Got Quads?

Do you remember the first concert you went to? Mine was Richard Marx. Yep, the one and only. I take comfort in the fact that for many of my friends, their first concert was New Kids on the Block, so I’m not as embarrassed to admit I saw Richard Marx. I wonder how my daughters will feel in about 20 years when they tell their friends the first concert they went to was… drum roll please… THE WIGGLES!!!!!

That’s right… we have tickets to see The Wiggles live! It took me awhile to convince Hubby that he really does want to sit through a few hours of four men singing songs to and for preschoolers. The concert is still a few months away so I haven’t told the girls. I can only imagine how excited they’ll be when they figure out what’s going on.

Oops she did it again. Can Britney Spears do anything without creating controversy? Her new song “If U Seek Amy” is a doozy. What’s so bad about looking for a girl named Amy? It took me awhile to figure out the controversy. Then I realized how she sings the title… yep, it spells a really bad word. But all this controversy got me questioning the music I grew up listening to and listen to now. Do I want my daughters listening to the same things I do?

Growing up I really enjoyed Grease. I had (on record) the soundtrack to the movie as well as the Broadway musical. I’m still confused. Is the song “Mooning” about someone head over heels with a girl or is it about dropping your pants? My parents let me listen to it, dance around in the living room and belt the lyrics out at the top of my lungs so it can’t be that bad… right? I think they knew I had no idea what I was singing. It took me years to figure out Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” was not about exercising but about being physical with someone. Perhaps it’s the fact that I still mess up lyrics that made my parents allow me to buy questionable music. If I sang the words wrong then clearly I had no idea if the song was explicit.

Yet they also let me buy “License to Ill” by the Beastie Boys when I was in sixth grade. Even for someone who can’t figure out the lyrics, I could certainly understand words like “beer” and “loose” (as in “I think her name’s Lucy but they all call her loose”).

I’m getting tired of nursery rhymes when I drive my daughters to school or various appointments. But I’m not sure my music is “kid friendly.” John Mayer? Yeah, as long as they can tolerate his “ewww ehhh ohhs.” Barenaked Ladies? Despite the name they’re actually pretty toned down. Besides I think my daughters will laugh at “I can hide out under there. I just made you say underwear.” But then it starts getting dicey. Amy Winehouse? They love repeatedly singing “no, no no.” Years from now will they wonder why I let them listen to a song about going to rehab? Kid Rock? Do I really need to explain why they won’t be listening to that? And Hubby’s collection is out of the question for now. (Sorry, hon!)

I think I’ve figured out a fool-proof way to turn them off from anything controversial or explicit. As my daughters get older it’s my job to embarrass the heck out of them. So when they find a song on the radio that I think is questionable I’ll simply belt it out at the top of my lungs, preferrably while their friends are in the car. Of course, I’ll have to make sure I understand the lyrics myself!

I cannot wait until my daughters are old enough to really understand the concept of board games, or even really games in general. This year for Christmas they received Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders. Right now I spend most of the time making sure the candy cane card (you know the one that takes you practically back to the start of the game) isn’t near the end of the deck when we play Candy Land or trying to explain why you don’t want your game piece to slide down the big slide in Chutes and Ladders. Still, at least they’re having fun and beginning to grasp what it’s all about. (Note to the makers of board games: please provide more than four game pieces. What’s up with that? Surely I’m not the only parent with four children trying to play these games. For now I have to use one of our Little People if I want to get involved).

In my family the holidays meant games, especially at Christmas. After the gifts had been opened and every stomach stuffed with goodness, after all the dishes had been cleared and cleaned, we cleared off the table and broke out a game. I still remember one year when my cousins brought Life. Sure, they knew how to play it… but the rules seemed to keep changing because they would explain the game as we played. No wonder they won! Trivial Pursuit was a big one, too. We always got a kick out of the wrong answers and would try to mime answers to be helpful. Scrabble was no fun because my grandmother was a cross-word champion. She would lay down tiles for words you were sure didn’t exist… then she would whip out a dictionary to prove you wrong.

Hubby indulges me. He hates Trivial Pursuit, which is a shame because I love the game, but he will play an ’80’s trivia game we have and Scene It, which really isn’t too bad with just two players. (I beat him at the Sci-Fi version…hee hee!!)

A few years ago I bought Hubby The Simpsons version of Clue. Not a game for two players, but hopefully our girls can join us for a round or two in a few years. It just occurred to me that I still own my Young Players edition of Trivial Pursuit, but something tells me the questions are going to be a bit outdated by the time my girls are old enough to play. Either way, come Christmas, you’ll know where to find us after our big holiday meal. I just hope we make it more than a holiday tradition in our house.

We’ve had unseasonably warm weather in my neck of the woods this week. It’s February and yesterday it was around 70 degrees. Nice! I’m tired of being cooped up so my daughters and I decided to take a walk after lunch. It amazed me how many learning opportunities I found during that walk.

