The string of celebrity deaths that started this year affected me, as a parent, more than they usually do. 

The seemingly ageless Betty White, weeks from her 100^th birthday.

Less than a week later, we lost legendary and groundbreaking screen actor Sidney Poitier.

Then came beloved TV dad and standup legend Bob Saget.

I always mourn the loss of life no matter what the person’s age. However, these three in particular made me very introspective about my own mortality and life.

I only saw a handful of movies by Sidney Poitier, but I knew he was pioneer for Black actors. He paved the way for many people of color in an industry that had long regulated them to roles like servants or uneducated punch lines. Poitier did so by taking on roles where he showed himself to be smart, eloquent and as fierce as they come. The ambitious son in A Raisin in the Sun. The compassionate but no-nonsense teacher in To Sir, With Love. So many more. He will always be considered one of the greatest actors ever. 

And I can tell you, with all honesty, that being Black and having the last name Gibbs, I often re-wrote his famous quote from In The Heat of The Night to my own benefit. However, the impact of introducing myself by authoritatively saying, “THEY CALL ME, MR. GIBBS!” goes directly over the heads of elementary school children I substitute teach.

Prime time parenting lessons learned

Betty White and Bob Saget were different. I watched them weekly growing up as part of my Friday and Saturday evening TV routine with my parents. Those nights included watching many now classic feel-good family shows like Family Matters, Amen, 227, Perfect Strangers and Empty Nest. Those prime time family shows shaped my youth. Several showed strong Black families with educated and hardworking parents like mine. Seeing those people on screen, as well as IRL in my home, let me know I too could achieve that.

But those prime time memories of being on the couch watching Golden Girls and Full House remain my fondest. I remember laughing with my mom at the crazy stories of Betty White’s “Rose” told about her hometown of St. Olaf. I clearly recall the goofy-yet-knowing smile creeping across the face of Bob Saget’s loveable “Danny Tanner” as he taught his girls right from wrong. (Later in life, I gained a newfound appreciation for Saget’s acting skills. This was when he revealed himself to be closer to the raunchy Redd Foxx than squeaky clean Jim Gaffigan in his standup act and post-Full House movie appearances.)

This is all to note that we no longer live in that age. “Must See TV” night and appointment television are gone. We can binge-watch an entire season of a show in a less than a day then move onto another. And, as parents with increasing responsibilities, it easier to plop your kids alone in front of the TV so you can take a break time rather than share family time. 

But I would challenge you to do something a bit different next time your kids want to watch The Thundermans or Family Reunion or even SpongeBob SquarePants:  WATCH IT WITH THEM.

Make TV time a learning time

You may think these shows are for kids and harmless. However, every once in a while, sit down and watch in right along with them. You may roll your eyes at the predictable stories line, overacting and terrible jokes (not all the different from shows of our youth, am I right), but put them in context. Adults write these shows. Many have adult concepts and mature themes slipped in that your kids might have questions about. They may also promote bad habits that are often dismissed by well-placed laugh track.

This is not to say that these shows are sinister, but they also should not be seen as babysitters. Make more attempts to watch your kids’ shows with them and when the credits start to roll, ask questions.

What happened in the show? What themes and lessons emerged? Do they have questions about what they where watching? Did anything words or actions need explaining? While binge watching can be fun, taking time in between shows to find some tangible takeaways they can grown on can be valuable.

These can be something as simple as how to be nicer to your siblings. These could be more complex, such as how to deal with the death of a loved one. Watching Golden Girls as a child really helped me see the value in long-lasting friendships (and how amazing cheesecake can be). Amen, for example, showed me the power of faith, a trend continued in the Family Reunion on Netflix. Full House showed a single dad trying to be a great example to his kids. 

So, make that TV time with your kids impactful and active. Your kids will be better for it because you showed interest in something they like. It might be a somewhat out of your comfort zone, but you will be a better parent because you will get what make your kids laugh, what makes them cry and maybe a little bit more about makes them tick.

Prime time parenting photo: ©Prostock-studio / Adobe Stock.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is not just a time for reflection on the civil rights leader’s legacy. It is also a day of service in remembrance of his call to action to help others. To help families celebrate MLK Day, a federal holiday observed the third Monday of January, and teach children the value of his message, we’ve compiled some suggestions.

Learn about MLK

There are many great books and videos to help children of all ages, on their own and with parental guidance, learn more about King’s life and dedication to combat racism and inequality.

