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Every Little Thing by April Jeppson

Happy New Year!

I’m not sure if people actually stay up til midnight anymore, but I was able to stay up until 11 p.m. and celebrate with New York. I was really proud of myself because at around 10 p.m. I almost called it quits. My children thought it was awesome that they could stay up until midnight. They were actually looking forward to it.

It reminded me of when I was a child and how fun it was to stay up late. I remember being tired and trying not to doze off, but I wanted to stay up, so I pushed myself. Now when I get tired and start nodding off, I get up to wash my face and brush my teeth and happily crawl into bed.

It wasn’t just News Year’s that I wanted to stay up for either. I remember 20/20 used to have these special segments with John Stossel. He had dark hair and a mustache and was always doing deep investigative work on topics I found interesting. I remember practically begging my mom to let me stay up past 9 p.m. because I wanted to catch his latest report.

Rereading that last paragraph makes me smile. What kind of kid wants to stay up late to watch investigative reporting? Well for one, we had four channels growing up: ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS. When the selection is limited, you also grow up watching “Murphy Brown,” “Bob Newhart” and “Cheers” with your folks. We had one television, and evening shows were geared towards adults.

When I was about 10, I remember more family friendly shows were available. “Family Matters” and “Full House” were some of my favorites. Then in my teenage years our town got set up for cable television. Even with all the new choices and options, we had a nice routine at our house. Turn on the TV to “Seinfeld” reruns and hurry to get dinner on our plates before someone yells from the living room, “It’s starting!” We’d all pause, go watch the intro and then finish serving dinner and set out our TV trays so we could eat and enjoy our favorite show simultaneously.

Like previously mentioned, I like going to bed early. One of the perks of an early bedtime is that I also wake up early. I enjoy cooking shows and comedies and anything that puts me in a happy mood. I was recently scrolling through Netflix and saw that “Seinfeld” was available. So I’m on season two right now and loving it. There are moments when I even giggle out loud.

The other day my son woke up early and joined me for an episode. I didn’t hear any laughing, but he told me later that he enjoyed it. It’s odd, but I really wanted him to like it so I’m glad he does. He’s seen a few episodes now and I think it’s quickly becoming our thing. I may not be able to stay up late anymore, but I can still enjoy my favorite childhood shows.

Albert Lean April Jeppson is a wife, mom, coach and encourager of dreams. Her column appears every Saturday.