Top Ten Reasons Why Parenting is Like "Downton Abbey"

(Minus the glorious dresses, elegant parties, and sexy, dead Turkish lover s-e-x, of course)

1) There are unspoken rules nobody bothers to tell you;

2) If you can't make time for personal maintenance (When??? How???), you might sprout sideburns;

Do you think she gets paid overtime for the terrible, awful hair? Wears a shirt in her free time declaring, "IT'S A WIG, PINKY SWEAR!"?

3) You'll run into a Doubting Thomas or two determined to undermine your every decision;

4) Nobody's sleeping when & where expected (ahem, Lord & Lady Grantham);

5) There's a grandparent who knows everything - or more precisely, how you're doing things all wrong;

Witness the Dowager Countess of Awesome, more fun than you can shake an in-law at

6) There's a strict, two-tier class structure in place, and you're decidedly Second Tier;

7) Every time you think you've finally got things figured out, there's a plot twist that changes everything;

8) Sometimes you have to ship your kid off to a relative's to improve said child's prospects ("prospects of remaining alive" most definitely included);

9) You find allies in unexpected places;

10) Just when you think all hope is lost, the Universe gives you a sign that your Greatest Love of All (*cue Whitney Houston ballad apropos of nothing*), greater than you ever thought possible, will endure:

FIGURE IT OUT, LADY MARY & MATTHEW!

(Psst - for the uninitiated, you can catch up with the "Downton Abbey" Season 2 premiere & some of Season 1 for free on PBS's site -  unless you'd prefer to just read my rambling on and on and ON about it here.) (You're welcome!) (I'm sorry?) (Parentheses)

(All images via IMDB courtesy copyright Masterpiece blah blah blah etc.)