This post is a day late thanks to a lot of Birthday excitement. And by “excitement”, I mean things going wrong left and right. The plan for B’s birthday was to drop the kids off at her parents’ house and then go out to eat. B had even decided that we would go to a nice Japanese steakhouse for her birthday meal.
Then the excitement arrived and our plans went out the window.
A few weeks ago, BuddyTV ran a Heroes contest. I entered and was quite surprised to learn that I won. Not too long afterwards, a box arrived at my doorstep with some Heroes goodies.
Let’s go through these one at a time, shall we? First off are the Heroes Season 1 and Season 2 DVD sets.
Also in there was a Matt Parkman action figure (as well as Molly Walker). Parkman is, of course, played by the fantastic Greg Grunberg.
Next up is a Hiro bobblehead. In Season 1, there were two “Hiro” characters. One, from the present, was a geeky sort of guy who wore glasses. The other, from the future, wore no glasses, had a goatee, and had a more kick-butt attitude. The bobblehead captures both Hiros nicely.
Finally, there was a necklace. But not just any necklace. Heroes fans will recognize this as the necklace worn by the mostly-silent, memory erasing friend/co-worker of Mr. Bennett (aka Noah, aka HRG): The Haitian.
All in all a great prize package. Thanks again, BuddyTV!
I’m a big proponent of science. I was even a physics major for awhile in college. So I like anything that helps to teach my children about the workings of the world around them. In addition, I’m a big fan of pretty much everything that the Jim Henson Company makes (and has made), from the Muppets to the television show Dinosaurs to Farscape. When I watch a Jim Henson production, I can be sure that it will be entertaining and high quality. Sid The Science Kid is no exception.
Sid always begins the show puzzled by a certain phenomenon. Whether it be a banana gone bad or shoes that "mysteriously shrink", Sid wonders how the event happened. Just like any good science kid, or grownup, Sid uses various tools to figure it out. He looks up information on the computer (aided by his mother), he comes up with a few theories (aided by his school yard friends), and he performs some experiments (with the help of Teacher Susie). In the end, Sid understands just what makes that phenomenon occur and starts to dream of putting it to good use (in his Super-Duper-Ooper-Schmooper Big Idea). The translation of the processes that real scientists go through is faithful while remaining understandable to children.
NHL has loved the Sid the Science Kid television show for quite awhile (as I’ve mentioned in the past). During a recent trip to a toy store to shop for Chanukah presents, he noticed the Sid toys. He was drawn to them and wanted one. In the end, we we decided to get him other items, but thanks to The Jim Henson Company and KCET (PBS/Los Angeles), NHL will soon have a Sid The Science Kid Talkin’ Sid to review. Ok, technically it is for me to review, but you don’t think I’m not going to recruit him to review it as well, do you?
You can save $3.00 off the purchase of the Talkin’ Sid The Science Kid plush at Toys ‘R Us by going to Coupons.com and clicking on the "Toy and Game" link on the left hand side of the page. Talkin’ Sid The Science Kid is currently only available at Toys ‘R Us.
But, wait, there’s more! (I’ve always wanted to say that.) I’ve been presented with the opportunity to give away one Talkin’ Sid The Science Kid plush to a lucky reader (or a lucky reader’s child as the case may be).
TALKIN’ SID THE SCIENCE KID
(Ages 3 years & up/Approx retail price: $24.99/Available Now)
Now kids can bring their friend SID home with the lively TALKIN’ SID THE SCIENCE KID plush character. This soft and loveable plush SID is 12 inches tall and comes ready to play and learn with his iconic "microphone." Squeeze his belly to hear seven different popular phrases from the series. Requires two "AA" batteries, included.
Rules for Giveaway:
To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today December 7th and ends at Noon EST on December 14, 2009. You don’t need to be a blogger to enter, but I do need you to leave a valid e-mail address in your comment so I can contact you for your mailing address once the giveaway is over. I’ll select the winner using random.org and will contact you via e-mail. Once the e-mail is sent, you will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. residents only.
