Snapped these funny faces this morning - matching my daughter's goofiness earlier this month. Too much time on our hands sometimes, huh?



We're still learning that mornings are for getting ready for the day. We all need to get out of the house, and the smoother that goes, the better we all feel about life, the universe and everything. But most mornings, something comes up that sets one of the kids off - stomping, whining, yelling, all working against our "have a good day" morning routine. This morning, however, was relatively calm and sedate. Breakfast was eaten, shoes were put on, and teeth were even brushed. Whew.

Today's Daily Dig had this to say in my inbox as I booted up, after dropping off the kids and enjoying my 30-minute commute:

Do Not Hinder Them
Janusz Korczak

Children are not the people of tomorrow, but are people of today. They have a right to be taken seriously, and to be treated with tenderness and respect. They should be allowed to grow into whoever they were meant to be. The unknown person inside each of them is our hope for the future.

Just felt appropriate to include that here as I'm raggin' on my own kids. We do seek to treat them as real people, hoping that translates into the way they treat others as they grow and mature and move out on their own.

Can I take a minute and vent over the state of what passes for "children's entertainment" in today's society? Thanks.

Before Christmas, a live-action version of Dr. Seuss' CAT IN THE HAT was released. From the commercials/previews, I just wasn't impressed - but it made millions and everyone took their kids. This month, it was released on DVD, and I bought it for my kids to watch while Vicki & I were at the beach this past weekend. BIG MISTAKE. We didn't preview it first, and there are two scenes in particular that went "too far". First, the Cat tells the children that his car's acronym is S.L.O.W., and that it's better than it's previous name, S.H.%.T. The second, when the Cat is informed that he's cut off his own tail, is one long bleep of expletives.

I guess bleeping is funny. Or implying a dirty word is funny. In SHREK, Donkey says a few choice words in the beginning, and another character mutters something curse-y later on. I'm no prude - but if you're only able to be funny by being dirty - YOU'RE NOT FUNNY. We mistake shock value for humor. We mistake weirdness and fetish immorality for drama (catch any of the plotlines on CSI lately?). We mistake opinions for news, commentary for fact.

But I digress - my thing here is that there was no need to cuss, or imply cussing, in what's ostensibly a children's film. The LOONEY TUNES movie that came out last year didn't have any of that, and it was really funny for me as an adult. Same goes for most Disney movies - keeping the adults laughing and the kids laughing takes skill, not bleeeeeeep-bleeeeepity-bleeeepin' foul language.

So in our house, the CAT IN THE HAT dvd is now "lost". If they never see it again, they know it's gone. I've told them as much, and tried to explain why we're tossing it. My hope is that my kids grow up with a sense of humor that's funny, not crass, and that they're able to make wise choices of what they'll listen to and watch.
- posted by Rick @ 08:36