They keep dragging me back in

Every fall, I feel like Michael Corleone. During the summer, I have grand plans.

I have daydreams of ditching the TV. It's a big time and brain sucker. Imagine what little geniuses we would have running around, if they were kept from the boob tube. Imagine the books I could read. Imagine the conversations we'd have around the dinner table. Imagine the game nights. Imagine the quiet.

Heck, the only shows D and I watch in the summer, and most of the rest of the year, are The Daily Show and the Colbert Report. And we watch those online, since we ditched cable when we started living on a student budget.

Then the end of September rolls around. And the fall sweeps hit. And I remember how much I like The Office, My Name Is Earl, and Pushing Daisies. And I start to think that maybe, just maybe, literature, learning, and culture are overrated. At least on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

To protect the innocent and my kids

I'll be talking about my kids, since I spend a lot of time with them and frequently find them amusing. I'll also be talking about my spouse. But not because we spend a lot of time together. Law school has made that not so possible lately. At any rate, for the sake of ease and a perhaps irrational fear of what an open space the internet is, I'll be using first initials for my family members.

Our cast of characters are as follows:

C (yours truly)
D (the spouse)
K1 (oldest kid)
K2 (second kid)
E (smack dab in the middle kid)
S (second youngest)
M (the "baby")