ParentDish

Reviews: What's New This Week

Sandy Maple — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:27:00 EST

Here is a look at what's new this week in family entertainment as adapted from reviews and ratings by Common Sense Media. Click on the links to read the reviews in full.

In Theaters Now: Disney's A Christmas Carol
A perfectly cast Jim Carrey stars as Ebeneezer Scrooge in "Disney's A Christmas Carol." This classic tale about the importance of doing right by others is a 3-D fright fest with intense special effects and some terrifying imagery. For children brave enough to take it, the film is an excellent remake of the Charles Dickens classic Christmas tale. Rated PG, OK for Kids 8+

DVD: Aliens in the Attic
Kids will recognize some of their favorite Disney and Nickelodeon stars in the silly adventure comedy "Aliens in the Attic." In the film, a family vacation is upended by the discovery of some extra-terrestrials set on world domination. While the kids battle the bad guys, there are a few comically scary scenes, lots of immature name-calling and some pretty heavy flirting. Rated PG, OK for Kids 8+

TV: Fanboy and Chum Chum
Two thrill-seeking friends imagine themselves superheros in "Fanboy and Chum Chum." While there is little educational value in this film, there is also little to worry parents. The main characters are goofy, the action scenes are comical and the language doesn't get any worse than the occasional "butt." Rated TV-Y, OK for Kids 7+

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Jim Carrey's "A Christmas Carol" Creepy in a Good Way

Angie Argabrite — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:22:00 EST

Filed under: Fun & Activities, Media, That's Entertainment

When I heard about the latest version of "A Christmas Carol," which opens today and stars Jim Carrey in multiple roles (he's Scrooge, and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future), I went in with low expectations for this motion-capture-animated flick.

I'll admit this right up front: I'm not a huge fan of the motion-capture method of animation. If you're not familiar with that term, think "Polar Express." It was the first major movie created with motion-capture technology, and to me, it was a little creepy, and gave the characters a sort of soulless, dead-eyed look.

The next major film to use the technology was "Beowulf," starring Ray Winstone, Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, John Malkovich and more big-name, respected actors. The creepiness factor didn't bother me so much with this one because it wasn't a movie that was meant to be a heartwarming holiday tale; it was a grown-up take on a literary classic -- a violent, monster-filled fable.

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Twitter Follow Friday on ParentDish!

Amy Hatch — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:20:00 EST

Filed under: Funny Stuff

Love Twitter? So do we! It can be tough to keep tabs on all your favorite "Tweeters" from the "Twitterverse" -- but don't worry, we've got you covered! Here's our favorite parenting Tweets of the week, raw and uncensored, typos and all, just as you see them on Twitter. Follow ParentDish on Twitter to join the discussion (who knows, maybe we'll feature you here!).

mamikaze

mamikaze coffee and cheetos. boo-yeah!

missfish

missfish Some guy just pulled up in his car and took the four soggy Jack o' lanterns I put out with the yard waste. WTH?

notthatyouasked

notthatyouasked No matter what size bottle I make, Lucy doesn't finish it. 8 oz? She drinks 6. 6 oz? She drinks 4. 4 oz? She drinks 3. HOW DOES SHE KNOW?

WinterDaisy

WinterDaisy Can only tweet from work for the next couple of days. What am I supposed to do at home? Clean!?

rockandrollmama

rockandrollmama Things I never like to hear: "Mommy! I poop on the COUCH!" And lord help me, it's true.

Read any good Tweets? Give us a shout on Twitter and let us know all about it!

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Babies Pick Up Mothers' Accents In The Womb

Tom Henderson — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:15:00 EST

Filed under: Newborns, Development, In The News

Babies learn accents in the womb. Credit: jupiterimages

Have you ever heard a baby cry with a German accent?

You can -- if you listen hard enough, said Kathleen Wermke of the University of Würzberg in Germany to the BBC. She led a research project which concluded that infants pick up the nuances of their mothers' accents, even while in the womb.

Researchers studied the cries of 60 healthy babies born to families speaking German and French. Wermke told the BBC that they could detect the French babies crying with a rising accent while German babies cried with a falling accent.

Wermke added that the research, which was published in the journal Current Biology, is more than just a slightly interesting curiosity. It suggests that human beings are influenced by the first sounds that penetrate the womb. Scientists already knew that unborn children could memorize sounds from the outside world in the last trimester of pregnancy, especially music and voices.

