We went because this year’s headliner is a band called Skillet which just so happens to be my son’s current favorite. Skillet put on an amazing show, complete with moving platforms, a spinning drum rig, and enough pyrotechnics to satisfy any 11 year old. But that was just the cap on an incredible six-hour extravaganza.

Admission to the show is an unbelievably low $10 at the door. The only way to buy advance tickets is to join the “Jam Nation”. For fifty bucks, you get early admission, a t-shirt, a lanyard, and a discount on tour merchandise. If you can swing the extra money, it is well worth it. While the main show started at 6:00, we entered the building at 3:30 and chose prime seats right by the stage. While the others were still waiting outside in the cold, we were enjoying an intimate Q&A session with some of the artists from the tour. Pre-Jam, featuring three of the lesser-known, up-and-coming acts from the tour, started at 5:00, just as the doors opened and thousands upon thousands of chilled fans poured into the arena.

WinterJam isn’t your parents’ Christian music. I’m sure chiropractors across the region are seeing extra patients with neck problems from all the head banging that went on. There was screaming and fire and hard rocking and all the good stuff that comes with a serious rock concert. But civility reigned in a way that is hard to imagine in a group of sixty thousand–plus people. Lines were orderly. Nary a four-letter word filled the air. Even the traffic leaving the arena proceeded in an abnormally polite and orderly fashion.

WinterJam is a wonder experience for kids and adults. I wouldn’t suggest bringing any children under age 10 or so because of the extreme volume of the music and the extended length of the day. The family behind us had two children in the 5-7 range and I’m certain both parents and children regretted it. But for a safe, fun, uplifting experience you would have a hard time finding a better bang for your ten bucks than WinterJam.

(U.S. Army photo — Korey Cooper of Skillet)

Well, those days are over.  The number one thing I do when I get bored is call up a friend.  Ask them if they want to hang out, or if they wanna go to the movies or the mall.  If you are a guy you could see if they want to play a little game of football with some kids in the neighborhood.

If all your friends are busy, take a walk, get fresh air.  Take your dog down to the park.  Do something productive.  About 30% of adolescents are obese. And almost two-thirds of Americans are overweight.  (Information borrowed from http://www.betterhealthusa.com/public/227.cfm).  This is a very unhealthy proportion.  I believe a decent amount of this is because when children get bored they turn on the TV instead of going outside.

If you haven’t finished your homework you should obviously do that first, then take advantage of the day.  Go outside and have fun.  Get rid of some of that pent-up energy.

If it is rainy and gloomy out, have a friend over and go to the movies or do some arts and crafts.  If the weather is bad and your friends are busy, have a day with the family.  For girls, do some kind of spa day with  your mom.  For boys, do some kind of bonding thing with your dad.  Watch a ballgame on TV with him.  Do what guys like.

Whatever you do, make sure you have fun.  Being productive means having fun and doing something good for yourself.   If you are having fun, your body is likely to be having fun too.  Oh, and eat healthy too.  Just felt like I’d throw that in.  Because that hasa lot to do with the large number of obese or overweight people in the United States.

You also shouldn’t be listening to anything too vulgar.  Now, I’m not saying you can’t hear swears or inappropriate language, but if in the radio/edited version you can barely tell what the person is trying to say because so many words are bleeped out . . .  E.g., the song “Drop the World” by Lil Wayne; I don’t think this song has ever been played on the radio because the lyrics would be so hard to bleep out.  Here is a line from the song : “The spot gets smaller and I get bigger, trying to get in where I fit in, no room for a n***a but soon for a n***a it be on mu’f****r cause all this bulls**t have made me strong, muf****r.”  Honestly, parents of the world, why the heck do you let your children listen to this stuff?  It is inappropriate for young children, and yes they all say that they aren’t young, but honestly they are! Even I, at 8th grade, shouldn’t be listening to something like this and I don’t, nor do I want to.  Now yeah, I may know all of those words, but it still doesn’t make right to listen to something like this.  If you ask me, you shouldn’t be able to listen to a song like that until you are out of the house.  I personally think there should be a law against creating songs that are so bad that, when edited for the radio, you can’t tell what the person is saying because of all the bleeped-out swears.

Now, I am only a teenager, so I really have no right telling parents how to parent their children, but, if you want some advice, don’t listen to stuff like that, it just creates angry people.  If anything you should have your children listen to “One Love” by Bob Marley –  it is a very happy song and tells people to get together and just be themselves.

