Howefitz Blog

Calli slides to the future with Abby Cadabby.

I learned my ABC’s in my PJ’s. I would play games with a giant bird, swing by Hooper’s store for a soda, and try to avoid the grouch on the corner, but there was always something charming about him as well. I was watching Sesame Street.

I’m sure you have similar memories. Our kids will too. While I laughed at Ernie tormenting Bert, or watched as Kermit the Frog gave another Sesame Street News Flash from the planet Kuzbain or a familiar fairy tale, I was also learning. Today, my daughter loves Elmo and Abby Cadabby. The cast of colorful characters may change, but the wordly themes of cultural understanding and acceptance (While learning ABC’s and 123′s) never changes. Sesame Street is just as integral to my children’s lives as it was to mine.

Wednesday night, my fifteen year old step-daughter presented a story that she had written for a science fiction class. The assignment was to write a 100 word story based on themes found in George Orwell‘s 1984. The class chose ‘fear’:

Blank

by Kat

     She finds herself walking down an endless hall. The only light is a few candles. Hears footsteps turning to see a girl. Her face like blank paper. Gripping a knife, running towards her. She runs, the walls narrow, enclosing her. Thick red liquid drips from the ceiling down the walls. Drenching her arms and dress.

Anyone who pays a little bit of attention has noticed that comic books really aren’t for kids anymore. Gone are the days of going in to your local grocery/convenience store and picking up the latest adventures of your favorite caped do-gooders. You might find an Archie Digest still on the checkout lane, but it will generally be placed out of the reach of children. I’m not sure who they’re marketed to, nostalgic parents? Truthfully at this point, nostalgic grandparents! Old Archie hasn’t done the best job of keeping up with the times…

Fahrenheit 451 cover courtesy of amazon.com

If you’ve read Ray Bradbury‘s brilliant ‘Fahrenheit 451‘, you probably still have visions in your head of homes being destroyed because they dared to have books inside them. I know I do. That’s why an entry at bookshopblog really disturbed me. In their post, ‘Book burning on Feb. 10th 2009 due to CPSIA‘, they claim that according to new CPSIA laws, a book store or library can not sell or distribute items that do not have a certificate stating that they have been tested and proclaimed lead-free. Furthermore, this law is retroactive, meaning that even if the item was published fifty years ago, if it hasn’t been tested, you can’t distribute it!

When you’re married with children, sometimes it’s hard to get out and have that romantic evening for two. So why not kick back at home and watch a flick with the kids? Here, in no particular order, are my ten romantic picks that the kids can watch with you.

Beauty and the Beast

Cover of Beauty and the Beast

There’s no getting around Disney‘s classic, so we might as well get it out of the way. I remember when Beauty and the Beast was first released, TV Guide ran an article that said something like, “A Sexy Disney Cartoon?!” While this one probably won’t get your blood pumping in that way, it’s hard not to get that flutter in your chest and a tear in your eye during the ballroom scene.