Want Your Kids to Speak Chinese? Watch Nihao Kai Lan

China’s population represents 20.8% of the global population. It is also emerging as the next giant world economic power. China has not shown any interest in changing its official language or moving away from using 汉字 (characters) for their writing. While many Chinese speak English and in many places there is English signage (some of it pretty hilarious), business in China is still conducted in Chinese.

Kids have the capacity to learn anything, even a tonal language with writing that gives you no clue as to the tone or pronunciation. Sure, it takes a lot of practice and dedication. Actually, it takes a LOT of time and dedication and practice and usage, but in the end it is worth it because the language is incredibly useful

Now that you’re sold, how do you get the kids learning Chinese? If they are little (3-6), consider the new show on Nick Jr, Ni Hao Kai Lan. Kai Lan Chow is a bubbly, Dora-like cutie-pie who loves to play games and do cool activities with her friends. She speaks both English and Mandarin Chinese, mostly weaving the latter in when she is talking to both her friends and your kids. The show also deals with behavior issues that kids have and tries to teach them how to be patient and how to share. The sage for advice is Kai Lan’s 爷爷 （yeye) which is Chinese for paternal grandfather. He teaches the kids about Chinese culture, makes them dumplings and Chinese New Year dinner, performs taiji quan and supervises fun activities like backyard camping, a dragon parade and dragon boat races.

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Woman to Give Birth on Her 7th Birthday

Yes, that’s right, this woman is pregnant and is about to give birth on her 7th birthday. Ok, so she was born in 1980 but this woman was born on a Leap Year so she has only had 6 birthdays so far. The real story is she is pregnant and, if she doesn’t deliver earlier, will be induced on February 29th. That means that her child will also be born on a Leap Year day.

One out of every 1,461 people is born on Leap Day. Read more here.

Elmo Wants to Kill Your Children

Apparently that cuddly red monster in your kids rooms may want to kill them. There is a story out of Florida of an Elmo doll that has been threatening the kid of the house with the words, “Kill James”. The kid, named James, obviously is terrified and so is his mother who complained to the company.

It happened after Melissa Bowman changed the batteries in her son’s Elmo Knows Your Name” doll. If you ask me, that name has monster to kid molestation written all over it.

If you recall, not only does Elmo want to kill your kid, Bert works for the Taliban. Recently, Elmo was spotted chilling with Chucky at the local Sesame Street Gun Shop.

Read more of the story here. And if you want to see more Lindsay Lohan/Marilyn pics click here.

Share the Love with Noodad on Twitter

If you are a Twitter user, you now have 2 new ways to show your Noodad love.

If you have a blog or website and want to spread the Noodad infection onto your page, you can with this Twitter Badge.

follow Noodad.com at http://twitter.com
Just copy/paste this code into your page. Read the rest of this entry »

Razor Blades Found in Valentine’s Day Lollipops

A couple of lollipops in Lakeland Florida were found to have fragments of metal and razor blades inside forcing the Dollar General Stores chain to recall all lollipops sold by them nationwide.

The offending suckers were red Pokemon-themed heart lollipops. And even if you don’t think you or your kids’ classmates bought their candy at the Doller Store, this is a great reminder to always check candy before you give it to your kids.

There has been no official determination yet on how many lollipops are affected or whether it is a manufacturing glitch or an act of tampering.

The Revenge of the Foreskin

In a past Master Debaters article we asked noodad.com readers to give their opinions on circumcisions for their sons.  Whether you’re a lawsuit-filing Intactivist bent on trimming circumcision from the litany of routine procedures for newborns, or you celebrate the cut like new mom and pop diva Christina Aguilera, the decision to circumcise (or not) is highly contentious.  Don’t stress about the issue too much, though, because your decision to circumcise your son isn’t necessarily the last word on his foreskin.
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Lego Porn

It’s Lego’s 50th anniversary. Everyone is excited about it. Even Google did a Lego logo which tells you the overall significance and influence of the toy on the population at large. Gizmodo, another internet dynamo, did a story on the top 50 Lego sets of all time.

My brother and I were Lego junkies. We were more into the plain blocks than the sets, but we did manage to get ourselves a castle and some space legos. These facilitated inventing Transformers long before Optimus Prime hit the market. We would build ships that we could turn into robots out of Legos. The challenge of course was keeping these en tact as overall our Lego resources were not infinite and we both had a large desire to destroy one guys Krakkarakon to build our Lazatronatar.

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2 Boys Try to Debunk “A Christmas Story”

Let this be a lesson to these 10 year old boys. First, never mess with a classic. And second, if you are going to take a chance, double dog dare your friend to try it out, don’t do it yourself. 2 boys from Chesterton, Indiana tried to dispute the accuracy of the famous scene from A Christmas Story.

“Gavin Dempsey and James Alexander were serving on flag duty at Jackson Elementary School, with the job of raising and lowering the school’s flags, when they decided to see if their tongues really would stick to the cold metal.”

Dempsey later said he thought the scenes were all lies. 2 weeks from now, this kid will probably be walking around with an eye patch.

Read the rest of the story here.

Rethinking Parenting: Eating Boogers May Be Good For You

In every classroom or every school bus there is always one kid that picks his nose and eats his boogers. This is actually has an official technical term: Mucophagy.

You never wanted to be “that” kid and now that you are a dad, you certainly don’t want your kid to be “that” kid. But before you go and slap that hand away from their face, you may want to know something.

Apparently, picking your nose and eating boogers is not only a natural thing, it’s a healthy one. “Some research suggests that mucophagy may be a natural and even healthy activity, which exposes the digestive system to bacteria accumulated in the mucus, thereby helping to strengthen the immune system.”

So take comfort in the fact that even if your kid becomes “that kid”, he or she will at least be healthier.

Growing Trend: Men Getting Breast Implants

Men are getting breast implants. And its not to go and fondle themselves like that scene in the Drew Carey Show. According to an article on the SFGate.com, more and more men are getting pectoral implants so they can look like jacked warriors in loin cloths like the characters in 300.

I don’t think I am the only person who feels a tad disturbed by this trend. We have already discussed that manboobs are no laughing matter but to go and actually go through with cosmetic surgery to look like a guy from the Handsome Boy Modeling School is taking it a bit far.

What do you guys think?