I know what you’re thinking – “Ron, it’s easy for you to say. You’re a talented writer with such an amazing gift for the written word.” No? You weren’t thinking anything like that? Well, this is awkward.

Anyway, there are two things that I’ve noticed about children’s books on the market. They’re not very long and, for the most part, they’re not very good. If your child enjoys listening to you read these off-the-shelf stories (you are reading to your child, right?) then think how much more they will love to hear you read your own story, with a main character who just so happens to be the same age and have the same name as your son or daughter.

A typical children’s picture book is only about 800 words. That’s only a little more than double the size of this short article. Every one of us has a story inside. It won’t take you very long to pour it out on paper if you just think about what your child enjoys and let the story flow.

Even if it’s awful, your child will love it. And want to expand on it. The first story is yours, but the sequel will be a collaboration. Writing a short story for your child will doubly be a bonding experience. First, your child will feel special and cherished because you made a story just for him or her. Next, you and your child will have a wonderful time working together on the next chapter.

As soon as I finished reading LexLightning to my son, Lex, he was abuzz with ideas for a follow up story. He invented new heroes, new adventures, and a new villain, The Guard of the Very Black Scary Night, who “has an axe that he can throw like a boomerang so it comes back to him but even if it doesn’t it doesn’t matter because he has a million of them.” Now that’s a villain. And that’s a memory that will last a lifetime.

I have watched quite a few R rated movies, like just last week I watched Horrible Bosses (if you are curious I thought it was hilarious).  The R rated movies that I do watch are typically rated R because of language, which, for me, isn’t that big of a deal.  More than half the stuff said in the movies I hear on the bus every day.  The one thing I don’t like about R rated movies is when they are rated R because of goriness.  I wouldn’t say I qualify for fainthearted or really even faint stomached, but I do get faint very easily if you get what I’m hinting at.  That is the only thing that will make me not view an R rated movie.  Besides that, and scary movies, my dad doesn’t really care, of course he and his wife always watch them with me, but still, you get what I’m saying.  My mom on the other hand isn’t quite that lenient, but I still have a fairly free range on movies.

I personally think that children that are not teenagers yet should not be allowed to watch R rated movies, and any teenager under age 17 shouldn’t see it without a parent.  As for PG-13, any child under 10 probably shouldn’t see them, because I have seen a fair number of PG-13 movies where they really pushed the limit on the rating scale.  I am not even going to start talking about movies that are rated higher that R because: 1) I have never see any movie rated over R and 2) I don’t think those movies should even be produced.  The fact that the rating of R is not protective enough to the audience is insane.  If you agree, or disagree, with me, leave a comment explaining why you do or don’t and I will take your thoughts into consideration.

If you see a Nintendo 3DS, you will likely confuse it for a regular Nintendo DS. It has the same basic style with some very minor changes. The biggest difference you will find is the slider bar used to adjust the 3D vision effects of the screen. But look for a very familiar play and feel with the basic game play.

The 3D graphics have gotten a lot of attention. For those who can’t watch 3D without getting headaches, this is not the device for you. Since the response to 3D is an individual one, you may or may not need a period of time to adjust to this new type of screen. The verdict is still out on whether or not this will adversely affect a child’s vision. However, the 3D mode can easily be turned off.

But its real downfall is the battery life. If you are intending to take this on a long trip or keep the kids amused for more than three hours in the car, you are going to be disappointed. Its factory battery range is only about three hours in total. Even with all of the 3D features and other things cranked down, you might get a maximum of four hours total. There is an accessory that can be purchased for a longer battery life.

The other deterrent is that there really aren’t that many games available for it as of yet. The titles are limited and you can’t play the DS titles on the 3D version. There are only a very few really good games for this. Nintendo will likely launch more games in the future. But don’t hold your breath if you are looking for certain games to make the transition.

While the Nintendo 3DS is still fairly new and contains 3D technology, it really doesn’t have enough new things to push it over the regular Nintendo DS. The constant adjustments of the 3D screen are a hassle. The limited number of games means that your choices are limited for you and your kids.

If you find yourself trying to decide between the two, go with the cheaper option of the regular Nintendo DS. You will get much more out of it. Wait until the Nintendo 3D has been out for a little while longer and has a longer game list before you decide to sink your money into this.

How does a summer fun list work? It’s easy. Whatever the make-up of your family – kids, mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, aunt, or uncle – each person has a say in what goes on the list. All you need is a large piece of paper, and something to write down the many ideas with.

