Rhett and Link and Other Culturally Significant Parenting Tools

A couple of weeks ago, I linked to a YouTube video by Rhett and Link in a Lost post.  It was the first time I had seen one of their videos, and I meandered over to their site and proceeded to spend about an hour laughing with my older kids.  Now, strangely, no one in our family can say the word "guacamole" without singing this song.  (And you might be surprised.  The subject of guacamole comes up a lot.)  But this one is my very, very favorite:

"The "e" in Flickr was given to me like the key to an Internet city of which I am king."  Don't you want to embroider that on something?  Anyway, check out their site for some good, clean fun.

(By the way, I'm working on a piece for BlogHer about watching YouTube with your kids--specifically finding safe and clean stuff you can enjoy together.  For example, my sons love this one, and this one has painfully embedded itself deep in my brain, threatening to emerge at socially inappropriate times.  If you've ever blogged about the subject of kid-friendly-You-Tubing, I'd love to see the link, or if you have a YouTube suggestion, I'd love that too.  Many thanks!)

Comments

[Marla Taviano]

My hubby and I LOVE Rhett and Link. Well, he reeeeealllly loves them. I just love them. Gabe interviewed them on his podcast awhile back.

http://www.godsmac.com/episodes (#40)

He's on their "support staff." (whatever that means) :)

[Shawna]

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time! Thanks!

[Linda Sue]

Totall silliness and I'm not sure ,I fear the g-u-a-c-a-m-o-l-e song might be blasphemy - we takes our avocado fixins mighty seriously in Texas! Thanks for starting my Monday with a serious grin (and irritating DH who had to listen to all this while he worked diligently - on spider solitaire!)

[Ezer K'negdo]

We love anything "Weird Al" and the "Guys Jumping Into Jeans" is hilarious.

[Lorraine]

Better version of the Weird Al Vid - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7arl-cYDRn0

I've used YouTube with the kids. (Mine are 8, 6, & 4) We usually search for vintage Sesame Street clips (like the 12 ladybugs song) or How It's Made clips.

[Crystal]

Two of my favorite YouTube videos are "The Don't Song"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-lv8745InI

and "Jesus Is My Friend"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT9MRj5FBpI

[JeannieD]

My boys (10 & 7) love the movie theme songs by Goldentusk. He sings silly lyrics to the theme songs of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Back to the Future, which happen to be their favorite movies of all time.

[Lazy Mom Leslie]

Thanks for introducing me to Rhett and Link! Hilarious! I have a friend named Rhett and now that's all I'm going to be able to think of when I talk to him!

[Emily]

These are the Bentley Brothers from Jelly Telly! You can check out their songs about the books of the Bible at http://JellyBits.com . While you are at it, check out Jelly Telly at http://jellytelly.com .

[Taylor at Household Management 101]

I have no great suggestions for how to watch YouTube videos with your kids, but I sure would like some, so I am looking forward to your post.

My husband and kids love superheroes, and so he gets on YouTube with them sometimes to show them cartoon clips and things like that. He has generally seen the clips before and chooses certain ones, and ignores their suggestions of others they see that they think look great, but which he hasn't seen or knows are inappropriate.

That is not necessarily time efficient though, and I don't know how long we can do it this way. My oldest is getting computer savvy and wants to get on YouTube by herself, which so far we have forbidden. I think that is for the best, for now.

We also have the computer in the living room where what she is viewing on the monitor is there for everyone to see and hear, so it helps with her supervision on the computer.

[phyllis]

Thanks for sharing - this is hilarious.

My favorite YouTube is this one...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1XIm6q4r4

My kids love it too. It does get stuck in your brain:-)

[RachWinn]

I love these guys...and now they are going to be a part of JellyTelly....good, clean fun for kids by the maker of Veggie Tales. Rhett&Link have a great song about the book of 2 Sam: http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=0b0d329136f18e033baa

glad you like these guys too!

[Aunt LoLo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1XIm6q4r4

This was my daughter's FAVORITE when she was 1.

[Kelly]

My husband and I ROLLED in laughter when we saw "Kittens inspired by Kittens" on YouTube

This is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtX8nswnUKU

[Jeni]

I wrote a WFMW post about using YouTube playlists to make a longer kid-friendly show without all the searching. I started it because my 2 year old Girlie LOVES The Wiggles, and we don't have fancy cable. I found a bunch of clips on YouTube, put them all on a playlist, and now she has about 40 minutes of uninterrupted Wiggles to watch!

There are also a bunch of classic Looney Tunes on YouTube that we've started watching - good stuff!

[Jeni]

Oh - forgot the link to that WFMW about playlists. Here it is:

http://jeniallen.blogspot.com/2008/07/wfmw-youtube-playlist.html

[Courtney]

My fam has loved Rhett and Link for years. We live in the same area as them and have friends in common. Have you seen the BBQ song? Or Pimp my Stroller? And the Grammys bit is a must see! :)

[Kelly]

So glad you linked to these guys! We love them!

[Jill]

http://www.youtube.com/user/timhawkinscomedy

Hilarious!

[Jill]

http://www.youtube.com/user/timhawkinscomedy

Hilarious!

[Luke Holzmann]

How have I missed this until now! I love it!

Thank you so much for sharing [smile].

~Luke

[Daina]

You Tube favorites with the nieces and nephews...

Clips of the They Might Be Giants Podcast for Kids, including this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3Kgj6EiZtw and this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nG1ckY7thw

And maybe our sense of humor is weird, but we've raised them to love the Dead Puppies song... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYm_iBxtbX0

The kids also have a high tolerance for strange music videos by The Cure, my husband has discovered.

