Did you know that Sesame Street has never aired an episode dealing with the difficult subject of divorce? I didn't. Since the show is known for tackling sensitive issues, such as death and natural disasters, I figured they had explained what it's like for little kids to go through their parents' divorce. It turns out that when they did try to tackle the issue two decades ago, it bombed so badly when they tested the episode before a preschool audience that they shelved it and decided to forget about it for a while.
Until now. The popular children's show has made available an online segment that explains divorce through fairy Abby Cadabby's story of her own parents' separation.
And, as usual, Sesame Street has done an outstanding job. The segment opens with a scene where Abby, Elmo and Rosita are drawing pictures of their homes. Elmo and Rosita are surprised to find out that Abby has drawn pictures of two different homes, one where she lives with mommy and another where she lives with daddy. When asked why they don't all live together, Abby says her parents are divorced.
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Although I didn't watch Sesame Street growing up because I lived in Peru, I've been a huge fan of the show since my first daughter was born more than six years ago. I love the way they explain all types of things through the eyes of little kids. Watching the episode on divorce was no different, but it was definitely not an easy one to digest. In all honesty, it made me really sad to hear all the things kids go through when their parents get divorced.
This episode would've come super handy the day that, out of the blue, my daughter asked about my husband's first wife and why they hadn't stayed together. While their divorce happened ages before she was even born, she had a hard time understanding the concept and was very sad for her older brother (from my husband's first marriage). I tried my best to explain it, but it would've been real helpful to show her this Sesame Street episode.
Embedded content: http://youtu.be/UXjmqfg0Iw8
Image via Sesame Street
