Ahhhh, Thanksgiving. Here in the United States, there’s nothing else quite like it. First you run around like a chicken with your head cut off (oh, wait… maybe that’s just me), then you eat yourself into a stupor and watch a lot of television. It’s the quintessential American holiday.
(I kid, of course. I’ve never actually eaten myself into a stupor. I prefer to eat until I’m just this side of a stupor, to leave room for a turkey sandwich later on. Heh.)
Here’s hoping you have a day of good food and wonderful family/friends planned, but of course you know I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t insist we spend a few minutes talking about the television offerings. Because TV is as much a part of Thanksgiving, for most families, as the meal.
You’ve got the football. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The football. The various program marathons. And did I mention the football? I think I may have.
I’ve particularly come to enjoy Thanksgiving television since growing up and putting on my own Thanksgivings; nothing causes my kids’ eyes to light up faster than my suggesting they go watch some more TV. And when I’m trying to baste a turkey, a child happily viewing is a child that’s not under my feet or about to get burned on the oven door.
Need a little viewing guidance for the holiday? I’ve got you covered.
- About.com has rounded up the Top 6 Family Thanksgiving Movies.
- This guy has listed just about every television marathon happening this long weekend, which is a little spooky but mostly really neat to look at. (And there’s a Bridezillas marathon on WE, which has nothing to do with Thanksgiving but delights me, nonetheless.)
- And Family Fun never fails to deliver something delightful, so I wasn’t even surprised to see this ingenious Thanksgiving Day Parade Bingo! Now that’s the way to keep the kids occupied while you finish cooking!
Whatever you end up doing, Happy Thanksgiving from our families here at Ty’s Toy Box to yours!
If you haven’t checked out Super Why! on 
If you’re not getting enough Sesame Street on your local PBS station—and really, maybe you even are, but you’re on the move and needing your kids’ favorite furry pals to be able to be wherever you are—good news! This month Sesame Street went mobile in a big, big way: It was announced that 
I knew back when we saw the first preview that we’d be adding 
I’ve been meaning to tell you about this one for a few days—it seems that 
We all know that Ty’s Toy Box president Ty Simpson is a huge fan of The Wiggles (allow me to 
If you’re not already watching Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! on Nick Jr., what are you waiting for? That’s a silly question, though—if you have little ones, you’re surely watching it already. Wubbzy has an energy level to match your preschooler’s, even when you’re slumped over that first cup of coffee and trying to regain your will to live. (Yes, my kids are older now, but I remember those days all too well, I assure you.)
It seems hard to believe that it’s time for the 2008 Oscar submissions, already, but apparently it is. Stranger still is of course the fact that every year the submissions come in and feature several movies slated to be holiday blockbusters—and, therefore, haven’t actually debuted, yet. 
No, not the one where we haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet and the stores are already playing Christmas Carols—though it’s also that season, unfortunately—but the one where it’s time to start thinking about what movies are coming out next year.
I’ll never forget the look on my oldest child’s face, the first time she found a Highlights magazine in the pediatrician’s waiting room and brought it to me to read to her. “You know,” I said, as she got settled on my lap, “I used to read this magazine when I was a little girl.”