Things to Do - Two Fantastic Ways to Merge Family Time with Screen Time

1. I try to limit TV watching on weekdays (partially because we already have enough going on and partially because of my complete hatred for the Disney channel and its endless stream of sarcasm filled one-liners). But some nights the girls need semi-mindless downtime (don't we all?). Our solution - "The Kid Should See This" blog.

I discovered The Kid Should See This a few months ago and since then our whole family has become somewhat obsessed. The blog is curated by a mother and her two children and every weekday she posts 2-3 new educational videos found on the web. Some of her choices are somewhat random, but the variety assures someone will find something to love.

For example, T's made me watch the Reading Rainbow video on recycling about 50 times now. Whereas P loves the post about the world's craziest intersection and F can't get enough of the flying ducklings. Personally, I'm a little awed by the paper made from elephant poop and popsicle stick chain reactions.

Anyways, on nights when we're tired, this is our go to site. And, since the videos are all pretty short, we can watch a few (or more) before bed without staying up too late.



2. Last week we vacationed in the Outer Banks (more on this Friday), and one of my friends introduced the girls to the "Heads Up" app. F quickly decided it was "the best thing ever." Basically, the app is a really easy (and electronic) way of playing charades. To start the game someone places the phone on his/her forehead and everyone tries to act out the words that appear on the screen. It's similar to the game Headbands (which is also a family favorite), but Heads Up requires less stuff.

When someone guesses correctly he/she flicks the phone down to receive another word. When a pass is desired one needs only to flick the phone up. Easy peasy. The game also records the actions, if you want to see video of your friends looking silly. Heads Up comes with several categories - in particular we liked "Animals Gone Wild" and "Just for Kids." It costs a mere $.99 on I-Tunes.

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What about everyone else? Any new games, blogs, or shows you've enjoyed lately?

Things to Do - Watch More TV With Your Kids (Seriously)

We don't watch much TV as a family. Don't get me wrong - we all watch TV - T on the ipad glued to Fireman Sam, the girls in the basement with Jessie (most annoying theme song ever) and Dan and me upstairs, after the children go to bed, immersed in Breaking Bad's final season (so sad it's over now) or laughing hysterically at It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

We just don't often watch anything TOGETHER. Perhaps this is due to the fall of the family sitcom (outside Modern Family, which still seems a little "adult" for young kids, what is there?). We also cancelled cable a few months ago, making it impossible to channel surf (we still have Amazon streaming, Netflix streaming, and Hulu). For a while we tried Project Runway, but Hulu will only allow viewers to watch from a computer, which isn't ideal for family viewing.

So lately we're making an effort to watch more TV together. But we can't find much to watch. A friend recommended Master Chef Junior, which seems like a great idea. Another friend suggested America's Funniest Home Videos, but I'm not sure I'm up for that much cheese. Any other recommendations?? Please help. What do you watch as a family?

Movie recommendations would also be helpful - we've watched Singing in the Rain, ET, Brave, and Star Wars over and over again, but could really use something new.
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On a completely different note, the popcorn buckets above were gifted from Personal Creations, which have become one of our family's favorite presents ever. No more fighting over popcorn, now everyone has their own labeled bucket (with extra in the large tub, for emergencies of course :).

Seriously, I never knew one gift could improve sibling dynamics to such a large degree. Now I'm considering labeled bowls for everything in life, unfortunately I don't think I'm organized enough to make it work. Personal Creations also sell personalized story books (which I think would make perfect Xmas gifts) and lots of other great gifts for entertaining. Click here to check out the whole site.

Things to Do - Watch Puberty Blues

Lately I can't stop watching an Australian mini-series (available on Youtube) called Puberty Blues. The show centers on two teenage girls in the 1970s and their quest to become popular. Unlike most "teenage" shows the personal dramas of the parents take up almost half of the storyline. Further, unlike most network tv, puberty blues portrays the whole high school experience as incredibly uncomfortable. Actually the whole show is somewhat uncomfortable, from teenage boys treating girls like sexual toys (actually toy maybe too glamorous of a word) to parents who have affairs and play strip poker.

