a peek inside the fishbowl

March Break started with a bang. Last night one of the girls had a sleepover. We had an impromptu summer picnic-style dinner (hots and hams, carrot slaw, and potato chips!) and afterwards curled up to watch Open Season 2.

They are all chatting over breakfast while I attempt to plan the rest of our week. There is work to be done too and I need to schedule around it. I haven’t had a spare moment to share some fun news with you and I’ve already be at it for over a week.

Some of you know this already, but I’m officially working as the Social Media / Community Manager / Social Media Content and Strategy Gal (I can’t come up with a title for myself – help?) for the Know More Do More campaign. I first wrote about KMDM in March 2010, and for the better part of a year we plowed through their tip jar to see if we could shake things up a little around here. It was KMDM that inspired me to go on a sugar fast, read labels a little more closely, and organize a neighborhood game of freeze tag… among other things.

I am pretty excited to be working with such a great group of partners. And if you’ve been here for any length of time you’ll know that this is a topic that I’m really passionate about.

Know More Do More encourages a whole-child approach to good health. It’s not about counting calories or buying treadmills for the whole family. It’s about taking small steps and creating healthy habits. It’s about introducing a family game night instead of watching TV seven nights a week. It’s about sitting down to a dinner you made as a family, going for a walk in the park, buying local, and taking a deep breath.

Lovely.

One of the things I’m doing for KMDM is providing content for their relaunched Facebook page. I would love it if you could join me there and jump into the conversation. Contributing to the Facebook page is a tiny way you can help make all of our families a little healthier. (How? KMDM is, at its core, an awareness campaign. Talk brings change. Your participation on Facebook helps spread the word. By sharing information with other parents you are helping make healthy living a priority in people’s minds. And who knows, maybe your comment or tweet will be the ripple that creates a wave of change? For example, wouldn’t you love to see more kids walking to school or playing in the park after school? If so, you need to be part of a movement that supports it, and show your support.)

KMDM is also on Twitter (which is something else I take care of) and you can follow me there too. We have some neat things planned, including some giveaways, which is pretty cool in my books. :)

You can read more about KMDM on the official website. 

Knowledge is power. And my goal with KMDM is to spread the word about healthy living.  I know that sounds totally granola and is quite possibly a turnoff for those who equates “healthy living” with Birkenstock-wearing commune dwellers (nothin’ against Birks, of course) but it is my hope that through KMDM I will be able to remind people that it’s not that hard to be healthy and active. Good health is not beyond our reach. And being mindful of what our kids are eating and doing, and helping them get the best possible start in life, is the best gift we can give them.

Edited to add:  one of the things I’d like to do once the weather improves is organize a big playdate at the park some sunny Saturday morning. Or maybe a bike parade along the Ottawa River parkway when it closes on Bike Sundays. Maybe with prizing? Anyone interested in that kind of thing? :)

I was reading a BlogHer post about Glee this morning and found myself nodding my head in agreement. I still like that show. I keep recording it. Certain individuals keep me hanging on, but the show has dropped so many potentially great threads in the story arc that it makes me wonder what the writers are thinking and if they’re going to weave anything out of them at any point or if they’re gone forever.

I think Glee is pretty much doomed. (For your amusement I recommend you read a recap of “Glee’s dropped storylines” over here.) How much longer will it last before people give up on it?

The girls – remember, they are (almost) 10 and (almost) 12 – were asking Mark and I if they could watch it recently. Apparently all of their friends watch Glee (this is especially true in the elder child’s case) and I have to say, I am surprised that the parents let their kids watch the show.

I fully expect to get shot down here, but I have to put it out there anyway. Do those parents really know what goes on in the show? Or are they letting them watch it because everyone else does, and on the surface it just appears to be a show about misfit kids who love to sing?

In the past two episodes, sex and alcohol have been the main feature. I’m no prude, we talk about sex around here (even what it means to be homosexual), as well as alcohol. But I just wouldn’t know where to begin explaining things like celibacy clubs, sex tapes (Lauren and Puck had a plan, but they learned that it’d be classified as child prn if they went through with it), and why Emma and Carl haven’t consummated their 4-month old marriage.

You can read some amusing episode recaps at Television Without Pity.

Mark and I talk to the girls about responsible use of sex and alcohol. We tell the girls it’s better to be kind and smart than gorgeous and popular. I know that Glee is supposed to be entertainment, and that viewers are not supposed to search for role models in their television shows, but I have been struggling to find a good female character in the show. I’ve come to realize that it’s important for me given the amount of television the girls watch. They actually don’t watch very much, so shouldn’t the stuff they DO watch have at least a minute amount of redeeming quality? I’m not saying that everything they should be watching needs to be educational, but still.

