Last week we lost an icon. Or at least he’s an icon in the Seymour household.

Paul Reubens. Aka… Pee Wee Herman. I think he deserves a lot of credit for the wacky, zainy, creative spirit that I am today.

And I realize that’s a pretty bold statement.

Pee Wee’s Playhouse aired from 1986 – 1990. That means lil’ baby dd was 6 – 10 years old. Our most formative years are from birth to 8 years old. So I’m not being dramatic or making this up. I really do think Pee Wee had a profound effect on my life.

🎄 I’ve watched the Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special probably every year of my life. I know my kids have seen it every Christmas of their lives. 

When I taught high school and was on the edge of burnout, I showed my class Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. I acted like it was a unit on filmmaking and I made them take notes by drawing little comic strips of what happened each class period.

🚲 Above you can see the part when Pee Wee is “talking to shawty bout his horn.” Shawty being Dottie at the bike shop. (Which is what my best friend named her daughter. And it wasn’t a coincidence… She also has a dog named Penny.)

🏆 The first Christmas I ever spent with Matt’s family was in 2014 right after we got engaged, and I was so proud of the vintage Pee Wee’s Playhouse toys I’d won for him on eBay.

My sister actually talked about helping me navigate those wild eBay streets to get the best deal in the speech she gave at our wedding. 

I mean, look at that photo of the fridge in our first house together. There’s a Strawberry Shortcake bike, a Care Bears Lunchbox, and a T-Rex on top of the fridge! One wall is tennis ball green with a strip of chalkboard paint, and one’s turquoise. (And yes… I did paint it all HGTV gray before we listed it. 😜)

Up above there’s a thrift store painting with the words “kiss my face” cross-stitched on it. It was inspired by artist Wayne White who was a big part of the aesthetics of Pee Wee’s Playhouse. I made that for Matt while we were dating too. 

The last email in my welcome sequence has this in it:

My point is, the wonder, imagination, creativity, humor, kindness, friendship, and color that infused that show, without a doubt, left its mark in my psyche. 

I’ve been planning to re-launch my membership in October since probably January. I have some founding members that are already in the group that have been with me through all the changes I’ve made since 2021.

But earlier this year when I landed on Content Playhouse as the name and concept, I knew it was a keeper. 💖

I guess all of this is just to say that I’m gonna miss this dude, and I’m happy that he existed and created the weird little world that I got to hang out in every Saturday morning. He’s definitely got a spot in the Seymour household forever. 

xo
dd

PS… I talked about how much I think Pee Wee’s Playhouse has influenced my work back in 2022 on my friend Annie P. Ruggles’ amazing business/pop culture podcast Too Legitimate to Quit.  Annie was on the Eff That Series Season 2, and she’ll be on Big Fun Content later this month! 💥

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