Strollerderby : mistakes

Wolverine Blow Up Toy

Brett Singer — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:00:00 GMT

There's no way to say this. You have to see the photo. Here. Look.

I mean, come on! How does somebody not notice the placement of the, um, blowhole at the factory? It's hilarious, but it couldn't be a mistake, could it?

A few years ago I saw a segment on Michael Moore's old TV show that talked about secret acts of corporate sabotage. Sure, we've all stolen a box or two of paper clips. But who among us has secretly painted Adolf Hitler into a mural at Disney World? That's what I imagine this little mix-up is.

And no jokes about how the toy designer must be a big Hugh Jackman fan. Please. (Here's the trailer for the upcoming 'Wolverine' movie in case you don't know what I'm talking about.)

If you buy this for your kid, do you say something? You really can't, right? This toy seems destined to be a bachelorette party gag gift.

Source: Manticore's Moustache via Buzzfeed

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What's My Age Again?

Brett Singer — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:15:00 GMT

If you've ever wondered, "does anyone read the boxes and manuals that come with my kids' toys?" the answer may very well be, "no, not even the people who made the product."

Submitted for your approval:

The Everlast Youth Inflatable Punching Bag is just what you'd think it is: a punching bag that inflates. For a youth (or, as Joe Pesci said in 'My Cousin Vinnie,' yoots.)

But what age youth? Ah, there's the rub.

From the box:

And now, from the manual:

(Click each pic for a full-size image, so you can see that I didn't doctor these.)

Maybe the people at Everlast have taken too many shots to the head? (Thank you! Tip your waitresses!)

images: Amazon.com, my cameraphone and my scanner

Kids Learn To Lie By Watching You

Kelly Mills — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:06:00 GMT

There's an interesting article in New York magazine on lying. While parents cite honesty as the trait they want most in their kids, there's a few set-ups that encourage telling tales and denying facts. The author notes that children observe our socially polite "white lies" and essentially get the lesson, "It's okay to lie to avoid hurting others," which they then extend to stuff like telling us falsehoods about their activities to spare our feelings. There's also an interesting discussion of how teens perceive open conflict with parents as bringing them closer to the 'rents, while parents view it as destructive. You can see how this difference in perspective might encourage kids to at least withhold information. Even tattling gets the spotlight: We essentially punish kids for being honest about someone else's behavior, and send the message that we don't care about their problems.

But are all lies created equal, and are all liars just doing what they learned by watching you? You could take certain parenting lessons from the article (which I recommend you read, it's too much to summarize here) like the value of having less rules, but both enforcing them and explaining why they are in existence; avoiding setting children up to lie (asking "Did you do that?" when you know full well they did); and recognizing that protestations of rules are an opportunity for discussion, not defiance of authority. I would add that it might help to soften the value judgement on lying, and recognize that dishonesty both requires creativity and intelligence (as mentioned in the article) and that catching your kids in a lie might be a sign they are protecting your feelings too much. And showing kids that making mistakes is normal and expected is probably valuable in the pursuit of truth as well.

But I think truth is often not as simple as "Did you kick your sister?" There's honesty in recognizing your own motives and feelings, almost independent of other people, though it influences those interactions. For example, what we call stoicism could be seen as a kind of lying at times. And frankly, I also wonder how much dishonesty can be solely attributed to modeled behavior and trial and error. My kid is almost frighteningly honest and direct, even when it would be in her best interests to lie (though I'd be curious to see if this behavior was consistent with other people as well.) I wouldn't say she got that from watching me, it seems more much innate to her. And that honesty can have social repurcussions as well, since she has to work harder to be gracious. Honestly? I guess I think it's pretty complicated.

Don't Get All Guilty About Eating Crap

Kelly Mills — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:11:00 GMT

You'd think I'd be totally into an article on why you shouldn't feel bad about "diet flubs," but apparently I'm so crabby I can find fault with anything right now. Basically the gist is that nobody eats perfectly all the time, and that you may not be as bad as you think. So if you lament that you eat empty carbs, you can chillax because only half your grain servings need to be whole grain; if you love red meat, just keep it to lean cuts three times a week; if you only like carrots as a veggie, don't stress because you'll probably get sick of them; and if you don't read nutrition labels, great cuz you aren't being suckered by healthy, sugar-free claims, just keep an eye out for hydrogenated oils. Fine.

So why am I still somewhat hissy? Well, first I hate that these stories get accompanied by a photo of some skinny bitch who mimes eating a burger while being ever-so-careful to make sure no bun-carbs accidentally leap into her mouth. Is she a big diet flubber? And I hate the idea of diet, though in fairness the article doesn't say whether they mean diet like "what you eat daily" or "your big plan to eat differently temporarily so you lose weight." Not such a fan of the latter, frankly. And they don't mention what I believe to be a big ol' problem: If your eating plan is too restrictive, it's hard to maintain over the long-term and it's likely to suck much joy out of your life. I think that's more where "flubs" come in--the above stuff is only the half of it. Anyhow, it's not a horrible piece, but I'm determined to pick at everything until the holidays are over, in honor of my family.