I’m savvy enough to disregard Rachel’s self-centred quest for fame, Santana’s spite and cruelty, and Quinn’s popularity issues (where is her baby anyway?) but are my daughters? And I know that my kids hear a lot of crap in the schoolyard, but the language that comes out of Glee character’s mouths makes me cringe.

I know it’s all in the name of “edgy comedy,” but I can’t imagine telling my kids that it’s supposed to be funny when Sue Sylvester (whom I ADORE by the way) shoves a teacher down the staircase because her goal is always to win. Even though the writers occasionally hint at her having a heart (I love it when we meet her sister), she’s a bully, plain and simple. Why is it forgiven, time and time again?

I’m fully aware that the girls will probably end up watching Glee at someone else’s house, so I hope that we’ve given them enough information to be able to break everything down for themselves (and come to us instead of their friends) if they have questions.

If Glee is on in two years (and I doubt it will be) I might consider letting my kids watch it, but not now.  What do you think? I’d love to hear someone else’s perspective on this.

If you’re a parent who isn’t sure whether a particular movie, video game or TV program is appropriate for kids you should check out Common Sense Media. Here’s what they have to say about Glee. Do you agree with their assessment? Disagree?

I had the good fortune to be given tickets to a special preview screening of Mars Needs Moms last weekend. It was, in a word (or four) A Very Fun Movie. Today is the official release date, just in time for March Break. A perfect thing to do with the family if you ask me.

Both girls really enjoyed it. In fact, I looked over to look at Emma during the movie and she was LITERALLY at the edge of her seat. Sarah described it as “awesome” … and was rather wide-eyed upon exit.

When I first saw the trailer I wasn’t sure if MNM was going to be a film I’d like. Here’s the general premise:

“Mars Needs Moms” showcases nine-year-old Milo’s (Seth Green) quest to save his mom (Joan Cusack) from Martians—a wild adventure in Disney Digital 3D™ and IMAX® 3D that involves stowing away on a spaceship, navigating an elaborate, multi-level planet and taking on the alien nation and their leader (Mindy Sterling).

But you know what, I liked it. Joan Cusack voiced a great mom. Here’s a fun clip:

That still cracks me up.

This is a great definition of a family film. Kids will understand it from Milo’s perspective, and parents will see it from the mom’s perspective… and everyone will enjoy themselves.

Mark thought it was predictable. Of course it is. It’s a children’s adventure film! It goes without saying that there will be a satisfactory resolution at the end, although you won’t be able to predict how they solve their problem and what twists they will encounter along the way.

Some seemingly random points:

• For some reason I found the quality of the 3D print disappointing. I’m not sure if the theatre messed up the brightness levels but it was DARK. Add to that a pair of 3-D glasses and it’s even darker, making to hard to see some of the details. Call me a snob, but personally, I would have left – that’s how distracting it was – but this is hard to do when kids are involved.
• Speaking of 3D, it is hard to wipe tears away behind clunky plastic glasses. Don’t judge me. :)
• Other than the issue with the brightness, the quality of the animation was superb and reminded me of “The Polar Express,” and especially “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” (MNM’s producer Robert Zemeckis wrote, directed and produced both of those films).
• Milo meets an underground earthman named Gribble (Dan Fogler). Gribble is, essentially, a kid who never grew up. He’s really well animated. Zemeckis deserves an award for best animation of a human. Wow.
• Also, the martian matriarch is very weird and reminds me of a screechy 150-year old version of Eartha Kitt, which might freak out very young viewers. (Remember Eartha’s voice work in Emperor’s New Groove? It was hilarious, and ENG remains one of the most underrated Disney movies of all time.)

An interesting note from tthe MNM press release:

Berkeley Breathed, a Pulitzer-Prize winner for his comic strip “Bloom County,” is the author and illustrator of the book “Mars Needs Moms.” The story was inspired by a particular moment of disagreement that took place between his son Milo and his wife.

Ha.

 Visit the official website for previews and games.

I wish I had tickets to give away, but I do have a Mars Needs Moms Prize Pack for someone. It contains:

• Four MARS NEEDS MOMS t-shirts (2 Adult, 2 kids)
• Mars Needs Moms poster
• Mars Needs Moms tattoos
• Mars Needs Moms Backpack

First Canadian family who wants it, gets it. :)