My Cartoon Life Preserver.

Disney Jr has joined the world of Netflix! Why is this so exciting? Why do I care so much? Why am I grinning ear to ear?

I'll tell you why. Because we have not had cable in two years. Two. Years. It has been Two Whole Years of NO Disney channel. I love the Disney channel, and to be frank, I was teetering on the edge of making a decision between spearing my eyes out with a fork or ripping out my own eardrums with my bare hands. It has been a long two years filled with many, Many, MANY episodes of Dora the Explorer (who, let's be honest, needs to be disciplined, running off like that all the time) and Wonder Pets (what's going to kill Mommy? TEAMWORK!) and Backyardigans (WHO WRITES THIS SHIT???).  I have lived through many an episode that causes head spinning, nausea, and even severe cartoon related depression. I've served my Nick Jr sentence, I've done my time, and I've done it all with a smile on my face. Granted, the smile was a murderous one, that you would probably find on the face of a psychopath with a deranged scheme in her mind of how to take down these annoying little pests one by one. But a smile nonetheless.

And then, like a tiny half frayed piece of rope tossed down into the dark bottomless cartoon induced pit, Disney made a contract with Netflix. Grabbing hold of that rope, I hung on tightly to the lifeline of the movies. Tinkerbell, Pocohantas, Tarzan and Jane. It was a feeble reminder that there is light in the world, a light that I myself experienced as a child. I could breathe again. Though I still had a wistful longing for a 30-minutes-an-episodee kind of relief, because how do you limit t.v. time to one hour when the only things you can stand to watch with your kids are At Least an hour and a half long? I'm ashamed to admit that once or twice I found myself engrossed in these Disney movies. Enchanted. Delighted. Once, I even put the girls in bed so I could finish watching the newest Tinkerbell movie in peace and quiet, because unlike the Monsters, I hadn't seen it yet. 

But all good things must come to an end, and suddenly I found myself saying things like "We are NOT watching Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure AGAIN. Pick something different!". My lifeline was becoming even more frayed, with each fleeting second. I was starting to say the lines WITH Tinkerbell (can you tell Tink is a favorite?) and suddenly the great Disney/Netflix joy was wearing off.

They must have foreseen that something like that would happen. Because just as I was entering back into the dark days of Nick Jr, something new happened. Something so amazing, that I even wrote a Facebook status about it! Jake and the Neverland Pirates happened. There it was. I was still holding on to the rope inside the pit, but with the introduction of a new cartoon that we had only seen ONCE, I was lifted out of the abyss. No more lengthy movies to inhibit my t.v. time law, no more Dora, or Ming Ming, Diego, or Pablo. It was Captain Hook for the win my friends. This treachorous villain of my childhood brought a new smile to my face. Cartoons became my friend again! Now, the steady influx of Disney Jr shows taking over my recently watched feed is pure, child-like, bliss.

 So you'll have to excuse me now friends. The Monsters and I just found Handy Manny. ;)