Mike & Carol Got it Right

What the what? Last week I wrote and posted (or so I thought) a post about the Brady Bunch. Where the heck is it?

I'll see if I can recreate it. But it's never as good the second time around. Sheesh.

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Does anyone else love the Brady Bunch? I confess, I do. Love it. I loved it as a kid, and I love it now. I have the DVR set up to record it every day and I put it on when I'm doing mindless stuff. Like folding endless baskets of laundry.

I'm finding the show pretty timeless. Even though it was 40+ years ago (eeek!). The kids still get into all sorts of scrapes and predicaments. With the exception of the clothing and the occasional "groovy," I feel like I could be watching a show filmed in this era.

I've also decided that Mike and Carol had it all going on in terms of parenting. They never shout, they tell their kids when they're total knuckleheads, and they follow through. You made a bad choice and now you'll have to live with the consequences of your behavior.

Really, I feel like there isn't enough follow through these days as I see on a daily basis right now at ski school. "Johnny, don't keep kicking the wall of ski school in your big heavy ski boots. Johnny, stop that please. Johnny..." (Parent then looks at me and smiles.) "We just flew in and he's so tired."

Personally, I think Johnny needs a big heavy ski boot up his own ass to get his attention, but maybe that's just me.

Anyway, watching the Brady Bunch as an adult has been a totally different experience than watching it as a kid (which I'm assuming I remember from reruns because the show ran from 1969 to 1974 and I'm guessing I didn't watch it when I was that young). When I was a kid, I was more into the episodes where the family was on some sort of adventure -- the Grand Canyon trip, which spanned three episodes and found the Bradys locked in a ghost town jail by an old prospector (I was cracking up watching this. They set up their tents in the middle of the street. They also had a pop up camper. Good thing they had tents, too, because how would they all, AND Alice, fit in that camper? Questions like this trouble me.).

And who didn't love the Hawaii episodes? You just KNEW Peter was asking for trouble with that tiki idol around his neck and saying, "Bad luck, come and get me!" I have tried to never utter that phrase ever since. And wasn't Vincent Price just SO SCARY?

Possibly one of my sisters' and my favorite episodes was when they went to the amusement park and Mike's architectural drawings got mixed up with Jan's Yogi Bear poster and then lost on a ride. Then the family has to run through the whole park to look for the plans and return them in time for Mike's big presentation. We loved it so much because it was filmed at King's Island, an amusement park about two hours from where we lived and a favorite summer destination. We knew that park like the back of our hands. I wonder if the old-timey cars are still there?

Anyway, I have discovered that I dig Mike and Carol's parenting style, even when they flubbed up a little. Like the time Mike punishes Marcia for sneaking out of the house at night. He's all mad at her until he discovers she did it to mail a letter nominating him for father of the year. He did get a little stern with her, but he never yelled. I'm not a big yeller myself. Unless I have PMS. We never saw Carol experience PMS.

Even when the kids really do create havoc, like the time they play all the practical jokes and end up scaring Alice so badly she breaks the bust of Mike's head that Carol made, there really isn't any yelling. Punishments and consequences are given out, but no one is beaten within an inch of their lives, which is how I might feel if I had six kids.

So maybe the Brady Bunch isn't that realistic. These was one episode where Carol is all flustered and talks about how busy she is. Um, Carol, you do have six kids, but you have a full-time housekeeper who appears to do all of the cooking and cleaning for you. And you clearly have time to make a bust of your husband, produce elaborate plays and school projects with the kids, like a film about the Pilgrims. If my kids came home and told me we had to produce a movie about the landing of the Mayflower, I'd probably send nasty e-mails to my kid's teacher. So Carol, how is it that you are so busy even though you have Alice? That part mystifies me.

One of my other favorite episodes: the one where Marsha has to try and get Davy Jones to play at her prom (even though she's only in middle school). I actually saved that one on the DVR because they put a nice little tribute to Davy at the end :) I saved it for Eamonn who was very sad about Davy Jones' recent passing.

That's something Carol would do for Mike. You know, if DVRs existed back then.

Got a favorite Brady Bunch episode? Let's hear it!