Jot down all activities that come to mind, from going to the beach to having a picnic at the park. Adults, who govern the family schedules, will want to include family vacation plans on the fun list, as well as any family reunions or special birthday activities. Kids, depending on their age, may want to list both simple and more outlandish ideas.

For example, one summer my precocious son proclaimed he wanted to visit to the Taj Mahal in India. Thankfully, our local library had a “Read Around the World” theme for their summer reading program that year; his wish to “visit” this fantastic building came true with the replica right in his own town!

Other ideas that make the list in my house every year include: a hometown parade, fireworks by the river, a visit to the old mill outside of town, a “bike hike,” a trip to the local Dairy Haus, German Fest, swimming at the Wisconsin Dells…as you can see our family has local favorites, and your family will eventually develop favorites too!

One point to remember is that parents/guardians don’t always have to be responsible for writing the list. Once my kids learned how to write, they have been in charge of posting everyone’s suggestions. And you don’t have to exclude the little ones. Younger children, who can’t yet write, but who can hold crayons, can decorate the list with cheerful drawings (or colorful scribbles).

What I have always made sure to include on the list are free, yet priceless activities. Who doesn’t want to catch fireflies with a four year old or pick wild black raspberries for a homemade pie? Other free ideas for a fun list include: running through the sprinkler on unbearably hot days, playing hide and go seek, having three leg races, and climbing (safe) trees! These ideas may sound corny, but some of our best family memories have been built around activities such as these.

Finally, writing down all the wants in a family helps to validate everyone’s opinion. No, you may not get to travel to the Taj Mahal, or jet to Paris, but each person will be able to do several things from the fun list, and what’s better than having fun as a family?

Do your children know about the death of Osama Bin Laden? Can they know about his death without first knowing about his life and the evil he wrought? Have they seen the pictures of the devastation from tornados, floods, and earthquakes in recent months?

Children need to have some awareness of what is going on in the world around them. The trick is knowing where to start and stop. Kids should know about politics. Turn on the TV and you’ll notice that the news media won’t stop talking about Sarah Palin driving around in a bus for a couple of weeks. That seems safe enough. Good discussion about the political process, the two parties, etcetera. What about Congressman Anthony Weiner and his Twitter account? Not so much.

On one channel they’re talking about the unemployment numbers. Good, teaching moment about the economy and the importance of a good education. Switch the channel and they’re going on in unsettling detail about Caylee Anthony. Go on to the next station.

Sports? Good. Nothing wrong with keeping up with the sports news – unless they’re talking about Ben Roethlisberger’s off the field activities or Brett Favre’s texting.

Weather. Love the weather. My 10 year old son wants to be a meteorologist. That’s a nice, safe segment to watch together. So far, no delicate questions have sprung up during the weather segment in our house.

Some parents will have a different idea than others about what is suitable for their children to know about current events. Whatever your standards for filtering the news to your children, there are two constants. You need to have the rules defined in your own mind so you’re not forced to make snap decisions, and you and your spouse must be on the same page to avoid conflicts.

• First of all, the size of the party is possibly the most important factor.  When people say party, they tend to think of a group of ten plus people partying.  For me, a party is four plus.  Why?  Well, you would never just say, “Can I have five friends hang out tonight?”  Rather, that qualifies as a small party to me.  But, it’s not much, just some guys or girls (or both) hanging out.
• Is parental supervision required?  This is the toughest one out there.  It depends on the kids and the size of the party.  For example, I like to think that my friends and I are responsible kids, and to the most part, my parents agree.  So, if it was just a friend or two and I, they would leave us unsupervised.  I think a group of four or so could even be unsupervised, but I doubt they would let that happen. (My parents are on the more supervising end.)  At the same time, if I had twenty kids over, they would never leave us unsupervised.
• 72% of kids consume alcohol before the end of high school.  So, the more kids in your house, the more likely drink/other illegal activities will happen, which leaves legal obligation to the parents.  This could happen in small groups, so you also have to judge the kids.
• Finally, planning the party is a major factor.  This, I think, should have major teen involvement.  No matter what type of party it is, at 15, I don’t ever want a parent helping me make invitations.  I’m hanging with several friends tonight and it was all planned via word of mouth and text message.  Also, we don’t need some crazy preplanned menu.  As teenage boys, pizza and whatever snacks we can find are good.  At the same time, we do eat a lot, so be ready.  Oh and we drink tons of soda.  I once saw two 2-liter bottles disappear in one hour; there were only three boys present.

So, if you aren’t sure what you should do when your teen wants a party, feel free to keep this in mind.