A Parenting Conversation with Ringo
I imagine heaven to be a place where Beatles music is playing everywhere you go, and with the release of Beatles' Rockband and their digital remastered albums yesterday (09/09/09), the world was a little like my vision. The Beatles were playing all during my morning work session at Starbucks and just about everyone who walked in started singing along, knowing all the words. The Beatles were playing in every store, on every radio station, and on TV. And I never once got sick of it.
Last year, I had the opportunity to have a nice chat with Ringo Starr about being a Dad (and Grand-dad!) for my project "Parenting with Rockstars." That project, unfortunately, has not gotten off the ground, but I've decided it's high time this interview sees the light of day.
I hope that you will enjoy it (and if you know Kim and Thurston, tell them that I'd love to interview them too!)
The Bored Box
I have memories of whining to my Mom, "Mooooomm, I don't have anything to do," to which she invariably responded "Take off your sock and spit in your shoe" (yeah, I never got it either). Sure, good for a giggle, but a pretty frustrating dead-end to a bored five-year-old.
Well, what goes around comes around, and recently Arlo has started complaining "I'm BORED!" with all the attitude of a sullen teenager. I had never heard him complain of boredom before, and I suddenly had more sympathy for my mother (and believe me, this is just one of the countless ways). Of course I delighted in responding with my mom's old line, but I also wanted to help him find something fun to do that would unearth some of those begged-for-then-forgotten toys filling his closet and, yes, to get him off my back for 15 minutes. Unfortunately, he kicked most of my suggestions to the curb, so instead of having my bright ideas poo-poo'd in rapid fire, I decided to turn them into a game of chance, with rules for play. Thus was born the BORED BOX.
How It's Made
I started by looking around his room and the house and writing activity suggestions on slips of paper. Good activities are those he can do alone (other than a little help with setup) and will keep him busy for 10-15 minutes. It was amazing how many suggestions I came up with once I got started (I'm at 40 and counting!). To keep the game interesting, I threw in a few easy, age-appropriate chores (weed the garden, organize the tupperware), but I also have a small supply of new books and craft kits that he's never seen before, so there's always the chance of getting a new toy. The box itself is just a tissue box covered in wrapping paper and some press-on vinyl letters I've been hoarding since 7th grade (but that's another story).
The Rules
I've come up with a set of basic rules for using the Bored Box, although, they may need to be tweaked as we become more experienced with the system. For starters, they are:
- You have to do the thing you choose for at least 15 minutes (I'll set a timer.)
- If you do not want to do the thing you chose, you have to find your own thing to do for 15 minutes.
- Mom and Dad have the right to veto a choice for any reason.
Most slips (with the exception of ones tied to new toys) will get put back in the box and reused. I'm considering putting a limit on how many slips you can pull in a day (3 or 4?), and I may end up allowing one "do-over" allowing him to return a slip and draw again in a day. We'll see how it goes.
The Contents
Here's my initial list of activity suggestions. Because my son is really into drawing and making things, ours is a bit arts-n-crafts heavy, but the suggestions could be customized to any kid's interests and back-of-the-cabinet toys.
- Make a BIG drawing
- Play with PLAYDOUGH
- Play with the EYE-CLOPS
- Play with PLAY FOAM
- Sing a little KARAOKE
- Make some ALIENS
- Write a STORY & make a BOOK
- Draw with OIL PASTELS
- Draw with KID PIX
- Draw with KALEIDODRAW
- Look at ONE MORE STORY.com
- Go to PBSkids.com
- Make a paper-bag PUPPET
- Organize the TUPPERWARE
- Play with PIXEL BLOCKS
- Make a SKULL out of something
- Make a COLLAGE
- Look thru the LITTLE TOY box (get rid of 5 things)
- Weed the GARDEN
- Play with NEW FLARP!
- Make a NEW CRAFT!
- Make a CARD & mail it to DONALD
- Make a CARD & mail it to GRAMMA & PAP-PAP
- Make a CARD & mail it to NANA & PAPASAN
- Make a CARD & mail it to GRAND-DAD & ZAIDA
- Do pages in an ACTIVITY BOOK
- Take a BATH!
- Look at an ANATOMY BOOK (pick something and draw it or sculpt it as well as you can)
- Listen to MUSIC in HEADPHONES
- Play with Crayola GLOW BOARD
- Make something with PIXOS
- Make a BRACELET (or 2)
- Play with LEGO blocks (any size)
- Play with FACE PAINT
- Play PERFECTION
- Make ROCKIN' ROBOTS
- Paint the SOCCER BALL (craft kit)
- Draw with your NEW Ed Emberley BOOK
No more taking off socks and spitting in shoes in this house. Now I can't wait for him to get bored!
SXSW '09 in Five Minutes
SXSW Music 09 in 5 Minutes from Jennifer Robbins on Vimeo.
I'm just back from another great SXSW. This year, I didn't schedule any interviews, I just enjoyed myself. I did, however, use our little Flip camera to film two minutes of every band I saw (planned and unplanned). I've assembled clips from each show—in order—to condense my three days of music down to five minutes.
The quality of this movie is pretty raw. The mic in the Flip was no match for the bludgeoning volume of some of the shows, and my Final Cut Pro skill level is slightly above "Chimp." But to borrow a useful from my mother-in-law, "Done Is Beautiful", so I'm pasting this little montage of my musical adventures for my friends to enjoy
ARLOWEAR! (for a good cause)
Arlo's been cranking out some awesome pixel art (using Pixl Pinchr, created by our friend Ben Brown), so I decided to turn a few of his designs into t-shirts for Christmas. They were such a hit, that now I'm making them available for everyone to buy via a Zazzle store.
All proceeds from the shop will go to Rhode Island Community Food Bank that runs some excellent programs that help feed hungry children and is desperate for donations in these bad times. Arlo is learning that you can use art to make a difference.
A cool thing about the Zazzle store is that the shirts are completely customizable, so if you don't like the shirt shown in the sample, you can choose a different style and even resize and shift the artwork if you choose. It's fine with me... go nuts!
Please spread the word and help make the Arlowear store a success.
