Parents and Discord – What You Need to Know

By Michael Cusden in Kids, Media & Entertainment, Parenting
parents and discord

As a parent, I knew the day would come that my kids would start talking about music, movies, celebs etc. that I would not know about.

It’s impossible to keep up. But one area I thought I would hold my own and be able to talk the talk, was with technology and online apps.

But that quickly vanished over the past few years and especially since our oldest son added a phone and Chromebook to his life. Now my brain checks out when the boys talk about Minecraft, Among Us and Roblox.

I tried to understand each by creating profiles and playing, but it just never caught on. For the record I am horrible at Among Us.

The latest and maybe the most unknown app to me is Discord. Have you heard of it? If you have young kids or teens, I know you have.

Do you know what it is? What it does? If it’s safe?

You really should because at least in our house it’s becoming the number one way our oldest son communicates with the online world (and us).

I know I am late to the party, but for those who don’t know about Discord, here is my explanation including what parents need to know.

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Kyle Lowry, Walter White, March Madness and More

By Michael Cusden in Big Green Egg, Food, Kids, Media & Entertainment, Sports, Toronto
march 16 cover image

Well it’s Mid-March and we are officially a year into this mess known as the pandemic and now the media is pushing the arrival of the third wave. Cool.

Does anyone else feel like March 2020 and March 2021 have merged? Thank goodness I have an Instagram feed to remind me that the last 12 months existed. Seriously, if I close my eyes, I can instantly go back to this time last year and it feels like it is now. We were on the kid’s March Break, or March Broke as I was calling it, and trying to navigate staying busy with the boys.

It’s been a year since signing up for Disney +. It’s been a year since I started playing Red Dead Redemption. It’s been a year since I watched no March Madness.

Anyways, how are you? How is life going for you? Gotten your vaccine yet?

How about a brain dump?

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Book Of The Week – The Water Hole

By Michael Cusden in Media & Entertainment

bookofweek

This week’s popular book is one we have had for years. It is called The Water Hole and it was given to Harrison as a gift at least three years ago. With him, we have read it hundreds of times to the point of his still knowing all the words.

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Now it is a fave of Charlie. He especially loves the Panda page.

Have you read this one with your kids? It has an environmental message that points out how important water is to the world. No water, not much left to enjoy.

What I like about is, it is a good length. Not that long, but still it involves counting and a story. It also has some creative pages that show the water hole drying up over time.

Each landscape illustration conceals hidden animal pictures for readers to find as they count the animals that visit the water hole and try to solve the mystery. It is a fun game to play with the boys.

As for now, back to having fun and reading to my kids.

What book is on your child’s hot list right now? I would love a recommendation.

Book of the week can be seen every Monday.