Entries Tagged 'family' ↓

Today’s Mantra: Ignore the haters and don’t feed the trolls.

My kids and I made a video in which I talked about how I would love to host a talk show on Oprah’s new network. It was fun – until I started getting comments and nasty email messages from a woman who alleged that I trash working moms on this blog (and erroneously suggested that I’ve never been a working mom).  Um, no. Not true. Read my blog. Search my blog. That’s not what it’s about. At all. I have absolutely no desire to do such a thing. Perhaps she was thinking of someone else. I left a response to that effect.

Then the commenter insisted and referred to remarks I made in a video* well over a year ago in which I had griped about a radio broadcast not sufficiently acknowledging the value of stay-at-home moms.

First of all, for those who don’t know, before these years staying home with my kids, I was a dedicated, passionate, working mom who loved her job and career. I felt I was really making a difference in the world and working on things that were important. When I (somewhat reluctantly) hopped off the career track, I garnered little or no respect for my new position and cringed at the thought of the label that people disdainfully attached to it, as well as when I heard them say things like “oh, she’s just a stay-at-home mom.”

I was raised by a strong, self sufficient, feminist working mom (whom I adored and respected and to whom I was very close) who strongly encouraged my sisters and me to “never depend on a man,” and “always be sure that you can support yourself.” I worked my way through college and law school to ensure that I would always be a career woman determined to remain forever independent. I envisioned nothing else.

But, back to that video.

Continue reading →

Have you heard about CNN Student News?

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Updated with coverage of the oil spill!

Check it out:

The site is “a ten minute, commercial-free daily news program” geared to middle and high-school students.

If you’ve been looking for ways to get your teens interested in the news, I recommend bookmarking the CNN Student News site and showing it to your kids. It’s geared to them, so it’s a bit more hip, clean and concise than the main CNN site.

And, yeah, they’re on Facebook, too.

You know how much my family and I loved Super Mario Galaxy on Wii? We put it on our list of favorite video games of 2007 and even referred to it as the best game of all time. So you can imagine how excited we are about the coming release of the sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2. Game Informer rated it 9.25. That’s a good sign.

We hear that players will once again be able to play as Bee Mario and Boo Mario but will also be able to roll over Goombas as Rock Mario (see transmission 8 below) and make platforms with Cloud Mario. Hmm…probably need to see that to appreciate it…and you can! Check out transmission 1 below.

Here’s a sneak peek:

My kids liked this one even more:

And this one – check out that tongue-swinging by Yoshi. Niiice:

And you’ll discover an important little hint in this one:

So you move around the level map in a ship that’s shaped like a Mario head (and they say that you can load up on 1 Ups in one of his ears (always helpful in Mario games, don’t you think?!)). Watch it again if you missed it.

Even multi-player gets a little better, giving a second player just a bit more power to be able to defeat some enemies (in addition to that ability to collect gems). Here’s a tiny peek:

And finally, here’s the first transmission Nintendo released. It’s the one where you see what may be our favorite new feature, Mario can become Cloud Mario and make platforms. Sweet.

May 23 can’t come fast enough.

When I heard Dave Barry’s story about embarrassing his teenage son by picking him up from school in a Wienermobile (true story!), I thought I’d try his advice. He suggested that one of the easiest ways to get attention from teens was to sing. I’d add to that a bit by saying that song choice matters, too.

So here’s what I’ve been trying:

when my kids are screwing around, laughing and wasting time instead of doing their homework, I start to sign a song that I know they really don’t like (e.g., What Do You Want From Me?). It gets their attention much faster than saying expected phrases (like, “Focus, guys.” or “Get back to work now, please.”). Before long, they’re begging me to stop and agreeing to focus on their studies.

Believe me, when they become teens you have to get creative.

Did you know that driving while texting is the same as driving after having had four drinks?

This fact becomes especially important if you have teen drivers.

April 30 is National No-Phone Zone Day, declared to raise awareness about the dangers of using a phone while driving.

I’m on board and signed the pledge. Will you?

Regular readers of this blog know how much I love books. I’ve co-chaired the Book Fair at our kids’ school for several years, taught Junior Great Books (another program I strongly support) and, for a brief time, considered starting another blog devoted to books. I love books. I encourage my kids (and others’) to read.

I also promote philanthropy. Each year I believe more strongly that we all need to challenge ourselves to find ways to be more generous and giving.

Wouldn’t it be great to somehow combine reading and giving? Hmm…

Then I heard about an initiative launched by The Pearson Foundation and Penguin Young Readers Group called We Give Books, and I was excited to learn more.

What a wonderful idea! Read a book. Give a book.

So last week, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, when the Pearson Foundation gathered together a group of bloggers, authors* and others to announce the launch of the site, We Give Books, I was happy to attend.

*Including Pulitzer Prize winning author, Dave Barry!

How does it work?

Here’s the gist: We Give Books encourages parents or caregivers to read with their kids and then donate a book to a charity selected by the reader. Read a book, give a book. For every story you read on the site with (or without!) your child, they donate a book! The reader’s only obligation (if you even want to call it that) is to read the online book. Pearson/Penguin then donates the book directly to the charity you and your child selected.

These are some of the folks behind this initiative.

How easy is this?

1) Choose the charity

2) Read a book

3) Click to donate

For every book read on the site, the Pearson Foundation will donate a book to a worthy charity (selected by the reader(s)) of the book(s) from among those listed on the site).

Just give it a try. The site is very easy to navigate. Your youngest kids can participate in turning the pages of the book. In fact, I recommend that you get your kids involved from the start. Tell them a little about the charities, let them choose which one they like most, then let them pick the first book. I bet you’ll read more than a few (and then donate more than a few).

