Midwest Dud Fest

My daughter is finally starting to reach the age where we can venture out and find entertainment from a variety of sources and events. Long gone are the days of 'she's just a baby, she'll have no idea what the hell is going on.' So, when I recently heard that an event called Midwest Kids Fest was going to be taking place in Overland Park, I immediately checked it out and planned to attend with Ava.

The list of entertainment options sounded great. Kids activities! Games! Kids characters! Stage entertainment! Interactive workshops! And with tickets only $5, how could you pass something like this up? Well, as I learned after attending, pretty easily once you find out what the event is REALLY about.

I'll cut to the chase: Midwest Kids Fest is a glorified trade show aimed at getting parents' information for vendors to use as sales leads. One thing I WISH I had looked at before attending was who the vendors were. Let's take a look at some of the wonderful organizations that my daughter had available to her:

Bath Fitter
First Investors
Fulk Chiropractic
Hague Quality Water
Leonardi Chiropractic (who knew kids had so many skeletal issues)
Mary Kay
Mutual of Omaha
ReBath
Renewal by Andersen (replacement windows)
St. Clair Corporation (windows and vinyl siding)

Now, maybe I'm alone here, but my child doesn't have a lot of interest in home remodeling, investing or cosmetics. Now obviously, I "get" that the organizers know that parents are going to be there, and can make money from  parent-focused vendors that buy booth space. But despite the fact that I "get" it, I think it sucks. Don't label yourself a 'Kids Fest' when your main attraction is trade show style booths with pushy vendors trying to slang their product or weasel parents into filling out contact information forms. Pardon my French, but no, I don't want a fucking water evaluation, I want to have fun with my daughter. THAT'S what I paid for. Not your sales pitch.

These kids seem awfully happy to have their parents hounded by salespeople.

I guess it's only fair to note that there WERE activities and fun things for kids to do. Of course, the majority of them cost extra money, which is conveniently unmentioned in the promotion of the event. Want your face painted? 5 bucks. Want a balloon animal? 5 more bucks. Want to feed the goats at the petting zoo? Give us a dollar for a 2 ounce Dixie cup of food. Fortunately, my daughter is very thrifty and was picking up the food off the floor that other kids had dropped. Way to beat the system, Ava!

And the kids characters that were supposedly there? Never saw one. One of the main things I was taking my daughter there to see was Elmo (she has a mild obsession) and it never happened. I know they were there at SOME point, because I've seen other people with pictures of Buzz Lightyear, but apparently you have to hit the perfect 15 minute window of time in order to make this happen. Or maybe you are just supposed to pay extra to meet the costumed characters.

So there you have it. All in all, Midwest Kids Fest was a joke of an event. When I left, I wasn't mad, but I was disappointed. However, what happened later DID make me mad.

I took to Facebook to see if anyone else had been disappointed in the event. Sure enough, one of the first comments I saw on the Midwest Kids Fest Facebook page was a mother who had the same concerns and feelings I did. She had expressed them in a perfectly constructive and calm manner on their Facebook Wall. I commented on her post and said that I felt the same way and gave some suggestions for how to improve the event.

I revisit the page maybe 30 minutes later to see if there's been any other discussion or activity and…wait a minute, where did our comments go? Yep, deleted. Now, as a blogger, and heavy social media user both in my professional and personal life, I know there's one big no-no when it comes to handling your business' social media pages: deleting negative comments that are actually constructive. I didn't go on a swear-fueled rant. I didn't call names, I didn't do anything aggressive or inappropriate. But apparently Midwest Kids Fest would prefer to delete and ignore people's opinions than address them and try to improve their lackluster event.

Now, this just fueled my fire and I wrote another post on their Wall, telling them that I thought it was ridiculous that they deleted the comments, especially when they were constructive criticisms. Well, what do you know, this was deleted too. Now, somebody did message me (I'm assuming an organizer of the event) telling me that any criticisms or suggestions should be directed to some form on a website, blah blah blah, but I thought this was still a sad attempt at damage control. Don't start a social media page if you aren't prepared to deal with issues in a PUBLIC forum. What's especially funny is that the majority of the positive comments/compliments on their page right now are from vendors. Imagine that!

Interestingly enough, I also spoke to a vendor (who will remain unnamed) from the event who agreed completely with what I said. Specifically, the vendor said that the event needs to focus more on activities for the kids and less on sales gimmicks.

