Little House Of Guilty Pleasures.

Little House on the Prairie is an American TV show that aired from 1974, though I am far too young to remember such a time just admitting to this guilty pleasure makes me feel like I've one foot in the grave (another guilty pleasure by the way, but that's one for another time).

Growing up way back in the days of the 1980's, Little House was almost a family ritual for Sunday afternoons, we only had 4 TV channels which were BBC One, BBC Two, ITV Central and Channel 4 and absolutely no such thing as catch-up or on-demand. My parents literally had to time the Sunday lunch to coincide with the start of their favourite shows and the largest screen in the house was a whopping 20 inch and no VCR, as they were like the devil to my father. What can I say old people and tech just don't mix, even more so back then.

Always good old English roast dinners on a Sunday as the kids sat at the table and parents on the couch with dinners on their knees and a towel across their legs to catch any gravy spillages. The sound of the Little House theme tune signaled a time of silence for us kids and we knew not to bother the parents.

I think Little House for me was like a world of escape, A life so perfect. Even now I am obsessed with the dream of living off grid and creating a homestead just like the Ingolls family and one day before I kick the bucket I pray I do.

I now have 4 children of my own and thanks to this wonderful guilty pleasure of a tv show they are often tormented by me singing at the top of my voice.

Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man

He washed his face in the frying pan

He combed his hair with a wagon wheel

And died of the toothache in his heel.

I still binge watch this show even to this date and it has never gotten old for me, it is also one of a few tv shows that I have binge watched more than once. There is just something about watching the kids of Walnut Grove grow up like you was part of the family or a close family friend, feeling so sorry for Mr. Oleson, wondering how he could possibly deal with a wife like Mrs. Oleson (although sometimes I think my wife must have been related).

The close family like network the entire village had was how we were raised back in the day; we knew all our neighbours and would often just walk into each others houses to ask for a cup of sugar or to see how they were doing. We were also raised to address our elders as Mr. Or Mrs. as a mark of respect, we would never dream of calling them by their first names. As kids we were also raised to help and do chores for the elderly in our area, but unfortunately the world has changed and this way of life just a distant memory and can only be seen by binge watching Little House on the Prairie.

Unfortunately though, I can't get my children to sit and watch this like I used to back in the day. They are spoilt for choice with Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney Plus and YouTube Premium. My Sunday afternoon Dinners now are tormented by gaming videos on YouTube or Paw Patrol for my youngest son.

I end this admission of guilt with a little tune from Mr Edwards himself and may this song be forever immortalised within your minds.