Breeders

This painfully honest series uses dark humor to underscore what good parents face every day as they simultaneously love, and wish they could do away with, their children. From desperately trying to get their wide-awake kids to sleep, to pushing a teacher to declare that their offspring is gifted, Breeders points to the overwhelming task that parents, particularly working parents, face every day. The sense of inadequacy many feel as they make mistakes, and fail to be the benevolent mentors that educators, child care experts, and others expect them to be is frequently highlighted. It also addresses the complicated role grandparents can play in the overall experience whether they are doting (and sometimes questionable) childcare providers, or people who need to be taken in and, like their children, be taken care of.

What gets lost in all of this is the relationship between Paul and Ally, who often seem unable to hold on to who they were before having kids, or the reasons they got together in the first place. Perhaps this is more realistic than we’d like to admit, but it makes it a little difficult for viewers to appreciate the reasons why they should stay together beyond their children’s well-being. Nonetheless, Breeders is unapologetic and non-judgmental as it paints an imperfect picture of what life with children can really be like, and a couple's every day struggles to cope with it.