High Maintenance Mom

We just found a great new show on PBS called Sid The Science Kid. It's smart with some very catchy songs in it. Sid is a want to know it all preschooler with very hip parents (like me!). He goes to school each day wondering about a new thing (science related). His parents, friends and teacher help him find answers to his questions.

Have you or your children learned any Spanish words from Dora or Diego? Do you want your children to hear Chinese words too? Ni Hao, Kai-lan is a new show from Nick Jr. that combines Chinese language and culture. "Ni Hao" means "Hi" in Chinese, so we've already learned one word. The show is aimed at preschool children and the characters include six year-old Kai-lan Chow, her grandfather, a koala, a monkey, and a tiger. See below for more information on the values the show aims to teach including mind-body connection, perspective-taking, being a good member of a group, and social & emotional goals. Ni Hao, Kai-lan premieres on Nick Jr. Thursday, February 7 at 11 a.m.

I was at Target the other day and noticed a section of WordWorld games and toys. If you haven't seen WordWorld, it's a show where "letters come to life". The animals are made of the letters in their name and when they need something, they "build a word." It's quite cute with bright colorful graphics and a catchy soundtrack. My kids love it. The web site is nice too. Check out the activities section and the games. You can also purchase WorldWord games and toys from Amazon or Target.

Aaron Spelling, the master behind many of the shows I grew up watching, died on Friday. See his biography on the IMDb and a list of his shows on tv.com. My condolences to the Spelling family and thank you Aaron for all those years of entertaining television...

We've been wondering when the next Backyardigans episode is scheduled to air and just found out that four new (to those of us without Noggin) episodes will be shown next week. Tuesday's episode is "Eureka", the dinosaur one I've been waiting for ever since I read the episode guide. The Backyardigans CD includes "Those Bones" from "Eureka" and it sounds like the dinosaur they are putting together is a Bactrosaurus (one of the earliest known duck-billed hadrosaurs - more on dinosaurs after the episode airs). The CD also includes the song "Castaways", from Monday's episode, "Castaways". Wednesday's episode is "Polka Palace Party" and Thursday's episode is "Cave Party"...

We watched Super Size Me the other night and I highly recommend it. For anyone who hasn't heard of it, you get to watch Morgan's health deteriorate as he eats only McDonalds for 30 days...

We watched The Backyardigans "Race to the Tower of Power" this evening where Yucky Man Pablo and Dr. Shrinky Tyrone raced to steal the key to the world from superheroes Weather Woman Uniqua and Captain Hammer Austin. It was one of our first superhero themed shows with B (3 yrs old). He was scared for part of it but immediately wanted to see it again and talk about it. We are just starting to discover superhero play so I was interested to see how the theme was handled in our favorite show...

The following is taken from an email from my brother.

As I'm sure you all know, today is the 78th Annual National Spelling
Bee (10am and 1pm EDT on ESPN). I want to make public my picks, mainly so I can brag about being right afterwards.

If you haven't watched the spelling bee before, it's really, really fun.

So, here they are, name, number, reason...