In case you didn’t already know, we’re a basketball family.  (Here’s a link to an earlier, basketball-related blog post you might enjoy:  https://wendykennar.com/2016/04/20/thoughts-from-a-fellow-76er/)

And although it doesn’t involve our favorite team, the Los Angeles Clippers, we’ve been watching the NBA Finals.  It’s a big deal in our family to be able to watch a basketball game on TV, because unlike many other families, we only have basic television channels.  Which means that for most of the basketball season, we watch highlights and recaps, but rarely are able to see a whole basketball game from start to finish.

Last week, we had a special night planned, and our son was super excited.  It was his last day of second grade, we ordered in pizza for dinner, and we had promised him that he could stay up later than usual to finish watching the game. 

But — the commercials.  Without exaggerating, it felt like during every commercial break my son and I were turning our heads away from the TV.  There were commercials for movies and TV shows that just weren’t age-appropriate at all.  And the commercials we did watch, really didn’t make us, as a society, look very good.  There were a multitude of commercials for fast food establishments, cars, and beer. 

Even on a night when I was anticipating a low-key, low-Mommy-energy-night, I still  had to be “on.”  “On” meaning in vigilant, Mommy-teacher mode.  Explaining what I could (when my son asked), trying to determine within a few seconds which commercials we could and could not see, and reminding my son that it’s still basketball — a game in which grown-ups run back and forth and attempt to put the ball into the hoop.

And maybe one of these days I’ll realize there really is no such thing as a low-key, low-Mommy-energy-night after all.