As a parent one of my worst fears is that one of my children will get a life-threatening illness. Protecting them from this is almost always on my mind. Will that fever get out of hand? Will that asthma strangle the lungs?
Of course I know there are things I can never protect them from. Some kids get cancer. That’s life. But how often do you hear of a family where not only does one of their sweet-faced babies have cancer, but both parents do as well?
Yes, when life seems to be treating some people most unfairly, it can–and does–get worse.
In Alameda three of six members of the Pixon family — dad Jim, mom Jen and little guy Porter, now 4 — are fighting cancer. This Saturday there’s a benefit bluegrass concert to help them out.
Visit our sister blog at www.BandsOfTheBay.com, which is supporting the fundraiser, for all the details. Or you can donate directly: The Jen Pixton Cancer Fund, PO Box 6001 Alameda, CA 94501. Please make checks payable to: The Jen Pixton Cancer Fund.
“If you think about it, a more noteworthy surprise would have been if Disney’s hot ‘High School Musical’ movie series had not been turned into a stage musical,” he says, “and if the excitement surrounding the franchise didn’t have the energy and life expectancy of plutonium.” But this “light, sassy musical” delivers, says Craig, and even if your kids have seen the video version 40 million times, “the show is a real family treat, and a great way to introduce pre-teens to big-time, Broadway-style theater.”
So, how many times have your kids seen the show in any of its myriad forms? And will you shell out the big bucks for the Broadway stage version?
Our Wiggles days are over, sadly, but I still haven’t forgotten my husband’s late night forays online to try to find out information about upcoming Bay Area concerts. So, to save you some trouble, here’s the latest from their press folks:
The preschool heartthrob band of Aussies just added a fourth show in San Jose on March 26 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale Wednesday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster, the HP Pavilion ticket office and by phone at 408-998-TIXS. Tickets for the other three San Jose shows are on sale now. Prices range from $18-$35. Seating for tickets purchased at the $35 level will take place in the “hot potato seats” and will include an exclusive Wiggles giveaway.If you’re the parent of a preschooler and you haven’t checked out the Wiggles, you’re missing out. These guys really know how to get the diaper set dancing and moving and their cast of characters — Wags the Dog, Dorothy the Dinosaur, et al, will become VERY popular in your household.
Now their lyrics are going to be stuck in my head all day long: “It’s a wiggly party (come on everybody)…it’s a wiggly party…”
What’s that in your kindergartner’s ears? Most likely, it’s a pair of iPod ear buds. According to a recent story in Advertising Age magazine, 30 to 40 percent of the nation’s kids, ages 2-10, have iPods or similar MP3 players, either hand-me-downs from Mom and Dad, or a new Nano of their own. “By third grade,” says Paul Metz, senior VP at C&R Research, “half of the kid population in grade school has an MP3 player.” And between the iPods, the Disney Mix Sticks and Mix Maxes - and the overwhelming popularity of Hannah Montana tunes and “High School Musical” 1, 2 and (soon) 3 ditties - we can expect those numbers to soar ever higher.
The event is so insanely popular, they’re doing it twice this year: Feb. 16 at 1 p.m. at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts, and April 13 at 2 p.m. at Antioch’s El Campanil Theatre. Tickets are $5, and the petting zoo instruments are provided by Best Music, one of our favorite music shops. (If your kid falls in love with a tuba or piccolo at the petting zoo, you’re going to come to know Best very, very well.)
