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Modern Perspectives, Young Married Mom

June 19, 2013

Have You Heard of This Show, Call the Midwife?

I’ve asked this question of so many friends lately, I decided the show deserved a post.

 

I know it’s summer and gorgeous outside and we should all go get our vitamin D. BUT. We’re very busy these days and sometimes it feels good to just relax to someone else’s story. Since John took his test, we’ve enjoyed the luxury of watching a couple of movies together (Megamind—good, but I thought the romantic storyline was too dominant to hold kids’ interest, and Les Miserables, which I thought was fantastic). I missed that, and I’m glad to be back to it.

 

I tend to have a show that I watch on my own time, as well. There isn’t a current season of The Biggest Loser, but that’s okay. A while back, I stumbled on an ad for a show on PBS called Call the Midwife. In the following weeks, I saw mention of it more and more often. It seemed to be what Downton Abbey fans were watching after season three ended (badly).

 

When I watched the first episode, I thought that was it for me. I was too close to childbirth to be able to handle the tension that comes with each birth. I pretty much swore it off.

 

A few weeks later, I changed my mind. I wanted more. The characters are interesting. The accents are wonderful. And comparing the techniques available to expectant mothers then to what I’ve experienced less than sixty years later (for better and worse) is fascinating.

 

Also, everyone’s hair is adorable. Every episode I’m tempted to pin my hair up before going to bed.

 

I love about this show what I loved about Downton: it’s a peek at a not-too-distant past where we can see the world that was turning into the world that is. Politics, social thought, science! Watching it all come together reminds me that the world we know will not entirely be the world our children know, which means we have the chance to shape it.

 

In an episode I watched last week (Season 2, Episode 6, I think), one of my favorite characters said something to this effect: “Are children valued more now that more of them survive, or do more of them survive because they are valued more?”

 

And in another episode, another character says, “You know what it takes to be a parent? Proximity.” I loved that. Being there is the most important thing. We can get caught up in all the other things we’re “supposed” to do for our kids, but really, they just need us, our love.

 

So much to think about with this show! I love entertainment that gives a little more like this. Oh, BBC. Where have you been all my life?!

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