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Kids’ Show: Uncle Nick’s Enchanted Forest- Webisodes 7-11

Kids’ Show: Uncle Nick’s Enchanted Forest- Webisodes 7-11

In my free time this past weekend, I was editing and publishing the newest 5 webisodes of my kids’ show. That wraps up the total of 8 of them that I filmed over Christmas weekend with my dad and brother-in-law.

Now with nearly a dozen webisodes, I feel I have enough collection of material to submit to the major networks, as I mentioned previously.

After watching the finished product with my son this weekend, I am confident that children will really be engaged by Uncle Nick’s Enchanted Forest. At this point, it’s just a matter of being able to expose kids to my show.

Here’s an overview of what this newest batch of webisodes is about:

Webisode 7: Paulie the Puppy– When Uncle Nick decides to hike a new trail, it leads him to an empty old building and a mysterious barking sound.

Webisode 8: Pokey the Pot-Bellied Pig– Uncle Nick must figure out a way to cross the river to save the little pot-bellied pig who is stuck on the other side.

Webisode 9: Ralph the Red Panda– While hiking later in the evening, Uncle Nick discovers a rare animal as it begins getting dark outside.

Webisode 10: Slither the Snake– Freddie the Fox gets trapped by a hungry snake at the top of a large rock. It’s Uncle Nick to the rescue!

Webisode 11: Barry the Bear– When a scary-looking bear is soon in the Enchanted Forest, Uncle Nick decides to investigate; leading to a lesson about not judging a bear by his cover.

Barry the Bear was first introduced 4 months ago in my other series, Jack-Man:

There are elements in Uncle Nick’s Enchanted Forest that are unique to the field of children’s entertainment. In the likeness of a real uncle, I begin each show by trying to guess what color the viewer is thinking of, which is by default educational.

Next, I engage their curiosity by introducing them to a different, old trinket of mine. In other words, each webisode is infused with a touch of ongoing mystery.

Before heading outside for the adventure segment, I sing a few catchy (original) jingles to get the viewers excited about going outside in the cold.

Thanks for supporting Uncle Nick’s Enchanted Forest. My plan is to film at least 11 more webisodes; some of which will feature both the back story of Barry the Bear, as well as his adaptation as a newcomer to the forest.

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Dear Jack: Your “Dually Relieving” Animals Artwork

5 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack: Your “Dually Relieving” Animals Artwork

Dear Jack,

Monday afternoon when I picked you up from Pre-K, you asked me to help you get all your artwork from that day out of your folder. It was quite a stack of papers; probably at least 20 different pictures you had drawn there.

Right away, I noticed a peculiar, yet subtle piece of art. You had drawn a dog standing near an anthill.

Near the anthill was a sign that read “Boo” backwards. There were ants and spiders nearby as well.

As I examined the dog carefully, I noticed that as he smiled, he was also “dually relieving” himself.

To be clear, the dog was both “going #1 and #2” at the same time.

I verified what I was seeing, and you quickly admitted what was going on in the picture.

However, you weren’t laughing about it. You kept a straight face, as if to say, “What’s funny about this? This is art. It’s nature.”

I followed up by asking if either your friends or your teacher had seen the picture. They had not.

As soon as we got home, Mommy hung your picture up on the refrigerator.

To my surprise, the next day when I picked you up, déjà vu occurred as I saw a very similar picture; this time with a cat.

Dear Jack: Your “Dually Relieving” Animals Artwork

This time you smiled: “I made this picture for Mommy!”

We are indeed very proud of your artwork, as were many people on Facebook who saw the pictures as well.

Now that I look back on it, this wasn’t the first time you drew a “dually relieving itself” animal as artwork.

The weekend before the 2015 CMA Awards, a couple of months ago, our family met our friends Mohamed and Lena at the Cool Springs Whole Foods (in Franklin, TN) for a late lunch, around 2:00 PM.

As we were sitting down at the table with our food, Mohamed showed me a picture of both Jessica Biel (Justin Timberlake’s wife) with her baby, as well as Justin Timberlake’s mother.

Then Mohamed pointed over to just a tables away, asking us to verify that the people at the table were indeed the same as the ones he had pulled up on his phone.

Turns out, he was right.

Apparently, Justin Timberlake’s wife, son, and mother were having lunch while Justin was assumedly preparing for his appearance at the CMA Awards; where he would go on to do an instantly legendary performance with Chris Stapleton.

All of that was lost on you. I looked down to see you had just finished drawing a picture of an animal dually relieving itself.

Fast forward to this week: You decided to bring back the concept.

Love,

Daddy

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Kids’ Show: Uncle Nick’s Enchanted Forest- Webisodes 4-6; the Flood Story Arc

Kids Show: Uncle Nick’s Enchanted Forest- Webisodes 4-6; the Flood Story Arc

By now, I’ve made it no secret that I am legitimately attempting to become the next Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood/Blue’s Clues.

My main hobby right now is to crank out as many webisodes I can of my new web series, Uncle Nick’s Enchanted Forest.

It is my hope that eventually my show will catch on and that I can get enough traffic to gain the attention of the talent scouts for major networks like PBS, Nickelodeon, Disney, Animal Planet, and the Discovery Channel.