Weird, Midwest Kids Fest, you have multiple attendees and even a vendor saying the same thing about your event..maybe it's actually true? Maybe these are legitimate concerns? I guess we'll never know as long as you keep deleting and ignoring people's comments. Constructive criticism doesn't make you any money, so I guess that's why it's not important to you.

Parents, I advise you to avoid this event in the future unless they make some notable changes. If you want a petting zoo, go to Deanna Rose where it only costs $2 to get in, and there are a lot more animals. If you want to paint your kids faces, go get a kit from the store. You could probably paint 20 kids faces for the cost of getting one cheek done at Midwest Kids Fest. Want balloon animals? Well, I don't really know how to help you with that unless you have a trained clown in your immediate family. But you get the idea.

Parents, save your hard-earned money and don't buy your way into an uncomfortable, deceitful venue where the focus is vendors trying to push their wares and services on YOU. No event deserves to take advantage of your desires to entertain your children by turning you into a sales lead.

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Review and Giveaway: Doggie Doo

In an age where everything entertainment-related for kids seems to be found on an LCD screen, it's nice to have new products being introduced that take it back to the "old school" style of family games. And for me personally, it's even better when said game incorporates something hilarious and childish like picking up poop. Enter: Doggie Doo.

I'll admit, when I first saw the commercial for Doggie Doo, I was in shock. I thought there was no way that a game that involved scooping dog poop could be real. But in typical fashion, I quickly took to Google to do some research on the product and learned some interesting things. Doggie Doo was  originally introduced in Europe, where its popularity exploded. It was even nominated for 2010 Toy of the Year in the Netherlands. Due to it's popularity overseas, the manufacturer's (Goliath Games) decided to try their luck in the United States market. The game will officially be released nationally on August 1, but I was lucky enough to get my hands on the game ahead of time and review it.

My first surprise upon opening the package and examining the contents was that Doggie Doo doesn't require any batteries. I expected that the farting and pooping action was electronically assisted, but I was wrong. Again, this game goes old school and employs manual pumping to 'will' the doo out of the doggie.

I anticipated the doggie treats (which end up doubling as the poop) to have the consistency of Play-Doh, but when I opened the container, it was actually reminiscent of Nickelodeon's old 'Gak' product, if you remember that. It was sort of a slick feeling, yellowish green goo that made a loud farting noise when you press it into the container. As you get into the game, you realize that consistency is necessary in order to provide the awesome dog fart noises that precede the 'dump'.

Doggie Doo after releasing some back-end tension.

Setup is simple. It's as easy as connecting the 'leash' (aka pumping hose) to the dog, distributing shovels and getting out the treat goo, and you are ready to go. Also included is a treat mold, a 'feeding bone' (how you transport the goo into the dog's mouth) and a die, which dictates how many pumps of the leash you get on your turn.

The game process is simple. The dog is fed a treat, then players take turns rolling the die to see how many times they pump the leash. If the dog poops thanks to one of your pumps, you scoop the poop and add it to your 'collection'. This continues until a player has 3 pieces of 'dog mess' on their shovel and is declared the winner.

A close up of the radioactive Doggie Doo poop.

In the end, the game is short, sweet and very comical, especially the first time around. The simple rules and quick set up make it a perfect family game. It's definitely the type of game that is fun for the kids, while avoiding being completely mind-numbingly boring for adults. I honestly see this being the perfect game for younger kids who still have short attention spans, especially younger boys who will be enamored with the echoing, wet fart sounds. Though Ava is too young to actually play the game, she loved petting and kissing the doggie and of course pointing out the poop and exclaiming 'Poo poo?' So even if your child isn't quite to the game-playing age, Doggie Doo could still serve as a temporary diversion (with proper supervision, of course) with the doggie, bright colored poop and absurd farting noises. I also commented to my wife that I could see creative college students managing to make a drinking game out of this if they were bored (if anyone ever does that, you did NOT get the idea from me!).

Ava goes in for the kiss of approval.

I did have a couple minor qualms about the game, but nothing that would divert me from recommending it. The mold that is intended to produce the 'perfect' size treat isn't so perfect. It actually seemed like more often than not, we had to put a bit more into the dog in order to get it to move through to the backside properly. Fortunately, when the dog isn't farting, you basically know that nothing is happening, so you at least have a good indicator of something being stuck or if there isn't enough food inside. Also, be careful with the treat goo; I made the mistake of setting a chunk down on a piece of paper, and when I picked it up the goo had pulled the printing off of the paper. Keep the 'food' in the container as much as possible! And hopefully, Goliath Games will make replacement tubs of the food readily available for purchase, because I could see the stuff getting lost/misplaced/trashed frequently.

