Get Pumped For Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron

By Meg Hodson

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #AvengersUnite #CollectiveBias

It should come as no surprise that in a household with three young children that they get a teensy bit excited about going to the movies. We don't go too often; we save up for the best of the best, It's without question that we will be going to see the new blockbuster Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron when it hits theaters May 1st.

I didn't have to twist my kids' arms when I said we were heading to Wal-Mart to check out all their cool new merchandise for the movie and use the new Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron app, downloadable on Google Play and the iTunes store.

As we navigated the store, I had the app open and ready to scan. It turned into a fun treasure hunt for my kids! I showed them some of the images they needed to keep an eye out for and we scanned them as we reached them, unlocking fun information about the movie. The app is super easy to use. Here are my best tips:

1. On the home screen, you will see many icons below the Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron image. As you click on each one, it will tell you what that category is of the app. Feel free to visit each one for fun content!

2. To scan the images in your local Wal-Mart store, you will press the far left icon, the "discover" icon. That will then take you to the various images you will look for to scan and unlock content.

3. Press each character across the top of the screen to subsequently show each image to scan. When you find a matching image in the store, simply hold up your device to the image. It is super sensitive, so don't worry about having to center it perfectly. It will pick it up and unlock content!

We picked up some pretty fun merchandise as we shopped, too. We splurged and picked up some Doritos and Cheez-It's featuring  Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron characters. My son spied some "incredible" Hulk hands that he just had to have.

Finally, my kids had fun compiling a video showing their excitement for the movie and honoring their favorite characters.

Which Avengers character is your favorite, and why? 

I Swore.....So What?

By Meg Hodson

What exactly are we teaching our children when we tell them not to swear? This is a topic that seems to come up almost daily as I raise my kids, as well as a popular talking point among the blogging community I am in....and with parents in general.  Whether it's reviewing movies, deciding which t.v. shows to watch, interaction with other children, words they hear at school, or even what they read, swearing is a prevalent issue I deal with as a Mom.

I think a common moniker we add to swearing is that they are "bad words".  I disagree. While I may not want to inject slang, colorful words for "poop" or "jerk" into my everyday conversations, even the swear versions of these words aren't technically bad.  I am no expert on linguistics, so I can't say where along the line of our evolving language did someone say that "sh#*t" was a swear word and "poop" was not. While we as a culture shun upon using the former, it's not referring to anything inherently awful. 

I prefer the word impolite.  I also like the word proper.  I am a grammar nut (hey, I'm a writer, right?) Akin to wanting my children to avoid words like "ain't", it's in a similar vein that I teach them to avoid using swear words in the name of politeness, as well as good grammar.  

Of course, it's not just about good grammar.  Select words have a stigma attached to them. Like it or not, our society has attached a negative, crass meaning to certain words.  Are we simply going through the motions and doing what is expected of a good parent by telling our children to not use those words? While I am not about to open the flood gates and let them speak freely, I think we need to ease up, ever so slightly, on the stigma we attach to swearing.  You aren't a bad person if you swear.  Sometimes I let a swear word slide. So what? Am I less of a parent if I whisper an inappropriate word under my breath? Are kids marred for life because they heard a few choice words in a movie?

Try as we might, our children will be exposed to a lot of words (token swear ones or not) that will cause them to pause and ask us questions.  For me, the key is to be aware and be involved. We can't possibly control every negative word our kids will be exposed to; what we can control and monitor is our involvement when that does occur. The reality is many words that aren't swear words might even be harder to discuss with your kids:  prostitution, drugs, abortion, divorce, dieting, overweight, fat, skinny, drunk, addicted, cancer, pornography.  Doesn't sh#*t pale in comparison to some of these?

In my experience, children learn and behave better with organized guidelines, not strict rules. Some of you may disagree, that is fine. For me, it's a healthy balance of teaching and reality. As I finish this post, I can't help but think of one of my favorite scenes from Father of the Bride.  Steve Martin is struggling with the reality that his daughter is getting married.  He is humbled when her future father-in-law says a very important thing (watch at the 2:50 mark): "Sooner or later, you have to let your kids go and hope you brought them up right."

An "I Haven't Seen It" Review of Disney's Frozen

By Meg Hodson

Yep, it's true.  I am one of the 7 people who hasn't seen Frozen yet.  I mean honestly, if you are parents and families out there, I would imagine you only go to the movies a few times a year?  Well, we are selective about what we choose to see in the theaters and what we wait to watch on DVD.  Part of it is cost, part of it is waiting for something worthwhile to see on the big screen.  

This time around, my husband took my kids to see Frozen when it was in the theater.  I stayed home.  I had a little "me" time.  No big deal, right?  Well, they got home and pretty much were GUSHING about this movie.  I was like great, so it was good much like Tangled was?  Even my husband chimed in....."Disney hit it with this one, it is really good."

Photo Credit

I love my share of Disney movies.  I always loved Beauty and the Beast.  I could watch Cars over and over and still hear a joke or one liner that I somehow missed before.  But at the same time, I've had a problem, too.  I've had an issue with Disney princesses.

