Other peoples kids...

... need to be controlled! I feel like since I have become an expectant father and hit 30 I got REALLY OLD, REALLY QUICKLY.

I know I am not old, but I finally feel old. I finally understand why my parents used to FREAK out and think we were going to die on the way to school, brushing our teeth, and pulling each other's hair. [OK so this is an exaggeration, but you know the feeling if you are a parent.]

Anyways... I know my child isn't born yet, and really have no parenting skills to speak of... but c'mon people there are some basics. I know that my "oldness" and "lack-o-parenting skills" don't completely devoid me of common sense - so I know that some parents just have NO CLUE!

Let me set the scene and explain:
My wife and I were in Blockbuster when a mom close to our age entered our aisle and was looking at new releases with her 8-11 year old daughter. [The daughter was dressed and acted like she was about to turn 19.] Here is a close, if not exact, play by play:

Mom: "Hunny, here is "UP" don't you want to see that?"
Daughter: "No... that's a kids movie."
Mom: "It looks good."
Daughter: "Oooo... let's get this, it's "Year One."
M: "It's PG-13."
D: "Mom... I have watched PG-13's before."
M: ::Reads the back:: .... "Oh... ok, I'll watch it with you."

Ok... at this point, I couldn't tell if she was saying that to convince US, or herself... maybe a bit of both. At one point I asked my wife loudly, "Honey, did we bring "UP" back?" Hoping that it would convince the mom and the daughter that it was a good movie worth renting. This was of course to no avail.

Now I haven't seen "Year One." But something tells me that Michael Cera and Jack Black are not conducive to a movie appropriate for a pre-teen child. Then again... my child hasn't been born yet.... what do I know? I think as adults we HAVE to be aware of the culture our kids live in and we HAVE to know what is going on around them... our job as parents are to know about these movies. We can't know everything... and in those cases we can simply say "No" and preview the movie before we let our kids watch them.

Here is a review of the movie from CommOn Sense [I don't vouch for them as a good rating service... I just think they are pretty straight forward.]

Parents need to know that this farcical romp through the Book of Genesis -- which was originally rated R but got edited down to an edgy PG-13 -- is full of slapstick violence, crude sexual material, strong language (including "f---"), and stereotypes. Since it starsJack Black and Michael Cera, it's pretty clear that this isn't The Flintstones: There's lots of gross-out humor (bear feces are viewed up close, an obese hairy man gets an oil massage, a eunuch carries his removed testicles around in a small pouch, etc., etc.) and some fairly pointed mocking of the ideas and concepts of the Old Testament. Whether that adds up to ribald fun or offensive insults will depend on your perceptions.

'Nuff said!