I got chewed out this morning because I had the gall to let my son watch TV at 5:45 ay em (as opposed to forbidding him to do so, which would have resulted in his weaseling into our bed and repeatedly kicking me in the nards).

Hot Wife is of the mind that before they even THINK about turning on the TV, the kids should be dressed, brushed, peed and pooped, have their beds made, have some cereal in their guts, check the status of their 529 accounts, cure an infectious disease, hold disarmament talks with a rogue dictator and put a fresh coat of paint on the house.

Conversely, I'm of the opinion that children have an inalienable right to watch cartoons while they rub the sleep from their eyes. This isn't China, for fuck's sake. It's not like they're going to be late for work at the sweatshop.

In the bigger picture, all of this is irrelevant. Would you like to know why? Because today is the official start of HOCKEY SEASON! (See: The Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks.)

As it turns out, today is also a day many of the coolest bloggers have declared to be Official De-lurking Day.

You all know the drill. Let us know you're out there.

Comments

I'm here! I'm here!

I always feel terrible if I let my son watch cartoons in the morning, but then I remember how much I enjoyed it as a kid and wonder what harm could it really do.

If the tv gets me 15 minutes more of sleep then it is my friend

de-lurking and I really enjoy your blog. Thanks for entertaining me!

Peeking out from behind the feed reader to say hi.

dude, it's "The Great Mofo Delurk." get it straight, yo.

love you and your blog, kiddo.

Well hello kind sir

Wait - what did you just call me?
Hi.
Great post. :)

We have the same argument at our house. I'm with Hot Wife on this one.

Woohoo! Hockey's back! Go Sabres! Thank god baseball's almost over. I live in Cincinnati, where the baseball AND football teams suck. We're from Buffalo anyway, so we're diehard Bills (who won Sunday!!) and Sabres fans. We'll see how they do without Briere and Drury. Ya gotta believe.

The galling part is that any of you were up at 5:45am. Anything that allows you to regain your sanity and crawl back into bed for a couple more winks is inherently good.

Re: delurking. Love the blog, your writing's hilarious. Am using blog to psych myself up for my future homelife (kid's only 8mo now, capacity for evil is tiny).

Re: Hockey. I tried to be a hockey fan in the late '80s, but ultimately failed. I blame it on expansion (too many teams to keep track of) and Don Cherry (CBC Hockey Night in Canada reference, for I am an expat). But I still think the Stanley Cup belongs in CANADA!

Delurking to say the TV is my friend at 5:45 ay em. Lets me get back to my dream about Greg from the Wiggles until they say the magic words "I'm hungry".

Delurking as ordered! Thanks for the laughs!

hockey. woo.

tv - we don't do it on mornings that there's school or we'd NEVER get there. Mostly because of the dad...

Ugh. I actually set my son's clock back 20 minutes so I could get some sleep in the morning. He's a chronic clock-watcher and knows he can get up at 6am, so at precisely 6:01, he's in my face. After I got smart, it became 6:21. And yes, I let him watch TV for 15 minutes before breakfast. It makes for a much happier household.

De-lurking week! I wonder how many comments I'll get. I'm aiming for double-digits. Ha.

Although we have season tickets, I find it hard to get excited about hockey when our team is the Blue Jackets. Won't be seeing any Stanley Cup around these parts for awhile.

I'm new what's de-lurking?

Go AVS!

It's true. I'm a lurker. But not anymore!!

I got excited when I heard on the news that opening night for the Lightning home games is Thurs, against the Devils! I am a Ranger fan, but I'll take the Devils too! I hope to get to a few games this year. Last year we had these great seats and someone was in them, so we told them to move...it turned out to be the only player who scored any goals that night's parents....ooops!

Who's Stanley and why do I care about his cup? De-lurking to say Hi!

No TV in the morning for the big kid, no TV before the big kid leaves with carpool for the little one - they get even more Evil after TV in the morning, so I pay for the extra 30 minutes of calm with 1 hour of screaming when they only can watch one show so its not worth it.

Thank heavens for Tivo and KidZone, tho - always bad when the kids try to find one of their shows and see "Robot Chicken" and think its for them...

(DGM: this would be a much longer comment if I had my own blog to post on - mind if I just comment on yours? :) )

I don't think I've ever commented here before, but you make me laugh so much that I think I can manage to peek my head out from under the covers for delurking day.

Delurking. Great site. I am a CA native, and you talk about things that make me glad I live in FL now.

Hey DGM,
Been reading (and laughing!) for sooo long and not sure if I ever de-lurked before, but I'm here now! :)
In our house, it is our kids absolute right to watch a little bit of tv before and whilst getting dressed etc. Both myself and my husband grew up this way and it did us no harm! Go DGM!

Go Ducks!!!

I see no problem with kids watching morning cartoons. It wakes them up. My 13-month old gets to watch Channel 7 Eyewitness News while I'm in the shower so I can get my traffic update from Jane Monreal.

I read you everday and you always make me smile. Thank you!

No tv (except a little CNN with me) except in unusual circumstances (an occasional movie).

I wouldn't be so hard-core about this rule - but, tv turns my oldest child into an absolute zombie - the boy would scoot me out of the way of a test pattern. A total personality changes for hours follows.

Not a lurker, but feel like one. I am always here for a laugh and some insight DGM. Thanks for everything...

delurking.

I used to let my daughter watch tv in the morning.. before she had to be at school at 8 stupid am in the morning.

Hi, DGM~

Your posts are such entertainment for me! I love laughing out loud becasue of what I read. You win!

hello....delurking and thanking you for making me laugh!

RE: Official De-lurking Day...
Found your site about a month ago - been reading every day since then. Thanks for the laughs!

"repeatedly kicking me in the nards"

Wolfman's got nards.

Also, I'm here.

I'm delurking from behind the depths of my google reader to let you know that yes, children do have an inalienable to watch cartoons before their parents get up.

You win.

ok i am uncloaking... but here is a good reason to hide!!!
h/t chuck..@ From my position...on the way!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvmU2IUH-bk

hope i did it right!!!

My kids can't even come downstairs until they're dressed. Them's the rules. Fortunately they've never considered turning on the upstairs tv in the morning. As far as they know, it only works on weekends and between homework and dinner.

Re-delurking! Dude, at 5:45 ay em, I was getting peed on. By my toddler. IN MY BED!

But of course, yesterday at 5:45 pee em, my toddler was sticking his poopy fingers in my face. So, that's the way the clock goes 'round in this house.

Delurking to say hi, that I think you're hysterical, and as a Portland Pirates fan, I'm a Ducks fan by proxy. Um, if you could stop taking our best players that would be helpful though.

Thanks for providing me with some much needed entertainment. Sure beats data entry! Hope you're having a fabulous day!

Thanks for the comment on my site! I never knew you cared. Here's to hoping my grandma can't figure out how to get into the comments section!

I think I commented once many, many moons ago. So I am, therefore, re-de-lurking myself.

Hi!

ps - like yer blog.

Funny you should write about this. Just this morning (right after we missed the school bus) I decreed No More TV In The Morning - until dressed, fed, and brushed. I had allowed them to get up, stumble out to the living room & put on the tv while waking up, breakfasting, dressing... but noticed them turning more and more into zombies... culminating today with our missed bus.

De-lurking...love your blog; the new haircut - not so much. Have a great day.

De-lurking day huh? Well then - Hi! Luv the site - makes me smile all the time. Luv your new hair cut too! ;)

For The Great Mofo Delurk I will infact delurk to say...

LET'S GO RED WINGS!!!

Yea, that's a good way to start a delurk, huh?

Bethany
-from Detroit

Stage left, Kelliqua walks onto the stage, faces the director, smiles and waves, exits stage right.

Mission accomplished.
Happy De Day.

