Charlie Brown Christmas and Mother-Son Bonding

The night we put up the Christmas tree my kids wanted to be done by seven so we could watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special. I was impressed they wanted to watch it because it’s so simple and sweet compared to the quick, stylized stuff they’re used to. I loved watching them watch the Peanuts choose the ‘Charlie Brown Christmas tree’, hearing them laugh each time all the needles fell off, and knowing they’d forever be in on the joke.

My favorite part was bonding with my son over Charlie Brown’s wit.

“This is from when I was a kid, you know,” I told him.

“Yeah, I can tell.”

“How can you tell?” I thought he’d say something about the animation, or the corny music and ridiculous cartoon dancing. I was wrong.

“You can tell this is old school,” he said, “by the sarcasm.”

“The sarcasm?”

“Yeah. You just don’t get this old style sarcasm anymore.” I didn’t know. “Yeah, like ‘man’s best friend’, that’s classic. You don’t get that these days.”

“What do you get? What would they say in the shows you watch?”

“They’d just say ‘you stupid dog.’”

How did I get so lucky to have a kid so damn smart? He gets it, and me.