Overall, I was a big fan of Doggie Doo. Kids would definitely enjoy it, and I love that it's a diversion (albeit brief) from computers, iPods, etc. If the standard board game fare isn't for your family, I highly suggest giving Doggie Doo a try. Unique, simple and humorous; you can't ask much more from a family game, can you? Plus, if you're lucky, it will convince your kids that picking up dog poop is fun and you can get them to clean up the backyard!

Visit the Doggie Doo website for more information, plus find them on Facebook and Twitter.

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DOGGIE DOO GIVEAWAY!

Goliath Games agreed to provide one Doggie Doo Game (a $29.99 value) to a lucky winner in my giveaway. One of you will have the chance to own this game before it's even available to the public!

Required entry:

To get entered into the contest, you must Like the Doggie Doo Game Facebook page and follow Doggie Doo on Twitter. Once you've done so, leave a comment below with your Facebook and Twitter names, plus a way to contact you if you are the winner.

Additional entries (leave a comment for EACH additional action):

- Follow A Family of My Own on Twitter (1 entry)
- Like A Family of My Own on Facebook (1 entry)
- Watch the Doggie Doo Walks a Human video and tell me one of the places Doggie Doo visits (1 entry)
- Tell me what you would name your Doggie Doo (get creative!) (1 entry)
- Tweet about this giveaway, mentioning @AFOMOBlog, @doggiedoogame and linking to this post. Example:

"Enter by July 15 to win a @doggiedoogame in this #giveaway from @AFOMOBlog: http://bit.ly/mdS7nC"

Make sure to leave a comment below for each additional entry action, otherwise they will not be counted!

Deadline for entries is Friday, July 15, and I'll announce the winner on Monday, July 18.

Good luck!

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Review: Joey the Bunny Gets Lost

Move over Berenstain Bears, Cat in the Hat, Arthur and Amelia Bedelia; Joey the Bunny is hopping his way into the world of children's literature, and he is on a mission to simultaneously entertain and give back to those in need.

Joey the Bunny is a product of Big Bunny Workshop, which, in turn, is the brainchild of Jeff Maciejewski, Associate Professor of Advertising in Creighton University's School of Journalism. Jeff's motivations for creating Big Bunny Workshop were simple: to raise money and provide education to children in need. As an educator and father, Jeff believes education is vital for improving children's lives and ultimately eliminating poverty.

Big Bunny Workshop currently has one published book, Joey the Bunny Gets Lost, and a second on the way, Joey the Bunny Gives Back. 100% of the profits from these books go straight to charity. Yes, 100%. Every penny. And Joey the Bunny Gets Lost is conveniently available in paperback, Kindle and Nook versions. So for those of you with technologically advanced little ones, you can read this to them digitally as well!

Sales of the books support causes like Jardin de Amor (Garden of Love), which is an education project in the poverty-stricken village of Santa Maria de Jesus in Guatemala. project enrolls more than 100 children from 6-16 years of age, teaching them math, writing and science as well as allowing them to participate in play that is nearly impossible when not in school.

A parent teacher and a volunteer from England give a math lesson.

However, Jardin de Amor has reached capacity, and must turn away students unless it raises money to purchase extra land and build more space. That's where Joey the Bunny and Big Bunny Workshop come in.

I was under Jeff's tutelage at Creighton University, and know how much of a kind-hearted, dedicated person he is. When I first read about his new venture, I was in awe. It's a selfless endeavor, and I can't help but respect the fact that he's putting in so much work for the sole purpose of helping others.

Naturally, I jumped on the opportunity to purchase a book and contribute to this great cause. Plus, my daughter is absolutely nuts about having stories read to her, so as far as I'm concerned, there can never be enough new books in the house.

When I sat down with Ava to read Joey the Bunny Gets Lost for the first time, she immediately presented Joey with a kiss. As you know from my previous post, this her seal of approval, so I instantly knew we had a winner.

Ava showing concern for Joey's well being.

The story revolves around Joey getting lost, and his family trying to find him. I won't give away any spoilers, but we'll just say the book DOES have a happy ending. It was actually a very cute story, and has a nice lesson for preschool/Kindergarten age children. Ava is still too young to understand book concepts, but the artwork in the book did a great job of keeping her attention throughout.

We made it about halfway through before she decided to get up and momentarily pursue another activity. Now don't consider that a knock against the book; this is the girl that took 3 months to sit all the way through Goodnight Moon, so listening to half of a book in one sitting is actually excellent for her.

When she finally returned and we finished the story, Ava presented the entire bunny family with a second kiss, and proceeded to get up from my lap and move on with her life. For an 18-month-old, that's a pretty glowing review!

So Ava and I both give Joey the Bunny Gives Back a big thumbs (paws?) up. But really, with the incredible cause associated with the book, how can you not?

If you are interested in learning more about Big Bunny Workshop or purchasing Joey the Bunny Gets Lost, visit the Big Bunny Workshop blog. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

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Review: Jumping Jax

One of the biggest challenges as a parent of a young child is keeping that child entertained for extended periods of time. Some days, it feels like my wife and I manage to read every one of Ava's books and play with every one of her toys, but then we look at the clock and only an hour has passed. This can be especially difficult for parents of kids that are under 3 or so, because there simply aren't many outside entertainment options (I refuse to be that parent that takes their 18 month old to the movie theater, please reference Brian Posehn's bit on movie ruiners).

So one day when I had taken a day off work and my wife was gone, I was on a mission to find something new for Ava and I to do. I recalled seeing a sign on my commute home for a place called 'Jumping Jax'. I had no idea what it was, but it had a cartoon kangaroo on it, so I felt it was at least safe to assume it was for kids. After a little research (God bless you, Google), I found out from their website that it was 'Southern Johnson County's premiere indoor inflatable play facility'. Quite frankly, I don't know of any other Southern Johnson County inflatable play facility's, so the 'premiere' label seems a bit excessive, but it seemed like an interesting place, so I decided to give it a shot.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Jumping Jax; my assumption was that it would be a sensory-overload, constant-lights-and-sounds-to-distract-your-ADD-riddled-children type of place. As I walked in though, I was surprised to see that it was a pretty plain and understated place. Beyond the gigantic inflatables, there's really not much to it other than some tables (for parties) and a room with couches, a TV and a soda machine (for parents desperate for some refuge).

For me, the first perk of this place was the price. Since Ava was under 2, she was only $4. Over 2 years old, the price doubles to $8 for the first child, $5 each after that. Judging by their Facebook page, they often have 2-for-1 open play deals, so be on the lookout for that. Parents are always free, which was a nice perk too. Since Ava was small, the front desk attendant noted that I was welcome to go with her as she explored the inflatables (which, as you'll read below, turned out to be easier said than done).

Ava scales to the summit, prepared to eat me alive if rations run out.

We walked into the first of two main rooms, and immediately I was worried that this wasn't going to work. Kids running around like maniacs everywhere, climbing up the inflatable stairs, launching down the slides, tearing through the obstacles, etc. And one thing I've learned in my first year and a half of parenting is that older kids can be real pricks (for lack of a better word) to smaller kids. I immediately morphed into defensive dad mode and moved cautiously towards the first inflatable. Ava had no idea what she was getting thrust into, and because of the way these inflatables are designed, I basically had to carry her up the 'stairs'. So this is where I issue my first caveat for Jumping Jax:

If your kid is under 2, this might not be a place you want to try. If your kid is under 2 and you are overweight or out of shape, this is DEFINITELY not a place you want to try. I consider myself to be in pretty good shape, and weigh about 175 pounds, and I had quite a bit of difficult trying to maneuver through these things while also making sure Ava was safe and could get up and down. Plus, many of  Throw in the bratty kids that fly through without any concern for others, and it can get a little sketchy. We stayed in this room for 20 minutes or so and decided to relocate to see if we could escape the loonies in the other room.

The second room had just cleared out from a party, so we had it all to ourselves, which was nice because it gave us a chance to explore on our own time without feeling rushed by chemically imbalanced children. Although it took her a while to warm up to it, Ava loved the bounce house. Of course, this is the child that enjoys spinning around until she's dizzy and falls over, so it doesn't surprise me that she was into it. The obstacle/slide inflatable in this room seemed to have even smaller tunnels than the first ones, so I felt like I was in some vinyl-smelling Alice in Wonderland moment. We spent some quality time in this room, but inevitably, the Children of the Corn stormed in and made it unpleasant for us. On that note, it was time to go, but after getting an hour and a half of entertainment for $4, I was fairly pleased.

The calm before the psycho-children storm.

