A little cheerleader?

I was watching Addie this afternoon, and as we were sitting on the floor, playing with her Little People Noah's Ark, I had the TV news on in the background. Nothing unusual there, as Anna and I typically try to catch the local news. First, to stay informed, and second to be incredibly entertained for all of the wrong reasons. Local news in Montgomery is a study in nigh-continual, unintended hilarity. At least once every two weeks, our local news will devote an entire telecast to discussing how to prepare for severe weather. Not because there is severe weather in the area, but because there MAY be severe weather in the future. I don't mind prepping for the unforeseeable, but Montgomery news outlets revel in chicken-littleism to the highest degree--and there are only so many times you can be told not to stand near windows during a storm. And it's not just the weather that's great about the news--it's also the bungled headlines (my favorite is "Humane Skeleton Found"), anchors who believe their reading of health department scores will change the world, and frequent misuse of the term irony.

All that is awesome about the news aside, that's not what brings me to today's blog entry. While Addie and I were playing, I heard our local weatherman announce that he was on the road in Tallassee (a town shortly outside of Montgomery). So--intrigued by the weather being read from the sprawling metropolis of Tallassee, Alabama--I started watching the news. As soon as the weather was done, our local weatherman introduced the Tallassee High School cheerleaders, who did a cheer for the benefit of the viewing audience. As soon as those peppy teenagers started in with "Go...Big...Purple," clapping all the while, Addie turned to the TV, completely entranced. She stared at the cheerleaders, slack-jawed, completely hypnotized by the upbeat cheering on of the Tallassee Tigers (but, go big purple?...seriously?). "Uh oh," I thought. Perhaps I have a little cheerleader in the making.

As soon as the cheer was done--and the cheerleaders did their requisite wooing, jumping, clapping, and other general merry-making--Addie clapped for a second, lost interest in the news, and went back to playing. But I'm concerned the cheerleading seed has been planted. What's going to happen next? Will Addie become a cheerleader? Will the local news freak out about upcoming weather and interrupt every TV show I like to watch in order to describe a particularly menacing cloud? Will said weather freakouts be, in some way, ironic? Stayed tuned to future blog entries to find out.