...as much change as there is in this world, there are some things that should never be altered. Some things are held perfectly sacred. There are things that you come to count on...

...the sky is always some shade of blue under the clouds...
...Kermit the Frog is always green...
...and the Cookie Monster *always* eats cookies.

Unfortunately, that last thing isn't sacred anymore. The creators of Sesame Street have decided that since childhood obesity rates are soaring Cookie Monster needs to eat healthier.

While I have to applaud the fact that a show that will reach millions of children is going to teach them about healthy eating habits, I still shake my head at it all. Why couldn't they have used Elmo, or Big Bird, to teach this important lesson? Children identify with those two characters and their child-like way of thinking and relating to things. Why did they have to do the PC (Politically Correct) thing to the Cookie Monster? They've even given him a new song: A Cookie is a Sometimes Food.

There *is* a reason he's called what he is called after all. He eats cookies. He sings "C is for Cookie (and that's good enough for me)" And that's it. This is akin to The Count giving up numbers and reciting the alphabet for the rest of his tenure on the show. At least to me it is.

I'm 33 years old (in case you missed yesterday's blog with the age quiz). For those who can do the math, Sesame Street was still a pretty brand new show when I hit the pre-school set. I grew up watching that show, and the funky 1970s animation, and all the furry friendly muppets that were on the show. There are legions of adults my age who think the same way I do - it's not easy being green, and Super Grover will ineptly save the day. Of all of those beloved muppets, Cookie Monster was my most favorite. He was blue, he was googly-eyed, he was silly, he had crumbs in his scraggly blue fur, and he was fixated on cookies, thereby frustrating everyone around him who tried to teach him something. He was someone I could easily relate to. Not that I'm difficult to teach when there's sweets as a reward involved, or that I'm googly-eyed but I digress.

This is Cookie Monster we're talking about. He doesn't need to eat healthy. Leave that for some other muppet. As I said earlier, use Elmo or Big Bird for something like that - kids relate to them and their child-like behavior so much better than they relate to Cookie. Of course, Elmo and Big Bird are boring after a while, and I suspect that that's why they targeted Cookie Monster - he can actually hold your attention for more than 10 seconds without your head splitting apart from a high whiny voice. But again, I digress.

While it's nice that they're teaching Cookie that a cookie is a "sometimes food" (and thus, communicating this to children), you just can't change his diet like that. Let him be the muppet who eats badly because, after all, we already have a muppet with bad hygiene. Come on, Oscar can't possibly be clean living in his beloved trash can, right? Now, that's another one that didn't rile me so badly. The grouch with a heart of gold. We all know that Oscar has his soft spot - especially when he found his friend, Slimey the striped worm. And Cookie Monster has eaten everything under the sun - it's just that his favorite food is, and always will be, cookies. It's not that that was *all* that he ate; it's just what he's known best *for*.

And they're trying to change that. They're going to make him eat healthier and make him eat less cookies. Therefore, I think they need to change his name. Make him the NotSoManyCookie Monster if you're going to do this to us. I knew there was a reason I had my kids watch Sesame Street on Noggin when they were small instead of on PBS. It was all the changes that they had made with the formula, and all the PC things they were making the Muppets do.

The world is screwed up enough with all the politically correct things that we've had to pay attention to - to not hurt someone's feelings, to teach our children something new. If it wasn't broke in the first place (and some of the things that changed *were* broke, don't get me wrong), then don't mess with it. Personally, I don't think Cookie Monster was broke in the first place. And if the folks at Childrens Television Workshop are hoping to alter childhood obesity rates with the changes in Cookie Monster shouldn't they also consider the amount of screen time (television, computers and game systems) that children are exposed to on a daily basis. It's growing by leaps and bounds year over year, and no one really seems to be doing a lot about *that*. I think Sesame Street needs to address that, and it would be really easy to do. Flash a big sign on the screen that says "GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY" for the entire hour (or is it a half hour now) that Sesame Street is on. I have nothing against Sesame Street folks, I just think you need to pick your battles wisely and that this wasn't the smartest battle (nothing against changing childhood obesity, but against changing Cookie Monster to "send a message").

The current form of Sesame Street, so I'm told, involves stories bunched together (so you don't have the "live" characters interspersed through the show), and health tips at the front of the show about exercise and healthy living. Bravo! That's great. And they're not preaching that sugar is bad for you nor are they going to put any of the Muppets on a diet. I'm perfectly happy with that since the kids who really don't need to learn about diets in the pre-school set seem to be the ones with stick-thin mothers who are always on diets. Unfortunately, that leaves out the kids who *do* need to learn moderation. And supposedly, that's what they're going to teach Cookie Monster with his new song: moderation. I think I can live with that...

... but since Cookie Monster won't be needing them as much, I'm just going to take this plate of chocolate chip cookies and take care of it for him.