You know how when you were a kid, you just couldn’t wait for those Charlie Brown holiday specials to come on TV? Because when it did, you knew that Christmas or Halloween or Valentine’s Day was just around the corner? When I was a kid, Charlie Brown specials would air on CBS and as soon as you saw that animated CBS logo with that cheeky, percussive theme song, you knew that you were moments away from watching the show and you’d get so freaking excited.

I thought it would be great fun for the girls to stay up a wee bit past their bedtimes so we can watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” together. Mark made the mistake of telling Mia that she was in for a special surprise tonight and for about an hour it was all “what is it? Is it a scary surprise? Is it something to eat? What is it, huh? huh? HUH???”. So just when 8:00 was about to roll around, Mark made hot cocoa for us all - it was the perfect stormy night for huddling together on the couch under a blanket. We turn Charlie Brown on. Blank faces. They watch some more. Still, blank faces. “Um, is there anything on after this?”. We try to explain how great Charlie Brown is, how we used to watch it as kids, how it’s an icon of American pop culture. More blank faces with an occasional giggle from Claudine who seems amused by Snoopy. “Isn’t Snoopy funny?” we say. “Yeah”.

Oh well…