Mark Nieker, President of the Pearson Foundation, believes “We Give Books gives parents an opportunity to read with their children, and its innovation is that it surrounds reading with those important conversations that can start a young person on a life of giving.”

You can still have that special, quality time with your child in your lap, reading a story but now it’s interactive and helps other kids! This site puts an interesting twist on story time in our hi-tech world.

The only thing that I believe could make this even better and more current? If they had an iPad app for it.

I’ll bet it’s just a matter of time.

Visit We Give Books. And let me know what you think.

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If you or your kids are fans of this game

or this,

then you just have to watch this:

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At their urging, the following is a guest post written by my children:

You may have heard of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, the movie that came out Friday, February 12, 2010.

Many people have been calling it a Harry Potter knock off. To begin with, the book series is not another Potter. The only comparison one could make is that the main characters are two boys and a girl, and the male protagonist doesn’t fully know about his true powers until he goes somewhere away from home (Camp Half Blood/Hogwarts) to train.

Would Potter ever go to Vegas?!

We both read The Lightning Thief (along with the rest of the books in the series) at a young age and were captivated by how exciting it was. Both of us still consider it the best book we’ve ever read (tied with Stephen Colbert’s I Am America (And So Can You!) and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird). We have also read the Harry Potter books and seen the movies and the Lightning Thief series differs in many ways. The Lightning Thief is a fun way for kids and teens to learn about Greek mythology.

The Lightning Thief brings Greek mythology to the modern world, with the gods and goddesses hidden at the top of the empire state building. Camp Half Blood is the where the demigods gather, the only place they are safe. Demigods are the offspring of a god and mortal, so they are half-human and half-god. Harry Potter, however, is about witchcraft and wizardry. Magic. Contrast that with gods and Greek mythology. Nowhere close to the magic that is described in the Harry Potter series.

Have you seen this promo, where water roars behind Percy?

Percy is the son of Poseidon (god of the seas, which must be noted because the naysayers probably didn’t even know that), not a recently-trained-in-magic Quidditch captain. The people who accused The Lightning Thief of being a cheap knock-off probably didn’t even know that the book was released in 2005, before five of the Harry Potter movies were released. Also, one could make the argument (an inane, ignorant argument) that The Half Blood Prince and Camp Half Blood have something to do with each other. Well, unless Snape’s dad was Zeus or Ares or any other god, they have no connection except for the words “Half Blood.”

Anyway, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series of books was hugely successful, a New York Times #1 Bestseller and given five-star reviews by many, including the writers of this article. The people who criticized The Lightning Thief probably did no (or very little) research and just looked at the ad for the movie while tweeting “Am I the only one that thinks that Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is a total Harry Potter cop-out? #iamnotamused.” (@clawtooth35) or “hilarious: billboards for ‘Percy Jackson and the lightning thief’ don’t even try to hide the fact that it’s a facile Harry Potter ripoff…” (@estherdbrazil) or “the lightning thief dd not lve up 2 my expctations. almost juvenile for my liking. it’s like harry potter with a better looking protagonist.” (@bookletjeff) Uh huh. To quote @pfpaul, “BF#1: “The Lightning Thief looks stupid. It’s exactly like Harry Potter. Different people, same names.” That doesn’t even… “what?!”

Exactly. Different people, same names?! No they don’t…oh, whatever.

We just disagree.

Go see The Lightning Thief.

Let us know what you think.

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Have you heard about this action/adventure movie starring a couple teenage guys and a girl who defeat villains in the midst of great special effects? You know, dark haired protagonist, no glasses. Wait…does he wear glasses? NO, he does not. He most definitely does not wear glasses. Were you thinking of Harry Potter, Ron and Hermione? Oh no, there’s a new group in town and they don’t have English accents. Sure, Chris Columbus, who directed a few of the Harry Potter movies also directed Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, but don’t expect another Potter.

First of all, can you imagine Potter using an iPhone or iPod Touch? Ever? HA!

These American kids know how to use technology! W00T!

Our kids loved the Percy Jackson book series and enjoyed the movie. They tire of the comparisons between it and the Potter series. Actually, I wish the promos would have downplayed the Chris Columbus connection and any other similarities.  Millions of Potter fanatics do not want anything to try to replace or follow Potter. Attempting to draw similarities was a mistake.

Instead, I recommend putting Potter aside and opening yourself up to something new or, at least something a little different, based on myth and legends.

If you’re looking for respectable teen action heroes for your teens or preteens, I believe this is your film (and I hope an entire series of films). In it, smart, brave, attractive kids discover their demigod selves and embark on a quest which eventually leads them to Zeus and Poseidon. In fact, it’s a fairly good introduction to Greek mythology.

Exercise caution with sensitive tweens or younger kids, though.  Ms. Dodds’ morphing into a flying fury and the minotaur chasing Percy and Grover were quite frightening scenes, though probably the scariest moments of the film. After those two, the intensity eases a bit.

Kids who have read the book series (or at least the first book, “The Lightning Thief”) will enjoy the movie but may quibble over differences and omissions. The parts of the book that were necessarily left out of the movie are not crucial to the storyline. My kids believe that the few aspects that were missing can be easily added in to future movies.

Logan Lerman (as Percy Jackson) strikes the right balance between seeming a little awkward with his new-found abilities and being as confident and strong as one would expect from a demigod. He’s more like Peter in Heroes than Potter at Hogwarts. No wands, just hands (and occasionally a sword).

The attraction between Percy and Annabeth was believable (I don’t really care that Annabeth wasn’t blond) and Luke was a terrific antagonist.

Bottom line? Get over Potter and give this movie a chance.

If you’re familiar with Kobe, LeBron and Nike, you might enjoy this:

You know about LeBron’s chalk thing? Then you’ll like this one: