Great Canadian Pastimes

During the televised Stanley Cup playoffs, the CBC ran commercials for Viagra.  These were 15-second spots, and in one of them, the first scene shows a couple sitting at the breakfast counter.   The woman is reading, the man is staring intently at her.  He says, “Denise”.  Then the “Viagra Intermission” graphic is shown with ’60s music playing.  Then we see the couple again sitting at the breakfast counter, the woman reading, both of them looking a little happier, with these Mona-Lisa smiles.

Commercials are fascinating for kids, because their messages are packed into just a few seconds of airtime, and often, children don’t understand what’s being sold to them.  It’s a great opportunity to talk to kids about marketing and how the media wants them to react, and to help your kids develop critical thinking.   And watching TV with your kids gives you more of an influence on the messages that they’re getting, plus you can use what you see as an ice-breaker for talking about something that may be difficult to bring up at another time.   

Anyhow, whenever this ad for Viagra would come up, my daughter G would say to me, “I don’t get it.  What does Viagra intermission mean?”  I would hem & haw and was glad when something else came on to divert her attention.  I needed time to think of what to say to an 11-year-old girl and 9-year-old boy about Viagra…..

So a few nights ago, while we watched the game, the Viagra Intermission commercial came on.  “Okay, tell me what this commercial means, Mom….”  I knew my time had come to fess up.  My first approach was to put the ball in her court…..I looked at her and asked her what SHE thought it meant.  My son, P, ever so helpful, says “I know what it is.  It’s a pill that you take to make you happy.”

My daughter looked at me, hoping I would disagree with her brother.  “You’re close, P”, I said, smiling at his perceptiveness.    G is getting frustrated with my stalling tactics….”Would you just TELL me?!?!”  So I said:  “When a couple gets older, sometimes it can happen that they lose sexual desire……”  That’s all I had time to say before my drama queen threw her head back and covered her ears, shouting “Noooooooo!”  The mere mention of anything sexual either sets off attacks of the giggles, or it sends them screeching to their rooms.  Laughing, I clarified that Viagra is something men can take to help them if they are having concerns in this area. 

My daughter is still in the stage of acceptance of my new husband, switching quickly between genuine happiness and genuine resentment, depending on her mood.   And she’s also very reluctant to the idea that her mother, HER mother, needs love and affection from ANYONE, that the love she gets from her children should be enough.  When she finally uncovered her ears, she says to me: “I hope Mr. C. doesn’t take Viagra”.  I laughed even harder and gave her a big hug, telling her how funny she is without even trying. 

And with my own Mona Lisa smile, I thought to myself: Nope, Mr. C. doesn’t need Viagra. 

 

Love,

Chantal xoxoxo