Prerequisites

Our family is weird. I know this is common knowledge by now, but I honestly think our weirdness may have reached a new level.

My husband and I have a slight ... ok, more accurately a huge obsession with the tv show How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM). When he introduced me to the show, my husband wasn't sure how I'd feel about it, as one of the characters in particular is quite the womanizer. Somehow I managed to absolutely love the show and still laugh at it as we watch seasons 1-8 over and over while waiting for the final season to be released on dvd next month.

HIMYM could very well be a guidebook for how we don't want our children to pursue romantic and/or sexual relationships when they feel they're ready for such a thing. Perhaps Lily and Marshall's relationship might be appropriate - falling in love, being respectful and encouraging of each other's goals, and maintaining a monogamous relationship - but Barney Stinson's 200+ sexual conquests and Ted's sleeping with most of his girlfriends within the first couple dates are not our idea of healthy relationship models. Therefore, our children haven't seen HIMYM. They have, however, been subjected to HIMYM inspired humor, the ducky tie (a Christmas gift from me to my husband), endless HIMYM references, and general daily conversation about HIMYM (Genereal Daily Conversation!). 

This has caused our fourteen year old to question when he'll be allowed to watch this epic program. He points out its TV-14 rating and his own age, so why not now?

Why not? Because there are way too many references that will go too far over his head for him to watch it now. He has work to do! He needs to get studying! We, in our glorious weirdness, have made up a list of prerequisites he must complete before being allowed to watch How I Met Your Mother. It includes, but is not limited to, such things as Doogie Howser, MD, Lethal Weapon, Terminator, Field of Dreams, Stand and Deliver, Happy Days, Die Hard, Stand By Me, Dirty Dancing, Top Gun, The Price Is Right, Dead Poet's Society, and much to my chagrin, the Weekend at Bernie's movies. He has already seen Star Wars, The Karate Kid, Crocodile Dundee III (it really does hold up!), Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Jurassic Park, and The Breakfast Club. 

Now, in addition to his normal homeschool studies, Zachary has undertaken Pre-HIMYM, hoping to complete it as soon as Netflix allows so he can move on to HIMYM 101. If all goes well, my husband and I will finish HIMYM 109 beforehand, just in case the prerequisite list needs to be expanded due to season nine content. 

So there you have it. True story.