also, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Here's the thing. I didn't really watch TV last year, but this year I've pretty much settled on a show per night for some ambience while I plan math small groups or whatever it is I do. Usually I don't care that much about what's on, but I have found a passion for one show in particular.

I love Wife Swap.

It sounds terrible, but it is in fact amazing. Every week, I think, This family is horrendous! No good can come of this situation. They always start out at each other's throats, but in the end, someone always learns something about themselves and their relationships. People break down in tears from the self-realizations that psycho-mom or dad has brought about. It's moving.

They always pick some extreme cases like a military family and a family of clowns. Or rednecks and 'paranormals.' One time it was a conservative Christian family and a liberal Christian family. The liberal dad ended up in tears on a bed, while the conservative dad kidnapped his daughter to keep her away from the infiltration of the new mom and kept saying, "I am the gatekeeper!" He actually didn't end up learning anything.

I like to imagine how I would be on the show, despite the fact that I am not a wife or mom. I just try to think what are my beliefs and habits, and what would be a polar opposite? Probably a family that lets their kids treat everyone like crap and never cleans the house or...sacrifices animals to Satan in their backyard. I mean, that would be pretty extreme for me.

Someday, I will have a real life again. Still, there's no shame in Wife Swap.