'Arrested Development' Parenting Lessons

I watched "Arrested Development" in the years leading up to becoming a father, and going back has made me realize how much they've influenced my parenting.
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Written by Brian Gresko for Babble.com

The Bluths are back on May 26th! Fifteen new episodes of "Arrested Development" will be available to stream on Netflix all at once, so a sick day is in order, or, if you're home with the kids, you might have to hide with your laptop and a frozen banana daiquiri in the attic. (Just give the kids an air horn to blow if they're in need of help.)

In preparation, I've been re-watching old episodes to see how they've held up. "Arrested Development" ran for three seasons on Fox from 2003 to 2006. I've always raved about it, but I wondered, now that time has passed, did I make a huge mistake?

Come on! Of course not. Spending time with the Bluths is like hanging out with old friends. There's George Sr., the patriarch on the lam for his shady business dealings, his lovely lush of a wife Lucille, and their kids, George Oscar Bluth Jr. (GOB), the adopted Lindsay and her blowhard of a hubby Tobias, Michael, the only sane one in the bunch, kind of, and mamma's boy Buster. And of course there's the children, Lindsay and Tobais's daughter Maeby and Michael's son George Michael.

I watched "Arrested Development" in the years leading up to becoming a father, and going back has made me realize how much they've influenced my parenting. Even when I started writing about fatherhood, I referred to my son Felix as Mr. F, in a column called "For Daddy's Eyes Only." Actually, only one of those things describes my column.

So, without further ado...

"What Have We Always Said Is The Most Important Thing?"

Parenting Lessons I've Learned From "Arrested Development"

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