[Jena (Organizing Mommy)]

O.K. those were very good. Except that peanut butter thing.. weird.
I have a few on my site. Hit you tube on my link section.

[Carrie]

That was pretty much the funniest you Tube video ever. Thanks for sharing it! :)

[Heather @ Not a DIY LIfe]

We use YouTube to watch clips from Signing Time and Baby Signing Time. Our DD is 20 months and has over 125 signs, and over 50 spoken words. She loves the ST videos because of the fun songs and loves to sign along with them. I mention using YouTube in this post: http://notadiylife.blogspot.com/2008/09/baby-signing-questions.html

[Abby]

We love your site! There is a strong emphasis on family with an authentic feeling and that's the way it should be. What is more important than family? Nothing! We feel the same way and focus primarily on family too, with the added touch of everything being personalized. We are so happy our paths have crossed. Keep up the great work!
www.CustomLabels4U.com

[lomagirl]

http://lomagirl.blogspot.com/2009/02/bedtime-story-fun.html

[Janice]

I made a separate blog especially for YouTube videos that I wanted to share with my son. I embedded the videos I wanted him to enjoy and didn't have to worry about him being on the actual YouTube site. He could share the links (which were the post titles) with friends. I have a personal conviction about not directing young people directly to YouTube since the ads and sidebar videos can be so outrageous and definitely not "G" rated.
A previous commenter mentioned YouTube playlists and I see that the lists are embeddable as well :)

[Kim G]

I have not blogged about YouTube sites specifically, but about how to prevent the x-rated preview pictures that will pop up no matter how good and virtuous the clip you're watching is. And it works! I must say that it takes a few seconds--the time it takes for the entire page to download--but it's better than sitting there watching a video with your sons and seeing pornography in the corner.

Here's the link to my blog article: http://4grays.blogspot.com/2009/01/ill-be-honest.html

[The Happy Housewife]

We found Rhett and Link via Humble Musings a last year. They are quite funny. My kids love the drive thru rap. Have you seen the American Idol theme song, it is quite funny and I don't even watch American Idol!
Toni

[Jean Stockdale]

Thanks for sharing and your list of 10 things is so funny.

[Amy @ Experience Imagination]

I've spent very little time on YouTube, but I recommend One Ton Drum's "Things To Do" <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPeM53cOycM> and anything on the JellyTelly channel <http://www.youtube.com/user/BuckDenver>.

[Dawn @ My Home Sweet Home]

I blogged this video from You Tube a couple of years ago. It remains a family favorite! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ3oHpup-pk&eurl=http://myhomesweethomeonline.net/2007/01/30/its-just-like-a-mini-mall/

[Dawn @ My Home Sweet Home]

I think that was a bad link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ3oHpup-pk

[Keeslermom]

These are my kids picks:
sneezing panda
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzRH3iTQPrk

The mom song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6P2w5GkXmU

The Schoolhouse Rock songs
They Might Be Giants songs

[The (Almost) Amazing Mammarino]

Hi Shannon,

I love YouTube, but the comments beneath the videos are often R-rated! Also, some of the Related Videos also have inappropriate titles. I recommend http://www.tangle.com/ because it has many of the same funny videos without the garbage. I do hope you take the other commenters' advice and watch Jelly Telly. It is a RIOT!

[Jessica]

That's some great stuff: Rhett and Link. My husband works with middle school students so this is a great site for him. Thanks!!

[Rachel]

Hi.
My husband and I love this video. Some teenage boys did this while their parents were out of town. The planning that went into should have gotten them scholarships to college. It's good 'clean' fun.
We showed it to my 15 year old nephew and you could just see the wheels turning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPp2HlIMkmU

[TexasTanya]

I love the Schoolhouse Rock videos (search for Schoolhouse Rock on youtube). They teach so much, and the tunes stick in my head for days!

[Heather]

I read your post a few weeks ago referencing Rhett and Link and proceeded to send an email to Link and tell him about it. I've known Rhett and Link since elementary school. We're all from the same small town in NC.
I know they'll be excited to hear that families across America are enjoying their videos.

[angela =^)]

I blogged a while ago about two videos my kids love. I thought they were ridiculously stupid (they are), but then I watched them (repeatedly) WITH my boys. Turns out you laugh a lot more when quoting silly lines with a 10 and 12 year old.

http://diapersandstilettos.blogspot.com/2008/11/swim-away-fugu-fish-swim-away.html

http://diapersandstilettos.blogspot.com/2008/11/magical-liopleurodon-charlie.html

"Shun the nonbeliever! Shuuuun. Shuuuuunnnn...nnn." (I can't believe I'm succumbing to the tween humor.)

[Diana (Ladybug Limited)]

Remembered this post this morning when GoodyBlog had up their "YouTube for the Kiddos" post here: http://www.goodyblog.com/playing_house/2009/02/youtube-for-the-kiddos.html

They link to a site called KideoPlayer, though from the description, it looks like it's geared for children much younger than yours! My computer is horrible at loading video, so I haven't checked it out.

From your post, looks like we're missing out on quite a lot!

[Kara-Noel]

I'm doing a post later tonight about something I found on you tube... I'm totally going to link up to this. I'm still laughing!!

[Gego]

Rhett means Butler, Gone With the Wind (would have underlined this, Shan, but wasn't able to do that from here). I didn't go to the link because I still dream about Clark Gable. Didn't want to spoil the fantasy. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Gego

[Christine T.]

I just love Rhett and Link. If you or your kids get sick of the PB & J song, try R & L's cheese song.

Thanks for the laugh. :)