Phineas and Ferb Philosophy

Before this year, I had lumped the animated children's show, "Phineas and Ferb" in with other detestable children's cartoons like Sponge Bob and well basically anything on The Cartoon Network.  When my kids asked me why they couldn't watch such shows, I honestly answered, "Because they make you stupid," to which my kids would of course reply, "You said stupid!!!!" and then forget that they had asked to watch a t.v. show (distractionary parenting techniques, one of the favorites in my parenting toolbelt).

But then, we got Netflix streaming and I allowed the kids watched all sorts of unapproved shows with their father while I was at work.  (They call this babysitting.  My kids now can relate anything in life to an episode of Mythbusters and talk as if they know Adam and Jaime personally.)  One show I caught them enjoying was Phineas and Ferb and as I eavesdropped, I found myself smiling and even chuckling a little.  It turns out the show is pretty smart and funny and not full of potty humor or alien robots (just a platypus that turns into a secret agent, whatevs).  As with everything that I start to like, I go a little over the top, so this happened:

Meet Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella (she plays the part perfectly: "Wat-cha do-in'?") 

The other two play their parts equally well.

Jeremy and I decided that what we like about the show (besides the clever humor) is that it highlights the ingenuity and resourcefulness of two brothers who don't sit around waiting to be entertained or complaining that they're bored...they go out and make things happen (like roller coasters in the backyard or putting their sister's face on Mt. Rushmore).  And somehow they always manage to clean up their mess so that their mother doesn't have to be any more stressed out than she should be.

So we encourage Phineas and Ferb behavior around here...like recently when the kids discovered that they could wrap the house 4.5 times with the tape from one old VCR tape (sorry Kendra, I think it could have been Band Memories 1990-something or Kendra Waits for Homecoming Date While Dad Sneers Thru the Peephole in Ugly Gold Short-Sleeved Sweatshirt With Gun Tucked in Waistband).

Many of our Phineas and Ferb (maybe I should call them "Ph and F" and you should pronounce those phonetically in your head, or outloud, whatever floats your boat) episodes involve pajama pants, rope, flying stuffed animals...

...and someone falling over.

"Just as long as everyone cleans up!!!!"

I seriously get this yummy happy feeling inside when I can hear the kids doing something imaginative and creative (and maybe a little bit risky) without too much direction from an adult...I don't want anything to interrupt them and I just want to eavesdrop until it's way past bedtime.

So a few of my friends have told me about day camps or special summer programs that I should sign my kids up for.  I'm sure those activities would be fun and my kids would love them, but I usually just answer, "We're planning to have a Phineas and Ferb summer."

(Except we've been needing to tighten up discipline and chores and general responsibility, so maybe we'll have a Phineas and Ferb summer with a little bit of this thrown in:) 

***Informational Bulletin:  We're planning to spend the summer in Flagstaff while Jeremy (hopefully) writes his thesis in the privacy of his old office and we enjoy some cooler temperatures and let my parents have their house back! We'll see what happens after that.