Who's The Boss?

A Month of Gratitude: Thirteen

My teenage godson loves video games.  He's talked about wanting to design video games when he grows up.  Which to me sounds like an oxymoron.  I bet the best video game designers are the ones that have a serious Peter Pan complex and refuse to "grow up."  He knows that I receive video games to review on this blog; he's even helped out with reviewing games before.  But he's been dying to review something that doesn't state E for Everyone. 

Enter Assassin's Creed Revelations.

Admittedly, I know nothing about this video game franchise and it's cult-like following.  All I do know is that I'm the coolest Auntie ever and am making a name for myself amongst gamer-teens in the greater Las Vegas area.  Normally, my godson wouldn't get to play a video game from start to finish in one sitting.  But that's practically what he did for me (with his mother's blessing).  For that, my brownie points are THROUGH THE ROOF! 

Late into the night last night (and by late, I mean until 10pm), my godson and I texted back and forth about the game.  I don't understand a word of what he said, but I'm writing it all down here for 1) posterity, 2) to get him to improve his writing skills, and 3) because other gamers probably know what's talking about.

In the words of a 14 year old boy...

"I think its amazing it has great texture, awesome cinematics, and an amazing story line. I have been a fan ever since the first game.  Revelations is the 5th game of the series.

The hook is a cool new feature.  You can zipline across the cities. I like the ending the most. It just threw me off (ed: sorry, no spoiler alert here).  I hope Ubisoft continues the series and makes another game. 

My only improvement is in multi-player mode.  If the multiplayer comes along when you are about to die, you can press "B" to avoid the other person. But when you press it, you always die no matter what. They should fix that in an update."

As you can see, not many words from a 14-year old boy.  But I'm sure it's way more than he's ever written about a game to an adult.  And way more than the "It was cool" that I was expecting. 

So, thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post and increasing my stock with my godson.

Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

Review: Just Dance Summer Party

On my last work day of the summer (that is Friday before school started), I took the morning off to just be with Darius.  Cooper went over to my father-in-law's house so that I could have some important bonding time with my new 2nd grader.

Turns out he'd rather play with the neighborhood kids than hang out with me.

Turns out playing with neighborhood kids was just what I needed too.

We invited over our favorite neighbors and their three kids (ages 14, 12, and 9) to play Ubisoft's new Just Dance Summer Party game for the Wii.

Here's what Darius had to say about it:

Having only been exposed to the XBOX Kinect version of a Just Dance game (coming out around Christmas) at Big Toys Sweet Suite during the BlogHer convention in San Diego, I knew that this would be an excellent source of enjoyment.

Things I loved about the game:

• Like many Wii games, this one gets you up off the couch and moving.  Or, in my case, sweating.
• The game can be played with up to 8 players.  Have a BYOW (bring your own Wiimote) and then have an awesome party.
• Each song has a different background and dancer.  My favorites were the snowboarder and the astronaut.
• There is a workout mode that I can't wait to try.  I just have to work up enough courage to work out in front of the nanny or convince her to join in on the fun.

Things I like to see improve:

• Unlike the Kinect where you have to move your whole body to get points, on the Wii you really only have to move your arms.  I watched the teenager (who won nearly all of the dance-offs) and her feet stayed firmly planted while her arms did the motions.  It's not a criticism of the game as it is the technology behind the Wii.
• My son didn't want to dance to the "girl songs."  Otherwise known as the songs with the female dancer.  It would be nice to be able to customize the "dancer" to male or female.  He did, however, love the alien and punk rocker.
• Wish there was a way to set the level for each player.  My son - who's never taken a dance class - didn't stand a chance against two other girls. The Kinect allows for each player to choose their level (easy, medium, hard) and I wish the Wii had the same option.

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

Just Dance Summer Party can be purchased online at Amazon, ToysRUs, or many local retailers.

Star Wars Jedi Training Party (part 3)

This post is the last in a three part series.  If you are planning your own Jedi Training Party, be sure to read Part 1 on Jedi Party Planning and Part 2 on Jedi Training Games.

