Not Glee-ful about Glee

Apparently the Jewish characters on Glee have no Jewish pride? My family knows that the vast majority of Americans celebrate Christmas and that decorations and entertainment will overwhelmingly be Christmas oriented. Glee, featuring two expressly Jewish characters, managed to produce a holiday show where only Christmas exists.

Growing up, I felt the pressure of the Christmas spirit. It’s easier to just say “Merry Christmas” then to be different and say “Happy Holidays”. It’s hard to be one of the only kids who aren’t buying and decorating a tree.  And in my family, Dec. 25 is the day for skiing. So I love when broadcast TV has Jewish characters expressing both their pride in our heritage and the awkwardness that comes from having a different faith. The closest Glee got to it was having Rachel acknowledge that she had never given a Christmas gift as she gave one to her boyfriend as a peace offering.

Glee has two characters that openly describe themselves as Jewish – Puckerman and Rachel. Like all the characters on the show, these two have character flaws, but in the Holiday show, they didn’t mention of their holiday and they’re both regaling the Christmas spirit. Nothing wrong with the holiday spirit – but it’s more than Christmas. And many Jewish high school students do ask their schools and friends to acknowledge Hanukkah as well. Hanuakkh is the first historic first for freedom of religion. We all cherish this freedom and it’s worthwhile for everyone to know about the fight for it.

The real irony is that this year there are two fantastic, current, Glee-like Hanukkah songs going viral on YouTube. One, from the Yeshiva University Acapella Group, wrote new lyrics about the Hanukkah miracle to the song Dynamite.  And it was great when the kids used the new lyrics as the song played during a Hanukkah laser show at our school. By the way Glee - this made the New York Times and the Today show.  

And then Orthodox Hip-Hop Recording Artist Matisyahu recorded a great song and fun video called Miracle. I describe it as Hanukkah as a hockey game. But it's a great song and inspires my kids to sing about their pride.

One of the benefits of a Jewish Day School education is that they are very secure in their Jewish identities and pretty much “roll with it” instead of being incensed. They are loving listening to these two songs and watching them on YouTube. Their faith and customs are hip and cool. I think Glee could have done something similar and made their Holiday show interesting, creative and inclusive. So what do you say, Glee writers...think you could have Puckerman and Rachel host a seder for Passover?

Update on Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 7:40PM by Joelle - a Practical Parent

After the Glee disappointment, I found myself watching the Brothers & Sisters holiday episode without expectations.  Although the mother character in the show was born Jewish, it's clear from the storyline that she did not raise her five children Jewish. It's her brother, Saul, who brings their Jewish heritage up from time to time.

I never thought I'd her the Schehecheyanu on broadcast TV. But in the last few minutes of the Christmas episode, Saul reminds the family of the Jewish blood that runs through their veins and blesses the family. This prayer was said at the founding of Israel and at any important or joyous occasion. And the few million people who watch Brothers & Sisters got to hear it.  It was an elegant nod to our culture in the midst of all the Christmas revelry. I hope the writers and actors know we appreciate it.

Learn more about the Shehecheyanu.

Preschool concert - Yo Gabba Gabba coming to San Francisco

If you have a toddler, you probably know Yo Gabba Gabba - the funky music and dance show designed for the hip tot.  They're coming to San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on November 20 and 21st with two shows per day.

Click here for more information and to buy tickets.

Digital Dope

Does the thought of spending 18 hours, one-way, in a car (okay, SUV) with three children and three (or four) adults give you cold sweats?  I would have said yes a few weeks ago. Turns out - I really enjoy a good roadtrip.  Practically, I enjoy the minimal stress of traveling on my own schedule.  Financially, I enjoy saving $5000 in airfare and car rentals. Philosophically, it's guaranteed family time.  Okay - that last one could be code for time to jettison my family.

But the 18 hours, each way, was actually great.  And for this, I must confess that I completely dosed my children with digital dope.  Good dope - the type that comes on shiny, single sided disks.  All systems go and liking itWe carefully restrict the consumption of digital dope in the home - only 2 hours on each weekend day and no time during the week except for homework.  No game systems permitted. But when confined to a seat for 18 hours over two days, we significantly increased the dosage and it made our roadtrip enjoyable for everyone.

The backstory is that our family loves to ski and we've fallen in love with skiing in Big Sky, Montana.  There are direct flights from San Francisco to Bozeman and Big Sky is only 45 minutes south of the airport.  But it's an expensive sport and an expensive proposition to fly there and rent a large SUV. Plus, in spite of the direct flights, every year has brought different problems with flights.  This year, we decided we'd try driving to save the money and control our schedule.  It's exactly 1000 miles from our home to the mountain lodge at Big Sky.

