Escaping with our imagination and Yo-Kai Watch #ad

I remember when I was in elementary school I would start counting down the minutes until I got to go home once my lunch period was over. I mean I did pay attention to my teachers, don't get me wrong, but my mind was already on the gathering after school. Maybe there was some type of ghosts controlling my mind during these times.

Once the last bell would ring, I would race home with a few of my friends and depending on whose house we would go to, we would all sit around the television and watch the latest episode of our favorite cartoon series. We would all just sit there quietly focused on the screen in front of us and every now and then laugh or groan in unison as to what we just witnessed on the screen. Again, I think there could have been some type of celestial beings watching over us and making us all feel the same feelings during those moments.

Nowadays it's a little different for my daughter. There is no spontaneous gathering with her friends after school to watch television shows. Most of the days a lot of classmates have afterschool activities that prevent this sort of spontaneity to happen. Phone calls or discussions have to be made to coordinate some sort of playdate and usually it's just two parents looking at calendars trying to find the day that works for everyone.

This was the case for our big Yo-kai Watch adventure. My daughter told me that a classmate and her were talking about having a playdate and I agreed that we would talk to their parents and find a time to do it. When I received an email about being a Yo-kai Watch ambassador, I thought to myself, this would make the perfect playdate!

I already pictured my daughter and her friends getting all excited as they opened the toys and I also imagined them watching the show and having the same reaction as I did with my friends many moons ago. I pictured my son trying to hang out with his sister and her friends and just be whisked away by the magic that they saw on the screen. Sadly, those pesky ghosts had other plans for us. With my work schedule and the children's afterschool activities, it was hard to set a specific date.

Photo courtesy of my wife. 

What's a dad to do when he has a trip coming up and a deadline looming over his head? He improvises. I told my daughter that there are these little ghosts called Yo-kai that are putting all these obstacles in front of us and we will battle them by using our new and awesome Yo-kai Watches.

It seemed like the ghosts had a different plan for us. The heat in our building went out and the snow started to fall heavy outside.  We had to pack up our things and stay with my in-laws until the heat was back and running. This meant no playdate with her friends, no big viewing party as we were planning and one sad little girl.  So what does this daddy do to make his little girl happy? He improvises.

As much as I would have loved her to recreate what I went through with my friends when I was little, I told my daughter we can grab the DVD player and watch the episodes of Yo-kai Watch together with her brother.   When the show started, the faces on my children began to light up. Maybe it was the glow coming from the television or just the pure joy of watching the show that made them brighten up. My wife and I just sat back and watched the magic happen.

Photo courtesy of my wife. 

If you have never heard of Yo-Kai Watch, you might not be alone. I knew about the franchise because I have seen the commercials for the upcoming video game and since we watch DisneyXD we knew a little about the show.  Now for the uninitiated: YO-KAI WATCH centers around a young boy named Nate who gets a special watch empowering him to discover and summon mysterious spirits called Yo-Kai that help him solve problems in his daily life usually caused by other trouble-making Yo-kai!

Yo-Kai Watch is so big that it beat out STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS in the movie theaters in Japan on opening weekend. As a huge fan of that series, I found that hard to believe, but after watching a few episodes with my children, I get it. I can imagine hundreds of people standing outside the theaters with their Yo-kai Watches singing the different songs of each of the different Yo-kai's.

The great thing about this show and all the different characters is that they take you away from the world and your problems. Watching the show with my kids, the worries of being away from home were whisked away. We watched and laughed as Nate and Whisper enlisted the help of the different Yo-Kai to help them out in each episode. I was especially laughing during one episode where Nate was embarrassed by a friend for going "number two". I tell you, toilet humor always makes you laugh out loud no matter the occasion.

While I would have loved for my daughter to have some lasting memories with her friends regarding Yo-Kai Watch, I know that there will be other days where it can happen. What happened instead was that as a family we grew closer watching these episodes together and enjoyed playing with the toys. We forgot about our problems for a few hours and made some memories of our own.

My daughter wanted to make an unboxing video and a few days later my wife took a video of them dancing around to the Yo-Kai theme song. Our imagination and joy made it for a memorable few days. I cannot thank the good Yo-Kai spirits enough for that.

If you would like to learn more about Yo-Kai Watch follow them on Twitter and Facebook. Also, visit Hasbro on twitter to learn all about all their great products.

Thank you for reading.

(Disclaimer: The Fandads were compensated financially and with products by Hasbro for the #YoKaiWatch #YKWDAD Campaign. All words and thoughts are our own.)