Day 104

I remember the first time I ever heard of Phineas and Ferb. Chase was very young and we walked into the Disney store and all Phineas & Ferb merchandise was 30% off. I suggested buying him a bunch of discounted items and forcing him to like the show. Mrs. Poop said she heard it wasn't a good show for kids.

Boy was she wrong.

I remember the first time I ever saw Phineas and Ferb. Though we didn't realize it until much later, it was playing on the TV in the waiting room where Chase and the grandparents waited for Julian to be born.

And four years later I was running around Epcot in the Perry the Platypus shirt trying to thwart the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz.

And now, it's over. After the longest summer vacation ever Phineas and Ferb's series finale will air on June 12th.

Of all the shows my kids watched over the years, no show has been smarter, more beneficial, more life-affirming (yes, life-affirming -- we only have a finite amount of time, and even if it seems long -- like a 104 day summer vacation -- we have to make the most of every day) and more fun to watch (for young and old) than Phineas and Ferb.

We have so many family jokes from that show: when I tell them what we have planned for a day I say "hey Ferbs, I know what we're going to do today" and when we attend a small party will call it an "intimate get-together."



And we ask each other, "whatchadooooin?":



That of course is the adorable Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, daughter of Vivian Garcia-Shapiro (who loves the Mexican-Jewish Cultural Festival), whose family is half "ole" and half "oy vey."

On Christmas, we sing Buford's version of "Good King Wenceslas":



"Nobody's asking you nerd!"

So of course when I heard the news that the show was ending I got sad. Not so much that the show is ending, the episodes will live on in perpetuity on our DVR (especially "Roller Coaster the Musical" and the Star Wars special), but more because that chapter in my kids' lives is ending.

And it's unlikely a new show with as much imagination, creativity and humor will ever come our way again.

So I hope we will all heed the main lesson of the show and do everything we can to make today the best day ever. And then try to make tomorrow a million and six times better.