We salute the idea of introducing kids to opera with Carmen for Families: they smoke, they love, they party hard, she's promiscuous, and then he kills her. The beloved SF Opera abridged and translated productions for kids took a hiatus since the Elixir of Love for Families (he gets very drunk to seduce her and it works, other women love him for his money) in 2008 and the Magic Flute for Families (Papageno is barely saved from suicide, the Queen of the Night ask her daughter to kill her father figure) in 2007. But this year, it's back and the kids will get to experience wonderful live sung music. And we fully expect Fox News to denounce SF for being elitist (not true: $10 and up) and amoral at the same time. We love this town.

We caught last week-end's show, and it's actually better than the not-for-families one. As Chronicle music critic Joshua Kosman wrote, "Carmen," on the other hand, is full of spoken dialogue in (usually clumsy) French, crowd scenes that pad things out and splendid music that is particularly hard to sing convincingly. Unless the performance is absolutely first-rate, the result is a very long 3 1/2 hours or more. Well, condensed to 2 hours, translated in English and with the Adler fellows singing particularly convincingly, Carmen-for-Families is just what the doctor prescribed. Maya Lahyani camped a superb Carmen. It does not hurt that she looks the part, delivered a scrumptious Habanera and never let down from there. Brian Jagde was a Don Jose with character, showing off the violent streak of the character in the inn scene (with Elkhanah Pulitzer's excellent stage direction on the well worn Ponelle set); and Ryan Kuster's Escamillo was pure bravado. This show is for all music lovers, not just families.

Other fun family events for the season: last night's Snowman at the SF Symphony. It's a charming animated silent film with live accompaniment by the SF Symphony orchestra conducted by Donato Cabrera. And Sunday, the traditional Deck the Hall concert, with treats for the kids, and the orchestra conducted in seasonal tunes by Randall Craig Fleischer.

And then there is the unavoidable Peter and the Wolf next week, a family tradition since for ever. Narrated by Chita Rivera, who created the role of Anita in West Side Story, succeeds Sara Ramirez, Florence Henderson, Leonard Nimoy and a slew of other, how to put this nicely, celebrities your kid won't know who they are, but your mom will.

Unfortunately, Peter and the Wolf is counter-programed against the SF Conservatory staging for families of Hansel and Gretel, with free lollipops for the lil'uns by See's Candies. It's a bare-bone production with piano accompaniment, but them are real singers and Humperdinck's music is a treat for all ages. Also, it's FREE, but tickets are required. Call ahead.

Anyhow, this should keep the kids busy for a little while.