What up, Danny? Uh, I don't really have anything else to say, so bye.

Present and accounted for sir!!!

If tv is what it takes for a few more winks, I'll take it.

DELURKING. But I don't always lurk b/c I regularly link to you on my sidebar. Does that count?

Delurking as ordered.

Wow! If I hadn't left the feed reader, I never would've seen this fancy new design you have going on! Me = Fan + Delurker.

If a child doesn't have the common decency to still be sleeping at 5:45 a.m., then by all means let them watch whatever the hell they want if it gives you more sleep!

Not entirely a lurker, I comment from time to time. Just wanted to say hey - and ...

Go Sabres!

hahahahaa. I know. Our year was last year and we blew it. I am SO thankful it's hockey season though - my how I've missed it!

"This isn't China, for fuck's sake." I'm so going to use this line in my daily conversation from now on! Love it!

Thanks for the laughs! Go Ducks!

My kids follow Hot Wife's standards for TV watching.

Officially delurked, now.

Not really delurking since I am now the proud owner of a DGM shirt thanks to a comment.

But wanted to say hi anyway. Hi!

And also, cartoons in the morning = childhood.

Delurking to let you know I love your site!
Thanks for the laughs!

Surely there was some homework he could have been working on...j/k! Seriously though, y'all are great parents. (Horrible hairstylists though!)

Delurking here! I have posted a few times before but wanted to say "thank you" and I love reading your writing.

Kim from IL

I'm delurking today as well. Love your stuff. I never miss a day.

I'm delurking today as well. Love your stuff. I never miss a day.

I'm delurking today as well. Love your stuff. I never miss a day.

Delurking up here in Cowtown.

The electronic babysitter is vital on weekends for the big people to catch some extra zzzz's & the occasional horizontal bop ;D

Love yer blog DGM!

Shauna

De-lurking to say hi and tell you I also follow you on Twitter. It more of an admiration thing than a stalking thing though!

Love the site!!

Me again. (Can I say that if I've only ever commented once?) I say, if it keeps them out of your hair, (so to speak, har) let them watch tv.

Delurking to say that I used to get up at 5 am to watching TMNT with my sister. I loved it. Thought they lived in my basement. Any how, we were (mostly) straight A students. No harm done. :)

*sigh*

I'll De-lurk if I must...

I haven't been here long. Only recently have I begun seeking out blogs that will not only offer advice and help me through my impending child rearing debacles, but can also make me laugh in the process.

So yes, I'm here. So far so good :).

Go Rangers! <-- go easy on me, it's been a bad week or so...

Are you going to take us to see the Ducks or WHAT?

OH! And what's up with the football meetups? Were we just talking out of our asses?

Scottish woman who reads your stuff now delurking. But I'm not going to kiss your ass like all those other women...

OK, maybe just a little bit.

I remember Saturday mornings I was allowed to wake up whenever (usually 6) and watch cartoons until 8. (When everyone else would get up)

Hey, as long as it's not Porn or a Mel Gibson movie... I'm just saying...

Love your site, don't de-lurk often enough.

Chiming in for the sake of de-lurking. Wish I had something funny to say, but my attempts would probably pale in the face of your writing and the other comments you receive. Those funny bastards.

(waving hands madly) Hello! Hi!

And what the hell were you doing up at 5:45? You make me tired just pondering it!

I'm delurking because I'm makin' everybody else do it over at my blog. You gotta walk the talk, and all that, right? I would guess I've been reading for almost TWO YEARS now, which surprises even me! Your writing amazes me, and you, your kids and Hotwife make me smile just about daily. I hope your life really is as mostly-wonderful, fun and full of love as you make it sound, because y'all seem like you deserve it. OH, PS - And please tell HotWife I bought my husband a TV for the bedroom for his birthday last month. So far it's not NEARLY as awful and hideous as I thought it would be. In fact, I kinda love it.

Taking a break from my chocolate chips to say yo.

