Watching TV During Maternity Leave

I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted. For a while there, the only posts I had were all about dead celebrities. This got on my own nerves, so I stopped.

Why such rare posts? Well, that's what happens when you give birth to twins, prematurely. Well, when you give birth to twins, period. Newborns take up a lot of time. It's hard to take the time to get on the computer and write posts about the television one is watching. At least, it was for me.

I ended up watching more television than I thought I would, mainly during the day. The nice thing about newborns is that they sleep a lot. Swaddle 'em, feed 'em, hold 'em, they'll be more or less happy.

So, what did I watch? Well, sadly, a lot of Wife Swap. I had actually seen some before I gave birth, and I have to admit, I feel ashamed that I watched as much as I did. The premise of the show is simple: two women trade families. The families are opposites in major ways, resulting in a lot of drama as each family adjusts to the new addition. One family might be uptight overachievers while the other might be easygoing free spirits. Conflict always ensues, and sometimes the parents (and children) actually learn something. But I tired of the show pretty quickly, as the families never seemed to have any tolerance for the differences between them. The transplanted wife never wanted to learn about the family she joined, instead, judging them for their chosen lifestyles.

The most interesting episodes centered around the family of the Balloon Boy. Remember them? Richard and Mayumi Heene were in two episodes, and I have to say, I was not impressed by either. He's a hostile loud-mouth and she's a flake. Their children are doomed.

I watched a lot of "retro" television, including Hawaii Five-O and The Streets of San Francisco. Of the two, I think that I liked the latter better. Mike Stone, played by Karl Malden, was a compassionate cop with a wry sense of humor. I liked him. I also enjoyed seeing the guests stars on both shows. Wow, I can't believe they aired over 30 years ago.

Finally, the one show I watched that surprised me was Grey's Anatomy. My husband once told me he'd divorce me if I ever watched it. I figured the show was silly, so his ultimatum never bothered me. But it airs on Lifetime, and I've seen few episodes, so it was perfect. And better than I thought. Yes, some story lines were annoying. Anything with Callie Torres was sure to elicit eye rolling. But I found myself actually like the characters of Meredith and especially Miranda Bailey. And I even liked McDreamy. Who knew?

I also watched my soap opera, As the World Turns, which was canceled and ended its run in September. It was nice to see the story lines all wrapped up. I'm sorry to see it go, though, as Guiding Light was canceled last year. I spent many summer days with my mother, watching these two hours of soap operas during the hottest part of the day.

Now I'm back at work, so I'm back to mostly watching prime time. I'll be back soon to share my thoughts about the new shows this fall season and my returning favorites.