Videos

BrainPOP, an online educational resource for children, offers free animated videos and related educational materials:

• For children in grades K through three, the six-minute video on King is accompanied by quizzes and links to age-appropriate videos on other important figures in Black history.
• For children in grades four through eight, this video also comes with links to historic newspaper articles and extra reading material on King’s accomplishments.
• BrainPop also offers a short animated summation of civil rights history in the United States aimed at older children.

If your kids don’t need animation, Free School offers a nice six-minute bio of King’s life and work.

And, of course, you can hear and watch King’s famous “I Have a Dream Speech” together.

Books

Younger children will enjoy My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., written by his son, Martin Luther King III, and illustrated by A.G Ford. It offers a glimpse into the family life of a crucial figure in this nation’s history.

Let the Children March is a multi-award-winning picture book by Monica Clark-Robinson with illustrations by Frank Morrison about African American children who marched for civil rights in Alabama after listening to King speak.

Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr., written by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Bryan Collier, puts the civil rights leader’s words in context. It adds additional straightforward text and powerful images.

Mature tweens and teens may like the graphic novel March: Book One by the late civil rights pioneer and U.S. Rep. John Lewis and Andrew Aydin with illustrations by Nate Powell. Starting with Lewis’ upbringing in Alabama, the 128-page book covers his life-changing meeting with King and its influence on his efforts to bring about racial justice and fairness.

Volunteer, serve to celebrate MLK Day

If you celebrate MLK Day by volunteering to help others in some way, you are following one of King’s sagest pieces of wisdom. “Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve,” King said. “You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” AmeriCorps, an independent agency of the U.S. government focused on service, suggests several ways for the whole family can volunteer to celebrate MLK Day, such as:

• Bringing meals to homebound neighbors
• Organizing a food donation drive to benefit a local food pantry
• Create community green spaces by planting trees, grass, and flowers, especially in locations that may lack adequate green space
• Clean up a park or abandoned space
• Shovel elderly neighbors’ walkways, clear leaves or help with other yard maintenance

Points of Light, an international nonprofit dedicated to engaging people and resources in solving social problems through voluntary service, offers several resources to help you celebrate MLK Day through education and activity, including several DIY projects families can undertake.

Other ideas include:

• Build a Little Free Library for your neighborhood.
• Write greeting cards or letters to cheer deployed military personnel through Soldier Angel, or to isolated senior citizens through Letters Against Isolation.
• Organize a clothing donation drive to benefit a local shelter

Photo: © Atomazul / Adobe Stock.

If you have young children, chances are you’ve at least heard of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s animated show Bluey (it’s on the Disney channels in the United States). This isn’t a show to simply entertain the kids, and it’s not some fad. It’s a show about parenting, written by a dad, produced by a different dad, and with a main character who is a stay-at-home dad character we should all strive to like.

Set on the outskirts of Brisbane, the show’s characters are all dogs, and the central family is the Heelers. The father, Bandit Heeler, is the primary caregiver. He’s a part-time archeologist (a dog who digs bones, get it?) but the only work we ever see is his main job: raising his two daughters: 6-year-old Bluey and 4-year-old Bingo. Bandit’s wife, Chili, completes the family, and is often privy to their crazy games. Even their adult neighbor, Lucky’s Dad, goes along with the fun.

But this isn’t just a silly kids show. Each episode is only eight minutes (there are more than 100 so far), yet in a mere eight minutes, you’ll see positive values, universal truths and the importance of imaginative play. To do all this and still appeal to infants, adults and every age between is impressive.

Bluey is full of humor and heart, but it’s also deep. In the episode “Copycat,” Bluey deals with learning about death by mimicking her parents. In “Grandad,” we see Chili begging her older dad to slow down, and how time passes differently for grandparents.

“I’m not taking advice from a cartoon dog!” proclaims Bandit, during the episode “Flat Pack.” But that’s exactly what we, as dads should do. Bandit’s real. And a refreshing change. He’s not the buffoon dad (a trope still in use in, from cartoons like Peppa Pig through adult sitcoms like Modern Family), or the absentee dad (another trope). And despite the wholesome feel, the show is pure fun. It’s not the “after-school special” feeling you’ll get from an episode of Daniel Tiger or Sesame Street.

