The Brady Bunch vs The Jersey Shore.

Would you agree that television can influence people, and when I say people I mean children?  I've been having that debate with my kids a lot lately.

My parents had it easy. It was pretty much between The Brady Bunch or I Dream of Jeannie. Please!  

The most controversial element in The Brady Bunch was that they were a combined family. That's peanuts.  They never had to worry if we would start acting like Greg.....("Dad, can I renovate the attic into a bedroom?") Seriously?? Or talking like Jan......("Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!") Talk about wholesome.  

The worst thing to come out of I Dream of Jeannie was her evil "Jeannie" sister who showed up every once in a while with her green Jeannie costume, dark hair and that way she had of saying, "Maaaaaaster Darrrrrling".  She always got hers in the end. Whether she was tricked into being "re-bottled" or blinked back to Baghdad, the real Jeannie always won.  It was pure, innocent entertainment, and it was good. Our living room would be still for the duration of the show, with the only noise being the eight of us munching away on the popcorn my mother popped in the electric frying pan and poured into big brown bags from Modell's Supermarket. 

Now I'm not saying there aren't any worthwhile shows today. Even my older kids get a kick out of iCarly (Spencer's hilarious) and The Wizards of Waverly Place, but more and more I find them watching "reality" shows like The Jersey Shore and The Real Housewives of who really cares cause they're all exactly alike!  I do not like these shows and I do not hold back telling them that.  I think the more they watch them, the more chance there is of them thinking these people's lives are the way real life should be.  

I've further told my children that this fist-pumping, bar brawling, cat fighting, tanning world is not reality at all, and it is certainly not the kind of life I want for them. My middle child, almost 19 now, gets the biggest kick out of them, but repeatedly assures me she only watches them for the laughs.

Recently she and I were going back and forth about this through texts while I was at work. Again she tried to reassure me that just because she was watching them (and now with my 14 year old no less!) they were not being influenced at all. I was not convinced but I let it go and told her we would talk more about it when I got home.

Well I went home all right, and I was met with a complete shock that I have relived over and over in my mind many times since that day.  

There, sitting in my family room, were two "jersey girls". I'm talking Snooky poofs, bronze-orange tans, mini dresses and ten pounds of make up each. I swear to you I did not recognize my own daughters.  I had been bamboozled!  

When my brain finally told my eyes who they were seeing, I laughed so hard I had to lean on my kitchen counter to hold myself up. They looked fantastic. They could have been right out of the show.

So yes, I admitted to them that their message was received loud and clear. Their little charade told me without a doubt that they did know who they were, who they really were, and that I could relax. For now.  Even without Mike and Carol Brady in my corner.