It’s time again to indulge in our (possibly unhealthy) love for reality TV. In addition to the many fictional portrayals of the city ready to hit prime time this fall, a local family from Woodbridge, VA will be competing in the Emmy winning CBS series, The Amazing Race, the Family Edition. Last season featured a retired Easton, Maryland couple, Meredith & Gretchen, who did the region proud by being only slightly whiny and performing reasonably well for old people (And no, we’re not trying to be ageists, it’s the truth).

This season though, DCist can’t help but feel a little trepidation at the inclusion of families with young kids in tow in a race around the world. Choosing to appear on reality TV show as an adult is one thing, but exploiting your kids so you can land on the Amazing Race… that we don’t feel so good about. Also, we’ve seen seasoned competitors and a POW break down because of the stressful situations; are 8 year olds really going to be able to hack it?

The Black family from Woodbridge, VA will be competing with their kids, Kenneth (11), Austin (8), and putting their parenting skills on display for some 12 odd million viewers to judge starting Sept. 27th. Who knows how far the family will actually make it. An 11-year old and 8-year old can slow you down considerably, but DCist wishes them the best of luck. Perhaps we’ll be doing a post in the future titled “local family wins big”?