when adults watch cartoons

It's 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. And like most weekend mornings, Jamie and I turn on the Disney Channel, stick Brenna in between us with a sippy cup of milk and hope that Mickey, Pooh and the other characters keep her entertained enough to let us sleep as long as possible. Sometimes this works until 8. Sometimes, when we are lucky, it lets us lay there until 9.

Today, at 8:20, while watching her shows, she said she had to go "paa-eee." I took her to the bathroom and she sat there and did nothing. So, on my way to get her a new diaper out of her room, she took off naked, and ran behind the chair in her room and peed on the carpet.

Lovely. I changed her and cleaned the carpet, I wasn't tired anymore, and Jamie and I watched Handy Manny with her.

If you've never seen Handy Manny, you really must. It's actually pretty cute. Manny Garcia is a bilingual Hispanic cartoon character that travels around his town fixing things with his talking tools. Brenna loves it.

Jamie, however, had me in hysterics while watching it this morning.

Manny got a call from Coach Johnson to come fix the basketball hoop. Coach Johnson was a black man, so Jamie said, "Of course they make the basketball coach black, and they are sending the Hispanic to do the manual labor? Could we hit any more stereotypes?" And then his accents began....

Irish accent: "Hi, Manny? This is Paddy O'Hara. I need you to come over to the bar to fix my beer tap."

Indian accent: "This is Sudahkar Prandutti. My curry machine is broken and I have to make dinner for my wife and 18 children. Can you help?"

Jewish accent: "This is Aaron Rosenstein. Hurry over! My money counting machine doesn't seem to be working!"

and it continued to get worse.... he wouldn't stop...

Coach Johnson again: "Manny! When you're done with that basketball hoop, do you have a skeleton key to undo these handcuffs? Cause they mighty tight."

Chinese accent: "Kim Pon Won here, Manny! Can you help me? I'm so tired of mass producing everything!"

and finally...

Hispanic accent: "Manny! Manny! It's your brother, Manuelo. I, ugh, have a huge problem. There's a hole in the door that I'm using to float across the ocean! Could you and your tools come patch it for me so I can make it to Miami by manana?"

If you could hear his accents, you'd laugh with me, I promise. Poor Handy Manny.

If anyone out there does watch it, tell me if you agree with me: Manny wants Kelly, the owner of the hardware store, so obviously, doesn't he? The sexual tension between them is ridiculous. They really need to get a room already.

Other than the sexual and racial undertones, it's a fabulous Disney show for the not-quite-potty-trained set!