Bunchland

What we’re reading today:

1. Have you ever been concerned about in-flight entertainment and it’s appropriateness? We have, but only because the inescapable movie playing was the Russell Brand Arthur.

2. You should use Twilight to teach your kids about sex and love and babies and relationships and all that. Wait. Sorry, that’s not right. Be careful what your kids are learning from Bella, Edward, Jacob and co. Like, if a vampire baby is trying to bite its way out of your uterus, threatening to kill you in the process, maybe sit down with Planned Parenthood?

3. Ulgh T-shirt makers! What is wrong with you?? More slogan controversy, this time on onesies, with Gymboree having a gendered onesies that say either, “Pretty like Mommy” or “Smart like Daddy.” We get it, it doesn’t seem like a big deal compared to the anti-math shirts, but can we not raise baby girls to think of themselves as princesses, cupcakes and sweet objects of consumption while baby boys are thought of as smart, capable and adventurous?  Read more...

So you know the conflict, right? My parents introduced my kid to Nintendo Wii. He’s become obsessed with Mario Kart. I talked to experts about introducing kids to virtual entertainments; one that suggested yes, go for it, and then one that was just plain scary. Before I came to any decision, I was still mulling things over. I tend to do that, I mull things over for ages, I’m in a perpetual state of mull.

Facebook helped me procrastinate from making a decision. I posted on my wall one of the earlier Bunch Family posts under the headline, Should I buy my 4-year-old a Wii? Old friends weighed in, and the result was an experiment in communal parenting; the social network as advice maven. Only one friend voted against. The rest, most of whom had kids who were older than mine, suggested I go for it. “We’ve had a lot of family fun with ours,” said Amy Logan Holmes, the impresario of Open Book Toronto. “Especially the dorky bowling game.”

Joshua Ostroff is the music editor for AOL’s Spinner.ca and the videogame critic for Exclaim magazine. He’s also an old friend and the father of 13-month-old Emile. As the owner of all three major consoles and a big advocate for interactive culture,  Joshua was certain to challenge my wariness about games and kids, as I tried to decide whether it was time to get my family a Wii.

SHULGAN: Joshua, have you thought about whether you’re going to let Emile play videogames, when he’s a little older?

OSTROFF: He’s already playing videogames. Or at least he plays with the iPad.

Any in particular?

Sure, he likes anything that lets him affect the look of the screen or creates a musical response. There’s a virtual piano app that fascinates him to no end, and he likes making fireworks explode with his fingers and scattering the fish in a virtual koi pond.  Read more...