Disclaimer: As stated above, I am going to recieve a complimentary Talkin’ Sid the Science Kid to review. I haven’t recieved it as of this posting, but I figured that this giveaway should go live as early as possible. When I recieve my Talkin’ Sid, I (and NHL) will review it and will post the review on this website.
As the holiday season draws near, certain challenges arise. As I ranted talked about before in Tis The Season For Bah Humbug, we don’t celebrate Christmas. Instead, we celebrate Chanukah. This means that we don’t need to put up a Christmas tree, stuff any stockings or tell our kids that Santa is going to come and visit. However, that last item does pose a tricky dilemma. Obviously, we don’t have any personal need for our children to think that Santa Claus is real. However, if we tell them that he isn’t (especially 6 year old NHL), then that story will be repeated to other kids. Kids whose parents have said that Santa would be stopping by soon.
We don’t wish any ill will towards other families’ beliefs and practices so this one has, for now, been relatively easy to circumvent. We haven’t told them about Santa’s reality one way or another. The boys understand that Santa relates to Christmas and we don’t celebrate Christmas. However, I wonder what will happen as they get older. Will they begin to ask for a better reason why Santa won’t visit us or whether we’re on the naughty list for not celebrating Christmas? Perhaps NHL will want to know how Santa gets to every house in the world in one night. Perhaps he will have other, not so easy to answer questions. (If there’s one thing I’ve learned is that kids have a tendancy to find and ask questions that are difficult to answer.)
The more I think about the questions they might ask, the more I wonder where the line is. At what point does our wishes not to burst any bubbles clash with our wishes to raise our children to believe certain things. To expand this past Santa Claus, what happens if NHL tells a classmate in Hebrew school that men evolved from primate ancestors when that child has been taught that mankind was created by God somewhere around 10,000 years ago. That could understandably cause a sticky situation. To go past my own children, what if an athiest couple’s child tells mine that God doesn’t exist?
My Aloha Friday question is: How do you reconcile teaching your child what you would want them to believe while not offending others’ beliefs?
Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.
Aloha #16
While I go off to work, my wife gets to stay home with the boys. While this means that she gets to have fun with them more than I do, it also means that she gets to be there during the "challenging moments." She needs to deal with these moments alone over nine hours a day, five days a week. It is easy to see how one could get burned out. So I like taking the boys out every now and then for "Guy Time." Sunday was one of those days. (B did laundry then, but at least she didn’t need to take a break from the laundry to break up a fight or send NHL to his room.)
First up was the grocery store. We needed some food for the coming week and so I had made a list all ready. Unfortunately, I forgot that list at home. No problem, though. Text messaging to the rescue. B texted me the list and I checked my phone from time to time to get everything we needed.
After the grocery store, we quickly stopped back home just to drop off the groceries. Then it was back out. This time, the boys and I went to the playground so they could let off some steam. The minute we got out of the car, they took off towards the slides and didn’t stop until we left. I’m going to miss playgrounds when the snow falls.
Like I said, they first went down the slides.
Next. we went to some tunnels they had.
Once they were done crawling through the tunnels, JSL rode in a plane while NHL sat atop a dinosaur. Eventually, NHL joined JSL in the plane.
Then a quick trip to another set of slides.
And next, it was swing time.
At one point, I got on the swings myself and decided to shoot video… a rather nausea inducing video. Watch at your own risk.
[flv]/2009/12/P1220297.flv|424|240[/flv]
After the swings, we went on the spinner and got a bit dizzy.
Then, after a failed trip to the "big slides" (failed because they were too wet to slide down), the boys climbed a tower. Ok, NHL climbed a tower. JSL flew up to the top (with a little dad-assist).
Finally, it was back to the original slides for some more sliding fun.
Reluctantly, they bid farewell to the playground and followed me back to our car to head home. How I love Boys Day Outs!