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Recall: Adventure Playsets

Jeanne Sager — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:11:00 EST

Filed under: Health & Safety, Alerts & Recalls

Recall of Adventure Playsets. Credit: CPSC

Rotting ladders on Adventure Playsets have prompted a recall of more than a quarter of a million pieces in the United States and Canada.

Working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Amarillo, Texas company has put out an official recall of the Adventure Playsets Wooden Play Sets, effective immediately.

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Recall: Young Artist Easels Violate Lead Standards

Jeanne Sager — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:31:00 EST

Filed under: Health & Safety, Alerts & Recalls

Recall of Young Artist Easels, sold by MacPherson's/Art Alternatives. Credit: CPSC

A chalkboard on 10,000 Young Artist Easels sold by MacPherson's has tested above federal limits for lead allowable in children's products, prompting a recall.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the company has put out a voluntary recall, asking consumers to take the easels away from their kids until a replacement chalkboard can be sent to them.

The easels were sold mostly at art supply shops and online for about $75 between July 2004 and July of this year. Named Young Artist Easels, they were sold by MacPherson's doing business as Art Alternatives and manufactured in China.

The original packaging has the item number AA13301, and the UPC number is 082435133010. The recall applies only to easels with a chalkboard on one side and a whiteboard on the other.

The National Institutes of Health warn that lead poisoning is especially dangerous in kids. Even low levels of lead have been linked to lower IQ scores in kids, while higher levels are linked to anemia, muscle weakness and brain damage.

Parents can call MacPherson's at 866-319-5335 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Pacific time, Monday through Friday for a replacement, or e-mail them at recall@macphersonart.com. To fill out a form to have a replacement chalkboard sent your way, visit the MacPherson's Web site.

Related: More consumer alerts and recalls.

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Dewey The Library Cat Gets a Movie Deal, Meryl Streep Signs on to Play Librarian

Jeanne Sager — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:01:00 EST

Filed under: Teens & tweens, Education, Pets, Single parenting, Amazing Parents, Books

Vicki Myron has published another children's book about Dewey, the kitten she rescued from her library's drop box. Credit: Hachette Book Group, USA

He grew up entertaining the children who tromped into an Iowa library for story hour, so it was only a matter of time before this furry friend, aptly named Dewey Readmore Books, starred in his own children's books.

In fact "Dewey: There's a Cat in the Library" is the follow up to Vicki Myron's best-selling memoir "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World," which is set to be made into a movie by New Line Cinema. Meryl Streep has signed on to play Myron, but the former librarian, who discovered Dewey as a kitten abandoned in the Spencer, Iowa library drop box on a chilly winter morning in the 1980s, isn't done telling this feline's tale.

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Kids More Stressed Out Than Ever Before, Survey Shows

Amy Hatch — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:20:00 EST

Filed under: Just For Moms, Kids 8-11, Teens & tweens, Just For Dads, Money & Work, Health & Safety, In The News, Extreme Childhood

Kids are more stressed out than they were last year, and they take their cues from their parents. Credit: BrittneyBush, Flickr

Kids are more stressed out than ever, and their worries include family financial troubles, body image issues and getting into a good college or university.

The 2009 Stress in America survey, administered by the American Psychological Association, is the first to ask children about their stress levels, according to U.S. News & World Report. The results are startling: One third of the 1,206 children ages 8 to 17 surveyed admitted that they are more stressed out than they were just one year ago.

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John And Jack: Can Sibling Names Be Too Close?

The Name Lady — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:11:00 EST

Filed under: Baby Names

Dear Name Lady:

I have a 2-year-old son named John. We just found out that we're expecting another boy, and my husband and I really want to name him Jack. I come from the generation where Jack is Jack and John is John, but others see them as one and the same. Your thoughts?

- J

The idea that Jack is "short" for John may seem odd on the face of it. The names are the same length and have only one sound in common. In this century they're both standalone names, high on the charts. But for hundreds and hundreds of years, almost every Jack was actually christened John.

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Jill Schulz, Daughter of Late 'Peanuts' Creator Charles Schulz Says No One Will Ever Continue Strip

Brett Singer — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:54:00 EST

Filed under: Life & Style, Celeb Parenting, Media

Jill Schulz, daughter of "Peanuts" creator Charles M. Schulz. Credit: Lucia Engel

Jill Schulz, daughter of "Peanuts" creator Charles M. Schulz, is a busy woman.

