One advantage is the fresh perspective they bring on the growth and development of my children.

My wife and I often worry that my son isn’t eating enough and grow concerned that is STILL weighs only 50 pounds (for what seems like 18 months now). Watching him play hockey three times a week, we often lose sight of how much better he gotten since last March. Similarly, my daughter’s progress at the drums is much more noticeable to those who see her monthly than to those of us who attend every lesson and hear her practice daily.

As much as I wish we could be together more often, I appreciate the attention our infrequent visitors bring upon the progress and accomplishments of my children. They are great kids and are deserving of recognition and praise. While I would like to give them their due, I sometimes lose sight of just how hard they work and how well they do.

So, this Christmas, I got the extra gift of a fresh perspective… and it was one of the best gifts I got.

I do remember when Glee first came on the air. I had no interest in watching it. I’m not sure exactly what it is about the show that turned me off. I love acapella music. I like underdog stories. I’ve known and liked members of choral and glee groups.

Perhaps it’s because I watch very little live TV. Maybe it’s because I’ve invested in many shows only to see them get cancelled early on in the first season. Possibly it’s because as much as I like underdog stories, I’m not a fan of martyrdom, especially overly dramatic “poor, unappreciated me” people. I do know quite a few singers and choral directors who seem to fall into that category. I dunno, I just wasn’t interested.

As my daughter has grown older, my wife and I have been looking for television shows we can share with her. At Paul Goebel‘s recommendation, I introduced her to The Middle (which she liked), and on my own last month I introduced her to Glee on Netflix.

The first episode was a little heavy, compared to my daughter’s usual Disney Channel/Nickelodeon fare, but my wife loved it and my daughter was interested and patient enough to give it a few more episodes. It’s now become one of their favorite shows, as they are averaging four episodes a week as they race to get to Season 2.

I admit, I’ve enjoyed it as well. It’s less acapella than I’d expected (and hoped), but it’s good. It gets a little whiny sometimes, but so far it’s pulled itself back just enough.

My concern, so far, is not the maturity of the themes (so far it’s been fine), it’s the constant references to the Glee kids as “losers.” They call themselves “losers”. Other people call them “losers”. It’s clear they are meant to be misfits, but it’s declared over and over again.

Now, my wife and I do talk about what we see on TV with our kids. So, we made a point of addressing this with our daughter. “The point of the show,” I said, “is that they’re really NOT losers, at all.” My daughter agreed, and we went on to discuss it in much more depth: What would you do? Has anyone ever treated you that way? What could this character have done? etc., .

It almost had me pull the plug. If my wife hadn’t immediately taken to the show and there had been a viable alternative, we might’ve given up on it quickly, but so far it remains in our Netflix Instant Queue.

I do find myself still looking for that perfect family show to share. The Nick and Disney shows are decently produced, but they have such snarky young characters and such dumb adults – not what I’m looking for. Yes, there are game shows and singing competitions we can watch. She’s still a little young for the Mythbusters/Top Shot/Chopped type shows we watch with our son, and I find myself still looking for a good family show to share with my wife and daughter.

For now, I’ll give in to Glee, but I wish I felt better about it.

My kids laughed and became excited for the new Chipmunks movie, but I had to wonder – did the studio really expect fans of the Chipmunks to be familiar with Titanic?

It turns out that my 9 year-old daughter HAS seen Titanic (she saw it a few days later), but she’s one of the few preteens I know who have seen the movie. Her older brother has not (heck, it’s a long film).

Obviously the “I’m the Kind of the World” scene is iconic, but I wonder what other pop culture scenes and references should kids be expected to know? As a fan of Family Guy and Robot Chicken I see many of the things I grew up with regularly referenced, but those shows are aimed more at my generation. What are kids expected to know?

In trying to think of some “must know” characters, catchphrases, and bits of dialogue I found that most my first thoughts are probably past their period of relevance:

• Dr. McCoy’s “Dammit Jim, I’m a doctor not a ________”
• The Terminator’s “I’ll be back”
• The classic Shatner-speech-pattern parodies
• The haunting music from Jaws
• Bond’s “Shaken, not stirred”

I haven’t seen Cars 2, but I understand it has a Bond-type character. How Bond-y is it? Does Pixar expect most kids under 10 to know the Bond-isms, or are they there for the adults (in which case, I don’t consider it to be what I’m talking about)?

The Fairly OddParents cartoon regularly drew upon other pop-culture characters: Dark Laser is clearly a Darth Vader reference, the April Fool is very Seinfeld-ian, Catman is played by Adam West in a clear reference to the original Batman TV show, and many more. Are those for the kids or the adults?

