Every family experiences their fair share of roller coaster moments. From early childhood through those trying teenage years, there will be challenging and downright mortifying moments. There will be messy moments and moments where you’ll be on the floor laughing. It’s important to remember that you will make it through as a family. We’re excited to see family trials and tribulations like we experience come to life with The Real O’Neals, a new comedy on ABC.
I remember the first time the caregiver at daycare had to have a “chat” with my husband and me.
“Something happened today, and I think you may want to have a talk with Alister about it. He tried to serve ‘adult beverages’ to the other children in the toy kitchenette this afternoon. Obviously, that’s not appropriate behavior for children,” she said.
“Oh, obviously,” we agreed. “We simply have no idea where he’d come up with something like that. We’ll nip it in the bud right away.”
As we slinked out of the building, both feeling ashamed and chuckling to ourselves, we mused about that which we’d already come to realize: Parenting is messy. Families are messy. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
We had that chat with him, discussing the difference between appropriate home behaviors and school behaviors, but we all knew this wouldn’t be the last hilariously embarrassing moment either of us — parents or kids — would endure.
Alister has experienced his payback several times over, from the moment I shouted down the hallway of his school, asking if he’d remembered to “change into clean underwear this morning” to the moment I inquired in front of his friends, all of whom fancied themselves so grown up and tough, whether he had packed his “snuggly” for that overnight trip, and he’s sure to experience more as the years fly by.
That’s because embarrassing one another as well as wading through the hard stuff, the muck that is growing up and coming to terms with who you are as individuals, are time-honored traditions in families.
Whether it’s finding out your kid has spilled the beans about the contents of your intimates drawer to every student and staff member within earshot at school (if it hasn’t happened to you yet, IT WILL); dealing with your first — and certainly not last — real case of bullying; or battling the incessant eye rolls, half mumbles, and status as The Most Distressingly Uncool Parent in the History of Ever once they hit the teenage phase (which somehow tends to start before they’re even out of early childhood yet), every family experiences these roller coaster moments. But no matter how many ups, downs, and calls from the principal you get, you make it through. Somehow, despite all the tears and laughs and honest moments, you make it through.
And this is why I am beyond stoked for ABC’s new show, The Real O’Neals, because the O’Neals are all of us.
Starring Martha Plimpton, The Real O’Neals is an honest, bold, and relatable look at the humorous journey of the O’Neal family as they navigate their own self-discovery and growth when their son, Kenny, comes out as gay. Each moment may not be pretty, just as surely as each moment in every family has its downsides, but they make it through their own laundry list of exposed secrets and embarrassing moments with sense of humor intact, exactly as our family and every other family has managed and continues to do on its own messy adventures.
Stay up-to-date with the latest on the show by following along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, using #LetsGetReal and mark your calendars to join me. We’re going to watch, nod along, and laugh our behinds off together.
The Real O’Neals. New Episode Tuesday 8:30|7:30c.
Tell us about your funny family stories using #LetsGetReal for a chance to win a $100 Visa giftcard!
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