My Murphy Brown Moment

My son said something the other date that reminded me of “Murphy Brown,” a TV show that was popular in the 1980s and 90s. Candice Bergen played the title role. Murphy Brown was the hard-driven, forty-something anchor of a TV news program. The show had a running gag about how much Murphy hated Barry Manilow’s music.

After a few seasons the show became controversial because Murphy Brown decided she wanted to give birth to a child but did not want to bother with getting married. It was a big deal back then. Former Vice President Dan Quayle was widely mocked for criticizing Murphy Brown’s decision and not seeming to realize that he was talking about a fictional character. He tried to apologize by buying a blanket for the fictional baby.

The episode of Murphy Brown that comes to mind was one that took place when the baby was a few weeks old. It was three o’clock in the morning and Murphy could not get the baby to stop crying. She tried cooing to him, rocking him, singing to him. She tried to feed him and checked his diaper. Nothing worked. She turned on the radio to find some music the baby might like. As she was turning the dial, the baby stopped crying for a second but then continued crying as she kept going. She noticed that the baby had stopped crying and searched for the station that had caused the baby to stop crying. It turned out to be Barry Manilow singing “Copacabana.”  Murphy toughed it out. She let the song play, and even sang and danced along with it while holding the baby. It worked. The baby went to sleep and Murphy was able to go to bed.

My son is not a Barry Manilow fan - thank goodness - but he is interested in NASCAR. He told me the other day that he wants to go to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina on summer vacation. I understand that children learn better if they can follow their interests, but geez, NASCAR? I think auto racing is loud, obnoxious, dangerous, and pretty boring to watch unless one has a morbid desire to see crashes. I think NASCAR is a waste of resources and is responsible for much of the aggressive driving we see on our streets and highways. I don’t discourage the boy’s interest in the sport because I hope it will provide motivation for him to learn about mathematics and physics and chemistry.

I am surprised to find myself using Murphy Brown as a parent role model. She is a fictional character, but I know that there are many parents out there who allow themselves to be tortured by their children’s preferences in order to get them to sleep or to assist in their development.

Maybe it won’t be so bad. The boy is not asking to go to an actual race, after all. It will probably be 100 degrees in Charlotte next August, but maybe we will both learn something.  If we make it to Charlotte next summer, I will feel entitled to brag about being a good parent.