Jim Wehweh

Tonight, I was finishing up a phone interview and checking some things on the computer, when William wandered into the office.

"Mommy, do you know Jimawella?" he asked in a very serious tone.

I stared at him blankly. "Jimawella? Jim wella? Gymboree?" I guessed.

"No, Mommy, Jim Wehweh!" he insisted. "Jim Wehweh!"

Finally, I realized what he was asking me about so urgently. He doesn't say "r" or "l" particularly well in some words, so it took me a few seconds. Apparently, he had finished watching his kiddie shows on PBS when the news came on. He was interested in it enough to watch the first few minutes, but he wasn't familiar with this new character that he was seeing.

You know, Jim Wehweh. It was the Jim Lehrer show. Jim Lehrer may not have the panache of a Sid the Science Kid or the get-up-and-go of the Super Readers, but he's been around an awful long time and has outlasted a whole bunch of other characters. Plus, he has that nice soothing Southern accent. (Yeah, I like him, too.)