Roughing It

The kindergartner has a fever, so he's stayed home the last two days from school. Obviously, he's taking it easy, putting together puzzles, playing Legos and, of course, watching TV. That also means Old Wahoo is watching TV - lots of "Go Diego Go" and "Handy Manny" - and I can't help but think back to the old days when I was a kid.

When I got sick, I looked forward to watching all those cool TV shows during the day that I didn't normally get to see because of school. Unfortunately, my high expectations for a day in front of the cathode-ray tube usually were unmet. Without cable, there were few good choices. "The Price Is Right" always delivered, but there were only a couple of weak game shows, and I, if I were lucky, a rerun of "What's Happening." After my lunch of Campbell's chicken noodle soup, there was nothing on at all except soaps. I was so disappointed I even tried to rest.

Now, though, kids have it easy. They can choose from five or six different cartoons, they can fire up the DVD player, or even check out PBS (which has a much greater variety of shows than when I was a kid).

It's so much easier to be a couch potato now. The young ones don't know how lucky they are.