Jake

Jake got an IPod Touch for his thirteenth. He can text, get on the internet, watch movies, and play games. He and his friends find things they like and share them. Jake and I have have the same sense of humor. Obviously, I've influenced him. So he wants to share with me the things that he and his friends share and find hilarious. However, my first impression is to roll my eyes whenever he excitedly taps me on the shoulder and shoves his IPod in my field of vision, and to tell him it's stupid or inappropriate.

I've been there and done that. I've laughed at this type of humor but no longer get such a kick out of it. Also, since becoming a parent I don't like rude or mean humor like I used to. However, I don't want to make it so he stops sharing with me. But its tough to put on the right face when he shares Epic Rap Battles with Mr. T vs. Mr Rogers, or Stephen Hawking vs. Albert Einstein. There are parts I may laugh out loud to but mostly I just chups. The rap lyrics are subtitled on the screen and Jake is repeating parts he has memorized. Or when he is laughing hysterically at Pancake Minds for the umpteenth time and politely interrupts so that I may share in his enjoyment of two clay fugures who have come up to a field of pancakes that are actually land mines and proceed to watch as other clay people walk on the pancakes and get blown to bits. Or Inappropriate Censorship, which shows classic scenes of Winnie The Pooh, Mr Rogers (poor Mr. Rogers), or Cookie Monster only bleeping out parts of the dialogue so it sounds like they're cussing. It's funny. I laugh. I suppose I just let him go through the phase, and teach him when we should build people up instead of constatnly tearing them down.