Bandit, who was even named (canine) Father of Year in Australia in 2020, always puts his kids first, sometimes by letting them solve their own problems. When Bluey wants to quit riding a bike (in “Bike”) he doesn’t stop her or argue. He says “OK,” but then encourages her to watch all her friends persevering at other things, until Bluey gets on the bike again herself. Bandit is also a dad who ALWAYS plays games with his kids. The kids don’t leave him alone when he has to use the bathroom. The car is littered with food and toys. There’s always laundry and there are times he’s too tired to get up. In “Mount MumandDad,” the parents are so exhausted they can’t move, but still they play. In “Daddy Drop-Off,” Bandit doesn’t want to play because he’s running late, but he still plays. There is always time for play and for fun.

In fact, every episode is a new, imaginative, fully interactive game. Not just games to watch, but games my kids love to play with me now. Games to play with your kids. Yeah, it’s tiring. I’m not sure how Bandit is always so animated. Maybe it’s because he’s a cartoon. But it’s worth it.

Best of ‘Bluey’

Even if you don’t have young kids, you should still watch. In fact, this is the only show I enjoy watching without the kids. (Rolling Stone magazine listed it in its Top 100 sitcoms of all time earlier this year.) It’s that fun. If you’re a Dad wondering where to start, here’s my top seven episode recommendations (all can be streamed on Disney+) for dads, and why:

1. “Café” – This is one of the episodes that hits home to me. Bandit and Bluey meet a new dad and his daughter at the playground. The kids are instant friends. But the dads … well, sometimes it takes adults longer to make friends than it takes kids.
2. “Daddy Drop Off” – Bandit’s running late dropping the kids at school. He doesn’t want to keep playing but does. And we see that choosing to play matters, not just to Bandit’s kids, but to others.
3. “Baby Race” – All right, this is a mom-focused episode, but we all remember the struggles of when the kids were growing up and ‘competing’ with other parents over which kid walked first, etc.
4. “Fancy Restaurant” – One thing I think all parents struggle with, especially with little kids, is finding time for our relationship to our spouse, when our lives are dominated by the kids. Bandit admits he’s “forgotten how to romance” in this charming, fun episode.
5. “Takeaway” – Yeah, kids get bored. Yeah, life happens. Sometimes it all just goes downhill. But if you can laugh about it …
6. “Octopus” – Playing nonstop games isn’t for everyone. Heck, I’ve three decades of theater and improv training and still find these games exhausting. In this episode, Chloe (a friend of Bluey’s) has a dad who feels like he can’t play the way Bandit does, but he still wants his daughter to have fun. It’s okay to play differently.
7. “The Dump” – On a trip to the dump, Bluey and Bingo question if their dad is really the best in the world. It’s okay to not be perfect. 

Beyond just the episodes, I really try to get into the games shown. “Magic Xylophone” may be the simplest Bluey game. A ding (which can even just be someone saying “ding”) makes everyone else freeze. Pretty simple. Or “Shadowlands,” where the shadows are land and the sunlit patches are water. Kids have limitless imaginations. Everything can be a game, and kids learn best through play.

Bandit won’t take advice from a cartoon dog. But we should. It’s OK to be goofy. It’s OK to be a little crazy. It’s OK to teach through pure fun. As the Aussies say: wackadoo!

About the author

Chris Mannino lives with his wife and two children. As a full-time stay-at-home dad, he considers himself a lion tamer, cat herder, sanitation manager, personal chef, private teacher and more. Somehow, he also manages to squeeze in a writing career: crafting fantasy stories from picture books through adult. Visit him at www.ChristopherMannino.com

With Halloween coming up this Saturday, we asked some of our City Dads Group members around the country to send us photos of their best family costumes from years past. Let’s just say, we have some pretty creative people among us.

Halloween family costumes: Rocky Balboa and Drago from “Rocky IV”

Halloween family costumes: “Family Guy”

Halloween family costumes: “Star Wars” 

Superman and Superboy

Halloween family costumes: “The Wizard of Oz” 

The “Despicable Me 2” cast

The “Toy Story” cast

And finally, we have three entries from the City Dads Group party king, Michael Moebes of our Atlanta Dads Group:

The “Harry Potter” cast of characters

The Von Trapp family from “The Sound of Music”

Halloween family costumes: “The whole Scooby-Doo gang” – Shaggy, Thelma, Daphne, Fred, a ghost and even the Mystery Machine.

Editor’s Note: You can find a few more dads and their families in costume on the NYC Dads Group site. Go check it out and send us some of your best family costume ideas for the scariest holiday of them all.

When you’re a stay-at-home parent, you watch more children’s cartoons than you might prefer. It’s natural to start analyzing — some might say overanalyzing — them. Therefore, I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that the cartoon dads in Doc McStuffins and WordGirl are both stay-at-home fathers.

