DECA

For decades, studies have shown that when parents fight, children are likely to become aggressive, anxious and withdrawn…

I like Asha Dornfest’s analysis, during a chat over on the Momversation a while back, about arguing in front of the children. Describing a “bickerfest” with her husband in front of their 4-year-old daughter, Dornfest, who is the founder of the Web site Parenthacks says:

“All three of us actually learned something from the resolution. She got to see us working it out and actually laughing about it later and realizing how silly it was. It’s not necessarily a good thing if all the kids ever see are Mommy and Daddy speaking very reasonably and always working things out like adults. It seems to me that conflict resolution is something you have to learn. It’s probably best learned at home, and if you never see anyone getting angry with each other, how are you going to deal with it when you grow up?”

In other words, if you fight fair, odds are you won’t mess up your kids. Which is a relief to those of us — I’d wager MOST of us — who fall short of the kind of hushed, serene household where my grandparents lived.

Momversation’s Heather Armstrong, Karen Walrond, Giyen Kim, Mindy Roberts, and Daphne Brogdon (also of Cool Mom) were featured on the April 6, 2009 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Secret Lives of Moms.

Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa discuss Momversation on Live with Regis and Kelly on April 2, 2009.

LeVar Burton buys Smosh.

Levar Burton (”Star Trek: TNG”) guests today on smosh.com (online comedy).

I’m on Levar Burton overload this week after seeing him and the rest of the TNG cast on Family Guy. But apparently the Reading Rainbow host has taken over SMOSH.com today.

LeVar Burton — you know, the guy who took us all along for a trip down the Reading Rainbow back in the day — is putting his two cents in over at Smosh, literally. The Star Trek actor has invested in the comedy website by purchasing shares, and is now taking his hand at changing some things around, including teaching the two Smosh guys how to rap.

In a video posted today, Burton and his two new partners in crime, Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox, released their “announcement” about the new takeover, along with some interesting footage of Burton rapping, followed by a scrolling message warning viewers to look forward to the new changes on Smosh.com.

Daphne Brogdon of Cool Mom contributed an essay about childbirth to the April 2009 issue of Pregnancy. Excerpt:

What’s with the superiority of vaginal birthers? I’ll admit it, I once was one of them. Of course this was before I’d given birth. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I envisioned a totally natural birth. I was all ready to drop her in an open field, cut the cord with a nearby branch, and wrap her up in a hemp blanket. It didn’t go like that. She was breech and late, so after much protest I succumbed to a C-section. Sure I felt like a truck had hit me for the first few days afterward, but at least I could still hold my pee in. Life is full of trade-offs.

Among the media companies with the most popular channels on YouTube are Universal Music Group, CBS, Showtime, and the National Basketball Association. Mixed in with those big names are a pair that you’ve probably never heard of: Mondo Media (currently the sixth most-viewed channel) and Smosh (No. 13).

Both are examples of a growing number of independent content producers that have built sizable audiences on the Google-owned video behemoth. These mostly born-on-the-Web players say that after a slow start, YouTube has become a far more collaborative distribution partner and is quietly becoming a consistent revenue generator…

Similarly, Smosh—which features a pair of 21-year-old guys who produce sophomoric comedy sketch videos—has noticed a shift at YouTube. “They have evolved,” said Barry Blumberg, general manager of Smosh. “Now we have an actual person [dedicated to our account]. They are better organized, and they call us with ad opportunities.”

Michael Wayne, CEO of DECA Studios, a Los Angeles producer of Web video shows, has his own advertising sales team, so he uses Blip primarily for technology.

He uses the Blip player for popular shows such as Project Lore (about gaming) and Momversation, which are branded with their own show names rather than a Blip.tv logo. “Blip enables us to put our stuff up very easily and gives us access to data that lets us track how many people viewed our shows and share that with advertisers,” Wayne says.