My Cartoons vs. His Cartoons

I like...











He likes....










I like...













He likes...














And thus I relent. I have to face facts that being raised on He-Man, Thundercats, Looney Tunes, G.I. Joe, and Voltron (later on Animaniacs, The Tick and Eek! the Cat) probably didn't do much to edify my inclination toward watching educational cartoons. But the evolution of cartoons is something that's great as a parent. Now you don't have to feel bad about letting your kid zombie out for a little bit.

I'll grant you that there have to be limits. We don't just turn the T.V. on and turn our parenting skills off. Playhouse Disney actually helps us interact a bit with a few of their shows. And he learns from them too.

But I like to watch the silly shows sometimes too. I think silliness is underrated. But I digress.

What Playhouse Disney does is amp up the interaction. Asking the viewer questions, waiting for the answer, asking the viewer to do some physical action, then applauding the action. It's really great for kids to have that rather than just mindless entertainment. And this coming from a guy who doesn't like Disney. I was a Looney Tunes guy. I liked violence like Foghorn Leghorn or Wile E. Coyote.

But I appreciate the educational entertainment industry. It doesn't take the place of playing with the kids or reading to them, but it's a nice accessory to those things.

That being said, I like mindless entertainment too.

StoryTime!!!

There's one man who makes parenting a much easier job. One man who in modern history shaped our lives in my generation and generations before, more than any other literary figure. And that man is Dr. Seuss.

Reading to your child is a wonderful pastime for a variety of reasons. It gives you quality time. It gives you a chance to cuddle with your little one. It helps them to hear and hopefully expand their own vocabulary.

When our son began saying his first words we began the ritutal of reading a book to him every night. Mostly short books like If You Give a Pig a Pancake and Moo, Baa, La La La. But I'm a big, big fan of Seuss.

My wife doesn't read Seuss as much because they're usually nearly 50 pages. I find them to be a quick read and they give me an opportunity to teach my son something else: rhythm.

The great thing about Seuss is that his writing style not only helped kids with their vocabulary, spelling, and phonics, but it was written with a rhythm. This month in particular I've read How the Grinch Stole Christmas a couple times already. Anyone in my generation who reads that book reads it in the way it was recited in the 30 minute TV special. And we try our best to mimic the Grinch's voice. We may even sing a few bars of You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.

So today a special shout out to Dr. Seuss. Seuss, Theodore Geisel, passed away over 15 years ago and still has a profound impact on today's children. I love reading his books for my son, and frankly for myself.

From there to here, From here to there, Funny things are everywhere.

Working from the Home

Some people may ask, "How young is too young to put your child to work helping earn the family income?" I say if they can sit up, they can help out.

Our son has his own internet based business selling used pacifiers and refurbished diaper Genies. It gives him something to do and the extra income comes in handy. We snapped this picture of him on an average workday.

Actually I wanted to post today to announce a breakthrough. The breakthrough has nothing to do with this picture, but I needed to get a new pic of him up, so I just grabbed one off the hard drive.

Our son is now eating table food as if he's always liked it. The baby sitter reported that yesterday he ate chicken nuggets, corn and applesauce for lunch. Last night we had tacos. No, we did not give our one year old tacos and refried beans. That is a recipe for a sleepless night if I've ever heard one. We gave him a banana. The whole banana. Then we gave him some Cheerios (or Baby Crack as I call them) to top the meal off with a ice cold sippee cup of whole milk to wash it down.

My wife and I were talking last night after putting him to bed. We both think its been amazing how fast he's learning. It's like he's a young Doogie Howser (without that annoying Vinnie popping in through the bedroom window at night.) In the last two weeks he's learned clapping, patting, waving, kissing, eating with a spoon, shapes, how to pet the kitty (with nice hands) and the joy of chicken nuggets (thank you McDonald's for introducing the world to your tasty chicken nuggets that come in only two shapes, boots and circles.)

Every parent wants to think that their child is exceptional. I'm sure I will one day too. But today I don't really think he is nor do I care. He's happy, healthy, and smart. That's a blessing.

One more thing to blog about today briefly. Aiden has learned his patting and other motions from mimicking what he sees on Disney's Little Einstein's TV program. It occurred to me this morning in the shower (who doesn't do their best thinking in the shower?!?) that it is oh so important to pay close attention to what's on your TV. If a boy who is no more than 56 weeks old can mimic what's on TV, then any child can.

Tables and Jars, Tables and Jars

The latest parental hurdle we've come up against is how to get your child to eat table food. Our son had no problem eating table food here and there along the way. But lately if you give him something from your plate he acts like you're offering him rat poison. He gets downright beligirent if you try to force it in his mouth.

And it's not strange foods. We don't feast on Korean cuisine or anything. I'm talking mashed potatoes, green beans, breads, etc. Pretty normal fare. But the child would rather have Goldfish and Cheerios than just about anything. Oh, and if it comes out of a jar, it automatically gets the lipsmacking seal of approval.

The great thing about having a young child is that one day is completely different than the one that preceded it. Its also the bad thing about having a young child because you never know what's going to work. In the last week he's let down his guard a bit and been more willing to try table foods, but he's still very cautious about it.

It seems like letting him hold the spoon is a milestone, but we'll see how long that lasts. Not to mention the food we're wasting by letting him smear it on his face rather than getting it in his mouth. Oh the starving people in third world countries would loathe us. On the other hand, they can't even get food, so they don't have internet. And if they don't have internet, they'll never know this story.