Sesame Workshop

New 'Sesame Street' Muppet Has A Mom Dealing With Addiction

Alicia D'Aversa

Updated September 7, 2021

Sesame Street is obviously really good at dealing with important issues, and they always have been.

Now, one of those issues is a mother who is dealing with addiction. This is about as real as it gets.

Karli, a Muppet who moved in with a foster family, has revealed why she had to do that.

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Karli's mom is dealing with addiction.

"My mom's been going through a tough time," she says.

Karli continues by saying:

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"She has what's called a grown up problem. And grown up problems need grown ups to help fix the problem, so my mom had to go away for a little while."

"If you're going through a tough time, I've learned that it's OK to be sad or mad or scared."

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"Because, well, sometimes when you love someone so much, and when they're going through a tough time, sometimes it makes you feel sad and scared, but that's OK. It's OK to talk about those things. It feels good to talk about those things."

The president of social impact and philanthropy, Sherrie Westin, told TODAY:

"What Karli does is she helps bring to life an issue that a lot of people think of as a grown up issue, and don't understand the impact on young children,"

What a great story.