It was the same way for years.
Our Saturday morning TV-watching ritual.
My sister always woke up first. I would hear the creak of her bed and she'd be at my door in moments. She never knocked before whispering Are you awake? and I never failed to mumble, I'm coming.
Together we headed to the kitchen and raided the refrigerator. Saturdays meant we were allowed to eat whatever caught our eye. Sometimes it was cake, often it was ice cream.
Then we headed to the family room for a three-hour TV marathon.
It always started with The Smurfs, had some Care Bears or My Little Pony thrown in and ended with the classic Laurel and Hardy. Parents were never invited (and I'm quite certain now, they were happy to be left out).
When our shows were over, we knew it was time to get dressed, find some real food and get ourselves outside.
I don't know exactly when those days came to an end. I do remember some mornings in my teen years that I answered her Are you awake? with a very cranky Go away!
I'm glad we had those Saturday mornings though—moments spent together splayed out on the shag carpet laughing at the shows, talking about life. Our shared ritual created an overlapping of our childhood memories and I realize now that it was a gift.
Saturdays are very different, now that I'm a parent. I'm raising four kids, instead of the two my parents did, and our weekend mornings are far from predictable.
But we've noticed over the past six months—now that our youngest is four—the kids are forgetting to stop at our room when they wake up on weekend mornings. We listen as they meet on the landing and with a rush of giggles and a stampede of feet, head downstairs together to rummage through kitchen cupboards and find their own breakfast.
I know we will be met with a mess when we come down ourselves, but I'll only have to look around the corner to see my own kids splayed out on the carpet and feel grateful for it.
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If you enjoy sharing retro shows with your kids, check out Netflix's wide selection. Our family favourites are Ghostbusters and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
Disclosure: I am part of the Nettflix #StreamTeam blogging program, which provides me with product and an extension on my existing (and well-used) Netflix subscription.
The opinions regarding the shows we watch are mine.