OK you've earned a gratuitous compliment. I totally love your sense of humor. But please don't read my blog. It will seem so deadly serious and political compared to yours. In fact, yours is a relief after I get done posting one of my angsty liberal confessional diatribes. You may wonder how I ever even found you. I think it was on a trip by way of Schmutzie through RealMental, or something like that.

Your post about kids under restaurant tables made me laugh till I pooed a little.

Delurking to say I'm with Hot Wife on this one. No cartoons before school in my house. Of course that's mostly because my son is physically incapable of functioning when the TV is on. Smoke detectors can sound off and he'll still be glued to Zack & Cody. However on the weekends, I confess that I leave out pop-tarts or granola bars and other easy to open snacks so that he can grub while watching cartoons and I can sleep late.

Here Sir *raises hand*

De-lurking day rules. And, woo hoo for hockey season! I'm excited even though my team (the Predators) are going to be bottom feeders this year.

HERE! You know I'm here though, cuz I don't hide...now I'm kind of on the fence with this blog, cuz while I wish the kids would pick up their crap and be dressed and all that stuff, I also just want them to leave me the heck alone if it's 5:45 in the morning! Then again, my girls have a tv in their room, and it stays on all night (I sense hatemail) so in the morning hey end up watching it while getting dressed or playing. It helps them sleep at night, but I've had the tv or no tv conversation with myself quite a few times and it's still there.

Happy Delurking!

De-lurking to say hello. Love the site and your sense of humor - - keep it up!

Kinda delurking. Just to let you know it is also Official "First Red Wings victory" day. Ducks do not stand a chance this year.

I'm delurking -- I enjoy you from South Korea! Go Ducks!

I pretty much only come out on delurking days - but here everyday. Oh, and you rock.

Present.

delurking hi

Love the blog DGM....

Go Leafs!!!!

~crazy peanut~

Present and accounted for.

If I hear SuperWHY! starting when I wake up, I know I have a solid 20 minutes of sleep available for the taking. And I take, believe me.

Maybe the Wild will do reasonably well this year. That's my hope, wish and dream. So my husband will be in a good mood.

If Mama ain't happy nobody's happy.

I lurk, therefore I am.

You should have let the kids eat cake while they were watching the TV. I mean cake is nutritious (milk, eggs, etc) and cake and TV? Dream combo. Do it next time and see what the Hot Wife says.

BTW, delurking here. I've been reading for a while, but I don't know if I have ever commented.

Delurking from Portland, OR- where it's raining today- BIG SURPRISE THERE!

As for TV in the aye emm... as long as I don't hear it, and they don't wake me up before I'm ready, I could care less.

One rule here: don't wake Mommy unless the house is burning down or you have sustained a gushing open wound. Everything else can wait.

Said as a repetitive chant:

My kids are grown and gone.

Ha. Dig your site.

It's amazing how hard it is to click out of Google Reader to delurk these days. ;)

Anything that keeps the kids happy in the morning is aces in my book. Cartoons and sugar fueled cereal included.

Do I have to delurk?

Another hockey fan delurks, and says:

"Go Rangers!"

Even if I live in Pasadena.

Best,

john

delurking to say - I'm with you on this one.

Kelly's a grown up 7 year old. She gets up at 630am, gets dressed, eats, brushes everything that's supposed to be brushed and then watches TV while we are getting the other 4 house members ready.

My 3 year old nephew is another story. TV turns him into the meanest little kid on earth when he's waking up.

Hi buddy!

thanks for the laughs!

I may comment too much to be officially considered a lurker, but admittedly do not comment as much as I like, so I will pseudo-delurk anyway.

BTW, my wife would have my head if I ever dared to mess with the "morning routine" she has set up. Regardless of my "excuse" (Though, on the side I tend to agree with you)

You did this just to break the 100 comment mark, didn't you? Well, let me help...

Hi. I probably only come out on days like these, but hi nonetheless.