In all honesty, I could have come up with a dozen more games and kept the kids training away for hours and hours on end.  But I'm no sado-masochist.  We settled on the party lasting three hours and I was gonna go my darndest to keep us moving for that time. 

Some of my plans were foiled because of the weather (who plans on rain in JUNE?!?), so we moved everything to the garage.  Had we been outside and the boys had a bigger space to move around, I probably wouldn't have my meltdown during cake cutting when one of the boys started screaming at the top of his lungs that he didn't want cake. 

To help me out, I printed out a timeline of event to keep us moving and make sure we stayed on schedule.

11:00 to 11:15 kids arrive, decorate their Jedi Training Tunics

11:15 to 11:30 Learn to Feel the Force

11:30 to 11:40 Time Bomb

11:40 to 11:45 Teamwork Challenge

11:45 to 11:50 Light Saber Training

11:50 to 12:10 Light Saber Tournament

12:10 to 12:15 kids wash their hands, put their light sabers away, and get ready for lunch

12:15 to 12:40 lunch

12:40 to 12:50 Galactic Treasure Hunt

12:50 to 1:00 Defeat Darth Vader (piñata)

1:00 to 1:30 Cake, ice cream, and presents

1:30 to 2:00 Star Wars movie

2:00 pick-up

If I had to do it all again, I would have skipped the movie and let the boys run off some steam.  By 1:30, there was still a ton of boy energy that needed to be burned off.  It would have been better to just let them back into the Jedi Training Center (aka the garage) and let them beat each other up play with their light sabers.

All in all, the party was a success.  The boys had a blast (more than one mom has approached me on the school playground to tell me so) and Darius is still playing some of his Jedi training games.

Now, think I can convince him to have a Harry Potter party next year?

Star Wars Jedi Training Party (part 2)

This is the second post in a three part series.  If you are planning your own Jedi Training birthday party, please read the first post which details planning and preparation.

Since most of our guests (the birthday boy included) haven't been to a traditional home party, it was pretty easy to spin the old school games into Jedi Training activities. The winners of each game received a special badge to tape onto their Jedi Training Tunic.
 

Learn to Feel the Force

This is a Star Wars spin on the classic Pin the Tail on the Donkey.  I bought two packs of the Feel the Force game from a local party supply store, but then quickly realized I could have made my own.  In the game, you divide the kids into two teams.  One team is the Rebels (the good guys) and the other is the Republic (the bad guys).  Each team is trying to "bomb" the other teams planets and ships with their teams stickers.  With the child blind folded (I covered the eyes of my son's own Storm Trooper helmet with black electrical tape), spin him three times.  Using his Force, the kid will try to locate the other team's ships on the poster and bomb them.  If they accidentally hit their own team, they just don't get any points (for older kids, the points could go to the other team). The team with the highest points wins.  When they were done, each child got to place their sticker on their Jedi Training Tunics to remind them to always Use the Force.

To make your own game, print out images of Rebel & Republic ships and glue them to a poster board.  Use Star Wars stickers for the bombs or cut out rounds out of construction paper. It's best to have one color for each team so that there is no confusion.

Tip: Play the game twice and let the teams switch.  This way everyone gets to be good and bad. 

Time Bomb

Time Bomb is just hot potato with a twist.  Have the boys stand in a circle.  Using a Switch Pitch ball my son already owned, the boys passed the ball while the music played.  Once the music stopped, the person holding the time bomb was out.  Then start the music again and pass the time bomb once more.  The winner is the last man standing.  For extra complexity, have two time bombs that get passed in opposite directions. 

Tip: Download Star Wars themed music to your iPod or check-out a CD from your local library to play as the music.

Team Work Challenge

Everyone knows that Jedi's don't work alone.  They work as a team.  In this challenge, kids were paired up together.  Standing back to back, we inserted a balloon between them.  The goal?  To be the first the pop the balloon.  When it became clear that I did not blow up the balloons large enough to make them pop that easily, we told the boys to drop the balloon and try to pop it with their feet.  This turned out to still be a lot of fun (and took a little bit for them to still pop the balloons).