She helps manage the massive "Peanuts" empire, especially Woodstock Ice Productions, drawing on her career as a professional ice skater. She also directs and choreographs the "All Wheels Xtreme" sports entertainment shows and still finds time for her husband, Aaron, and their two children, Kylie, 11, and Tyler, 7. She took time out of her day to chat with ParentDish about her dad, his legacy and the Peanuts 60th Anniversary Photo Look-A-Like contest.

ParentDish: I'm sure you've been asked this 100 times, but what's it like to be the daughter of a legend?

Jill Schulz: I always say that he's the only dad I grew up with, so to me he was always a dad first. I learned a lot from my dad. His philosophy on working hard and enjoying what you do, and enjoying the process. We grew up in Northern California, so we didn't grow up in a sort of celebrity Beverly Hills-esque lifestyle. My parents were from Minnesota, so we were all fairly "Plain Jane." We just grew up in a regular "Brady Bunch"-style house in the country.

Continue reading Jill Schulz, Daughter of Late 'Peanuts' Creator Charles Schulz Says No One Will Ever Continue Strip

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Hot Topic: Parent Sportsmanship Worse Than Ever?

Mark Hyman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:28:00 EST

Filed under: Sports

Is parent sportsmanship at our kids' games in a steep decline?

That's an easy one to answer, since examples of adults behaving badly on youth sports sidelines are about as easy to find as the games themselves.

Today we heard about former Oakland Raiders player Jeremy Brigham, who went to blows with Alameda County supervisor Scott Haggerty. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Brigham accused Haggerty - "whom he had just fired as the assistant coach of his Pleasanton squad of 10- and 11-year-old boys" - of leaking plays to an opposing pee-wee football team. This scuffle is under investigation.

And just last month, a football practice near Boston abruptly turned into a bizarre boxing match between a father of a young player and the team's coach. Pop Warner is the largest national youth football league for kids not yet in high school. The Boston Globe reported that the father suffered serious injuries, the coach was suspended and the small community of Wilmington was thrown off-balance by the incident.

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The Wilson Sisters of Heart: From Rock to Lullabies

Brett Singer — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:03:00 EST

Filed under: Celeb Parenting, That's Entertainment, Shopping

Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. Credit: Jon Kopaloff, FilmMagic

Ann and Nancy Wilson have had an amazing musical career.

As leaders of the rock group Heart, they've had numerous hit songs including "Crazy on You," "Magic Man," "These Dreams" and "Never." They acquired a new generation of fans when "Barracuda" was featured in the Guitar Hero 3 video game. They also performed the tune with Fergie on the television show "American Idol."

Their latest project aims at an even younger audience. Guitarist Nancy Wilson has released "Baby Guitars," a collection of original acoustic lullabies. The sisters also collaborated on "Dog & Butterfly," a children's book based on their hit song from 1979. ParentDish spoke to the Wilson sisters about their incredible longevity, the new book, their latest CD and how they balance being rock stars with being mothers.

ParentDish: How old were you when you started playing music together?

Nancy Wilson: I was about 8 1/2, Ann was about 13. We were steeped in every kind of music, [we sang] as a family. We had music coming out of our pores. It was a natural when we saw The Beatles on TV to head straight for those guitars. [Laughs.]

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Michelle Obama, A Really Close Second

Susan Avery — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:51:00 EST

Filed under: Celeb Parenting, In The News, Amazing Parents

Where do you fall in the priority line-up in your family? If you're like most women, you put everyone else first. Michelle Obama has a better approach; she puts herself "a really close second" after her kids.

In an interview with Katie Couric for Glamour magazine's Woman of the Year issue, the First Lady said it was much more difficult to find a work-family balance when she was a senator's wife. Now that she's in the White House, with all its accompanying staff support, life has gotten easier.

While we all can't have that 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue address, Obama encourages moms to reach out and ask for help where they can find it.

Do you agree with this advice?

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Scrubs' Judy Reyes: It's Baby Shower Time

the editors at Life and Style Weekly — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:43:00 EST

Filed under: Celeb Parenting, In The News

Mama-to-be Judy Reyes. Photo Credit: Life & Style

Her Scrubs alter ego is a mother, but 42-year-old Judy Reyes is expecting her first child in early December.

