Bendaroos

If you let your kids watch Nickelodeon, you know about Bendaroos. You have most likely experienced merciless begging and pleading for Bendaroos.

I feel your pain.

I too was begged. I was handed the phone and instructed to order. I was told how fun they were. How we must have them.

I was resistant. They were $19.99 + shipping. Which seems steep for wax-covered strings.

Then I found them on Amazon for $16 and had a gift card and got them for a total of $8 out of pocket - which seemed more reasonable to me.

They arrived in the mail today and Tater was so happy that he got all huggy and told me I was the best mommy ever. Which was so totally worth $8.

The kids busted open the box and didn't do much with them actually...migrated toward the TV after a little while.

I lured them back with the little booklet of projects and Tater and I made this cool guy with balloons, while Sprout attempted to cover the box with Bendaroos - unsuccessfully, but she seemed to be enjoying the attempt.

These are strangely fun, and yet sticky and icky. Sure to be a hit with the kids - although, as most things are, not as fantastically jump-out-of-the-box super fun as the commercial makes them sound.

The commercial (and box) suggest that you could stick these to the wall with no staining. Considering the haze of wax on my kitchen table and hands, I am not buying that claim and not allowing these on my walls.

And oh my...now I am looking at Amazon and they are all priced at MORE than the commercial! Rude! I did see them this morning at Bed, Bath and Beyond (part of the "beyond"...) so you can at least save the shipping if the begging is getting to you!!

Coolest Mom - EVER!

A couple of weeks ago, a box arrived on our front step.

The kids love it when boxes come, unless the boxes have boring things like makeup in them (I love those boxes).

But this time, it was an especially good box.
It had Guitar Hero for DS in it.
TWO of them!!

Can you say "A mom with a blog is a COOL mom!" How about "thank you Mom Central for making me very popular around here for a few days"?

I don't usually get picked for the cool reviews. But this time, I did. Yay me!!

So, in our box was Guitar Hero: Modern Hits and Guitar Hero: Decades - each including the cool adapter thing for the DS. One for each child. No fighting. Yay for Guitar Hero!!

We have been rocking the Guitar Hero for Wii for a few months. I am especially excellent on the drums...in my mind anyway. Considering how fun that has been, the kids were super enthusiastic to try this new version.

Sprout was immediately completely addicted. She is generally all about accessories and the little plug-in fingerboard with a pocket for the "pick" was completely up her alley. She played for literally hours straight. Notice in the picture, she is playing WHILE watching TV - a multi-media extravaganza!

I eventually had to resort to threats of throwing the DS away if she didn't turn it off. I wouldn't (probably), but apparently it was convincing enough to tear her away, albeit temporarily.

I am not sure how troubled I should be that her favorite song is "Dirty Little Secret" - that's probably my own issue, right?

Tater was less enamoured of the DS version.

First, he's a lefty and was very upset that the game wasn't going to work for him. But VOILA, there is a lefty setting so no problem! Then it was hard for him to hold the game and push the buttons at the same time - small hands. And, he isn't all that proficient at the Wii version, resorting to the "beginner" mode, which doesn't require the pushing of the colored buttons. Alas, the DS version doesn't have that mode - so it was sort of over his head. I expect that he will eventually be into it, but for now, he is leaving it up to his sister.

Mike and I attempted the "competition" mode, which was sort of fun. You play one song on two machines. It was odd that it seemed to want us to take turns, so I never really got into the "groove" of the song and was completely horrible at the game. Yeah, it was that groove thing...not just incompetence on my part.

Couldn't be! I ROCK! Right?

I also felt a little carpal-tunnel-ish holding the thing in my hand at a weird angle - but I could have just been doing it wrong.

I should try it a few more times - maybe I can work out that groove thing and then Sprout and I can bond over our shared passion for Guitar Hero. Maybe we can go on the road...

She is still playing every chance she gets. And since we have been lax in our summer schedule this week, she has had quite a few chances.

Rock on Sprout!!