It is worth mentioning that although there have been times when one or both of my kids have been obsessed with these shows, turning them on has never made me want to scoop my eyes out with a used plastic spoon. And I can hardly remember a time before most of my television watching involved unironically cheery animated characters.

Doc McStuffins, the more well-known of the two shows, is about a girl who fixes what ails stuffed animals and toys that come to life in her presence. WordGirl is about a girl who happens to be an alien (from the planet Lexicon, get it?) living with her adoptive parents and brother as her alter ego, Becky Botsford, but who battles villains as the superhero WordGirl.

Stay-at-home cartoon fathers?

In most children’s programming, the juvenile stars of the show generally spend WAY too much time out of adult supervision. For example, if this were real life, Child Protective Services would have some really tough questions for the parents of Max and Ruby, the titular characters of a really annoying cartoon by the same name. These two anthropomorphic bunnies have a grandmother who pops by every once in a while, but I can only assume that their parents got fed up with Ruby’s condescending tone and left to pick up a pack of smokes at a convenience store three years ago with no intention of ever returning. Meanwhile, the parents in Doc McStuffins and WordGirl are around enough that even a casual viewer could tell they are a valuable part of a wholesome family dynamic. (Unlike you-know-which snooty bunny and her brother’s parents.) The mother in Doc McStuffins is a doctor and clearly an inspiration to her medically inclined daughter. The mom in WordGirl is a district attorney. The fathers in both shows just seem to be around, providing support, transportation, and occasional meals. It’s not something discussed or even really alluded to, but I don’t think my assumption that they are stay-at-home dads is nearly as wild as my speculation on the mysterious disappearance of Max and Ruby’s parents.

The fact that the cartoon dads’ “occupations” are never mentioned on these shows is all the more surprising when you consider how in-your-face stay-at-home dads are presented on primetime TV and movies. Just think of the thankfully short-lived Guys with Kids and Modern Dads, as well as Chris Rock’s character in Grown Ups and Eddie Murphy and Jeff Garlin’s characters in Daddy Day Care. Not only was the portrayal of these men as stay-at-home dads front and center, but they were, with the possible exception of Modern Dads (to be honest, I didn’t make it past the pilot), either incompetent, miserable or severely judged by others. Not so on Doc McStuffins and WordGirl, where staying home just seems to make sense for Mr. Botsford and Mr. McStuffins, and nobody questions that decision.

Cartoon dads Dr. McStuffins and Mrs. Botsford both bring home decent bucks, but probably have to work some late hours. The option to stay home was available to their husbands and (although Mr. Botsford is kind of goofy and really should know that his daughter is WordGirl) the dads are good at what they do. It’s not a big deal for anyone … it just is what it is. Men (cartoon or otherwise) don’t stay home to make some sort of social statement. They stay home either out of necessity or because it is in the best interest of their family. No different than mothers who do the same.

Other cartoon dads of note

WordGirl and Doc McStuffins are far from the exceptions in the current crop of kid’s TV. There are great cartoon dads in a number of really smart shows. One of my favorites is Phineas and Ferb. The title characters are boy geniuses. Although not a stay-at-home dad, Lawrence Fletcher knows more about his sons’ scientific exploits than does his wife, who has the uncanny ability to overlook every death-defying invention her kids create. Mr. Fletcher does what he can to foster his sons’ creativity and is sometimes part of their adventures. Another example, for a younger audience, is the father of the Pteranodon family in Dinosaur Train. I don’t believe either of the dino-parents has a job in this show. The only person dinosaur who has a full-time gig seems to be the conductor of the magical train. In any case, Mr. and Mrs. Pteranodon are co-equal parents who teach their four children (including an adopted T-Rex) about different dinosaurs over various time periods. These fathers are a far cry from the old-school depictions of dads, still found in some cartoons. In the Berenstain Bears, for instance, Papa Bear, though handy with a jigsaw, is really nothing more than an overgrown child.

There is a lot of dumb stuff on TV and dads are not always portrayed in the most positive light. I’m glad to see that on many of the better children’s shows, the cartoon dads are active and involved. But, of course, why wouldn’t they be? Maybe there’s some adult programming that is just as forward-thinking when it comes to fathers. I hope so.

Unfortunately, I’m stuck mostly watching my kids’ cartoons for the foreseeable future. Like Ron Swanson said, “There is only Doc McStuffins.” It could be worse.

