It's About the Lion

  When i was in elementary school, my absolutely favorite TV show was Daktari.  It was about a widowed father, his daughter, and the employees and neighbors in an animal rescue-type clinic in Kenya.
  It was about the animals.  Specifically the lion, Clarence.
  Tuesday night was Daktari night.  i lived for the show.  i kept a small notebook with the preview information of the next episode.
  And, if we had to be out on a Daktari night, the world ended.  Actually, i had tantrums embarrassing for someone my age.
  i rather imagine my parents skipped or rearranged a few Tuesdays out, just to miss that.  But that wouldn't have happened often.  Going out on a weekday evening was not something we'd normally do.

It's About the Train

   This is kind of similar to the way things are here about Thomas the Tank Engine.
  PBS runs the show as part of their kids schedule.  Weekday afternoons, 5 of them, not one, we need to be here in time for Thomas.  Currently that's at 2pm.  A news show comes on at 1, and that's also Thomas time, with a DVD.  Only one, though.  That's the routine.
  So, do i avoid going out at Thomas time?
  You bet.  Not that we never go out at that time, but i try to minimize it.  It doesn't seem worthwhile for either Max nor i routinely take him from "his show." So far, he only gets a bit agitated over it, but i know well how it can get worse.
  The most helpful thing is to keep repeating, "We'll be home at x-time."
  If we won't be able to be back by Thomas time, this will be accompanied by brief apologies, reminders that life can't always be lived the way we want, and sometimes this needs to happen.
  On the whole, he takes it better than i did.