Elmo Knows Best

Yesterday morning I had the opportunity to watch a live interview with the Pentagon Channel's Navy Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Liz Murray, Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, and some furry characters from Sesame Street.

The two characters were Rosita, and the infamous Elmo.

Murray was interviewing them about Sesame Street's second installment of their military outreach program called Talk, Listen, and Connect which helps children cope with a variety of issues when parents are deployed to combat zones.

During the interview, Rosita explains that she had some problems when her father returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. She said that her father was now in a wheelchair and that he couldn't do some of the things he used to before he left... which left her feeling sad.

Enter Elmo the Extraordinary.

One day Elmo noticed that Rosita was sad, so he gave her some great advice. "What Elmo said was, Elmo talks to his mommy and daddy, so Elmo told Rosita that she should talk to her daddy about how she was feeling."

I know, I know. Yes, Elmo talks in the third person. Cute huh.

...So Rosita decided to talk to him and it helped.

The video provides kids a way to learn strategies to adapt to the changes they may face when their parents are deployed.

The video is free and you can order it at sesameworkshop.org/tlc

You can also listen to an ASYLive Blogtalkradio interview with Dr. Betancourt on Thursday the 8th at 2:00 eastern time about this military outreach program.