TV Mom on the road!

Don't worry, I'm not the one driving!

Yes, I am blogging while in the van on the way to my Grandmother's 75th birthday party in Chicago. Thank heaven for my husband's awesome 4G phone that can act as wifi! (Although the middle of nowhere in Indiana makes for a challenge keeping the signal...)

Anyway, in honor of my trip, check out some Awesome Baseball Movies for Kids, including one of my favorites, "Rookie of the Year" about a kid who gets to pitch for the Chicago Cubs. I had a crush on Henry Rowengartner something awful when I was a 'tween' (although we called it "preteen" in those days).

Don't forget to check out my About.com site if you haven't yet! I'd really appreciate it! And on this post, leave me a comment about what you'd like to see next: which cartoons I should be reviewing (PLEEEEEASE don't say SpongeBob!), top 5 or top 10 lists you'd like to see, etc. I can't wait to hear what my readers want!

Have a great weekend everyone! Hope you're all staying cool. In Ohio when I left it was already approaching the triple digit temperatures, and when I got out of the van at the last rest stop here in Indy, it felt like I stepped into a blast furnace. Ugh.

And now we're stuck in construction traffic. I've been making this drive for pretty much all of my nearly 30 years and never once can I remember a drive when we didn't get stuck in construction traffic. Sigh. :)

What has TV Mom been up to?

Like I've mentioned, I've been super busy readying my new site for launch. That has included writing several pieces for it! I don't want to bog down the blog with individual posts for each one, but I really want to share with my TV Mom readers some of the fun stuff I've been doing! (Be sure to check out my post on the Fairly OddParents and Pound Puppies for links to some of the great new content I've done!)

Courtesy Company 9 Story Entertainment

First of all, what are the Best Shows on PBS for Older Kids? Click the link to find out my favorites!

Courtesy Turner/Cartoon Network

And if you haven't popped over to Cartoon Network in a while, you may not be hip to the awesome show "The Amazing World of Gumball". It's goofy and it's hilarious! Read my full review here!

Be sure to keep up with TV Mom on Facebook and Twitter now too!

The Fairly OddParents

These are magnets on my fridge, because I'm a huge Fairy-fiend :) Characters (c) Viacom.

Ever wonder what it would be like to have your every wish granted? That's the premise behind Nick's "Fairly OddParents"... fairy godparents who are a little, well, odd. And they have "wands and wings and floaty crown-y things" to assist in wish-granting fun.

 

Read my full review at About.com

Meet my About.com counterpart!

My site at About.com is what is called a Topic Site. It's a subset of one of the Guide Sites, namely Kids TV & Movies. That site is called my Parent Site, and it is written by a fantastic and awesome lady named Carey Bryson. Carey was kind enough to answer some questions so my readers here at The TV Mom can get to know her a little better!

Tell us a little about yourself and your family.  I am mom to three girls (ages 4, 7, 9). We live in the Dallas, TX area. My husband is a consultant and my tech support. :)

How did you become the Guide at About.com?  I became the guide to Kids TV & Movies in 2005. I applied because I wanted something fun to do while staying home with the kiddos. I majored in psychology, and especially loved studying child psychology, so writing about the shows and movies kids watch was a perfect fit. I feel very strongly about the effects – both negative and positive – of media on children. I’m also fascinated by the movie making process and the incredible art and talent that goes into making movies, especially animated movies. So I have a lot of passion for what I do.

What was your favorite show or cartoon character as a kid? I had a few I liked – Smurfs, there was a Pac Man cartoon for a while (A woman after my own heart! In case you haven't seen my kitchen...) – but I just have really great memories of Saturday morning cartoons. That’s a lost tradition now. We have so many channels, and cartoons are always on, so there’s nothing that special about waking up on Saturday and turning on the iconic “Saturday morning cartoons.”

What's your favorite kid's show now? Backyardigans, hands down.

So pop on over to Carey's site at http://kidstvmovies.about.com and check out all the amazing stuff she has written in the last seven years. There is a TON! :)

Pound Puppies on The Hub

Image courtesy The Hub Network (c)

I love The Hub network for several reasons, but one of the main ones is that many of the shows let me relive my childhood in the '80s. One such show is the reboot of Pound Puppies. This show is great to watch with all ages in the family, and will be enjoyable to pretty much everyone!

Why is a show about puppies cool? It's the voice talent, hands down. Actors like John DiMaggio (Bender of "Futurama"), Michael Rappaport (Agent Self from "Prison Break" and Phoebe's cop boyfriend on "Friends"), and even Eric McCormack (Will from "Will & Grace) all become animated pooches with a mission.

Read more about Pound Puppies and other great shows on The Hub!

My friends at The Hub have shared a great sneak peek at this weekend's all new episode "Barlow", which airs at 9am ET/6am PST on Saturday, June 23rd. This is a TV Mom exclusive!





A full review is coming soon on the About.com site! Stay tuned!

Blog redesign and other nifty stuff

You may have noticed that the blog looks a little different now. With the launch of my About.com site today, I felt it was time to bump up the fancy here on the blog. I have changed the name from "Confessions of a TV Mom" (maybe there's nothing more to confess? I don't know... I just didn't like it as much anymore) to just plain old "The TV Mom", and to go along with that change, I treated myself to a fancy new domain name! You can now easily find me here at www.TheTVMom.com. There is also a fancy new "grab it" button to go with it, for you to share the TV Mom goodness.

Finally, there is a new picture of me and the TV Boy on my About TV Mom page. Do you know how hard it is to get a three year old to smile nicely on a MacBook Photo Booth? I almost wish I could post all the pictures we took so you can see the progression it took to get a semi-decent shot. It seriously took well over fifty pictures to get one where a) TV Boy wasn't sticking his lower jaw out all Jim-Carey-as-Fire-Marshall-Bill-like, and b) where I didn't have psychotic eyes from trying to hold a smile too long. In fact, just for good measure, I'm going to include the Fire Marshall Bill shot. Someday, he will hate me for it, but then I'll just remind him that he should have taken a nice picture with Mommy like she asked and it wouldn't be an issue.

I promise you, he's normally really cute, not frightening beyond all reason.

Thanks again for all the outpouring of support I've gotten since I made the announcement about the About.com site! And don't forget to check out my Facebook page and give it a like :)

Hey, what's that on the sidebar?

(Made you look, didn't I?)

Don't touch those dials!

Hey, remember when TV's had dials? :)

Ladies and Gentlemen of TV Land, I would like to announce I have been selected to be a writer for About.com's new site about Kids' Cartoons! I'm super excited for my site to go live here VERY SOON and I can't wait to share with all my readers the wonderful things I've been doing for the past month (About has the LONGEST interview process I've ever been through!).

The site will feature cartoon reviews, behind the scenes info, picture galleries, interviews, and more, and will focus on cartoons for children ages 5 to 12. It isn't yet live, but please stay tuned to my Facebook page to receive up to the minute news about the launch, and after that, updates about what I'm doing over there.

Now, don't you fret, dear reader! I will still be writing my usual TV Mom goodness here on the blog. But, there will be more juicy 'toon filling to go here as well that I'm sure you're going to enjoy!

Lots of great things will be happening in the next year here at Confessions of a TV Mom, so I hope you stick around for the wild adventure!