"Just two weeks ago, I started getting into the physically uncomfortable and emotional oh my- gosh-she's-coming place," Reyes told Life & Style Weekly during her baby shower at Santa Monica's Casa Del Mar hotel on Nov. 1. "I live in the Hollywood Hills, and I pass the Wonderland Avenue School with all the moms and dads bringing their little girls to school in their little outfits. That's going to be me!"

Indeed, it's a girl for the actress and boyfriend George Valencia, and they couldn't be happier. "I wouldn't know what to do with a boy," Reyes said. "Dressing her is going to be a lot of fun!"

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Chicken: Safe or Scary?

Jennifer Schonborn — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Health & Safety, Eating & Nutrition, Environment, Mealtime

Choosing the right chicken means better flavor and better quality. Credit: thebittenword.com, Flickr

We've been hearing for years that we should cut down on the amount of red meat we eat. Since these exhortations began, Americans have largely been plunging their forks into chicken instead -- to the tune of 8 billion birds a year -- because it's healthier, right? Well, that depends.

VERDICT:

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Vigilante Saves Kids From Parent Abduction

Tom Henderson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:06:00 EST

Filed under: Divorce & Custody, In The News, Weird But True

Gustavo Zamora helps parents find their abducted kids. Credit: Nadya Labi, The Atlantic

A globe-trotting vigilante retrieves children from foreign countries? Why would you need one?

Say you marry someone and you have children. You get divorced. There's a custody battle. You win. Your ex-spouse refuses to accept the decision. He or she takes the children and flees overseas to a country that doesn't recognize your custody rights.

What do you do?

This is not a hypothetical question for thousands of parents who go through this exact scenario every year. Their options are limited.

One option, however, is Gus Zamora.

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World's Tallest Teenager Lives Football Dreams

Tom Henderson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:45:00 EST

Filed under: Teens & tweens, Medical Conditions, Development, In The News, Weird But True, Special Needs, Amazing Kids

Tall teen just wants to play football. Photo credit: KXLY.com

Brendan Adams' mother didn't want him to play middle school football. She was afraid he might get hurt.

Wait a minute. Brendan is almost 7-feet-5-inches tall -- the tallest teenager on the planet, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. And she's worried about him getting hurt?

The sad irony is it took a lot of work to get Brendan on the gridiron. His mother's concerns are more than justified. The 14-year-old eighth-grader from Ellensburg, Wash., about 100 miles east of Seattle, has health problems as formidable as his height. His body is full of tumors. His joints are enlarged. And doctors recently discovered an arrhythmia in his heart.

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Mother of Baby Run Over By Train Credits Harness And God For Saving Son's Life

Amy Hatch — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:42:00 EST

Filed under: Babies, Health & Safety, In The News, Weird But True, Amazing Kids, Amazing Parents

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In a heart-stopping split second, an Australian mother watches as her 6-month-old son rolls onto a train track and under an oncoming train -- and escapes with just a scratch.

It could happen to any parent -- you release the brake on the stroller to prepare to board the train, and it rolls away from you. For Shweta Verma, a 29-year-old mother and dentist who lives in Melbourne, it is a nightmare that keeps replaying in her head and on TV, thanks to a surveillance camera that captured the entire terrifying episode on film.

Verma told Today's Matt Lauer about the terrifying moment when her son, Saurish, rolled onto the tracks as a train sped through the station. The video shows her horror as she helplessly watches her baby disappears under it.

Continue reading Mother of Baby Run Over By Train Credits Harness And God For Saving Son's Life

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Help Find Madeleine McCann

Susan Avery — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:01:00 EST

Filed under: Preschoolers, Kids 5-7, In The News

The United Kingdom's national law enforcement agency for protecting children - the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre - has issued a video message aimed at finding anyone involved in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the little girl who went missing during a family vacation in Portugal two years ago.

The 60-second video includes age progressed images that show Madeleine as she may look today, at age 6.

Police ask that anyone with any information about Madeleine should contact local police.

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Frequent Video Game Use Leads to Finger And Wrist Pain in Kids

Melissa Rayworth — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Kids 5-7, Kids 8-11, Health & Safety, Medical Conditions, In The News

Playing video games for an hour a day can increase wrist and finger pain in kids. Credit: Corbis

A study presented last week at the American College of Rheumatology's annual meeting showed kids who play video games for more than an hour a day increase their chances of having wrist and finger pain. Among kids ages 7-12 who play up to three hours per day, each hour of play time increased pain by 50 percent.

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