I’ve started giving my son some classic literature to read: Gulliver’s Travels, The Time Machine, Treasure Island, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth. He loves it and it will help him better pick up on the many references in current movies, books, and TV.

He’s been exposed to Godzilla, Star Wars, and Star Trek. I will try to bring in the first 2 Terminator films later this year.  We watch old game shows on GSN and lots of old TV through Netflix, Antenna TV, and TVLand. Overall though, I’m not sure where else to turn.  He’ll get some Edgar Allen Poe in school (I hope).

How important is it that he see Ferris Beuller and Better Off Dead? They’re great films, and he’s going to see them before he sees Titanic.  Maybe in Chip-Wrecked they’ll have a scene where Simon stands and stares at a painting whlie a Smiths song (covered by the Chipmunks, of course) plays in the background.

Today, nearly thirty years later, the Green Lantern finally comes to the big screen. And on Father’s Day, I’ll be going with my son to see it.

We’ve shared many passing on the torch of fandom moments, some of which I’ve written about here. But this one is a bit different. Unlike Godzilla, which is appealing to us both in the same way, or Star Wars, which I resigned from the beginning to him being a prequel-brainwashed fan, Green Lantern is something which may not appeal to him at all. I’m hearing early buzz that the movie is a disappointment (I’ve been suspecting as much for a while, but I’m hoping everyone is just being negative). And, the things I love about Green Lantern may not be captured in this film. There may not be a Green Lantern vs. his equal (Sinestro? another rogue lantern?), and it may be more of just a bland origin story with a non-iconic villain setting the stage for later films. This may result in my boy giving it a “meh.” Rating.

On the other hand, I could be pleasantly surprised. I panicked at the start of Thor, as they laid out all of the backstory necessary for the film. I feared that the 15-minutes or so of prologue would lose my son’s interest, but he hung in there and loved the film. It may be that he gives Green Lantern a blindly loyal shot and comes out liking it. We will see.

But for me, it’s another chapter in fatherhood. Another interest shared, fingers crossed that it will take with him (probably not so much my daughter, but I’ll give her the opportunity as well.)

All things being equal, we lean toward the “healthy” looking variations – Simply Jif, for example. Lately we’ve been buying Jif with Omega-3 added.

We do it, because we feel like we should, but to be honest… I’m not so sure we’re doing the right thing.

The value of buying this product is debated by various sites. This one in particular outlines just how “not so good” the omega-3 enriched peanut butter is.

My main goal is to get my kids to realize that there are various degrees of healthy foods.  That some food choices are wiser than others. We talk about misleading advertising all the time, so at some point I will get into whether this is really that good of a product. But for now, I’m happy to have them thinking that the green jar of peanut butter is the healthy one because it has that extra oil in it. (do they have to declare it’s fish oil right on the label? geez!)

Whether that particular ingredient really does make the food better for you is something we can discuss as they get older. Similarly, we can talk about the moral aspects of misleading people and what parts of the pitch make it so alluring. I know that it’s not as good as advertised, but I’m using them just as they are using me in a way… I’m using the advertising to begin (just lay the groundwork, I’m saying) to educate my kids on healthy eating.

In the meantime, I’m trying to stay aware that in many ways I’m just loading them up with sugar saturated peanut butter flavored icing.

Last night, my son asked if he could come to watch my hockey game. I was already a bit cranky in that I had to drive 20 minutes to pick him up from a birthday party, which even if it ended on time, I’d be dropping him off, rushing to get changed, and hustling out the door to my game, but the party was running late… “I don’t think so, Bud” I said.

My son was persistent though, and even though the party ended about 20 minutes late (putting me 20 minutes behind schedule), I really had no solid reason not to let him go. Yeah, he’d be getting home close to 10, but he wasn’t going to fall asleep before then anyway.  No, there would be no other kids there, but he would be okay with that and be very low maintenance. Yes, I usually went out to the bar after the game with some teammates, but I didn’t need to do that – and even so I could always drop him off at home first. “All right,” I reluctantly said.

We got home, I hurried… he hurried… this little boy who usually has a habit of making things seem more complicated did all he could to make it as easy as possible. He helped get my stuff ready, and when I finally got out the door, he was quietly waiting in the car – wearing his replica of my jersey (name and number on the back). I was embarrassed… proud but embarrassed too. I kept hinting that he didn’t need to wear it. Part of me was worried he’d get teased… but I’ll be honest, I was worried I’d be teased. Not by my friends, but by some of the other guys who know I’m not a good player and have no problem ripping a guy in front of his kid. I didn’t want my boy to hear them mock me, because he’d ask what it meant and why.

