your kids and how other people look differently at your children because of it, as if single-parenthood is some kind of catching disease. I know how hard it is to swallow your pride and encourage the children's relationship with the ex because it is good for them and the right thing to do (in most cases). Life isn't always a sweet-smelling, bed of roses.

But at least we can find something to laugh about!