Life in the Middle

                                                                          

There’s a show on Wednesday nights called “The Middle”, and my daughter and I love to watch this show; maybe because it mirrors my daughter’s life so well. The Middle features one of my favorite actresses, Patricia Heaton. Many of you know her as Debra, Raymond’s wife on Everybody Loves Raymond. As good as she was in that show; she really shines in The Middle as Frankie Heck, a working class Midwestern mother of three kids.

                                                                              

On each episode we find Frankie and her husband Mike Heck (Neil Flynn) attempting to survive all the mishaps that life delivers to their doorstep. The children, Axil (Charlie McDermott, Sue (Eden Sher) and Brick (Atticus Shaffer) bring their own set of problems which the parents must deal with each week.

                                                                       

The Show is told from Frankie’s point of view as she deals with her children’s school or social lives. Mike is the level headed person in the family, and usually takes a back seat to Frankie’s handling of problems, in which there are many.

                                                                     

Axil is like Bart Simpson. He’s sarcastic, immature, and full of pranks; he makes underachievement an art form. When Axil is not skipping out on doing his homework or driving his teachers crazy, he’s tormenting his siblings, especially Sue. But in spite of Axil’s laziness, he’s good at sports, girls are crazy about him and he has a lot of friends.

                                                                      

Sue is a socially awkward freshman in high school. Sue is a born cheerleader for all good causes, although she has a problem fitting in with her classmates who basically ignore her. In season one, she had to take a picture for her yearbook three times because the school didn’t know she even existed and then when her picture was placed in the yearbook, she was in the section devoted to students who had passed away. Poor Sue doesn’t have it any easier at home, where her parents don’t understand her and her older brother teases her. Luckily, she and her little brother Brick, get along most of the time.

                                                                      

Brick is a strange child, but he makes more sense than the adults sometimes. He rather spend his time reading books than making friends, but that could be because he has such a hard time making friends his own age. He’s that smart, but he does have one peculiar trait or tick. He repeats words under his breath and this drives his parents crazy with worry. The show is funny and you just have to trust me on this and watch it, Wednesday nights, on ABC at 8 p.m.

Oh and how does this mirror my daughter’s life you ask? She is the Sue in her family, and she’s surrounded by Axil’s and Brick’s. Believe me it’s never dull at her house.

    

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