Do you recognize the two people to the left?  Look very close.  That is what Stephanie and Sportacus from LazyTown really look like!  Hard to believe, I know!  Lazytown is a show on Noggin and Nick Jr. that encourages your kids to get off their butts and be more active!  When asked about the inspiration for the show, Magnus (the shows creator and Sportacus) answered:

Really, when you get down to it, LazyTown is a state of mind. We’ve all been to LazyTown. When we decide to go “veg-out” on the couch, you could say you’re “in LazyTown.” Even me. It’s a place we all go.

In a funny way, LazyTown reflects characteristics that you see in yourself or in people around you. These characteristics are universal: It’s that dynamic of opposites.

For instance, in the show, Sportacus is a driving force. He’s fit, agile, and an amazing athlete who’s patient, kind, and understanding. He encourages kids through example. He doesn’t take the low road. Conversely, his adversary, Robbie Rotten, is all about easy solutions and pulling the group down to his level. Then there’s Stephanie, the lead kid character, a wide-eyed optimist who believes she can make a real difference; while Pixel, a boy character, can conquer every video game, but when the situations are real, he has a harder time.

Just like in real life, nobody’s perfect and LazyTowners are constantly trying to find ways to understand and improve themselves. I guess that you could say that LazyTown explores the opposing forces that we encounter in our own daily lives.

How is that for teaching your children? Most moms and kids that I have talked to like this show. Magnus knows what he is talking about too — he was the Icelandic Men’s Individual Champion in Aerobic Gymnastics in 1992. In 1993, he became the Scandinavian champion, and was the European champion twice in 1994 and 1995. He was voted Athlete of the Year by Iceland in 1994. Adding superhero to that resume just makes it twice as nice (and you know is his shape he doesn’t have to worry about getting term life insurance quotes).

Now, why should you and your children watch this?  It does get them off their butts.  I find Madison and Will dancing and singing with the show when its on.  It has taught my children that there is nothing wrong with going outside and playing.  On top of the activity lessons, there are moral lessons too.  Check your local schedule and see when you can watch it at your place.  You won’t be disappointed!

Summer heat in Chicago has been so hot lately (yes, I am complaining about those 90 degree days with 90% humidity).  With our newly remodeled basement and the Wii we just bought, we are definitely have some fun down there.  Since we have no games for our newly acquired Wii, we headed over to the nearest game store.  I luck out that we live less than five minutes from mall.  I also luck out that we have two Gamestops in our mall (one on each end).  We checked them both out.  One did seem to have more kid games; the other more adult games.  We are not sure if this was on purpose or just happened to be that way when we were there.  I liked that we got to check out the Wii there before buying it.  Madison immediately picked up a controller and started playing a Sonic game, so we knew she would adapt quickly.  The other thing I really liked about Gamestop was that you can buy used games.  You don’t have to spend an arm and a leg on games then.  We don’t care how old the games are as long as they are fun.  I was afraid that they wouldn’t work, but we were assured that they were guaranteed to play.  We were also told that we could bring in some of our old games and get credit to buy some new ones (and we have a stack of games nobody ever plays!).  I found that the workers behind the counter at both stores were extrememly helpful, and they didn’t mind too much that my four year was picking out ten games she wanted us to buy (we settled on Wall-E).  I would highly recommend Gamestop as your one stop game shop (they also have gaming systems and accessories, so you can get those there too!).