I can't imagine a show like this airing on network in America, both because of the sexual content and the disturbingness of certain scenes (though HBO's Girls is heading in a similar direction). The fabulous thing about a show that captures so much awkwardness (losing one's virginity to a boy who barely speaks to you) is that it also does a great job in showing the excitement and possibility that waits around the corner (i.e. the first kiss with a boy you really like, a scene so well done that the youtube clip has over 12,000 views).

The show gains momentum somewhat slowly and I almost cut off watching after the second episode, as I wasn't sure I really liked any of the characters. Luckily, Dan was traveling for work and I didn't have much else to do at night, so I labored on and now I can't stop raving about it. The decisions made by so many of the characters were horrible to watch. But, for me, the most captivating part was viewing the parents of these two (relatively "good") teenage girls as their daughters spin (somewhat) out of control and trying to figure out who could stop this. As a third-party viewer, the show allows you to witness the complexities of the girls' situation - how fun, boredom, and the threat of social stigma intermix. And you rout for the girls to figure out that really, they are better than this. But then you watch the parents who all seem bitterly trapped in their own lives and you're not sure who has it worse. As I said, uncomfortable. But mostly, you can't help but judge and or admire the different ways parents' handle the situations - whether one should trust his/her children to make good decisions or whether one should try to force his/her own decisions on them.

I don't think the show offers any answers. But for a parent of young children, if leaves so many questions. Watching it made me realize how risky parenthood can be - that you can try and instill certain values in your child, but at the end of the day their life is their own to live how they choose. And that their view of the world will always be much smaller than your own. There's a certain beauty in this and a world of frustration. But as cheesy as it is, Puberty Blues made me realize that these early years are important. Some days I don't know what I'm teaching my children (if anything) but that right now i am molding my kids in ways i don't even realize. And even if they break the mold, hopefully they'll remember what it looked like.

Anyways, if you're looking for something to watch this winter, I highly suggest checking out Puberty Blues.

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND EVERYONE! AS ALWAYS, I'LL BE BACK NEXT WEEK!

Things to Do - TV for Kindergartners

(I desperately need to decorate. This little set-up just looks so sad.)

My kids don't watch a ton of TV. I'm not particularly opposed to TV, but I try to encourage more interactive pursuits, hence why our kitchen table looks like an art supply store exploded all over it and why my living room looks like we robbed a library. Further, we don't have a TV on the first floor of the house, so sometimes I forget it's an option (we also only own small, old TVs which don't work extremely well). Of course, after school in winter we tend to watch more TV - because it's cold and I'm lazy and we need a break. The big problem for me is what to watch. When the kids were small almost all the shows seemed pretty good (I still think Yo Gabba Gabba might be the best show on TV), but now F wants to watch ICarly and the other Disney shows, which seem sort of old for a kindergartner (am I wrong here? help me out? Please!!). So recently I've done some research on educational TV shows for the kindergarten crowd. Here's what I've found (and, yes, a lot of this post reads like an ad for PBSKids):

1. Wild Kratts - F loves this animal show that operates as a cartoon/real-life hybrid. According to the show's website each episode "explores an age-appropriate science concept central to an animal's life and showcases a rarely-before-seen wildlife moment, all wrapped up in engaging stories of adventure, mystery, rescue, and the Kratt brothers' brand of laugh-out-loud-comedy that kids love." I actually learn a lot. And it makes you feel really smart at the zoo.

2. The Electric Company - I find this show somewhat annoying (as in, it's hard to block out while I read my book) but it makes my kids laugh and sing and have a bigger vocabulary. It also presents itself as a "cool teen show", which I think F likes. According to the website "In each episode, The Electric Company is called upon to solve a problem created by a naughty group of neighborhood Pranksters. In every instance, the Company prevails with the power of their words. While the stories can be fantastical, each episode follows a wildly creative logic that often results in the characters breaking into song."

3. Wordgirl - This show is awesome. The whole family loves it. I would even consider watching it if I didn't have kids. The theme song alone ropes you in. First of all, it features a girl as a superhero (thank you, PBS! thank you!). Second of all, it's funny (who doesn't love a monkey sidekick named Captain Huggy Face? Or a villain called Dr. Two Brains?) From the website: "Disguised as mild-mannered 5th grader, Becky Botsford, WordGirl arrived on planet Earth when she and her monkey sidekick, Captain Huggy Face, crashed their spaceship. In classic superhero form, WordGirl possesses superhero strength with the added benefit of a colossal vocabulary. WordGirl has a family and friends who have no idea of her secret identity. As WordGirl, she battles and prevails over evil (albeit ridiculous and comical) villains."