Let’s start with the big one: it was a great lesson in listening. Everyone passed, too. I went without the wagon or harnesses and relied on good listening… as in “stay close to mommy” or “stop so that car can back out of the driveway.” 

We had a chance to talk about colors: “what color is that car?” and “what color is that sign?” We talked about litter. It was trash day and a lot of the trash ends up on the street rather than in the garbage truck. We came this close to a rabbit, but he got spooked by four toddlers, even though they were trying hard to be quiet. We talked about the difference between jingle bells and wind chimes. I’m still working on that one.

I’m pretty sure I wore them out. When we passed the neighborhood park they all pointed out the swings and slide but said they would rather go home and get a drink of water. It was a good day. It didn’t cost a dime and we had a lot of fun.

My daughters can’t get enough of Tinker Bell. They have a Tinker Bell nightlight, light switch cover and night gowns. So as a post-Christmas present (meaning we had a gift card to spend) I broke down and bought them TinkerBell on DVD.

Overall, it’s a fun movie. The movie looks at how Tinker Bell came to be, well, Tinker Bell. She’s a “tinker fairy” who is responsible for making and fixing things in Pixie Hollow, but she would rather be a different class of fairy and be able to go to the “mainland” to welcome in spring. The main message of the movie is being happy with yourself, not a bad thing to teach young girls. 

I was surprised by the celebrities who lent their voices to the movie. Mae Whitman voices Tinker Bell. The cast also includes Anjelic Huston , Lucy Liu and Kristin Chenoweth, to name a few. 

The movie doesn’t quite keep the attention of four 3-year-olds, but what feature-length movie does? All in all they enjoyed the movie and ask to watch it every day.

I enjoyed the bonus features. There are several references in the movie to Peter Pan , which I didn’t pick up on until I watched the bonus material. It’s nice to see the creators of Tinker Bell acknowledge her roots.

My only complaint is what happens when Tinker Bell changes into her “fairy costume.” She comes out of her hut in her super-short dress and the male fairies go ga-ga. It seemed slightly inappropriate for a kid’s movie, but at the same time I understand that’s the outfit she wore in Peter Pan, so the creators of this movie couldn’t exactly change things. Overall, though, this was a fun movie to watch.

My daughters’ rating: 4 thumbs up (out of 4)

My rating: 3 1/2 stars (out of 4)

I’m not ashamed to admit I let my daughters watch TV. If nothing else it gives me some time to get chores done. I try to limit the amount of time the TV is on and I try to keep it educational, but as someone who grew up glued to the TV on Saturday morning, who am I to judge? Here are my top 4 picks for toddler programs:

4. The Wiggles

I realize this isn’t a daily TV show, but their DVD’s rock. My daughters enjoy singing along to the nursery rhymes and doing the silly dances this Australian group puts together. Watch the Wiggles long enough and  you’ll start to think Sam (the yellow Wiggle) is kind of cute (trust me on this one). A friend told us he took his daughter to see the Wiggles in concert and I was kind of jealous!

3. Dragon Tales (PBS)

For a time my daughters couldn’t get enough of Max and Emmy… not to mention Ord, Zak, Wheezie and Cassie. Max and Emmy are siblings who find a dragon scale, make a wish and go to Dragon Land. Each episode involves some type of lesson, whether it’s about sharing or not arguing with your siblings. In between the episodes there’s a fun song, which typically teaches a lesson as well. Be warned, though, Wheezie can be a bit grating with her shrill catch-phrase “Loooove It!” but some of the episodes even point out how to overlook personal flaws.

2. Dora the Explorer (Nick, Jr.)

I think you have to be living under a rock to not know who Dora is… or at least not have any toddlers in your house. I thought because of her popularity I would find Dora pretty annoying, but I actually like this spunky gal. Sure, she finds herself in plenty of far-fetched situations, but all in all she’s one determined and resourceful child. My daughters have even picked up some Spanish phrases from the show. (Sidenote: I personally think the cousin Diego spin-off was just a way to capitalize on the boys who don’t want to watch a “girl” show, but that’s just my opinion.

1. Sesame Street (PBS)

How authentic would this list be if Sesame Street didn’t rank number 1?? This show is great. I tend to watch this with my daughters for the memories it brings back of my childhood, although seeing Gordon and Maria and knowing their characters have a teenage daughter makes me feel old! A lot of the skits and scenarios are timeless and it’s just a fun show to watch.  I even joined the Elmo bandwagon, but wonder why he had to ditch best friend Zoe for Abby Cadabby. Couldn’t he be good friends with both of them? This is probably the only show my daughters will watch from beginning to end without being distracted by other things. I wonder what will be happening on the Street when they have children????