The Middle School Mind

On this episode of The Middle School Mind, we continue our review of Halloween candies that are safe for kids with peanut and tree nut food allergies. Halloween is a fun time for kids, and since we have family members with severe food allergies, we hand out peanut and tree nut free candies on Halloween.

On this episode, we pull random allergy-safe candy from a hat and we taste test each candy and tell you if we would Keep this candy, Trade this candy or Chuck this candy.

Here are the allergy-friendly candies we review on this episode:

Jolly Rancher Gummies - 2 in 1

• Son wants to Keep since he doesn’t think others would want to Trade him for it.
• Father feels like it has the consistency of Swedish Fish and sticks to his teeth.
• We talk about how people who hand out fruit snacks on Halloween are our heroes!

Goetze’s Bullseye Caramel Creams

• This one was a unanimous Keep!
• Once you hit the cream center, it was great. It reminded us of the Oreo cream center.
• This was a new candy for Son, but Father has enjoyed this for quite some time.
• We feel these candies are too small and not enough people hand these candies out on Halloween!

Jolly Rancher Lollipops

• Son said this meets his expectations for a Jolly Rancher candy. This is a Keep for him.
• Father chose to bite through his lollipop and noted that it was pretty sour.
• We talked about how you never see adults walking around sucking on lollipops.

Whoppers

• Son liked it, but would Trade this for an upgrade in his Halloween bag.
• Father loves Whoppers but too many in one sitting can get too sweet.

Sweet Tarts

• Sweet Tarts only had two distinct flavors - the Purple and Green and it was so tart with a bad aftertaste.
• Son said this is an automatic Chuck and would never wish this on anyone.

Oreos

• It’s great to end Oreos!
• This was another unanimous Keep for Father and Son.
• Father talks about his Oreo consumption style to combine two Oreos for one Ultra Oreo.

was just our opinion and these candies are safe for Son’s allergies. Please make sure these candies are safe for you based on your specific food allergies.

This was a great episode since we got to eat candy and critique the Halloween candy that we will give out to our neighbors.

We finish the episode talking about middle schoolers and if they still go trick or treating in 7th grade.

Have a very safe and very Happy Halloween everyone!

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. After months of deliberation and soul-searching Father and Son publish their last and final episode of The Middle School Mind podcast.

After nearly 18 months and over 35+ episodes, on this episode:

• We say goodbye to our listeners
• We talk about what's next for Son
• We hear from some of our past guests
• Of course we get a little silly
• And we play one last game

So sit back, relax, grab the Kleenex and stick around for our very special goodbye episode.

We think kid's voices are under represented in the podcast space. Even though we are leaving, we encourage you to visit Kids Listen. This organization is a grassroots organization of advocates for high-quality audio content for children. The Middle School Mind is a proud member of Kids Listen and, with our show ending, we encourage kids and families to find other interesting and engaging podcasts for kids.

Through this adventure, we connected with the creator of Sound Carrot. This website was founded by a father/daughter team with the goal to help younger listeners find amazing children's podcasts. We hope this resource helps parents and kids find other kid's voices that you want to listen to and hear more from.

We also believe that kids can create their own podcasts! Last summer we launched a three-part series encouraging kids to make their own kids' podcasts. You can find the episodes here:

• 1.20 Make Your Own Kid Podcast 1
• 1.21 Make Your Own Kid Podcast 2
• 1.22 Make Your Own Kid Podcast 3

Thank you to The Middle School Mind listeners and even our future listeners. We enjoyed making these episodes together and sharing them with you. This time was special for us and we will look back at this show as an amazing point in time where we talked about what was on Son's mind or relevant pop culture during this time.

If you loved listening to the show and want to connect with us, e-mail us at: [email protected]. We are happy to connect if you want to talk about creating your own podcast for your child or, potentially, if you are interested in having your middle schooler take over The Middle School Mind, let's chat.

We always knew that The Middle School Mind was going to last at most, 3 years, with Son and I. But amazing shows like Star Trek had Star Trek: The Next Generation and Saved By The Bell had Saved By The Bell: The New Class introduced a new cast of characters while providing new stories and fresh perspectives. It would be amazing to have a Mother/Daughter voice leading the show or a parent/child from a different part of the country or even a completely different country! It's the unique perspectives that help us all learn and appreciate each other.

Enjoy The Goodbye Episode and thank you for being part of our show.

Sincerely,

Father & Son

On this episode of The Middle School Mind, Son has a special guest, Raphael, who is here to talk about stage fright and how they prepare for theater performances.

They talk about the process to get into a show starting with the audition workshop, the audition itself, call-backs, practices, opening night and all the feels associated with the closing show.

