Precious Chong blogs about co-parenting alongside her ex and his new fiancee
Wes and I have had a recurring argument over two things. But really it’s just one thing. Well, it is two things, but I’m going to talk about one of them today.
It’s over the amount of video games that Jack plays.
Yes, I know. He shouldn’t play any video games. It’s bad. It’s violent. It’s not good for his brain development.
But…He loves them. He is obsessed with them. He loves them so much that he likes to watch YouTube videos of 19-year-old nerdy boys playing them while they make dumb jokes.
So.. we’ve set up a schedule and that’s that. Right? Uhm no. You see the thing is… I think Wes can be too rigid while Wes thinks that I’m not clear enough with limits and follow through. Read more...
1. If your kid has a lazy eye, it’s best to start treatment when they’re quite young. The 3-year-olds respond better to eye exercises and such better than 13-year-olds. (But the tweens and teens will still see some improvement!)
Did you see our pal Catherine Connors aka Her Bad Mother on Canada AM this a.m.? She was talking about social media and family. Appropriate, since it’s now Social Media Week and the panel we’re hosting features Catherine and her daughter Emilia talking about just that!
Do violent video games boost brainpower? One study says yes. “After playing Medal of Honor, participants in the U. of T. study tended to be more focused, directing their attention to what was important, says researcher Jing Feng.” Via Parentcentral.ca
Thanks to the Hipster Mom for tipping us off to this apparent phenomenon — pregnant women and guns. Yeah. Maybe because we live in a hippie socialist paradise, but this just seems so, so, so strange. We loved the crap out of the Awkward Pregnancy Photos with guns on Pregnant Chicken, but they were funny because we thought they seemed bizarre. So this is a thing now? Read more...
This Postcard from Bunchland combines a number of our favourite things: Christmas, quirky ornaments, the ’80s, Pac-Man, video games and things that are just a little bit unexpected and wonderful.
This Postcard from Bunchland comes from dpstyles via Flickr.
Do you have a Postcard from Bunchland? Send us (your online editors meghan@bunchfamily.ca and amanda@bunchfamily.ca) your photos of family fun! Or join our group on Flickr.
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...
My parents have the Nintendo Wii. My house does not. Nor do I have an Xbox 360 or a PS3. This slide into a videogame-less existence did not happen intentionally. Up until the last console generation I was a fairly faithful gamer; not diehard, but I made it a point to buy the latest PS-whatever, and every so often I would become so immersed in a game that it would take over my life. If you’ve played videogames, you know the drill. And then, when it came time to upgrade to a Wii/Xbox360/PS3, I basically forgot. We had kids. Life was crazy.
