Darby love Master Chef. Full stop!
Darby has loved Master Chef since the juggernaut first crashed onto Australian screens way back in 2009.... At first his love for season one was mainly about the music. Katy Perry's infectious hit "Hot and Cold"that featured on the start.
He was about 20 months and music was everything in his little world. He would bop his body away every night, then have his bottle, book and go to bed.. It became part of his end of day routine.
It was the only TV show that both his mum and his dad enjoyed watching together! A very rare thing! So we spent this family time all together!! And it was bliss....
Next he started recognising the judges on street signs and in newspapers.. It really was his first brand recognition (before it really was a brand!) Then it was recognising the judges, George, Gary and Matt... He developed a real man crush on these guys from this very early age.....
A year later in season 2 he still loved the music but it became much more than that.... To help with his speech difficulties we taught him to say all of the judges names, the brands- Coles, Curtis etc. We would use the Masterchef magazine like a big Picture Book to read to him at night, getting him to point out the judges, foods, places, anything really... It was such a fun way for him to learn and put sentences together (Check out this cute video of him learning to speak reading the master chef magazine! he was so cute... and he makes me so proud that he has come such a long way with his talking!)
Through this second season the continuity of the familiar faces, helped with the turmoil of the breakdown of both of our worlds ...
Our breakup happened in the middle of Season 2.
Master chef became a real night time comforter, it was our escape from reality, something we loved doing together. It was also so nice when we were settling into our new place.... This foreign place we had landed ourselves in.. but it remained unchained. Im sure he didn't really take that much in when he watched it.. and he was almost always asleep at the end of each episode!
Darby was sad when it ended and so was I.. it came a week or two of living by ourselves.. and came when I was feeling vulnerable and the warm familiarity was now gone for another year.
Season 3 came around and Darby's interest was at fever pitch, like most people I lost a bit of interest in it , but Darby's passion never waned! By now he knew all the contestants names now too...
And as year 4 starts, he counts Matt, George and Gary as some of his closest friends.. Although George is his fave...
With his bedtime routine shot.. This little injection of positivity can't be doing too much harm can it?? I don't know the answer to this question! It's hard to know really... Maybe he has an underlying desire to be a chef (his favourite kids movie is Ratatouille after all - and mine secretly too!) I'm sure by the time they decide to pull the pin on it, he will have lost interest whenever that may be..... But for now these next three or so months he is held captive under its magic spell!! Its cheesy and sometimes contrived... but it makes him happy (and although Ill be flicking the channel when it clashes with the Voice) and I secretly don't mind much either!
Until Next time.. Life is too short for Crappy coffee..
