Oops My Kid Watched The Bachelor

A small group of my besties are obsessed with The Bachelor franchise. Since they all live in New Orleans, I was not subjected to their weekly viewing parties and I often rolled my eyes when they started talking about the latest round of contestants and who would get roses. In fact, my bestie’s bachelorette party was actually Bachelor-themed, if you can even imagine.

I lived YEARS of Bachelor-free bliss until my husband (!) actually suggested that we watch it because one of his favorite podcasters did a Bachelor podcast with his wife. So, thus started our winding, confusing addiction to the Bachelor franchise.

Initially, we watched alone. But that wasn’t enough. So we wrangled two coworkers into our Bachelor web and did a fantasy draft of contestants and gamefied the show every week. The following season, we got the whole office to participate in “BechBowl.”

But interest waned – for some reason they hadn’t succumbed to the gateway drug. I imagine they just had lives to get back to — unlike working parents with small kids whose only relief and mental break is a vapid reality show that somehow seems extremely self-aware and self-deprecating.

And that’s how I found myself watching Colton’s season of The Bachelor all by myself. My husband was busy putting on Krewe de Canailles and his meetings happened during the time we would normally watch.

So, I roped my then-6-year-old into watching it with me which, in hindsight, was a mistake.

At first, it was all fun and games.

If I had to get up and do something, I would ask him to tell me what I missed and his reports were almost always the same. “That blonde girl we don’t like was being mean to the other blonde girl again.”

He took his post as TV sentinel very seriously. And he was really into the game.

But to be honest, I didn’t like subjecting my child to this weird adult world. I’m sure he didn’t really understand the nuances (just as I didn’t understand Penny’s situation in Dirty Dancing when I was four…), but it was enough to end our Bachelor nights.

Which is fine. Because his 5-year-old brother and I snuggle to watch Gilmore Girls every night and have done so for the past 2 years. He calls it “night night show” so you know…I win some, I lose some.

Laurel Hess
Laurel Hess is a mother to 2 young boys, a rescue pup, an off-balance cat and likely a few foster pups. She spends her days as President of a local marketing agency, helping craft integrated digital strategies and leading a team of creative collaborators. Once at home, however, Laurel is just trying to find peace with being the World's Okayest Mom. A Dallas transplant in a Louisiana world, Laurel graduated from Loyola University New Orleans in Broadcast Production. She met her husband while she was evacuated in Lafayette during Hurricane Katrina. They lived 5 wild, kid-free years in New Orleans while Laurel served as the Sales and Marketing Manager for the Superdome, Arena and Champions Square, before finally returning to Lafayette and into the wildest phase of life yet ... Parenthood.