A while back, when my kids were much younger, I started a blog called Being A Dad where I shared my thoughts on a number of kid-related topics including movies, TV shows, toys and the experiences of being a new dad. Here are a few sample posts…
The Dad Abides: The Beatles
Not because they're one of the greatest bands ever. Not because they've recorded some of the best songs in the history of music. Both of those statements are true, of course, but the reason they appear here is much simpler... A couple of weeks back, we were making our way home from Hershey Park. It was very late, and we had more than four hours to go. Both kids were sleeping in the back. Suddenly, Griffin woke up screaming. Inconsolable. We were moments away from him waking up Jackson. Then a song from The Beatles started to play.
Griffin stopped screaming and said, "The Beatles", before falling back to sleep. That was pretty fab indeed.
Questionable Parenting: Regular Show
Somewhere along the line, in the not-too-distant past, Jackson and Griffin discovered Regular Show on Cartoon Network. At first, I didn't really notice but I became more aware of it as their obsession grew. When your 3-year-old starts quoting lines of dialogue, it might be time to take a closer look at things. As many of you know, there are plenty of cartoons on Cartoon Network that aren't exactly kid-friendly. And so, it would probably have been a good idea to screen the show first before letting them watch it, but I've been so busy with fantasy baseball drafts, Rogaine experiments and what-not that somehow, I never got around to it. Well, I can tell you this - it's pretty freaky. The show stars two slackers, Mordecai and Rigby, who happen to be a blue jay and a squirrel (don't ask me which is which, but feel free to ask my kids). Mordecai and Rigby live with Benson (a walking gumball machine), Pops (a walking lollipop), Skips (a Yeti), and a couple of other guys I can't quite identify. Each 15-minute episode deals with storylines like being chased by a ghost car from a scary movie, accidentally seeing an old man naked, the perils of lip synching, etc. The show is peppered with words such as "sucks" and "crap", which sucks but my kids were bound to hear that crap eventually anyway. Oh, and the show is pretty funny in a kind of Beavis and Butt-head sort of way. So, appropriate for young kids? Probably not. But is there any long-term damage to be wrought here? Gee, I never considered that, but I guess we'll find out eventually.
The Dad Abides: Tangled
I should start off by saying that I did doze a bit during the movie. But that had more to do with the 3-year-old sleeping on my lap than my interest level. The part that I was awake for was pretty good. Somehow our kids completely missed the more recent wave of Disney animated movies - Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, etc. I bring that up because Tangled, while not traditionally animated, fits right in with those films. Which is why I think (at the risk of sounding sexist) that girls will love this movie. There's some serious girl power going on (courtesy of Rapunzel) along with the prerequisite wicked stepmother (courtesy of Donna Murphy although I thought it was Bebe Neuwirth until the credits rolled). The derring-do is supplied by Flynn Ryder - a character name that both Jackson & Griffin (once he woke up) found hysterical. Much in the Disney tradition, characters break out in song at the drop of a hat (or hair, as the case may be) which is why you should expect Tangled - The Musical to hit Broadway sometime in the near future. I just read that this is the first Disney "princess" movie to get a PG rating, and I suppose that's appropriate but there's very little here that could possibly cause nightmares and it's relatively tame compared to most children's fare. Unless there was a decapitation scene when I was sleeping, then I might change my mind. Oh, and one other thing - your kids will want to see this in 3D because all kids want the extra "D", but there's nothing to justify the extra money you'd have to spend on a ticket. If they really want to see 3D, tell them to look out a window.