A few months ago I noticed that one of our PBS stations, the one we don’t watch as much, still airs Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. I had fond memories of the show so I set our TiVo to record it and introduced it to Joshua a few days later.
He loved it immediately. I mean he looooves it. He hearts Mister Rogers! And over the past few months, I’ve fallen in love with good ol’ Fred again myself! I love the way he talks to his “television neighbor” – in this case my son. He speaks so gently and earnestly to the children who watch the show. Joshua hangs on his every word. I love the way he talks to and asks questions of his guests on the show – he speaks as if he is a child, asking questions that may seem dumb and obvious to us Smarty McSmartypants adults, but are exactly what our kids want to know. Some of the guests crack me up, they just cannot get into the act. On one episode, when Mister Rogers was visiting a film-processing plant (which prompted Joshua to ask me where the film is in my digital camera! Ha! He’s getting a history lesson!), the plant manager looked at Mister R. like he was coo-coo when he motioned to the camera and said, “I’d like you to meet my television neighbor.” I don’t know if this guy was just shy, or didn’t have kids, or had never seen the show, but he was NOT playing along. I wanted to smack him!
A couple of weeks after Joshua really started to love the show (his favorite part is of course, the Neighborhood of Make-Believe segments), I started to do a little research on Fred McFeely Rogers. I knew he had passed away fairly recently but could not quite remember when. A quick Google search told me it was February 27, 2003.
Exactly one year to the day before Joshua was born.
I got a little misty. Ok, I cried. What are the odds?
So, Mister Rogers, I know you are up in Jesus’ neighborhood now, and it is more wonderful than anything you could have imagined in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. But down here, there are those of us who are still very appreciative of you and all you did for children, and are still very privileged to be your Television Neighbor. Thank you, sir. Now please do me another solid and go take Trolley for a spin on the ol’ Streets of Gold for Joshua!
I heard the other day that the reason Mr. Rogers wore all those cardigans was to cover up the tattoos that he collected during his years of military service. I have a hard time thinking of Mr. R with tats. I will go look that up on snopes.
Ok this comment didn’t mesh well with the tone of your post, Cousin. Sorry about that.
Joshua was born on Feb 27? SWEET, thats my Birthday too! Apparently thats when all the cool kids were born 🙂
My favorite Mr. Rogers was when he went to the Crayola factory and we get to see crayons being made!
Ok, snopes says that that is incorrect, as is every other less-than-wholesome rumor about him.
http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/mrrogers.asp
geez Emily why are you trying to sully Mr. R’s rep??
You need help.
I think the old shows are the best. My one year old’s favorite show is Sesame Street….I love watching it, too! Makes me think of the ol’ days!
Our kids love Mr. Rogers as well. They look forward to watching it every Sunday morning before we head to church. I’d love to buy them on DVD some day. For future vacation destinations, head to the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum. They have a whole section (complete with his front porch, shoes, sweater, trolley, puppets, picture picture, and more) dedicated to Mr. Rogers since that is where his show was taped.
And in regards to his sweaters, his mom knitted some of them and he said that he wore them to make the kids feel more comfortable and at home. Mission accomplished!
When the show came on, I had to have on my dress shoes so that I could change in to my tennis shoes with him! I loved dear old Fred, too.
My girls, almost EIGHT and FIVE still enjoy watching the show. It is a time to calm down. He just has a way of making you feel special, doesn’t he? I still sing his songs to my kids… and the kids at the preschool where I work… and will probably sing his songs to my grandkids someday.
I highly reccomend that you read the book, The Simple Faith of Mr. Rogers by Amy Hollingsworth. It made my heart happy.
You could also go to Idlewild Amusement Park near Pittsburgh. They have the Neighborhood of Make Believe there! I have never been there myself, but have heard RAVE reviews from preschool parents.
Jenny – I also remember you sporting a pair of Mr. Rogers shoes (blue canvas) when we were in high school? Maybe you should get another pair now… Joshua will think you are SO COOL!
Mister Rogers was such a wholesome and easy going show. When I got older, a lot of comedians would mock him. Yet, I still remember the tender man and sweet show. I don’t think today’s programming compares.
Do you remember Romper Room? How about the Magic Garden?
I love that you and your cousin have a blog together. I’m close with my cousins too.
Charles Laton says the odds are approximately 1/365.
I loved Mr. Rogers so very much. EVERY single afternoon I was glued to channel 29. He was a class act.
And Queen of Click…Romper Room rocked! I was on Romper Room. My Daddy worked for the broadcasting company that showed RR. So, I got to be on an entire week. Yes m’am. That is my claim to fame!
my kids won’t have naything to do with Mr. Rogers….it bores them which makes me sad…..
I have two twin girls that I’ve recently introduced to the Neighborhood. They LOVE it. The only problem they have is that get frustrated and start fussing because the “funding by” bit at the beginning takes to long. 🙂
I thought I’d also let everyone here know about PBS’s decision to take the show off their weekday schedule! Some local member stations may not keep carrying it, so you’ll want to check with yours soon.
See http://www.savemisterrogers.com for the skinny!
Also I realize I just wrote “two twin girls” which is ridiculous. 🙂