April Fools Day Prank: NO SCHOOL TODAY!

Here's this year's April Fools Day Prank.

On April 1, 2016 there was a 1 day strike by teachers in Chicago.  School attendance was "voluntary."

I told my son that his principal would be teaching him and that we had to go to school anyway.

This is the moment that he found out that there was actually  no school for him today.

Happy April Fools Day, everybody!

Let me know how you fooled your kid today!

EARWORM: Houdini's Birthday! Celebrate with the Deedle Deedle Dee's

In honor of Harry Houdini's birthday ( he would have been 142 years old today!), the children's history rock band the Deedle Deedle Dee's have released a new music video called Houdini, it features New York magician Cardone performing a straight jacket escape in Tompkin's Square Park, and Lloyd Miller (creative force of the Deedle Deedle Dee's) performing the song he wrote to celebrate the master magician.

Houdini was one of the top entertainers in the world, a household name, and someone who made his fame and fortune by mystifying others.  One of the books I read called him The First SuperHero, and I can definitely see that.

When you watch the video, make sure to watch all the way to the end, there's some funny business after the song ends.


Here's some great books about Houdini available on Amazon, and below that some albums by the Deedle Deedle Dee's!







And here's a great site about Houdini, which is kind of the Internet Portal for all  things Houdini:

http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/

Age limits for children's media

Not my kids.  (Public domain photo from Pixabay.)

I've recently heard from two parents that I respect that they took their 6-year-old children to see the Avengers Movie - Age of Ultron.  I was a little surprised, as I've made ALL of the Marvel movies off limits for my 6 year old, much to his dismay.   He is a big Marvel/Avengers fan from Disney Infinity, and has seen a bunch of the old Spiderman cartoons, where some Avengers make an appearance.

I'm a Marvel fan as well (long time reader, nearly 2000 comic books still collected) and while I'm excited to see his interest, and want to share it with him, I'm also concerned.  The clips I've seen don't seem appropriate.

 My source for answers on all these age disputes, Common Sense Media,  says that the Age of Ultron movie is for teens age 13+ (although the user contributed reviews say 11 --and in a rare sense of solidarity, both kids and parents agree on the age.)

Here's what they say:

READ THE FULL REVIEW 

The biggest issue, of course, is the explosive, comic book-style violence, which includes nonstop destruction, fighting, weapons, flipping cars, imploding buildings, citywide devastation, and massive civilian casualties implied. There's also one sad death, as well as some kissing/flirting/innuendo/cleavage, swearing ("s--t," "son of a bitch," etc.), and celebratory drinking.  

So what gives?  Why would a normally reasonable parent let their younger kid see something that's not really inappropriate?

I have a few theories about this:

OLDER SIBLINGS
In both cases, the younger kid had an older sibling who would be within striking distance of the age range.  It's hard to limit a younger kid, especially when the older kid should be able to see something, and logistically, it would be difficult or patently unfair to separate the two kids.  Letting your kid see a potentially bad movie could seem the lesser of two evils than paying $50 for a babysitter so you can take the older kid by himself.

PARENTS AS FANS
When a parent is a fan, you want to share the thing you love with your kids, even if it might not be 100% appropriate.  Seeing the movie with your child might seem to ameliorate the problem, and the fact that the parent will be there to answer any questions/soothe any fears might also make it seem okay.

OVER THE HEAD SYNDROME
I think that parents might think that the bad stuff will go over the head of their younger child.  I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

MY KID IS VERY MATURE
Parents could think that their kid could handle it.

We're not perfect, but like any good superhero, we need to choose our battles.  We've use most of these rationalization sin the past (using older cousins instead of older siblings.)

While Avengers are out for us (much to my son's dismay)  we are considering taking him to see Tomorrowland.   (Which Common Sense Media says is for 10-year-olds, and contains some unexpected violence)    And we let him play Terraria, which Common Sense Media says is also for 10-year-olds. (While there is some violence, I think that the category of building games is generally a safe one for kids, especially if you can't interact with unknown people.)

We're also reading Harry Potter, although he's not allowed to watch the movies.  Not yet, anyway.

Ultimately, I feel its the parents choice, and it's a judgement call.  

What do you think? What are you letting your kids watch or play that maybe you shouldn't?

The Pop Ups New Animated Series Launches Today!

Brooklyn-based, twice Grammy-nominated band The Pop Ups  are launching a new web series on their YouTube channel starting today.  The series features 4-6 minute edu-taining videos that touch on different subjects.  They all engender a sense of wonder

There will be five videos that are available today:

Box of Crayons - This animated series teaches kids how to write different letters. The first video focuses on O's, with Ollie the Owl.

Make it a Puppet – Kids learn about their world through objects around them.The Pop Ups turn everyday objects into puppets to answer questions about the world.The first episode is focused on a houseplant and the process of photosynthesis.

What's That Smell? - A cooking show with Chef and her sidekick DJ, Glen where viewers learn about the world through the lens of FOOD. The first one is about the color yellow.