Light Saber Training

Since we gave each child a training light saber, we needed an activity where they could hone their skills.  Using balloons, each child had to use their light saber to keep the balloon off the ground.  Be sure to have adequate room to allow the kids space to move as they bounce their balloon in mid-air with their training light saber.  When their balloon  touched the ground, they had to sit down.  When we had only 3 boys still standing, we declared that they were advanced in their saber skills and needed a tougher challenge.  They now had to keep TWO balloons in the air.  The last boy standing with both balloons in the air was the winner.   

Tip: Write the name of each child on their balloon so you don't have to hear the "He cheated" or "That wasn't my balloon that fell" stories.

 
Light Saber Tournament

Getting inspiration from my son's recent Tae Kwon Do tournament, we paired each child up for a light saber duel.  The rules were simple: no hits to the head and both hands had to remain on the light saber at all times.  The first with three "hits" was the winner.  The winners from each duel then moved on to the Quarter Finals, then Semi-Finals, until finally two boys sparred. 

Jedi Obstacle Course

Had the weather cooperated, we were planning on having an Obstacle Course in the backyard.  But it turned out to be too cold (and wet the day before) so our Obstacle Course was cancelled.  However, it would have been the perfect thing to let the boys blow off some steam. 

These young padawans need to be physically fit to become Jedis!  Set up a small obstacle course in our backyard.  This is a timed event (winner being the kid with the fastest time).  Feel free to expand based on the size of your yard or the age of your kids.  I planned on five obstacles so that it was easy for the kids to remember.  Individually, each would perform 10 jumping jacks, crawl through a tunnel, defea the three Sith Lords (hitting helium-filled mylar balloon with taped images of Darth Maul, Darth Sidius, and Darth Vader), complete a somersault, and then sprint  to the finish line.

Galactic Treasure Hunt

We found out that the Republic had crashed our training party and Darth Vader had stolen their galactic treasure.  The kids had to go on a Galactic Hunt for Darth Vader  (a pinata of Vader's helmet) and the treasure.  I divided the boys into three teams.  Each team was given a clue to the next clue.  Eventually the last clue would lead them to the location of Darth Vader.  I didn't want 12 boys tearing up our house, so all of the clues were taped onto closed doors.  I started each team in a different spot and had them go in a different order so that all the boys weren't in the same spot at once.  Feel free to use my template to design your own hunt.

Defeat Darth Vader

Once the boys found the treasure (aka their goodie bags), they still had to defeat Darth Vader to restore order to the galaxy and defeat the Republic.  We set up the Darth Vader pinata  in the garage while the boys were eating lunch.  Each child got to whack the thing three times with their light saber.  I  honestly didn't think we'd break through the thing, but I was wrong.  Not every child got a turn before Darth Vader was defeated, leaving behind a smattering of candy! 

Tip: If every one had a turn and Darth Vader was still undefeated, tell them they have to work together as a team to defeat him.  Have each child grab a hold of one pull-string.  At the count of three, the boys can pull together to defeat the evil Lord. 

Stay tuned for the last installment in this series to show you how we fit all this into a three hour party!

Star Wars Jedi Training Party (part 1)

 
This year we went all out for Darius's birthday party.  While "all out" for most of our friends means hiring entertainment or reserving a slot at Pump it Up, for us it means the mother of all home parties.  We've had home parties before - but then Darius was a tot and all the party needed was bubbles and mylar balloons.  This year, I wanted to do something very special for my eldest child who's spent most of the year learning how to be ignored cope with having a baby brother around.  Enter the theme of his favorite movie of all time and we were off.

I'm listing all of this here in a three part series.  I found that most of my searches on the internet for Star Wars themed ideas turned up a mish mash of unusable information. This post will focus on the planning and preparation for your Jedi Training birthday party.

