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    12 Ways Bob Ross Improved Your Childhood

    Little known fact: TV painter Bob Ross was actually an undercover agent specializing in management of childhood anxiety. The man was a genius.

    If you were a child in the mid-'80s or early '90s, chances are you spent several afternoons with Bob Ross and his PBS show, The Joy of Painting. This show was amazing and had the uncanny ability to calm even the most ADD child. The man was basically an undercover babysitter who was responsible for managing most of your childhood anxiety. How, you ask?

    1. Dude spoke in silk whispers.

    2. The world is so simple and beautiful.

    3. Trees = pretty + little.

    4. Clouds = happy + little.

    5. He offered words of encouragement that weren't at all vague or empty.

    6. The repetitive sound of his knife scraping the canvas.

    7. Zzzzzzz.

    8. He brought his pet squirrels on the show. This is Pea Pod The Pocket Squirrel.

    9. He was all, "It's okay to be weird."

    10. He was a cool squirrel master and you could watch this little devil for hours.

    11. OMG Bob treated his pet squirrels like royalty. Now you are daydreaming about having your own Squirrel Hilton.

    12. He's totally getting into your head. Your parents are snickering and wringing their hands in the background.

    Totally. Transfixed.