We rarely allow our son to watch television. The first show he watched, at age 3, was Sesame Street. Nearly a year later, Sesame Street is the only show he watches on occasion. Naturally, it made sense for our family, to take our son on a recent adventure to the Promised Land for fans of Big Bird and Co. — the Sesame Place amusement park.

Watching our son enjoy Sesame Place was a memorable parenting experience that I will cherish for a very long time. Think about it: A magical place with so many characters that our son considers his “friends” (Big Bird, Abby Cadabby, Elmo, Bert and Ernie, Telly, The Count, Grover, etc.) are walking around the theme park giving hugs and kisses, dancing down the street in the parade, and sitting at the dinner table with you while you eat. I would guess that it was my son’s No. 1 or 2 favorite experience of his short four-year existence. Pretty amazing!

Our Sesame Place review

For NYC parents, Sesame Place is a short 90-minute drive to Langhorne, Penn., — we didn’t even have to make a pit stop. One helpful tip — visit on a weekday to avoid the weekend crowds. Also, we decided to pack everything into one day (which is absolutely doable) to avoid hotel costs.

Rides & shows

To do so, we arrived when the gates opened at 10 a.m. In the cooler morning hours, we caught a few shows (“Elmo Rocks” was amazing for parents and kids alike) and the non-water rides. “Flying Fish,” “Ernie’s Bed Bounce,” and “Big Bird’s Balloon Race” were the ones we went on more than once. The theme park is ideal for children age 7 and under. At age 4, our son was the perfect height/age to enjoy some attractions on his own as well as with family. The “nets and climbs” hooked our little guy for nearly an hour before we decided to break for lunch.

Lunch break!

While there’s plenty of affordable lunch options on property, we noticed several families packed coolers for picnic lunches. That might work best for us on our next visit. To escape the heat, we enjoyed hamburgers in the air conditioned space in the off-the-beaten path, Cookie’s Cafe.

Water rides and fun

After lunch, we donned our swim gear and headed toward the numerous water attractions. We started with “The Count’s Splash Castle.” You can’t escape “Count’s” without getting soaked so we stayed there for a while. We tested all of the unique water features, barreled down the water slides, and got splashed by the enormous bucket that pours hundreds of gallons of water on all of us “innocent bystanders.” Next, we slowed things down a bit as we navigated along “Big Bird’s (Lazy) Rambling River.”  Our family enjoyed this ride the most. Our son was able to sit in his own raft (carefully guarded by me in the neighboring raft) so he could prepare for the waterfalls, spraying geysers and surprises around each turn. My wife and I enjoyed the quiet & relaxing experience as we slowly cruised around the river a couple of times.

Street party!

Next, was the 3 p.m. Sesame Place “Neighborhood Street Party” Parade (there is a night-time parade at 9 p.m. as well). We were told this is a must-see. So, we set up our towels a few minutes early along a narrow piece of shady street. Our son sat mesmerized the entire time! ALL of his favorite Sesame Street characters marched, sang, and danced past us. Sitting just a few feet away from all of the action was thrilling enough – but, the icing on the cake came when Ernie grabbed our son’s hand and literally pulled him into the parade (see pic)!

Our son was invited into the parade by Ernie.

Dinner with Elmo

After tubing down “Slimey’s Chutes” a few times, we dried off and changed for the most entertaining part of the day: dinner with Elmo & Friends. (This is also available for breakfast & lunch as well).

Two years ago, we tried a similar experience at Disney. That felt like an overcrowded factory where we saw the characters for a measly few minutes during our two-hour dinner. We were disappointed! But not at Sesame Place!

They do the main event the right way! The characters are everywhere during your meal, posing for as many pictures as you’d like, giving lots of love, patience and hugs. Some even stopped by our table, sat down and joined us for a few minutes (check out the picture below of Count!).

Bottom line — the character dining experience was phenomenal. Having my son watch Cookie Monster trying to gobble up the all of the cookies on the dessert table was priceless.

The Count joins us at our dinner table!

With a camera full of photos from our experience, and our son changed into his pajamas, we hit the road home at 7:30 p.m.  Within five minutes of the drive home, our son was in the backseat in dreamland while my wife and I were reflecting on the wonderful memories from the day at Sesame Place. We can’t wait to go back!

Elmo Rocks Show

Sesame Place Big Bird’s Balloon Race

The Count’s Splash Castle

Neighborhood Street Party Parade

Disclosure: My family was provided with complimentary admission to Sesame Place to write this review. The opinions expressed in this review are, as always, authentic and entirely my own.