Got a young thespian at home? Oakland’s Children’s Fairyland, the nation’s oldest storybook theme park, is holding auditions this weekend for its year-round theater program. They’re looking for 30 enthusiastic kids, ages 8-10, for a gig that includes 50 hours of free professional training — acting, singing, creative movement, and ethnic music and dance — plus performances at Fairyland’s new theater, Aesop’s Playhouse, and other events. The deadline to sign up for auditions is TODAY at 5 p.m. Grab a phone and call 510-452-2259 or 510-238-6878, ext 3., to reserve a spot. The auditions themselves are Jan. 26 and 27 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Beacon Day School, 2000 Dennison Street in Oakland. (Note new address)
Ever since Nintendo introduced the Wii last year, we’ve heard occasional reports of video game injuries. We, ahem, got a little case of Wii-elbow ourselves, after bowling a tad too enthusiastically with the fam. So we figured we knew all about the potential risks. Ah, how wrong we were. Now there’s an entire YouTube subgenre devoted to Wii injuries (a few of dubious credibility) - and some on MySpaceTV too. If you were planning to buy a big ol’ plasma TV for your Wii, you may want to think again… Wii Sports Accident
Do songs get stuck in your head? Yeah, us too - and it’s always the cloying kiddie songs that stick most obstinately. “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy famileeeeee!” Ahhhh! That’s why we’re so relieved when new songs come out to replace the tunes ricocheting in our skulls. And we’re particularly delighted when the music has a Bay Area connection and isn’t Barneyesque … all of which brings us to this week’s bloggy contest. (Congrats, by the way, to Deniene for winning last week’s!)
This week, we’re saluting the Bay Area’s own Sippy Cups, the indie rockers one critic described as “the illegitimate offspring of the Cat in the Hat and Joey Ramone.” We’re giving away a copy of their first-ever DVD, “Electric Storyland,” recorded live at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Big fun. (They’ve got another SF gig coming up on Jan. 13, by the way, if you want to hear them live, and two at Bimbo’s 365 on April 13th.) All you need do to win the DVD is click “comments” (we’ll draw a winner’s name this weekend) and tell us, what kiddie song gets stuck in your head?
Bob’s World is an institution when it comes to cool light displays in Pleasanton, but we hadn’t ever actually seen it in person until recently. We stumbled upon its brilliance (Take Paseo Santa Cruz off Valley to 2612 Calle Reynoso–you can’t miss it), and it’s now our new favorite holiday lights display. It’s just so sweet and innocent, even if it is a little weird for a former Midwesterner like myself to see lit up polar bears on a green lawn with a snow machine spewing little white stuff everywhere, much to the delight of the kids.
Even weirder were the Livermore Harley bikers who rolled up to the suburban wonderland, one of them toting a fully lit Christmas tree on his ride and bags of treats for the little ones. Ah yes, nothing says holidays like leftover Halloween candy dolled out by a Harley guy in a Santa suit.
“Mommy, there are two Santas,” said one little girl, clearly confused by the clash of the Bob’s World santa and the Harley santa.
But the holiday spirit was there for sure. Even if the real snow isn’t. For tons of holiday light listings, visit Lights of the Valleyor check out our interactive map on our special holiday Web page.
I’m just loving this holiday Web site, Keep Santa Fat, which offers a lighthearted poke at the politically correct obesity police while raising money to fight hunger. Visitors will find an “investigative report” into the controversy, links to various news stories about the issue, links to online holiday games and historical Santa information and images, and of course, Santa’s favorite cookie recipes. Don’t miss the “interviews” with kids about how they feel about Santa’s girth — classic great laugh out loud stuff. As the site’s promoters say, it was Mrs. Claus who, in 1964’s “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” said, “Whoever heard of a skinny Santa?”
The ad agency that created the site will contribute the equivalent of one pound of food to America’s Second Harvest for every petition signature received, up to 50,000 pounds, and the equivalent of 20 pounds of food for every piece of Keep Santa Fat merchandise sold. Second Harvest, the nation’s food bank network, expects a 15 million pound food shortage this holiday season. So check it out to give your kids a laugh while also supporting a good cause.
Of course I know there are things I can never protect them from. Some kids get cancer. That’s life. But how often do you hear of a family where not only does one of their sweet-faced babies have cancer, but both parents do as well?
So, to save you some trouble, here’s the latest from their press folks:
