Teach Your Child Life Lessons by Watching America’s Funniest Videos Together
Remember America’s funniest videos ? Is this a 90s home video show hosted by Bob Saget that mainly featured people falling and pets doing weird things?
Well guess what? He’s still on ABC , has had many hosts in his entire life (currently Alfonso Ribeiro, also known as Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air ), and still has people falling and pets making weird things.
And it seems funny to my son.
At first I hesitated to let him watch it. I don’t need him to come up with any pranks or unusual physical exercises. However, when we started watching it together, I found myself laughing with him. I will obviously never tire of watching people slide down the icy driveways. (I’m pretty sure some of the Lifehacker staff think this makes me a jerk, but … it’s funny.)
However, last night as my son laughed during another episode, I realized that AFV is actually a great way to teach what I like to call Life Lessons.
The episode we watched had a whole montage of people on sledges or bicycles colliding with things. In one particularly predictable video, a child rides down a snowy hill in a sleigh … and bumps right into the adult idiot below. “Well, why would he stand there?” – exclaimed my son through laughter.
Yes, that’s right, son. Don’t stand at the bottom of the hill and watch people come straight at you! This man has just learned a lesson in life.
Other life lessons we have learned from AFV:
- If you’ve ever had braces, don’t open your mouth by lying face down on the carpet; you could get stuck.
- Hammocks should only be hung outside and low to the ground.
- Helmets are very important.
- You should only jump onto trampolines with a protective net around them. (We told him this, but now he understands why.)
- Feeding protein is a bad idea.
- Feeding any animal that is not your pet is a bad idea.
- Do not increase the speed of the treadmill too high. (And always wear a clip that disables it in case you trip.)
- Sledging down the stairs? Not the best move.
- Never. To stand. On the. Dresser.
By the way, I just watched AFV videos for a very long time and laughed hysterically to myself in my empty house. Watching people on a ride in an amusement park get so scared that they pass out and then wake up to find they are still in the ride is just a good thing.
Start at 7:13 . You are welcome. (Okay, I might be a jerk.)