My agenda with each webisode is to provide innocent and engaging entertainment for children who are watching YouTube on their parents’ smartphones.

For this newest batch of webisodes, 4 through 6, I’ve added not only a new song (“Animal Hat”) but also a segment where I try to guess which color the viewer is thinking of, while I play the drums. (I also play the guitar on camera now, in addition to just the harmonica as I did before.)

After the indoors portion of each show, I then take the viewer outdoors to my Enchanted Forest (the woods of Fort Payne and Mentone, Alabama) for a magical adventure, featuring talking animals.

I filmed 8 webisodes during my 3 day Christmas vacation last week, with help from my dad and brother-in-law serving as camera men. (That means I soon will be releasing even 5 more.)

During that time, I took advantage of the fact that the area was experiencing a flash flood. I based these 3 (of the newest 8) webisodes around that, making that the overall story arc for them.

In Webisode 4, I must rush to the rescue as Betsy the Bunny gets trapped in a tree alongside a rushing waterfall (Little River Falls in Fort Payne, AL).

Next in Webisode 5, I must save Tiny the Turtle before his home is swept away by the flood (DeSoto Falls in Mentone, AL).

And in the final segment of this “flood” story arc, in Webisode 6, I must help Scuttles the Skunk move forward in his life as he deals with the aftermath of losing his home in the flood as well.

I designed the outdoors segment of each webisode to be a good mix of action, adventure, and psychology. However, the first (indoors) part of each webisode is designed to engage the viewer in creative thinking.

Sure, right now, Uncle Nick’s Enchanted Forest is just getting off the ground. But I am committing to this show. I am not giving up until I reach my goal of taking my show to the big screen: the TV screen, via a major network.

I believe that I have the talent, skills, creativity, charisma, and personality to host my own TV show on a major children’s network. This web series is my way of proving it to the world.

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Dear Jack: The Return of Popples, for the Children of the 80s’ Children

4 years, 11 months.

Dear Jack: The Return of Popples, for the Children of Eighties’ Children

Dear Jack,

Last Friday night during dinner, you initiated a conversation with Mommy and me:

“There’s these animals called ‘Pop Balls’, I think… but maybe they don’t make them anymore.”

It took me about two seconds to figure out what was going on. My assumptions were right:

Your teacher, Ms. Aimee, who is also an Eighties Child, like Mommy and me, had told you and your friends about Popples.

I shared the good news with you:

“Jack, I got a Popple when I was about your age. I got it for the Christmas after I turned 5. I’ll text Nonna and see if see if she can find it for you by the time we get to their house tonight.”

Without surprise, when we arrived later that night in Alabama, Nonna had my old purple Popple there waiting for you. (Thanks to Google, I just learned her name is Pretty Bit.)

She has quickly become one of your favorite stuffed animals; as she was mine. There’s definitely a Transformer type of element involved, despite it looking so cute and cuddly.

You can now very easily transform your/my Popple back and forth from its ball-like state; something I struggled with when I was your age.

I was also quite impressed with your drawing you came home with on Tuesday of her. You are obviously very proud to own such a rare relic of American pop culture.

In what is a complete coincidence, because Ms. Aimee didn’t know this when she told you about Popples, but next Friday, Netflix is releasing their new original reboot of Popples.

There is a saying: History repeats itself.

That definitely is the case with Popples. And that’s not only because Popples are making a comeback for “the children of the Eighties’ children”. It’s specifically because you now own one of the original Popples; from 1986, nearly 30 years ago.

Love,

Daddy

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People Finally Stopped Asking If We’re Going to Have Another Kid

People Finally Stopped Asking If We’re Going to Have Another Kid

The first question was, “When you are two going to get married?

Then, “When are you going to have a baby?”

After that, “When are you going to have another one?”

From the time our son was about 1 year-old, until he was about 3 and a half, that last question was in heavy rotation.

So then, being the family friendly daddy blogger that I am, I began addressing the fact that my wife and I could easily be the couple that only has one child.

The reality of the two of us working full time in a major city got in the way of the concept of us having many as 4 kids; something we had at one point talked about, years ago.

So I began explaining here on my blog that the two of us could truly be happy with just one child; even if that wasn’t normal.

However, my wife and I mutually realized recently, “It’s been a long time since anyone has asked us if we’re going to have another kid.”

Our son will turn 5 years-old next month. By this point, people have stopped even wondering if we will “have another one.”

(That’s a funny phrase to me; “have another one.” I think of those Russian nesting dolls, called Matryoshka dolls.)

Of course, I never said we wouldn’t have another child. I simply made it clear we would be happy and content with just one; if that’s how things ended up.

I guess to a lot of people that comes across as, “We’re not having any more kids.”

On the contrary, I’ve mentioned a couple of times already this year here on Family Friendly Daddy Blog that we’ve never been more open to the idea of expanding our family, as I prefer to say it; than we are now that we are financially settled and moved into our new house.

But still, people gave up and stop bothering to ask. After all, having over 5 years in between kids is a lot of time.

It all comes down to us, the parents, being ready on all fronts; plus, being physically able to conceive a child.

Most families can have kids 2 or 3 years apart, and that works for them, culturally: Having 2 in diapers at the same time.

Culturally, for our family, especially at this point, having a Kindergartner and an infant sounds more our speed… if that’s how things ended up.