Dinner Time

While my kids were eating dinner, I finally thought I was ready to open the box we got from UPS, containing the ashes of my 17-year-old dog. Even just looking at his name on the cremation certificate was too much. I sat down and called my other dog, a 15-year-old. She came over and I hugged her head. My 4-year-old boy saw me crying.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm hugging Gingee," I said.

"Why?"

"Because I love her."

He put down his fork, stood up, and walked toward me with his arms wide open. He hugged me for a few seconds.

"I'm hugging you because I love you," he said.

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On Santa Claus and Debra Winger

I've seen a few parents ask others what they do about Santa. Do they tell their kids Santa is real? Do they tell them he lives forever in the North Pole, riding a sleigh driven by flying deer? And if they do all that, do they eventually tell their kids Santa wasn't real? Or do they wait for their kids to grow up and figure things out by themselves?

Well, here's why I can't do any of it. Here's why I tell my kids Santa is just a regular guy with funny clothes.

This is not a "Parents should never lie to their kids" post. I believe there's a place for fantasy in kids' lives, and there's nothing wrong with believing. My wife still remembers fondly the day she packed her bags and waited outside for the van that was supposed to take her to the Bad Girls Farm. It's one of her favorite father-daughter stories. And I took it away from her because my boy asked me if the farmer was coming and I had to tell him the truth.

So here's my story. Here's why I physically can't lie, joke, or even fib. And it has everything to do with Debra Winger.

When I was a young kid, let's say 8, my family and I watched a movie on TV together, and when Debra Winger showed up, as she often did in 80s movies, my father said, "You know, she's my first cousin."

Now if my dad told me something, it had to be true, even if it was just an off-hand comment. Which is why the next day I told everyone is school that Debra Winger was my dad's first cousin. Every time Debra Winger reappeared on our family's TV screen, my dad said the same thing, which reminded me that no matter how low I got and no matter what life threw at little me, I would always have this glamorous Hollywood connection to non other than Debra Winger. Of all people.

And as long as my dad kept reminding me about his Hollywood cousin, I kept telling people. I told old friends again, and I told new friends. I told elementary school friends and high school friends. Eventually I joined the army and told people there. "Remember Debra Winger? She used to be in movies? Well, she's my dad's first cousin! Cool, eh? I know!"

Until one day in my early twenties, I was sitting with my dad in the living room. We were watching the news, and when my dad saw one of the reporters, he said, "You know-- This guy was with me in the army."

I nodded.

"And do you know Debra Winger, the actress?" He continued. "That's his first cousin!"

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RedBox Game Night

Some parents don't have a TV in the house and they look down at those of us who allow their kids to play video games. Good for them, but that's not how we do things here. Sure, I don't join forces with my 4-year-old in a combined attack against zombies (that will come in the future, though), but I don't see anything wrong in letting my kid play the Wii by himself, or even better, play with me. As soon as we made ourselves a second child, he got pushed down the priority ladder of "Things we need to pay attention to or they'll wind up in the hospital," so any moment of us playing together is a precious us-time, and no misguided "Kids should only run around outside" parenting philosophy can stop me.

Personally, to the people who agree with me but say, "It's OK to play video games as long as the kid isn't just sitting there and passively watching TV," I would say there's no such thing as a kid passively watching TV, but that's an argument for another time.

So, when the Smiley 360 people, working with RedBox, asked me to talk about renting games from RedBox machines (and giving me rental codes to try it out and a free game to keep, because I guess they had a spare one in the office), I agreed. I've never rented anything from a RedBox machine, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to finally see what these red boxes were about. Actually, I didn't even know they had video games. And as some Wii games are keepers and others may be good for only a night or two, I'm a big believer in renting games. Recently, that OTHER red company was about to introduce game rentals, but that doesn't seem to be happening any time soon, so now it's only GameFly, which personally I find too expensive, and RedBox, which is convenient and much cheaper. The games are mostly limited to current top sellers, which means that if you want to try out older games or more obscure titles, your only help comes from game reviews (like YouTube video reviews), but otherwise, RedBox is a great way to try out games.

Right now, RedBox is having a "12 Days of Deals & Prizes" promo, so go there now to text and win.

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When Smiley 360 approached me, they also suggested I take photos of our family/friends having a game night, so I took a few, and my wife too a few more. As usual, I apologize for appearing in so many pictures. For the record, I blame my baldness on the fact that I grew up near a power station. Have a great holidays, everyone. And try not to fight with your parents. And avoid the mall.