4. SciGirls - We've watched this show a few times and the girls really like it. Unfortunately you can only view it online, so we have to watch on my computer (but if we had Google TV we could watch it on a big screen - maybe one day). Each episode showcases real-life girls who want to learn more about a science-related career, so they design experiments and work with experts to discover what it is really like to "be" a scientist. The website has shows on archeology, dolphins, horses, and all sorts of other pursuits. Pretty cool.

5. The Magic Schoolbus - Apparently this was the "longest running science show ever", which (of course) is now off the air. Luckily you can buy DVDs through Amazon (we have the The Magic School Bus 3 DVD Collection and the kids can't stop watching it). The books are also really good.

6. Cyberchase - This is another fun kids show with a secret "educational" agenda (similar to Wordgirl). In combating comical villains, the cybersquad uses math concepts to save the day. And it's funny. Unfortunately, it is only on once or twice a week, so check your cable listings.

After I finished drafting this post, I came across an interesting New Yorker article about the renaissance in children's tv programming (click here to read it). The piece had wonderful things to say about the Disney's Phineas and Ferb noting that Phineas is "a cheerful, intrepid engineer, so engaged by his inventive projects that he becomes an unwitting rebel against the zeitgeist of helicopter parenting and ultra-safety." Further, the author believes that "[Phineas and Ferb] may be the first children’s series in which the moral instruction, rather than the jokes, is aimed as much at parents as at children. Once your kids have finished watching the episode, 'Phineas and Ferb' suggests, you might think about releasing them into the back yard, with a pile of lumber and a tool belt. Who knows? They might build a tower as high as the moon."

I've also heard several parents say wonderful things about Phineas and Ferb - though I hate that the "villain" is both a girl and a sibling - which makes me think I've been too narrow-minded in my approach to children's tv.


What about everyone else? What shows do your kids watch?

Things to Do - TV stuff

For the last year or so my kids haven't watched much tv, which seems odd as I'm not one of those moms who is against kids watching tv - i mean seriously have you seen Sid the Science Kid? That show is amazing, I even learn stuff from it. Even Dora in all her irritating explorerness taught my kids a lot about maps and sequences and girls who care about more than boys and lipstick (yay! for at least one solid female role model, unfortunately she's a child).

So why limit tv? Well, two years ago when P's asthma acted up (she was even hospitalized for a few days) she spent A LOT of hours in front of the TV inhaling steroids and other medications through her "breathing machine." So, for a long time, I associated children's tv with my daughter's illness, which wasn't fun. Thus, shortly after P's health returned to normal, when our big LCD TV broke, rather than replace it, we decided on a tv-less main floor (partially inspired by this blog, start from the beginning, it's a fun read). Since I wasn't strong enough to completely remove the boob-tube from our house, we took our OLD tv out of storage ("why isn't it flat, mommy? Something is wrong, tvs are supposed to be flat!") and set up a corner of the basement for tv viewing. At night this has become a lovely kid-free zone for me and Dan, but during the day we rarely use it, as I find it a drag to try to entertain T in the basement while the girls zone out.

The problem with limiting TV watching for kids is that by default you make the TV into something magical (much like McDonalds). Whenever my kids see one show they talk about it for DAYS. DAYS. And they reflect on every scene over and over again. Now that T's old enough to watch tv with the girls (yay! attention span) and P remains healthy, I'm slowly becoming more lenient with tv watching. But when I look ahead, I become uncertain - I see a preteen world of Disney shows where girls need to be popular and pretty and all anyone talks about is boys (and let's not even get started on Teen Mom). Which makes me nervous, maybe that type of branding is just what is ahead, regardless of tv. I know they can't stay young forever. But still the overhyped, simplified, materialistic, Miley Cyrus view of adolescence makes me uncomfortable.

What about everyone else? Maybe I'm overeacting and the preeteen programming isn't that bad? Am I just being a paranoid mom? And if I am please tell me.