Wanna Make Your Kid a YouTube Star? One Dad Says No.
Posted on Mar 11
When YouTube officially launched in November 2005 I don’t think the founders of the site intended it to be used as a future source of embarrassment. The purpose of the site was to share videos across the globe and it has done that, but it has also become a digital dumping ground for every parent who feels their kid is the cutest and most talented child ever. How many YouTube videos feature moppets singing and dancing their heads off to the latest pop hits?
Most of these children are adorable, but we all know what happens with kids: they turn into teenagers. Do you know any teenagers who would be happy that their parents posted a video of them singing Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” in their diapers? The smallest thing can mortify a teenager and once something is posted on YouTube it can live online forever. I’m not saying your little punkin’ isn’t cute dancing around to the Black Eyed Peas “Boom Boom Pow,” I’m just wondering if your child would want that video living in the digital world for the rest of their lives. Something to ponder before you post!
What do you think? If a video is funny enough, does it justify the possible humiliation of your teen-to-be? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Things Our Kids Will Never Know: The 8-Track
Posted on Feb 19
Last year Cheap Trick released their album, The Latest, on CD, Vinyl and 8-track. It was the biggest selling 8-tack of the year (if that is something to get excited about.) It got me thinking, growing up we used to look through my parents’ record collection with both awe and wonder. We were amazed that they actually had decent taste in music as was evidenced by their Beatles’ Rubber Soul LP, and we were stunned that people could actually listen to music on these plastic discs with grooves. It always sounded scratchy and the needle never landed exactly where it was supposed to. We thought our cassettes were so much better and then with the arrival of compact discs we could not believe that we ever listened to music that was not digital.
Now as I raise my own kids, I’m struck by the enormous leaps in technology and how my children do not know anything before an mp3. My five-year-old son gets upset when he watches a TV set that is not hooked up to a DVR because he is unable to pause live TV. In my lifetime I have seen music move from vinyl to cassettes to CDs to mp3s. My kids started on mp3 tracks and I wonder where they will go fr
Is Little Brother Watching You?
Posted on Dec 01
We found this fascinating and slightly disturbing story on Wired. What if your baby monitor was sharing your secrets with the neighbors? This appears to have happened to a pair of neighbors who bought the same brand of baby monitor and then found themselves to be closed-circuit TV stars. The neighbors claim that if they had their monitors tuned to the same station, they could see inside eachother’s homes and now they’re suing the manufacturer. They even said the microphones picked up conversations outside the nursery!
What do you think? Do they have a case or is this just a frivolous lawsuit? Have you ever shared a juicy secret or made a horrible gaffe via a baby monitor?
Guns N’ Roses and Rock & Roll Parenting: Welcome to the Jungle
Posted on Nov 09
The whole premise of Rockabye Baby! series is rather interesting to me. The idea of taking classic rock melodies and working them into mellow songs for youngsters really challenges some prevalent and somewhat outmoded ideas. I mean, just how important are the trappings of rock and roll anyhow? Of course the classic sex, drugs & rock and roll cliches still abound across the globe, but at this point in time it seems quaint to me that at one time bands like Led Zeppelin or the Beatles were considered amongst the greatest threats to western civilization. Yes, rock music subculture was one of many influences that shaped the latter part of the 20th century, but people of all age groups still purchase huge quantities of these records based on their musical content, not the
aged propaganda that propelled these acts to their dizzying heights of fame. It’s obvious that people still cling to the rock mythos; a recent post on a major gossip site regarding our new album Lullaby Renditions of Guns N’ Roses (out tomorrow!) is proof positive of people’s lack of lightheartedness when it comes to rock icons. Guess what? Rock stars grow, have kids, pet puppies and some even garden! That being said, I thought that I’d do a little research and see how many of the Gunners have gone on to that most un rock and roll job of jobs–parenting.
Finding info on the reclusive W. Axl Rose was a bit difficult. Although there’s no public mention of offspring, a few sources site a possible daughter. It seems that original founding member and 1st defector Izzy Stradlin, as well as original drummer and reality TV star Steven Adler have yet to procreate. However, Guitar legend Saul Hudson (Slash) seems to have taken to fatherhood quite well. Having married back in 2000, he and his wife Perla have 2 sons, London and Cash. Rounding out the original line-up, bassist and former Fartz member Duff McKagen was the first father of the group. His daughter Grace was born back in ‘97 and in 2000 he and wife Susan Holmes were blessed with a second daughter, Mae Marie. Izzy replacement Gilby Clarke is also a proud parent, in fact his wife Daniella named her popular line of Frankie B. jeans after their daughter Francesca. Adler replacement and former Y Kant Tori Read member Matt Sorum hasn’t any children, but his recent work for the Freedom Children organization, which works to gain assistance for children in war ravaged nations, well deserves mention.
Welcome to the jungle indeed…
P.S. Lullaby Renditions of Guns N’ Roses hits the streets 11/10! Listen to an exclusive sneak peek of our version of Sweet Child O’ Mine here.
Baby Shower Gift of the Week: Clouds and Stars Quick Zip, Smart Sheets for Smart Moms
Posted on Oct 30
A few posts back, I wondered aloud if anyone had tried these crib sheets and finally had to just see for myself.
I was so tired of having to wrestle with the laborious task of changing my daughter’s crib sheet. And I don’t know about you, but changing a crib sheet is not always just “oh, come to think of it, it’s time to change the bedding.” For me, it’s usually a case of interrupted sleep due to spit up or some other bodily function that requires a so-called “quick change,” which I’m sorry, simply does not exist when dealing with all those slats and bumper ties.
Quick Zip to the rescue! An invention by two moms, what these sheets do is nothing short of brilliant. First there is the Zipper Base – a sort of fitted sheet that goes under the mattress which reveals a plastic zipper track on the top. Next, you just zip the flat zipper sheet to the zipper base. The sheet has a flap that covers the zipper so that you don’t see it, and your baby doesn’t feel it.
You never need to change out the base, and I’ve timed myself on the swapping out of the top sheet – less than a minute!
If you’ve got a baby, this is a must have; and if you know a mommy or mommy-to-be, I can’t think of a better gift.
*Tips – buy an extra top sheet so that you’ve got it handy come changing time.
Sweet dreams!
Visit www.cloudsandstars.com to learn more.
No Touch, No Talk, No Eye Contact
Posted on Oct 26
If you watch The Dog Whisperer, you will recognize that directive. It’s what Cesar, the star of that show recommends when coming in contact with an unstable or misbehaving dog. And though I’ve recently had to utilize these commands in relation to my daughter, she is not a dog.
You see, she is just six months old and has entered a new stage of her development which is causing her to react in a new way to people who approach her. Now mind you, she sees her immediate family on a regular basis. We have a weekly dinner at my parents’ house which is attended by my folks, her five and seven year-old cousins, my sister and her husband. Not to mention that we entertain at least one visitor in our home per week; but still, lately she’s been greeting her friends and family with a protruding bottom lip and eyes welling up with tears. The more her guests try to give her a soothing voice and perhaps even a reassuring touch, the more she retracts into my arms and amps up into an actual cry.
This cool reception from her usually lasts about five or ten minutes, then she’ll settle down and go back to her old self of huge smiles and a willingness to be held and played with by everyone. It’s just, I have to admit, a little embarrassing to me as her parent. If I’m being honest, I feel like people might think we’re raising a clinging monkey that we never socialize. Or that perhaps it’s a sign of something just plain wrong with how we are doing as parents. I don’t personally think these things, but I worry that others might see it that way.
I’ve asked around and the consensus is that she’s just processing recognition on a new level. Her awareness is even more keen and she’s firing on more cylinders, so her reaction to stimulus is going to be more pronounced.
At any rate, that’s why we’ve instructed folks to just ignore her at first. Just literally pretend she’s not there. Let her take you in and after a few minutes she’ll make the first move. So far it’s working like a charm; I just hope that this phase will pass sooner rather than later.
Anyone out there have any experience with this?
Baby Shower Gift of the Week: Ding Dong Dinner!
Posted on Oct 09
If you have a child already, you well know how hard it is for you or your partner to rustle up some dinner during those first few frantic weeks home from the hospital (or even to remember to rustle it up, let’s be honest). If on the other hand you’re expecting your first baby – then let me tell you from experience, you’ll want this baby shower gift!
My sister Sabrina, an experienced mommy of two, arrives at baby showers with a sign up sheet and polls the guests to see who wants to volunteer to bring meals to the new parents once the little one arrives, with the goal of providing meals each night for two weeks.
When talking to the friends of the mommy-to-be, she lays down the ground rules:
- Nothing spicy and no chocolate (transfers through breast milk and can affect the baby).
- If you are not a cook, please consult the list of delivery places with meal preferences chosen by the new parents.
- Sign up for what date you’d like so that there is no doubling of deliveries, nor are there days of famine.
- Be sure to call ahead of your delivery to make sure you’re not interrupting nap time.
Last but not least (and consult the parents on this one, everyone is different), new parents can often be in a surreal state of adjustment and can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the idea of “entertaining” visitors right away. Be prepared to simply drop off your meal and be on your way. There will be plenty of time for visiting and cooing over the new bundle after those first frantic weeks have passed.
I can’t tell you how valuable this gift was to us in the beginning of our new adventure.
Bon Apetit!
Breaking the Great News – We’re Pregnant, Part Two
Posted on Sep 22Since my husband’s parents live in Nebraska, the closest we could come to telling them in person that we were expecting, was to tell them monitor to monitor — on ichat!
Breaking the Great News – We’re Pregnant
Posted on Sep 21Because my husband and I waited so long to decide to have a baby, our parents had given up hope that we ever would. We wanted to capture their reaction when we broke the news, so here’s us casually folding our announcement into conversation with my folks over breakfast.
Give a looksee, then tell me how you told your folks, friends & family.
Be Quiet, Floors! Baby’s Sleeping.
Posted on Sep 11
We love our cozy (read tiny) Spanish style bungalow. It was built in 1925 and still holds many of its original features, such as the exquisite Batchelder tile fireplace, which had been painted over with – count ‘em – six layers of different colored oil-based paint. Removing each one was like getting to the center of an everlasting gobstopper. There was Navajo white, robin’s egg blue, bubble gum pink, canary yellow, and Mylanta bottle green.
One of the house’s greatest selling points was the hardwood floors. They were buried under thick shag carpeting but we revealed and refinished them and they are perfect – almost. Those darn things creak – nay SCREAM – when treaded on in just the right spot, which was not a problem when we were young newlyweds. We went from either not noticing, to finding a particularly loud spot and swaying back and forth on it, coordinating the loud creaks and squeaks of the boards with our movement while reciting Robert Shaw’s monologue about a shark having “doll’s eyes” from the movie Jaws.
Now that we’ve got a baby who is just learning to be particular about what she will and will not be sleeping through, walking out of her room after gently placing her peacefully sleeping body into her crib, or returning later to check on her has come to resemble escaping a room full of laser beams after a jewelry heist. “I think if I take a wider step riiiight here then I’ll…” Cry! Reset. Begin again.
I’m on my way to go and get some glow tape. Tonight, so help me, I’ll mark my safe path in and out of that room! Or maybe I can get my handy husband to install a zip line from the ceiling to get in and out of there without a sound. Yeah. That’s what we’ll do.
