Is kid’s stuff really as easy as it’s cracked up to be? Do adults really have it made? We asked three kids and their parents to switch roles to find out. Each kid traded an activity that he or she normally does with something that Mom or Dad usually does. The results? We’ll let them swap stories …
THE SWITCH: Dinnertime activities
Victoria R., 11, of Chicago usually plays video games and chats online with her cyberspace buds while her mom makes dinner. But not tonight: She’s at the kitchen stove while her mom, Desiree, tries to cook up a point or two at her video games.
Victoria has never made anything more complicated than scrambled eggs and toast. But for this meal, she’s fixing a salad, double-stuffed baked potatoes and pan-fried steak with onions. Is she nervous? A little. “I don’t want to burn the steaks,” she says.
Across the kitchen, her mom is tackling something new to her too: “Pacman World” and “Frogger.” The PlayStation 2 is set up not far from where Victoria is cooking, and mom and daughter can’t resist keeping an eye on what the other is doing. As the potatoes bake in the oven, Victoria starts the salads and her mom launches into “Pacman World.”
“Hurry, Mom, you’re running out of time! Up, no, down! Get him out of the water! Jump on his head!” coaches Victoria as she chops cucumbers.
“Be careful chopping, Victoria,” counters Desiree, as she tries desperately to save Pacman. “And please rinse the steak before cooking it.”
The look on Victoria’s face says “yuck.” She doesn’t want to touch the raw meat but follows her mom’s advice.
Later, while the steak and onions sizzle in the pan, Victoria asks, “Mom, why is your screen frozen?”
“This is not my game,” Desiree declares. After five rounds of “Pacman World,” she scores no points. Zero. She does no better with “Frogger.”
Desiree takes a short break and reluctantly returns to “Frogger” but now does well and even scores a bonus point.
Shouting “Yea! I’m done,” Victoria puts the plates of food on the table.
“This is good, Victoria. The steak is so tender,” Desiree says.
“I like cooking,” Victoria says with a smile. “It’s easier than I expected. I’d definitely do a switch again.”
Desiree, however, prefers her regular role. “I’ll stay the parent,” she says. “It’s way too hard to play those video games.”
— Catharine Bell
THE SWITCH: Homework/Job
Daniel S., 14, of Chicago types in an item number from an order sheet onto the computer screen at his mom’s office. His mom, Luz, works at Chicago Protective Apparel in Skokie, which makes everything from fire-resistant aprons for steelworkers to gloves for monkey handlers.
His mom, who’s watching, prompts: “Check your number.”
Daniel glances at the sheet again, then at the computer screen. He knows that with one wrong keystroke, the customer in Miami could get the wrong-sized glove.
“It’s different,” he later says, comparing his mom’s work to his schoolwork. “Here, it takes a lot more concentration. One small mistake, and you could lose a lot of money. “
At school, a mistake could earn you a big red “X” on your homework assignment, as Daniel’s mom knows firsthand. A few nights before, she spent an hour and 10 minutes doing an assignment from Daniel’s 8th-grade reading class. “I wanted to get a good grade,” Luz says.
She read a story and answered 15 essay questions–an assignment Daniel had done earlier. Daniel took his mom’s answers to his teacher, Mrs. Solka, who graded them.
The outcome? Luz’s assignment was marked with four “X’s” for incorrect answers–compared to Daniel’s two “X’s.” “It was hard to get back into reading for analysis,” she says. “I just read stuff now for pleasure.”
Luz also was shocked about how long it took her to do the assignment. “I was thinking, with all his classes, Daniel should have four hours of homework each night.”
Daniel usually spends no more than two hours each day on homework. He says his mom wrote long answers (she filled a page and half to Daniel’s page). Plus, he knows what teachers are looking for, he adds.
After a few hours on the job, Daniel says he finds his mom’s work interesting but still wants to become a pediatrician. As for Daniel’s mom, she’s happy to stick with her job.
“It has been such a long time since I’ve done schoolwork,” she says. “This is this what I’m comfortable with. I know what I’m doing.”
— Carol Monaghan
THE SWITCH: Music
Charlie M., 12, of Glenview looks as if he’s in pain. His face is scrunched into a grimace. He’s even gritting his teeth. The source of his torture? He’s listening to a CD of classical tunes played by world-famous violinist Itzhak Perlman.
“It’s horrible. It’s the worst music I’ve ever listened to,” Charlie tells his dad as he slips off the headphones hooked into his portable CD player.
His dad, Jonathan, likes to listen to the Perlman CD when he wants to relax. But at the moment, he’s concentrating on another CD that’s pumping out a wicked bass beat from the rec room stereo. It’s Linkin Park’s “Hybrid Theory” and it’s Charlie’s favorite.
“Since I’m not understanding what they’re saying, I’ll read the words” from the liner notes, his dad says.
For the afternoon, Charlie and his dad are taking a detour from their individual musical comfort zones. Charlie is listening to some of his dad’s classical and classic-rock CDs, and Jonathan is checking out the hit CD by the rap-metal band Linkin Park.
“What are the hits on ‘Hybrid Theory’?” he asks Charlie.
Charlie presses a button on the stereo and the CD skips to “Papercut.” The words “voices in the back of my head” spill from the speakers. “This song has a good beat,” his dad says.
But, overall, “rap starts to wear on me after a while,” he admits.
Meanwhile, Charlie declares classical music “just for old people.” The Who’s “Teenage Wasteland” doesn’t get a much better review from Charlie.
“How long is this intro? It’s too long and slow,” he tells his dad.
Charlie says he listens to pop, R&B and rap artists such as City High, Brandy, Jennifer Lopez, Ja Rule and Usher. His dad lists rock legends such as Steppenwolf, Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones as favorites.
Luckily for Charlie, his dad lets him control the car radio when Jonathan is driving. “When I’m in Dad’s car with him, he lets me listen to good music and doesn’t say it’s real annoying.”
— Carol Monaghan
Flick switches
Making the leap from age 12 to 40 overnight is hardly a leap of logic in the movies. Thanks to special effects, time warps and magic spells make role-switching and body-swapping entirely possible. Check out these flicks in which kids get to be big or meet their bigger self:
“Big” (PG, 1988)
Josh makes a wish at a fairground machine to be big and wakes up the next morning to find his wish has come true. Although grown up on the outside, Josh (Tom Hanks) is still a 13-year-old on the inside. He lands a job at a toy company and has to navigate in an adult’s world.
“Disney’s The Kid” (PG, 2000)
The wealthy and powerful Russ (Bruce Willis) is startled when he meets Rusty, a stocky kid who he realizes is himself at age 8. Russ is soon coaching Rusty on how to avoid the mistakes he has made, and his younger self teaches Russ a thing or two about being decent.
“Freaky Friday” (G, 1976)
A mom wishes she could be as carefree as her 13-year-old daughter (Jodie Foster). Foster wants the same respect that adults get. It’s a Disney film, so guess what happens? Mom and daughter switch bodies. Foster gets laughs as an adult trapped in a kid’s body.
“Vice Versa” (PG, 1988)
Eleven-year-old Charlie (Fred Savage) wishes he could switch places with his dad, a shallow toy executive. After a mysterious jeweled skull makes Charlie’s wish come true, father and son try to cope in each other’s worlds.