Music video -- Animated videos based on Pop Ups hit songs. The first one is "Robot Dance."

Sock Puppet Orchestra -- Jason and Jacob sing and play along with their puppet friends and learn something new every day. The debut video explores "Body Parts."

New content will then start rolling out regularly beginning on June 10th.

To listen to Pop-Ups Music, click the albums below:

Happy Mother's Day, Peoples!

This is one of my favorite Mother's Day songs.

Happy Mother's Day One and all!

The Bear Can Ride A Bike!

We've been skirting around bike riding for the last year or so.

The Y Bike we got from Amazon.com

We've had a number of bikes and scooters, including a ybike balance bike, a bike with training wheels,  and a cool EZ-roller, that has turned lots of heads at playgrounds from coast to coast.

The bear has gone back and forth on his interest and ability to ride a bicycle, ranging from the indifferent to the "super interested, but I don't know how."

The EZyRoller turns heads on the playground.

When we lived in New York, he could easily ride the balance bike, and then we transitioned to  a bike with training wheels, and he could ride that no problem, but when I took the training wheels off, he couldn't do it immediately and then he lost interest.

After that we were mostly ezy-rolling, and even when I suggested trying to learn on the bike, he'd say no.

When we came to Chicago we were given a bike by his cousin, and we've gone out a few times to try, but he couldn't do it, and didn't want to.  And then it was really cold, and bike riding was out of the question.

The bear on his cool wheels.

So I'm pleased to announce that he has cracked the code, and is now a full-fledged bike rider.

I had to push him a little (both in a physical sense and an emotional sense.)  He asked to take the bike out, and we went, but after he fell and said he couldn't do it, I pushed him to say that he could, and that if he wanted to go home he could to, but I thought he was really close.  He toughed it out, and he got back on the bike, and he can do it!

We did it 2 days in a row, and he's nearly good to go.  He still has to practice starting on his own, and stopping, but as you can see from the video below he can even do it in traffic.

Here's the video of him riding.  He does a great job riding in circles and even avoiding hitting other kids.  I really think he's got it, and although I'm sure we'll have some falling and some more "I can't do this" jags, I hope that this summer we'll be on the Chicago Bike trail!

Here's hoping anyway!

Please feel free to share your bike teaching experiences in the comments below.

April Fool's! - It Snowed Last Night.

As a professional clown, my son expects something for April Fools.

I laid the groundwork for this pretty early in the morning.

I got AA up for his shower, and said in passing, you have to wear your boots today, it snowed.

I didn't make a big deal out of it, or tell him school was cancelled.  He would have suspected something.

While eating breakfast: "Don't forget your big jacket.  It's cold out."

Making plans for after school:  "I thought we'd go bike riding, but the playground will be a mess because of the snow."

After his shower, we were rushing around to dry his hair, get ready for school.
My wife (not in the loop) says, "He doesn't need to dry his hair!"
Me, "Yes he does.  Snowed last night.  Inch on the ground."
My wife: "Oh God.  Chicago!"

During his breakfast, he says a little too practiced and nervously. "Miss S. said they extended vacation for an extra week.  April Fools!"

"Not bad, little bear.  Pretty good!"

"Dad, what's your April fools joke?"

"I don't know yet- I haven't figured it out."

I packed his shoes in his backpack, got his hat ready for him.

Lunch box. Check.
Homework. Check.
Water bottle. Check.
Toothbrushing... uh oh!

Gave him the 30 second brush (have to remember to do a stronger brushing tonight!)

We walk out of the door to the bus stop (right across the street) one minute early.

I got him!

After this (and you can see it in his face) he's actually kind of upset, because he's wearing his heavy jacket and boots.  They will probably have outdoor recess.  His shoes are already packed for him, but his jacket-he wants his lighter jacket.

I didn't think of that. We run inside to get it.  I am not a monster!

We come back out, and the BUS is already there, we dash across the street, and he makes it on just before the bus takes off!  (If he hadn't, the joke would have been on me, then!)

Another successful April Fool's!

Meanwhile, I go back inside, and my wife says, "I looked outside, and it didn't snow."

I know, honey.  I know.

What was your April 1 prank?

Dad Hacks DonkeyKong For His Daughter

File this under tech love. 

Mike Mika is a techy dad who loves his daughter. When she wanted to play Donkey Kong the game as Princess Pauline, and discovered she couldn't, she got upset. (She had played Princess Toadstool in Super Mario Brothers II, and naturally thought she could do it in the older original Donkey Kong.)

 Not taking no for an answer, Mika pulled an all nighter and hacked the ROM of the game, replacing Mario with Pauline, redrawing all of the frames, and replacing the M at the top with a P for Princess Pauline.  

Voila!  Instant Videogame Equality!

 DOWNLOAD THE HACK HERE: http://codemystics.ca/downloads/DK_Pauline.zip 

(You need the original ROM and XDELTA to apply it. Which actually, since I don't know what that means, let's me completely out. ) 

 Here's his Youtube video (which is rightfully going viral)