Tuesday night is TV night in our house. There's not much on television anymore as far as I'm concerned, but Tuesday, if you haven't noticed, has quite the line up. 

I like to fix tacos or something easy,come Tuesday, so that by seven I can have the kitchen cleaned and be sitting in our oversized comfy brown chair. 

First comes The Middle, a show that I'm only a little bit embarrassed to say reminds me of my family.  I'd like to think that I'm Frankie Heck with a little better sense of style. She avoids participating in the PTA, she can't cook (she actually stores a couple of quilts in her oven) and she ardently loves her family; a love that sometimes spills out in the form of mild violence. She's forgetful and not into cutesy; she's too busy.  Frankie attempts to balance "work and all of the household duties" with "making her kids face responsibility and the realities of a cold, cruel world", all while occasionally fitting in a few quiet moments with snacks, her sock feet and the remote control. 

Next up is The American Housewife". 

Katie Otto and her husband have three children just like the Hecks. Katie is a slightly off-color no-nonsense disciplinarian who is very aware of her children's shortcomings (unless someone does her kid wrong at which point she will go to great lengths to defend her  little cherub). In one episode she realizes that her youngest daughter hasn't been invited to a party for someone who she thought was her good friend. Ingenious Katie joins yoga class and gulps down vegan smoothies in order to become friends with the mom of the girl whose birthday is coming, hoping to secure an invitation to the party for her daughter. 

At 8:30 comes a show I found on Netflix this summer. Fresh off the Boat is a sitcom about an Asian-American family who relocated to Orlando in the 90's. I dig the music references and the yellow and white striped wallpaper with vertical rows of ivy in the kitchen that reminds me of my Aunt Sally's house back then. Mom, Jessica Huang, is both frugal and brutal when it comes to caring for her family. And she's unapologetic about it. She keeps on top of the kids' grades and chooses strange ways to make her point like the time she makes her boys eat a gianormous box of generic oat cereal before she'll buy any more cereal from Costco. 

The dads in all three shows are similar in that they're level-headed, devoted to their families  (even if they're not micro managers) and are good loyal men who come home after work, dealing well with their wives who have crazed moments. 

These dads are a far cry from some of the TV dads of the 80's-90's; a decade when many dads were dim witted and seemed like an extra child in the family. Bravo producers, for providing us with dads who play a strong, if sometimes less visible,  role in families. 

So what about these new crazy moms that Tuesday night's entertainment provides? 

I think they're a breath of fresh air. I hardly relate to Mrs. Cosby (The Cosby Show) or Jill Taylor (Home Improvement) who had spotless homes and could discipline their children without ever raising their voice. (Might I mention that their appearance was always impeccable?) Sheesh. 

Here's what I'm learning from Frankie Heck, Katie Otto and Jessica Huang 

• We moms will try anything including vegan smoothies, letting our ponytailed hair down or getting along with that girl we wish our son wasn't dating if it seems best for our family. 
• We get it wrong. A lot! And we'll admit it, pull up the straps of our boots and try at it again. 
• PTA, cooking supper and suffering our children's seemingly unbearable behavior now and then isn't at the top of our list of favorite things to do, but our families are worth the work, even if we throw in some complaining. 
• We love our families (despite our inability to remain calm and collected). Overreaction, crazy schemes and most of our other embarrassing behaviors are weird ingredients in our love. 
• We appreciate our husbands. And (usually after we've messed something up due to impulse or strong emotion) we listen to them. 
• We're ok. There are no perfect families; no problem-free marriages or error-free parenting styles. Glaring errors can be the good kind because they're the kind we can work to fix. 

Thank you ABC for highlighting family, for making me laugh and for the free therapy that reminds me that I'm doing alright even when I'm not doing it all right.