the tao of brady

Last month I wrote about my hunch that the Bradys would soon become important members of our parenting family. My thought at the time was that we would watch it often, and I would take notes on the ironic and funny interpretations and conversations that came up during certain key episodes.

Just that earliest viewing provided more fodder than I felt I should squeeze into my first Brady blog post; I wanted to save and savor those tidbits until I could whip up a veritable cassoulet of Brady-inspired gems.

There were the questions about Alice:

Why does she always wear that blue dress?
Why does she walk around the dinner table but there is no chair for her?
What does she mean the cake will fall?

And other questions about the general Bradiness of the Bradys:

What is that thing on the phone? (a cord)
Does anyone think that is real crying?
What's with their socks?

The following night, we all looked forward to the next installment of Brady lore. We were not disappointed! We had the distinct pleasure of introducing the kids to Tiger, that rascal! And in this episode, Tiger was lost! Oh, poor Bobby was beside himself. Our hearts were on the edges of their seats as the neighborhoods were searched, the “lost dog” ad was placed, and the Tiger sightings started to come pouring in through that rotary dialed phone.

Turns out, Tiger was out gettin’ some. They found him in the home of a perky and pert citizen whose own precious pooch had recently been put in the family way. And now Tiger was a daddy!

I couldn’t help but notice that the Brady kids did not ask any questions about how it came to be that by running away and playing with this other dog, Tiger would suddenly become a daddy. My kids, on the other hand, pondered the universal: “Wait….what?”

You know that we are on the verge of the family life talk with our boy, but we hardly suspected that the big moment would be initiated by the wholesome Brady Bunch!

My husband and I acted busy and held our breath and listened to the two kids ponder the complexities of this issue together:

Tiger’s the dad?
How’d they make the puppies?

Oy.

We had been struck by The Tao of Brady, with the perfect opening to carry forth this conversation that we had every intention of having. My husband and I exchanged meaningful pokes and glares as we silently, but with great emotion, negotiated who would take this opportune lead and run with it.

But then my girl, my innocent, deluded girl, uttered the solution that ended the line of questioning long enough for attention to be diverted to the commercial or chores or whatever came up as the closing credits rolled:

Ohhhhh, Tiger married that other dog!

On the third night that we remembered to tune in at Brady O’Clock, we were chagrined (and perhaps the teeniest bit relieved) to find that Married With Children was being broadcast in its place. Apparently, we had caught the tail end of a Brady run.

Yet the legacy continues…. a few days ago, I posted the following update on my facebook page:

I'm feeling grumpy and put out that planning a Hawaiian vacation takes so much time and talent. And then I remember: I'm planning a Hawaiian vacation!

Which earned the following comment from Steven:

Is this another Brady thing? Watch out for the cursed tiki and say hi to Mr. Honalei!!!

It all comes back to Brady.