like many parents, I end up watching more hours of kiddie shows than any sane person could possibly want to.  Which gives everyone ideas; the Teletubbies are post-apocalyptic survivors, etc.

Mine today is about Max & Ruby.  It's about two bunny kids, blah blah blah, but there are several things about it that always bothered me.  It has distastefully clear gender boundaries; Ruby does only girl things, Max gets to do all the fun boy things, but today's deep thought doesn't focus on that (for once, though I am growling about it in the back of my brain).

It's the fact that you never ever ever see their parents.  You meet their grandmother, but Ruby is seen doing all of the caregiving; she puts Max to bed, she feeds him, she bathes him, etc.  It's been riling me up for ages.  Don't they see that the lack of parents is suspect in the show?

And then, just ten minutes ago, I realized THE TRUTH.

Ruby is a teen mom.  

Well, okay, maybe preteen mom, but it all fits!  They're rabbits, so they mature much faster than humans, right?  So obviously, Ruby is Max's mother, she's raising him as a single parent, Grandma is actually Ruby's mother, but she calls her Grandma to make it easier for Max to understand.  She's still trying to have a life,  hang out with friends, while trying to take care of her son.