We prepped for the trip by researching gaming systems to pick the right one for our family. We borrowed 35 DVDs from a friend to have a variety for everyone.  We figured out how to play books on tape through the Audi MMI system. And, at the last minute, we wound up with two portable DVD players, both with video input, instead of a permanent system.  By the way, very few portable DVD players have video inputs and they have single audio inputs.  Kudos to Cody for a super cool device and thank G-d for Radio Shack where there are adapters and cords for everything.

We were still responsible Digital Dope dealers on the trip.  For the first 100 miles and for the first hour after every rest stop, all video machines were off and we listened, as a family, to Harry Potter.  Finished Book two and started Book Three.  This was good for everyone - including the driver.  The route from San Francisco to Bozeman is not very exciting.  After the first 100 miles, the machines were powered up.  Our daughter had a dedicated machine where she controlled the movies.  Tinkerbell, Barbie Princess and Peter Pan were the favorites.  The boys had a DVD player with a PS2 connected.  Madden NFL 2007, Roller Coaster Tycoon and ATV Racer were the favorites -  beating Lego Batman and Sonic Skateboarder by a considerable stretch.

And bickering - that was easy to control.  Arguments led to an immediate disruption of the digital dope flow - power off.  Only has to happen once for the kids to understand they had best play nice, or they won't play at all.  The quiet and stillness of their bodies while they watched The Lone Peak of Lone Mountain. 11,000+ feetand played was convenient for the car but truly frightening if I think about people who allow unmetered digital dope in their homes. These kids were enraptured with the games and movies, but they weren't moving.  Good for the car, bad for almost everywhere else (in long stretches).

After dinner, for the last 4 hours of driving, the digital dope was turned off.  Another 30 minutes of Harry Potter and everyone except the driver and navigator fell to sleep.  They were told before dinner that all entertainment other than a story would be off and once again, there was no begging, whining or other shenanigans.

We spent 36 hours in a car with our children over the last 11 days.  That's 13.6% of the last 11 days.  We still like being with them.  They liked traveling with us.  Big Sky was glorious as always and the trip was not stressful. The home rules for digital dope aren't changing, but for a roadtrip, I swear by that stuff.

Roadtrip - Game on!

We're planning an 18 hour roadtrip to reach our favorite ski destination this year. We'll likely be traveling with 7 people - and three are my kids.  To make it a success, we decided that we will buy a gaming system for the car only. Since neither of us are gaming console afficiados, I've been researching what system we should acquire for the car.

Our criteria:

• Must be multi-player games - we don't want the kids to be heads down lost in a PSP or a DS.  Plus, we want the gaming system to live in the car - only to come on after one hour of good behavior.
• Should not encourage them to smack each other
• Large library of not exhorbitant games appropriate for kids under 10

Obviously - must be car friendly for installation and durability.

I visited Best Buy, Audio Sounds, Toys R Us and GameStop.  No comparison in terms of useful information.  The first three told me that I could probably use a WII (I think it's cute and fun) but that any system would do.  GameStop was truly informed. 

The Nintendo WII

Very cute, age appropriate - but the WII just isn't a car gaming system - too many of the games require movement and are seriously less fun without movement.  If we wanted to have the system in the house and car, then we could have only the most sedentary WII games, but it would be silling to spend that much money on a system and on the games if it's only purpose is sedentary play.

The XBox 360

This is an excellent gaming console - but for older children. The games are expensive, complicated and often violent.  It can play movies - but we have DVD players in the car that are embedded into the screens - so we don't need that feature. It also doesn't like being shook up all that much and should be installed in such a way that it won't bounce.

The PS3

This is also a mature gaming console - with wireless controllers that will make the car less cluttered.  The games are as expensive, complicated and violent as the XBox 360.  We don't own BlueRay discs, so that's not valuable either. It does apparently travel better than the XBox.

The PS2

We have a winner!  The console is value-priced - appropriate for a car-only system for our young kids.  The games are abundant and there are plenty that are priced low because they're pre-owned, but fine. There are wireless consoles available (we bought two wireless consoles). It's hardy - you can toss it around on the floor of the car and it won't complain. Sony is committed to one more year of PS2 support AND GameStop is committed to another year after that.

By the time there's limited support for the PS2, the next generation of systems will be available and we can revisit, if necessary, what console to put in the car.  Personally, we had an Atari 2600 in the basement when I was a kid and that was our only gaming system for 10 years.  I suspect my kids will be using the PS2, in the car on roadtrips, for a long, long time. But don't tell them - they won't even see the system and initial games until Hanukkah - when they find out it's in the car!

This is laugh out loud funny - shofar inspiration

In 30 seconds, this should have you laughing.  If you do not know what the man is doing, he's blowing a shofar - a ram's horn that is blown in a variety of Jewish rituals.  My kids will enjoy this - I hope yours do.