Toy Show could be path to world peace
2016 has been a strange year. The unexpected happened in Britain, then happened again in the US. Italy is in flux, Austria is split and the French are hot favourites in the next round of dramatics. Therefore it was a recent comfort to finally cling to something that was traditional, familiar and safe, namely the Late Late Toy Show!
This is a phenomenon that has been in my life since the beginning of my life – or so it seems. Initially the attraction was not so much the show itself but the treat of being allowed to stay up late. Of course in my younger years I wasn’t able for it and the eyes would invariably give way half way through when I would lull into a dream-world that was populated by the ‘Billy Barry Kids’.
On having our own kids and no more than kids ourselves, it was our intent to pass the tradition forward. It began as a forced affair because the kids didn’t initially ‘get it’; still we persisted so that somewhere through the years when we weren’t looking, the seed was sown, the passion ignited and a setting-in-stone happened in respect of the Late Late Toy Show.
Never was this more evident than this year when my 25 year old god-daughter revealed that her Christmas visit to us would coincide with the Toy Show. My ‘ kids’, who consist of two men and a young woman one year off adulthood, felt compelled to initiate her into the routine and tradition. Instructions were given; she would have to arrive early to be included in the shopping expedition for pure sugar; dinner would be pizza delivered after the first ad break and if she would like to bring anything to the table, then copious amounts of Diet Coke would be greatly appreciated. We were set.
So along with the rest of Ireland we sat down to watch the Toy Show. It is a strange thing but it just captures us. There are characters and mishaps, innocence and boldness and singing and dancing. Its old-fashioned fun that brings back old-fashioned times when families sat on the same couch and watched the same programme.
On our own couch as with every year I witness cynics become believers, sophisticates embrace simplicity and all my grown-ups become children again. The goodies are passed around, the pizza is devoured and the commentary is pure gold. It is an evening of silliness that isn’t silly at all.
The world is changing and we are feeling out of control. Yet as I watched the Late Late Toy Show three weeks before Christmas, I recalled wise words once read: “If there is light in the soul, there is beauty in the person, if there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house, if there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation and if there is order in the nation there will be peace in the world”. Now wouldn’t that be nice?