Parenthood

Back in December, a friend recommended that my husband and I watch Parenthood. I'm not a huge fan of a lot of shows on TV. I am very particular about what I watch so when she made this suggestion I figured this would just be another show full of dumb humor, sexual content, and shallow plots. I promised I would watch all of Season 1 before I turned it down. "You'll be hooked after the pilot episode" my friend promised. Well, that was not the case. In fact, I found the pilot episode to have some dumb humor, sexual content, and a shallow plot, but I had made a promise and I had to stick to it. I wasn't convinced though that I would love the show like my friend said I would. The first day of class, Dr. Coyne mentioned that her favorite TV show right now was Parenthood. I was completely shocked by this, 'were we watching the same show?' I decided to give it another chance. The next three or four episodes still didn't convince me, but I made a promise to finish the whole first season so I pushed through. Suddenly I was halfway through season 2 and I found myself binge watching it. At some point between the pilot episode and season 2 I grew to love the characters. I began to understand each of them on a different level. I found myself taking concepts I've learned from my family studies courses and applying them to this family. I saw attachment issues and communication styles. I found myself analyzing how situations with their children were handled and my husband and I would pause it to discuss what we would do if the same situation happened to us and our future kids.
Now on season 5, I can honestly say I really like Parenthood. I've learned a lot about different parenting techniques, marriage conflicts, and have
been able to discuss what went well and what could be better. I can't say that everyone would love the show and should watch it, but I can say that I've been an active audience and by doing so I have been able to learn from what I watch.