Custom Party Invitations for Jedi Training

I made our own party invitations for the first time.  I bought golden rod colored paper and black invites.  On one side was an invite to the party in Star Wars lingo and the other side had the party details.  Since we invited 16 boys (did I mention this is a boy-only party!) I asked parents to drop off their kids to reduce the number of people in our house (and also making it the first drop-off party for most of our guests).  I printed the invites in gray-scale since the images I used were in color.  You can edit the invite I created or make a custom one of your own.  Download Invitation

Make Your Own Jedi Decorations

I googled dozens of Star Wars character images and printed them out on our home computer.  I glued the images to construction paper and used those for most of our decorations.  I have images for every door in the house and outside on the fence.  Our side yard will serve as Mos Eisley's Cantina with a few more characters taped up on the side of the house.  I also bought 2 books of Star Wars paper cutouts  that I'm using for placemats, confetti for the goodie bags, and a whole lot more.  Cost for the books was $12/each and the rest was inconsequential since I was using materials we already had at home.

Star Wars Themed Food

From what I understand, there is a Star Wars cookbook out there.  Rather than add an additional expense, I came up with my own easy menu for the boys.

• Light Saber-dogs (corn dogs)
• Wookie Watermelon
• C3PO-tato Chips (just your run of the mill potato chips)
• Yoda Soda (lemonade with green-colored ice cubes)

I also thought of others like Han-burgers, Jabba the Hut Pizza (a spin of Pizza Hut), and Boba Fett-ucini (plain pasta for those plain pasta lovers).

Easy to Make Light Sabers

All Jedis carry a light saber.  Instead of buying plastic ones that are expensive and can really hurt, I made my own buy using pool noodles purchased at the dollar store.  I cut the pool noodles in half and then used duct tape (also purchased at the dollar store) to cover one third for the handle.  With the napkin rings in the paper cut-out books, I finished each light saber.  Those things are truly awesome and will be used in two of our training games.  The best part was the price.  Each training light saber was about 75 cents!  The boys will all go home with their sabers, sprucing up my goodie-bag.

 
Fun Jedi Training Tunics

The hardest part of any party is the drop off and pick up.  Some kids are exactly right on time and other parents forget that fashionably late only applies to adult parties.  To bridge the gap, we are having the boys make their own Jedi tunics.  Using brown paper bags, I cut the sides off and made a v-neck opening on the bottom of the bag.  Darius had an old Star Wars coloring book that we removed pages and I bought a bunch of Star Wars themed stickers.  The boys colored a page and glued it to the back of their tunic.  Then they wrote their name on the front and decorated it with stickers.  Once finished, we tied some rope (purchased at the dollar store) around their waists.  The boys wore their Jedi training tunic for the duration of the party and, if it didn't get destroyed in the training (it was made of paper after all), they could take it home.

Tip: If you don't paper bags but want a training robe, buy XL men's t-shirts in brown.  Using pinking shears, you can cut it up the front to make a robe.  You can still use the rope as a belt. 

Simple Goodie Bags

Since the boys are already keeping their light sabers and Jedi Training Tunic, I didn't feel like we needed to go all out on the goodie bags.  I glued picture of a Star Wars character to a brown paper lunch bag.  Inside went a Pez of a Star Wars character, three Star Wars silly bands, and Star Wars confetti,  I also made my own certificate that I rolled up and put into the good bag.  The certificate was for completing the Jedi Training and becoming a real Jedi.  Download Certificate

10 Reasons why parties at Chuck E' Cheese are a BAD idea

10. Finding parking here is worse than going to a Giants game at AT&T park.  At least there you can ride BART.  At Chuck E Cheese, the only thing riding was my hefty 3 year-old on my hip.

9. Can we say bad pizza?  I love me some pizza.  But come on.  I’ve tasted frozen stuff that was better than that. What can you expect from a place whose spokesperson is a big rat?

8. More kids here than on “Kid Nation.”  It’s like Cancun for the four year old set.  I’ve never seen more wild children drunk on fruit punch.

