Christmas is coming, just around the corner. That means that it is time to begin the age-old tradition of begging for every toy shown on every commercial. Just when my older son finally has grown out of it, my younger son has taken up the mantel and asks for everything.

The new twist that the little one has added is to occasionally say “I don’t want that” when a Barbie or My Pretty Pony or something such shows up on the screen. But for the most part, it’s “I want that on my Christmas list” all day, every…

These days, all over the TV, music, and movies, there is content inappropriate for most children to see, hear, or watch.  This is true, but there are many parents who go overboard on “protecting” their child.

First off, I am going to give you the basic run down on American movie and TV rating systems.  First off, TV:

• TV-Y (All Children — This program is designed to be appropriate for all children)

• TV-Y7 (Directed to Older Children — This program is designed for children age 7 and above.)

• TV-G (General audiences)

• TV-PG (Parental guidance suggested)

• TV-14 (Recommended for people 14 or older)

• TV-MA (intended for mature audiences)

• G…
  
  

Recently, I completed earning enough  money to buy a Xbox 360 Pro for myself.  I am limited in the amount of ‘screen time’ I am allowed a day, and I wanted to discuss that with you.

Now, some of my thoughts on screens (TV, video games, computers, etc.) for kids.  First of all, I believe they are addictive.  Some studies have shown that video games are addictive, they release a drug-like chemical. Here is one article on the study of video game addiction.  I have seen kids at school who are addicted, it’s all they talk about or do after school (World of…

One constant battle that we face in our house is trying to decide what movies and shows are appropriate for our eight year old. Commercials, print ads, and his friends constantly are bombarding our son with previews of TV shows, DVDs, and movies.

My wife strongly prefers to preview the programs before Max gets to see them. This works well with TV shows. I generally can get a yea or nay on a show before the first commercial break.  DVDs have gotten easier to preview & judge thanks to the wonder that is Netflix.  We’ll get a…

For the longest time, I resisted my son’s pleas for a Pokémon trading card game. Ditto for Bakugan, Digimon, and a slew of other nonsense words that he threw at me. I didn’t know very much about it at the time, but the cartoon looked cheesy (it is), the game sounded complicated (it is), and I was pretty sure the whole thing would end up costing me a princely sum of money (it has).

When Max got a $25 Amex gift card for his eighth birthday, I made the mistake of telling him that he could spend it on anything that…