Besides the crazy kids, there were a few other negatives about Jumping Jax that are worth noting:

For starters, besides the front desk attendant, I never saw a single employee in the rooms with the inflatables. I understand that the parents should be responsible for thir children, but to me it would make sense to at least have one person keeping an eye on the activity to aid in case of an injury, to answer questions, and just to help in general.

And on a similar note, since I didn't see any employees walking around, I never saw anything being cleaned. I am a bit of a germaphobe so maybe others aren't as concerned about that. But to me, when a bunch of sweaty, drooly kids are running and diving around on the same surfaces, cleaning should be a constant activity.

Finally, the place is well-polished in the front room, but in the inflatable rooms there didn't seem to be a lot of concern for upkeep. Holes in inflatables were patched with what seemed to just be duct tape and next to the bounce house there was a HUGE hole smashed into the wall. I'm sure the kids don't care, but as an anal, overanalytical parent, these are just things I noticed.

So, let's wrap this up with the big question; would I go back again? Yes, but not until Ava is older and can handle playing in the inflatables by herself. I came home with way too many vinyl burns to want to go back and have to venture into those things myself. Ava had a lot of fun though, and I think it would be even more fun for her if she was able to experience everything there to its fullest.

Interested in learning more about Jumping Jax? Check out their website or their Facebook page. It's important to note that they have specific open play periods, and there is NO open play on the weekends. They also keep their website updated with the dates where open play might be restricted to one room because of a party.

Finally, one more suggestion. If you are headed to Jumping Jax and need some music to get hyped up, this song only seems appropriate:

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The Stroller Coaster

I've always considered myself to be an excellent researcher. Hell, most of my major classes in school depended on it. So between researching demographics/marketing data for school, and having an OCD-influenced habit of reading online reviews before major purchases, I considered myself a research savant. Things have changed.

Strollers have effectively crushed my research ego.

Let's take an abridged walk down stroller lane. Strollers. Seems simple enough.

But wait a second, buddy..you have decisions to make. Long gone are the days of just getting a STROLLER. Do you want a standard stroller, a lightweight stroller, a jogging stroller, a travel system, or a tandem stroller?

Hmmmm..okay, let's go a different route here..let's look at some brands, that should make this a bit easier.

BRANDS? Oh, we've got brands alright! Evenflo, Graco, Chicco, Bugaboo, Maclaren, Zooper, Baby Trend, Safety 1st, Combi, UPPAbaby...

Whoa whoa whoa..since when did GM start producing strollers too? Is the baby product market so competitive that the number of manufacturers needs to be in the double digits?

And well, the answer is yes. For all intensive purposes, it seems that the stroller stopped being about the baby a long time ago. Now the differentiating factors lie in the various creature comforts that are in store for Mom and Dad rather than the little one. Cupholders, storage bins, shopping baskets, one-handed steering (which I'd like to see accomplished with two klutzy dogs in tow), off-road capabilities, and on and on. And travel systems are a totally different animal, with the ability to turn a car seat into a carrier into a stroller attachment. My mind has officially been blown, and not by Sony, Microsoft, Apple, or any other technology giant. Oh no, that honor goes to Graco.

And you best believe that the user reviews on these products are a ridiculous combination of entertaining and informative. Just by reading some of these people's maniacal rants, you can tell their children are going to be the home-schooled bubble children who end up working at Erotic City and freaking out on PCP. Okay, that might be a little dramatic, but really..some of these people need to chill out.

So needless to say, the past week or so has been a flurry of online research and attempts to whittle this redwood into a toothpick by narrowing down a final stroller list. Which led me to a frantic lunchtime escapade yesterday.

5 minutes before I'm about to leave for lunch, I see a Twitter message from BabyCheapskate (yeah, that's right) announcing a deal on Babies R Us' website for a Graco travel system for only $85 after discount (normal price is around $230). As soon as I see this and verify it, my game face is on. I felt like Indiana Jones in the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, getting ready to swap the bag for the gold idol. E-mailing and making phone calls all at once, I was determined to snag this deal while it was still good. Always a clutch player, Dad jumped in and went through all the steps to order this bad boy, and then met a final screen that said PRODUCT NO LONGER AVAILABLE.













Sigh. Frustrating, but I won't give up hope. I am determined enough, and am slowly becoming cheap enough, that I WILL hunt down a deal on something..stroller, high chair, year's supply of pacifiers. Oh yes, I will.

In the meantime, I'm going to look for a stroller that is bluetooth-enabled and has built-in speakers with an audio-in port for my mp3 player. Ava and I aren't going to just walk, we're gonna HUSTLE.

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