7.  Every other game will eat one of your tokens.

6. There is only one employee who could fix the machines and refund you the token.  And when you have a three year old who can’t wait, that means you’ve just paid Chuck E Cheese for a whole lotta nothing.

5. A hundred tickets will buy you plastic key chain or a tootsie roll.  Seriously.  I spent 3 bucks on tokens for a tootsie roll.

4. Trying to find the table for your party amongst the 42 million tables in the place is enough stress.  Finding the holy grail would be easier than navigating in that place.

3. The noise level is so frickin LOUD that your head will be buzzing from blinking lights and arcade music for the rest of the night.  You will realize that you are officially old because you not only noticed the noise level but commented on it to three other parents.

2. The “helper” was totally stingy with the plates and forks.  Apparently cake and ice cream is best eaten with your hands and a napkin.

1. Your kid will get lost approximately 1.7 times in a 90 minute period.  And for the rest of the day will talk about how he wants his birthday party there next year too. 

Originally published in November 2007 at the Silicon Valley Mom's Blog

This is How You Connect with Mommy Bloggers

On Sunday night, I attended a special event for Silicon Valley Mom's Group.  Yes, I've said it before and I'll say it again, SV Moms is the BEST community to be included in (and no, it isn't just because of the fun events and the awesome swag).  This event was put on by LeapFrog. 

Except for one request to get us to check out their new community site, there was no product pushing.  Sure, LeapFrog had a slew of products in the back of room - everything from Fridge Farm to Leapsters to Tag Reading System to the brand new Didj.  But that wasn't the focus of the night.  LeapFrog recognized that they way to reach moms (and we all know we control the spending in nearly every household) was to SHOW us WHY LeapFrog CARES about EDUCATION.

Instead, LeapFrog invited Dr. Anne Cunnigham lead a discussion on the importance of reading.  I twittered some of the big points of the night, but the gist of the talk was about exposing your child to rich language to improve their reading skills.  What that means for pre-K kids and younger is reading at least 30 minutes a day with a variety of books.  And if you're thinking "there is no way my three year old will still for 30 minutes." No worries.  Dr. Cunnigham suggested books on CD in the car or background at home, reading to them while the kids play, and getting older kids to read to the younger kids (double whammy, people!).  If you have older kids, read to your kids  one or two grade-levels ahead of them.  That way, they continue to get exposed to new words. 

We had a great discussion talking about everything from kids who started reading early, to bilingual kids who seem to be falling behind their single-language friends (don't worry, they will catch up), to the importance of the 3rd grade.  I didn't even know the 3rd grade was important.  But apparently (and this was backed-up  by the two 3rd grade teachers in the room), Third Grade is when reading curriculum moves away from phonics and focuses on vocabulary.  Children who haven't been exposed to a diverse vocabulary can easily fall behind.  As early as the fourth grade, children basically decide if they will be lifeline readers based on their confidence level in reading.  So the more you expose your kids to rich vocabulary, the better readers they will become. 

And this is where LeapFrog comes into play.  Without ever pushing a product down our throats, we learned about the importance of reading.   LeapFrog is committed to creating products that challenge kids to read in a fun, interactive way.  For me, the night wasn't about the products.  It wasn't about LeapFrog.  It was about getting a group of moms together to discuss a topic that is important to us (educating our children)... and just so happens to be important to LeapFrog. 

At the end of the discussion, LeapFrog passed out goody bags for all the moms with toys appropriate to the ages of our children.  How cool is that?  I asked more questions about products and was more willing to give my opinion on products we already owned (like the fab Word Whammer) because I knew that the night wasn't about selling us on LeapFrog.  It was about showing us LeapFrog's passion for getting children exposed to reading skills. 

When I arrived home, I was giddy with excitement about the new LeapFrog toys that "Santa" will be bringing to our house this year.  I know that Darius is going to love them.  Now if only I can hold out until then.  We were a LeapFrog family before this event, but we are for sure die-hard supporters now.