My teenage daughter was another story all together. Maybe I’m getting old, or maybe it’s because I am the Mom of a teenage girl, but it seems that all of the female costumes are way too provocative. We walked into three different Halloween stores over the weekend to shop for costumes and it was the same story in all three: Costumes were divided in essentially three sections: Kids, men and women. Although my daughter is only 14, she is 5’ 10” and wears a size 5. She’s tall, beautiful, athletic, and smart (I’m her Mom and legally required to brag!). But I bring this up because she has not fit into the “kids” Halloween costumes since the 5th grade.

What was rather disturbing was the selection of the Halloween costumes available for my daughter. All of them – Yes, ALL of them were down right sleazy. I’m pretty sure prostitutes dress more conservatively than what’s available in the women’s section at the Halloween store. Here are a few names of the costumes for sale: Sexy Witch, Sexy Bat Girl, Fantasy Baseball Gal, and my all-time favorite: Sexy Zombie. Really? Who finds zombies sexy? By the way that costume consisted of hot pants and a torn up, very tight, very low cut dress, all for $59.99. I’m pretty sure I have an old dress she can cut up for zero cents, and she can skip the hot pants.

Most of the costumes had the same layout: Extremely short skirts (or in some cases you bypass the skirt and go for the super tight, super short shorts), extremely low cut tops, 6 “ heels, and fishnet stockings. Put a little makeup and do up your hair and you have what they call a Halloween costume. Most parents would never let their daughter wear anything that short, or that low cut on any regular day. So why is it suddenly acceptable to allow our kids to dress like this on Halloween? It’s not. Go over to the men’s section and there is not one single costume titled, “Sexy…”. Why? Are men not sexy? Or maybe it’s just acceptable that only women be allowed to dress like whores on Halloween. Thankfully my daughter was blessed with intelligence as well as looks and simply stated, “Mom, I’m not dressing like a slut for Halloween”. In the end, she decided on being a mobster girl, but thankfully, not the sexy one.

I do remember when Glee first came on the air. I had no interest in watching it. I’m not sure exactly what it is about the show that turned me off. I love acapella music. I like underdog stories. I’ve known and liked members of choral and glee groups.

Perhaps it’s because I watch very little live TV. Maybe it’s because I’ve invested in many shows only to see them get cancelled early on in the first season. Possibly it’s because as much as I like underdog stories, I’m not a fan of martyrdom, especially overly dramatic “poor, unappreciated me” people. I do know quite a few singers and choral directors who seem to fall into that category. I dunno, I just wasn’t interested.

As my daughter has grown older, my wife and I have been looking for television shows we can share with her. At Paul Goebel‘s recommendation, I introduced her to The Middle (which she liked), and on my own last month I introduced her to Glee on Netflix.

The first episode was a little heavy, compared to my daughter’s usual Disney Channel/Nickelodeon fare, but my wife loved it and my daughter was interested and patient enough to give it a few more episodes. It’s now become one of their favorite shows, as they are averaging four episodes a week as they race to get to Season 2.

I admit, I’ve enjoyed it as well. It’s less acapella than I’d expected (and hoped), but it’s good. It gets a little whiny sometimes, but so far it’s pulled itself back just enough.

My concern, so far, is not the maturity of the themes (so far it’s been fine), it’s the constant references to the Glee kids as “losers.” They call themselves “losers”. Other people call them “losers”. It’s clear they are meant to be misfits, but it’s declared over and over again.

Now, my wife and I do talk about what we see on TV with our kids. So, we made a point of addressing this with our daughter. “The point of the show,” I said, “is that they’re really NOT losers, at all.” My daughter agreed, and we went on to discuss it in much more depth: What would you do? Has anyone ever treated you that way? What could this character have done? etc., .

It almost had me pull the plug. If my wife hadn’t immediately taken to the show and there had been a viable alternative, we might’ve given up on it quickly, but so far it remains in our Netflix Instant Queue.

I do find myself still looking for that perfect family show to share. The Nick and Disney shows are decently produced, but they have such snarky young characters and such dumb adults – not what I’m looking for. Yes, there are game shows and singing competitions we can watch. She’s still a little young for the Mythbusters/Top Shot/Chopped type shows we watch with our son, and I find myself still looking for a good family show to share with my wife and daughter.

For now, I’ll give in to Glee, but I wish I felt better about it.

In less than a week, I will no longer have to drive anybody to swim class, make anybody clean up their dishes from lunch or answer endless strings of inane questions. Most importantly, however, I will be able to watch whatever I want on television with no interruptions.

No longer are the days of waiting until the kids go to bed so I can watch True Blood. Gone are the afternoons of pretending to care about what my kids are watching so they can think I’m interested in their lives. Banished are the constant interruptions caused by one child “looking at” the other one.

I don’t expect everyone to understand what this freedom means. There are few of us who truly understand how valuable peace and quiet can be. After spending the entire summer trapped in a house with my kids, the mere thought of being able to watch TV, take a nap or even poop without fear of interruption, makes me so excited I can hardly contain myself. Add in the fact that the new fall season is only weeks away and I feel like I’m on top of the world.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to cut this short and go reprogram the remote.

Hear more from the King of TV on The Paul Goebel Show podcast and at his website, www.TheKingofTV.com. You can also follow Paul on Twitter @PaulGoebelShow.

• 9 of the 12 families said they planned to assist their children with the acquisition of their first car.
• Of those 9, 4 expected to pass on or sell to their child a vehicle the familiy currently owned. 3 planned to assist with the purchase of a used car, and 2 planned to assist with the purchase of a new car.
• Of the 5 intending to help their child obtain a vehicle, safety and cost were the two most highly rated factors in choosing a vehicle.

This topic became the subject of an unScientific Study when some of our staff, with a 12 year-old child, mentioned that they were looking to buy a new car and were factoring into the purchase the expectation that it would become their child’s car in 5 years. This caused them to rule out certain types of cars, and they find themselves shopping for a fairly conservative sedan instead of the more “fun” vehicles they might have purchased. Similarly, their anticipated passing on of the vehicle is a factor in the options they are selecting.

What were your experiences with and feelings about a child’s first car?  Please share your thoughts below.

• 4 of the 13 families are done with their back to school shopping
• 6 of the 13 famlies have begun shopping but are not finished yet
• 3 of the 13 famlies have not begun shopping for school supplies at all
• 5 of the 13 have not yet received a formal “supply list”, and 4 of those 5 have begun shopping already.
• 10 of the 13 famlies expect to spend more money on school supplies than last year, even though 8 of the 13 plan to buy less items and/or reusue items purchased in past years.

What are your family’s shopping habits?  Do your children reuse most supplies? Do you shop at a single store? Do you use a school issued supply list?

Please share your thoughts below.