It was not love at first sight for me.  When SpongeBob SquarePants started on Nickelodeon ten years ago, I did not have kids, but I swore that if I did, my children would never watch it.  Never EVER.  Why a Sponge?  I thought.  Why does his laugh need to be so obnoxious?  Why does he live in a pineapple? Under the sea? I had no time for such ridiculousness.

Like a lot of my pre-parenthood declarations (no fast food!), this one turned out to be just a tad bit unrealistic.  Somehow my tolerance for the obnoxious and the ridiculous has grown in direct correlation with the age of my kids.  So now I find myself not only watching SpongeBob, but loving him for his sillyness, perpetual optimism and insane work ethic.  I actually use the show to talk to my kids about always looking for the bright side of things – and they say Mom, Patrick just ate his own boogar!  You can’t win ‘em all, you know.

If you love the residents of Bikini Bottom, leave a comment telling me why (or, if you don’t, why not).

Then check out this video from NPR….