Renting the cool Go Vacation game, which I'll probably end up buying...

Playing Wipeout 2

Going on a swim with my boy. I'm the bald one on the right...

PJ came over to play

Nothing like a little sky-diving to end a productive day

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Disclosure: I worked in conjunction with smiley360 and Redbox on this post. Products were provided. No compensation was received. The honest opinions are my own and those of my family.

More iPhone Apps for Kids

For a long time, whenever I received a "Look at this app and review it PLEASE" email, my answer was pretty much the same as the one on Smonk You: If you want me to review an iPhone app, buy me an iPhone. But then I got my iPhone, which I really didn't need but now will probably die if we spend a day apart, and like most other smart-phoners, I collect apps...

So this is my disclosure policy. One day I'll write a real one, but for now, this is it: I got one of these two apps for free. The second one was already free. So that's that.

The first is Solar Walk, which is selling now at $2.99. Yes, I got it for free, but you know I'm a sucker for these things. The app is from the same people who made the amazing Star Walk, and while Star Walk has some unique features you don't get with the solar version, this app includes educational movies, as well as 3D compatibility, so if you have those 80s blue-red 3D glasses or if you have a 3D TV, this will be even more amazing. Apparently.

I'm taking small steps with my kid. He's only 4, but he's curious, and every little thing can be a teachable moment. He noticed four shadows of his head in the kitchen yesterday, which gave me an opportunity to explain why that was, and then talk about shadows in general, and then I started talking about eclipses. He's at the stage where I can still teach him stuff, so I'm going to use that as much as I can before he realizes how ignorant I really am. Now back to the app.

While some of the features here are definitely for older kids or for adults, it's still a great one for kids, because a 4-year-old can spend hours playing around with this app, rotating planets, and learning about the places beyond the clouds.

Here are some pictures. As usual, they don't do this app justice. This stuff is absolutely beautiful.

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The second app, the free one, is the PBS Kids app. Unlike the PBS Labs website I mentioned before, which was all about educational games, this app is basically video clips of PBS Kids shows. It's very straight-forward: You choose a PBS character and a video begins. You can scroll to the right to pick another video out of hundreds available, then touch the screen once to get full screen. And that's pretty much it. I don't let either of my kids spend too much time with my phone, because I don't want them to destroy it, and because I use it, and because I somehow feel less guilty about my parenting if I get them to run around more instead of sitting and moving their fingers on a phone, even though these apps are educational and even though every time every time every time they run around one of them gets hurt and screams. Every freakin' time.

It's Almost Bill Hicks' Birthday, So Here's an Anecdote

I was driving my then-three-year-old boy to school, and again, we were going to be late. There are a lot of reasons to be stressful about that morning drive, especially because most of the way I'm driving on a one-lane road, my time of arrival entirely dependent on the cars in front of me. What I didn't need that day, though, was for that one left-turn light to turn red just as I was about to make it.

So I waited. And waited. And then, when the cars on the other side of the road stopped, I got ready, only to realize it still wasn't my turn to go. The two cars on the left had a green light first. Then the junction was empty. Everyone was waiting for that damn light! This was too much.

"Oh, come on!" I said.

My boy moved his head as much as he could, stretching the car-seat belts to their limits, desperately trying to see the road. "What happened?"

"The light!" I said. "It doesn't turn green!"

My boy leaned back in his seat and started playing with the zipper on his coat. "Don't worry," he said. "It will soon."

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So today, a few days after my boy's 4th birthday and before the late Bill Hicks' birthday, I want to thank both for reminding me to stop taking life so damn seriously all the time.

Brent

Designer Daddy

Not many people know that, but while my daughter's room looks more or less like this one, in a parallel universe I'm the coolest dad alive. Over there, on planet Shmearth, I draw happy murals on my kids' walls, I design the invitations for my kids' birthday parties, and--generally thinking of the world as potentially-beautiful--I never miss an opportunity to make it a more colorful place for the next generation.

Until I find the space/time wormhole, though, I'll have to live vicariously through Brent's Designer Daddy blog.

Other than design-related posts, Brent writes about media portrayals of fatherhood, adoption, and two-dads families, as well as more personal posts about his experience as a father of a two-year-old.

As usual, I love linking to blogs that should be at least as popular as those featured on the Babble bubble. I hope I get you to visit the blog and maybe find your own inner designer-parent. Or at least your inner-designer-parallel-universe-parent.

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