But he wore the jersey proudly, and we made it in plenty of time. He kept himself busy as I warmed up, and once I got on the court I heard one voice calling out cheering for the Green team (my team)… my son. For 90 minutes, he sat outside the fence and attentively cheered for my team as we fell behind 6-0 before scoring. At 8-2 with less than a minute left, his tired voice was as loud as ever as he cheered for us to score one more before the buzzer. I thought to myself, I actually played a decent game.   glad he came and got to see that.

And then it happened. With less than 10 seconds left, I found myself open in front of the goal while a teammate worked his way in my direction… 6… 5… 4… I never thought he’d get the ball to me but somehow he did, and I shot… less than 2 seconds before the buzzer, there it was… my first goal in nearly 8 seasons of playing.

And my son saw it all.

I was so pleased he was there, and I felt so low for having tried so hard to talk him out of it.

He beamed with pride, re-energized by the goal. He “let” me tell my wife about the goal, and while she was pleased – the disparity in their reactions only reinforced how lucky I am that he was there. Pretty soon he’s going to be too old to want to go. I’ll no longer be on the pedestal he’s built for me, and moments like this will be reduced to a line in an email.

But not this one… he was there, and although the goal itself is a meaningless accomplishment, the fact he was there means the world.

Virtual playdates have replaced real playdates for many tweens.

I suspect there are multiple reasons behind this shift.

1) Kids schedules are so full these days that playdate time is rare and at irregular hours. It’s impractical to go over to a friends house at 8:15 at night. Even if itwere a more reasonable hour, travelling back and forth would eat up most of the available time. However, a text message followed by a few buttons pushed the console, and you’ve only lost 5 minutes of precious xbox-ing  time.

2) Life is “better” online. It’s sad, and it shouldn’t be true, but for many children (and adults), it is. Whether it’s virtual football or dodgeball or Call of Duty or even some free online time waster, kids can do things they cannot do in real life. The adventure and freedom is alluring, and so too is the ability to be someone you’re not. That slow, weak, unathletic kid can be a beast in Madden Football. The last boy off the bench can be an MVP in NBA 2K10. The girl who think her interests are too ” tomboy-ish” can be whoever she wants to be online. Opportunity and real-life ability is no issue in the online world.

3) Imperfections are hidden. Another sad one, I think, but the boy who stutters can simply play without a microphone or textchat instead of speaking. The child with a wart or a scar or a body they view as less than ideal, can be someone else. Have you ever looked at the avatars kids create for themselves? They are (literally) right out of the comic books in terms of the sterotypes and ideal forms depicted.

To be fair, I don’t mind the occasional online playdate. It is sometimes the only convenient way for kids to get together due to time or distance. With proper monitoring the time can be fun and safe (just as with a real life playdate). I just hope that it never fully replaces the real thing. We don’t need a world like that in Bruce Willis’ Surrogates.

My kids, like all kids, have celebrities they idolize. My daughter thinks Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift are the greatest. My son can’t get enough of they Mythbusters crew, sports stars like Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson, or comedians like Ricky Gervais (well, Karl Pilkington, really) and Craig Ferguson.

But, even in this age of emails and twitter, I can’t get the kids to reach out and write fan mail to their idols.

I shouldn’t say we haven’t ever done it. My son once wrote to Philip Rivers when he was required to write a formal letter in English class.  We did mail it out, but he’s never followed up. The kids also helped me author an email to the band I Fight Dragons when we produced a lip-synch video to one of their songs.

However, each time, it’s like pulling teeth – and I can’t figure out why.

My son joined me in being part of a Movember fundraising team with Persepctives’ own Paul Goebel. As a fourth (and fifth grader) he “grew a mustache” to raise awareness of prostate cancer. We talked about making a funny video where my boy’s mustache gave him a Hefner-like social life, and sending it to Paul, but where my son said he thought it would be hilarious, the project (like so many great films) never left the pitch meeting.

Paul’s even mentioned on my son’s participation in Movember on his podcast. I thought for sure that hearing Paul say how great it was would inspire my boy to send him a quick note.  But no…

It’s a shame, too, because Paul and all the other celebrities my kids like are really nice folks. The guys from I Fight Dragons sent my kids some very nice emails after seeing the video we made. My son remembers Paul from his “Beat the Geeks” days and knows he’s always friendly with me. And the pinnacle of celebrity acknowledgments came when Craig Ferguson answered my viewer email on TV. My son couldn’t stop talking about that for weeks.

However, when it comes to sending Craig a letter himself, it just doesn’t ever seem to happen.

I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised. Given the shyness my kids normally exhibit, I can understand why they might be hesitant to reach out. I can remember my own reluctance to write to stars back in the day. In fact I can only remember writing to four celebrities before I turned 21.

• I wrote to Ringling Brother’s Circus’ Gunther Gebel-Williams back in 1977 after a field trip to see the circus at Madison Square Garden.
• I wrote to Dan Majerle while in college after watching a Suns/Sixers game and being the only fan in the Spectrum cheering for him (so I thought).
• I wrote to the producers of The ‘Burbs saying how much my college roomate and I loved the movie (this was the only letter that got a reply, and they mailed us a script!!!)
• I wrote to Pat Riley when Dan Majerle was a free agent saying I thougth Riley should try to sign Majerle to the Heat (and he did).

These days I’m still nervous when reaching out. It’s so much easier for a child to gush about how great someone is than an adult. Once you pass 30, all you can really do is say “I love your work.” But when you’re a kid, you can ramble on and on.

Still, it seems a shame. Celebrities are so much more accessible now than they were when I grew up, and the ones my kids enjoy most are good people.

A small, simple blue puppy caught her eye – and this little stuffed animal was one of the dozen or so stuffed animals given to my son during that first week of his life.

All of the animals were cute. There was a Pooh, a caterpillar, a giraffe, an elephant, … all the staples. But the blue puppy was just the right size and softness, it was the one which he always seemed to end up with in one-animal situations, and as weeks turned into months, “Puppy” became THE stuffed animal.

When my daughter was born two years later, I was surpriseed by how many things we had to replace for our second child. Despite the seeming hardiness of the items, a number of blankets and hardgoods hadn’t made it through the first two years of my son’s life. Weeks of poop, puke, and disinfecting had taken a toll … and then there was “Puppy”.

Although Puppy was increasingly by my son’s side, he was holding up surprisingly well. The stuffing was gone from his joints (pushed into the head, paws, and body) and the fur matted down, but no holes (knock on wood) or missing eyeballs. Still, he was such an important part of my boy’s life that I thought I’d better go get another one, just in case.

I visited the hospital gift shop, and found there were no puppies at all and no means of ordering one. I hit all the stores, Buy Buy Baby, Baby Depot, Babies R Us, Kay Bee Toys, Toys R Us… scoured the internet. No blue puppy. A few look alikes, but they were the wrong size and often had a “Little Rascals”/Target like ring around one eye.

I studied the tag on Puppy and emailed the manufacturing company. I sent photos of Puppy, explained his origins and significance, and begged them to scour their inventory or point me in the direction of a retailer – domestic or international. I was terrified of what might be if anything ever happened to Puppy.

[When I was growing up, my parents would have me leave my teddy bear by the fireplace on Christmas Eve when he was on the verge of disintegrating, and Santa would use his Christmas magic to restore my bear. Great foresight on my parents' part!]

Unfortunately, the company could not help me. Puppy was a discontinued model. It was now 3 1/2 years since we bought him, and even then he was a clearance item in their eyes.

I considered making a subtle switch while my boy was still young, but no… he would notice. I thought about removing Puppy from the danger zones, but no… he belonged with my boy. [Ironically, my son is terrified of real dogs - having been chased down and pounced on behind by a neighbor's loose dog]. Puppy needed to stay.

I checked ebay to no avail. And finally resigned myself to the fact that Puppy just might not make it.

Fast forward 7 years. I still check online and in stores for Puppy-clones. My son’s seen Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, so the prospect of a Puppy Jr. becoming the new Puppy when Puppy is destroyed, would have a precedent in the whole Godzilla saga. But Puppy’s hanging in there. He’s had one small hole at the seams, and in the spirit of Toy Story, Mom rushed to patch him up. We considered adding some stuffing in while the hole was there, but decided Puppy was doing just fine on his own.

As my son turns 11 this year, Puppy’s made it through the danger zone (although I am a little worried about what horrors he might be subjected to when my boy is 13 and learning about science). For now, Puppy still has a place in my boy’s room… but when the time comes we will pack him away to be preserved for when my son wants to share him with his own children.

The Lemonade Game was a very, very early precursor to the Sim City-style games of the turn of the century. And, for those of use in Ms. Safran’s 4th Grade G&T pullout class, it was the best reward she could ever offer us.

About ten years ago, I found the Coolmath4kids website, and the first thing I did was play a 30-day game of Lemonade Stand. It only took me three “days” to recall my trademarked secret recipe with the perfect ratio of lemons to sugar to ice to make almost any day a profitable day.

The memories this rekindled alone were fantastic, but the game play remains fun and challenging enough to promote it on this site.

Whether you are someone old enough to have played the game when you were young or you work with young people aged 8 – 18, I suggest you check out the game (and the rest of the coolmath4kids site).

You can play the Lemonade Game at http://www.coolmath-games.com/lemonade/index.html.