I told the kids that we should boycott Sesame Street. Come to find out, they're too old to be watching that kind of stuff...but they're still in the 'know' because of younger brothers and sisters. I asked the kids "why?" thinking they had some inside scoop since they totally blind-sided me on this. One child said, "Maybe they think he's being a bad influence on us and encouraging us to eat too many cookies?" You think? So, are they planning on retiring Oscar the Grouch because of his negative influence too? Should we change his name to Optimistic Oscar?
Seriously, they are all MONSTERS. Kids are scared of monsters. Plus, as Gavin so aptly pointed out, "Who is going to teach us the letter of the day if there is no Cookie Monster?" Excellent question. The kids around the lunch table were all well aware of where I stood on this issue after our little discussion. I sure hope they don't go home and ask their parents what 'boycott' means.
Update: Thankfully, a friend who loves Cookie Monster as much as I do, actually took the time to dig deeper and find out if this sordid information handed to me by my 2nd grade informants is infact true. Thank God she did. After reviewing snopes.com, I have now learned the real truth that seemed to be lost on the children. Cookie is not being replaced, he's just eating fewer cookies. Whew! He's trying to make healthier choices, which I can understand, given the whole child obesity problem.