Audition Workshops

The workshop is like the pre-audition audition. You are generally divided by age and taken through singing, dancing and running lines.

Auditions

It can get extremely competitive at auditions. Brother against brother, Friend against friend. And Raphael says it’s important to look “fly” to the auditions. It’s important to keep yourself busy like playing cards to keep yourself entertained during auditions.

Call-Backs

You have a short amount of time to prep for call-backs. If you bomb your call-back, you may have just missed out on making the show. It’s easy to psyche yourself out when you’re checking out your competition. The directors usually don’t provide feedback during call-backs which adds to the anxiety.

Practices

You made the show - good for you! Middle schoolers need to balance school, other activities, family time and other interests in addition to the show. Son and Raphael practice at home in front of their stuffed animals for their audience.

Tech Week

Tech Week is crunch time where you prepare for the actual shows. The number of practices ramp up and you need to do run-throughs with microphones and costumes. You need to lean on your friends and trust your directors to make sure the show comes together.

Opening Night

The guys play Super Smash Bros on the Switch to take the focus off the show. The cast and crew are in full costume and huddle together and talk trash to relieve stress.

Closing Night

It’s a mix of emotions. We’re excited that it’s over but we also got so close to our castmates that we get so emotional. We also want to go out on top and give our best performance. We celebrate our show with an awesome cast party.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On this episode, we featured our fellow podcaster, If You Give a Dad a Podcast. This is a nerdy dad podcast where they interview everyone from wrestlers, musicians and even a chiropractor. Listen to their show for all things nerdy.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We want to hear from you!

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.

You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast, we talk about one of our favorite games on the Xbox One, Gang Beasts. The game has multiple game modes for single and multiplayer local and online contests. The game has Jello-like characters punch and headbutt one another in a battle-royale where the goal is to throw your opponents off the level and be the last-man standing.

There are different modes that have up to 8 players battling each other online. This is a game we can pick up for a quick best of 5 rounds series. We always laugh playing this game because of all the fun characters you can pick and the floppy movements can result in some awesome knockouts.

Here’s what we cover in this episode:

• We talk about the gameplay and where to get this game on Xbox.
• We talk about all the fun character costumes.
• We play a quick game and talk through the gameplay.
• It’s a violent game, but it’s like cartoon violence. Parents should review the game and see if it’s suitable for their kids.
• Here’s how Son rates Gang Beasts:
  • 5/5 for Replayability
  • 3/5 for Graphics
  • 3/5 for Sound
  • 4/5 for Gameplay
• Overall, Gang Beasts is 4.5/5 because it’s fun, we laugh at the characters. It’s a game you can pick up and play a round or two and relax over 15 to 20 minutes at a time. There’s not a story mode or anything to think of.

We want to hear from you!

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.

We also want to hear from you, our listeners! What kind of topics do you want to hear more about?

You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast, Son’s friend, TB, is back to talk about video games nobody plays anymore. These are games that Son and TB have played in the past and the two discuss the replayability, graphics and why these games should get another look.

• Unravel 2 (2018) - sequel to the original Unravel. It’s a puzzle game with little yarn people that Son and Father play together.
• Minecraft Dungeons (2020) - it was great to play when it first came out during COVID. But the latest updates were more visual and didn’t enhance replayability. It just felt very repetitive. There’s no building or crafting which is different from the traditional, open-world Minecraft game.
• The two explain “grinding” for all the baby-boomers.
• Portal 2 (2011) - this game improves on the original Portal which has great use of imagination and physics. This game is relatively inexpensive and the two player function is fun to boobytrap and annoy your friends. The graphics are good for a 10+ year old game.
• Brawlhalla (2014) - it’s like Walmart Great Value brand Super Smash Bros. It’s better than Smash Bros in some ways.
• Job Simulator (2016) - it’s a fun game to get a newbie VR user accustomed to holding the controllers. TB had some controller issues when he tried playing Job Simulator. There are four basic jobs you can do in the game to try different challenges and learn new skills.
• We play a game about video game trivia.

Thanks to TB for being a guest on our show again. Catch TB’s first appearance on the show when Son and TB talked about a school lunch menu overhaul. We will definitely have him back on for future episodes of The Middle School Mind!

Check out our special sponsor for this episode! The Geeky Dad Podcast! The trials and tribulations of a Geeky Dad trying to reclaim some semblance of sanity as he navigates parenthood and geek culture. Hosted by Raphael Moran, a writer, producer and comic creator. His co-hosts are the "Multiverse" Kids. They've taken over his man-cave and now they want to take over his podcast.

We want to hear from you!

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.

We also want to hear from you, our listeners! What kind of topics do you want to hear more about?

You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!