I am willing to accept that some girls want to follow in the steps of Cinderella and Ariel; they want to be swept off their feet right away and ride off into the sunset with their prince.  But I also want Disney to appreciate that this is not right for all girls; they want to be independent, free spirited, and take a path of discovery that does not involve men......at least for a little while.  What Disney failed at for so many films is always choosing the former as their ideal princess.  Why I'm not sure.  But it always kept a silent grunt churning in the back of my mind.  

Many might say this isn't a big issue; it's make believe, it's a movie, just let the kids have fun.  I didn't have proof or support for my argument either way until I heard a friend relay her story of when she became a stepmother.  She married her husband, who had three young children from a previous marriage.  She became the primary caregiver for them (as well as later having a biological child).  She was bathing them one night when they questioned "You're not like other stepmothers, like in Cinderella?"  It was a touching moment.  It also showed the impression that such themes can have on kids, in this case young girls.  

So, as I sat in the car on our recent road trip, the kids began to watch Frozen.  We had picked up the newly released DVD just a day before we left.  I was prepared to either require headphones for the viewing or get heavily immersed in a book to "tune out" most of the film.  I did want to see Frozen, but I wanted to be genuinely surprised and watch it in the comforts of our living room.  I was able to tune out for the most part, but couldn't help but clearly hear the scene below from the movie:

My ears smiled.  Thank you!  I don't know how many times I've told my daughter that she is not going to marry some guy she just met on a ship when she is 17 (she needs to finish high school, right?)  This is all I had to hear to immediately have a positive impression of the movie.  Throw in some fun humor (aka his best friend's name is John) and in just 2 minutes, I am giving the movie 2 enthusiastic thumbs up.  

Will the rest of the movie live up to my excitement over this scene?  From my kids' insistence that we watch this movie as soon as possible, I venture to say "yes". I can't wait to watch it in it's entirety.  

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Batman Is My Boyfriend (A Review of The Lego Movie)

By Meg Hodson

It's refreshing when a movie both celebrates itself and pokes fun at itself a little, too. This is exactly what the new film, The Lego Movie, does.  My husband and I attended with our three young children on the night of it's premiere.  We even braved a snowstorm to attend opening night!

As the movie begins, we learn about the somewhat simple life of Emmet, a construction worker.  As we witness his daily routine of getting up and going to work, we are treated to many familiar Lego traits:  an elaborate "city" in which he lives, Legos being broken down and put back together again, a construction site dumping piles of random Legos here and there (sounds like my boys' room!).  He is unknowingly pushed into the role of "the special", entrusted to carry out a prophecy that was stolen by the evil president.  

Such a story line might be somewhat difficult for the younger set to follow.  While my 5 year old probably did not keep track of every detail of the story line, he enjoyed the movie on many other levels, too. My 8 and 10 year old were giggling throughout the movie.  Why?  Again, there was a nice mix between the story line and the "culture" of Legos.  One minifig had his face erased and later in the movie, drew it back on. There was an emphasis on being a "builder" and that masterpieces can be made from random pieces (again, I have tubs and tubs in my house of random Legos!) There was also a cute, humorous, and touching sequence in the end, paralleling Emmet stuck in real life (with a visit to Will Ferrell).

For me, the highlight came from Batman, voiced by Will Arnett.  Capturing the dark, slightly raspy voice of Batman, he jumps around the movie with his Batman toys and a few vehicles.  He's the boyfriend of Lucy, the main female minifig in the movie, hence the title of this post.  Kids will love the Batman toys and tricks; parents will love the subtle adult humor.

Throw in some good one liners and guest appearances from Chewbacca and Han Solo, a pirate, Superman, Wonder Woman, and various other character minifigs, and you've got one entertaining movie.  The PG rating comes from some very mild violence and a few references to death.  For me, it is about as family friendly as it gets.  

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Ready For Takeoff!....A Review of Disney's "Planes"

Was it a little like Cars?  Yeah.  Would kids even care?  Probably not.  Did it eventually find it's way?  Yes!  Disney's Planes opened in theaters today.  My children had been looking forward to it most of the summer.  It's fun to go on opening night, so we planned to make it a family date night.  

The movie starts out exciting, with a Top Gun-like dream sequence. We're then introduced to Dusty, the crop duster who has dreams of entering a big around the world aerial race.  As the story progressed, it was shadowing a little too closely it's predecesor, Cars.  Skipper, the plane that helps Dusty train, echoes the personality of Doc.  They live out in the middle of nowhere (hmmmm, Radiator Springs anyone?).

Thankfully, this walk down memory lane is relatively short-lived and the movie starts to stand on it's own a bit as Dusty qualifies to enter the race.  Set to the tune of a pretty rockin' soundtrack, the race sets off around the world, with a few bumps in the road to try to knock Dusty off his pace (predictable, I know). But the climactic scene where he battles the ocean as he tries to make it to Mexico is realistic and even heart wrenching.  The Top Gun touches with the Navy planes is entertaining, too.

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

Photo Courtesy of uk.movies.yahoo.com

In Disney's Planes, we are treated to the quintessential one liners, humor, and thematic play on words (i.e., "hold onto your lug nuts) that made Cars so lovable.  Overall, it was well-done, almost cinematic in it's animation, and the voice characters were top notch.  Yes, although predictable at times, it won't come across that way to your children.  They will enjoy it.  I think as adults critiquing movies aimed at children, we need to see things from their perspective a bit more.  My husband and I agree it made for a great family evening.

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