Distractions

Mamakat's prompt:  4.) What have you been too busy to pay attention to?

When I was single, there were some television shows that I watched religiously.  The X-Files.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer.   When these shows were on, I paid attention.  I did not answer the phone.  The computers were turned off.   I did not even leave the couch for bathroom or snack breaks, just so I wouldn't miss a single second.  When my 'stories' were over, I would happily spend hours on the phone with my bestie, discussing plot points and one liners. 

When I met my husband, I conned him into watching Buffy with me, and he was hooked.  We would park ourselves on the couch, side by side, holding hands.  When the spinoff Angel began, we were there for that as well.  We found that we loved many of the same shows, and our viewing habits expanded.  The Sopranos. Deadwood. Firefly. Homicide. The Shield. Supernatural. Lost.   I would not only discuss the shows with my husband, but would happily spend hours emailing my bestie, discussing plot points and one liners, or grousing because we had to wait an entire week for the next episode.

We were the Nielsen's dream of the perfect television viewer.  

When my son first came along, I was still able to pay attention to my 'stories', because he slept a lot, and he did not move around much.  I could sit on the couch with my sleeping child on my lap, and still find myself transported to whatever universe was on the channel for the evening.  Except that babies need to be fed, or changed, and not necessarily during commercial breaks.  My husband would make a valiant effort to tell me what happened during my absence, but it was never the same. 

It's been downhill ever since.  As long as Zane was falling asleep before 7pm, there was a chance to use the DVR and fast forward through the commercials, so I still got my 'stories' fix.  But I was tired, and usually fell right asleep with Zane.  Gradually, before I even knew what was happening, the DVR would be full.  The entire last season of The Shield had to be deleted to make room for other shows, and we still haven't been able to see what happened to Vic Mackey.  

I've missed other shows completely, shows that I probably would have loved.  The Borgias.  Dexter. Boardwalk Empire.  Justified.    I remember some vague mentions of the shows, and I fully intended to watch them.  I even recorded a few episodes of each, but then never got around to watching.  Somehow, they slipped by in the haze of my exhaustion.  These days, my 'Must See' stories are getting shorter and shorter, and if the DVR and our schedule are full, things are deleted.  The entire season of Supernatural is waiting for me, as are the last two episodes of A Game of Thrones. My husband has the last four episodes of The Walking Dead to view, but we may have other shows to record.

What other shows have taken our attention?   Ones that we can watch with Zane, of course!  The Big Bang Theory. Ultimate Spiderman. The Avengers.  Young Justice. Green Lantern.

I still have my 'stories', but now they're stories I can share with my son.