A Blog for Busy Parents From the Editor of L.A. Parent

Archive for August, 2008

Dino-Mite

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

If you’re looking for something a little different to do this holiday weekend, amble on over to the Natural History Museum to see Dinosaur Encounters. The program closes for a month on Sept. 1, so hurry over!

Dino-loving kids will love the realistic-looking juvenile T. rex – the puppeteer has this critter behaving very dinosaur-like, complete with twitchy head movements and a bouncy gait. But keep your more skitterish youngsters confined to the stuffed animal galleries – the experience can be intense!

Here are the details: Dinosaur Encounters puppets perform three times daily at 11:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m and 3:30 p.m. Shows take place in the North American Mammal Hall, located on the second floor. 

While you’re there, amble up to the Thomas the T. rex lab to watch real-live scientists extracting fossilized dino remains and studying them. 

Jack’s favorite part of the day, right after seeing the massive, life-like dino puppet? A picnic of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches just outside the museum.

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I’ve Got Mail!

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

I’m starting a new little section in my blog of cool things I get in the mail. Since I “Don’t Have Time for This” or to write about all the cool stuff that comes my way, this will hopefully help me get the word out.

First up: The fabulous if just a bit practical Warner’s Elements of BlissWire Underwire Bra ($32). No frilly lace or superfluous bows with this little number. Just good comfort. It won’t be the one I wear on a fancy night on the town, but it’ll be the one that gets me comfortably through my work day.

Posted in Mail Box, Mom Stuff, Nifty Products, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Kindergarten Blues

Monday, August 25th, 2008

One of my good friends sent me a text last night that struck fear into my own heart. She was getting ready to send her youngest son to kindergarten the next day, and she was distraught.

This is so hard. I can’t stop crying.

She’s a stay-at-home mom who has done an amazing job. To the outside world, she seemed totally ready for this next step – and to regain a bit of her former life back. Her little caterpillar now had some wings. I think she thought she was ready, too.

Jack is in preschool, and next year, I’ll be tackling the same transition. This is my little guy, the one who seemed like only yesterday was babbling and toddling and getting into everything. Now he’s having conversations with me and starting to write his letters. 

Will I be ready for this step? I don’t know!

Her text to me this morning sounded better:

I made it. I didn’t tear up till I got home … I know he will be OK.

So there’s hope, but the lesson to me was to be ready for the inevitable shock to your system that our babies grow up. Fast.

Any tips out there as to how to handle this transition and keep yourself from becoming a blubbering mess as you are walking your little one up to the “big-kid” school? We’d all love to hear them!

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Moms: Minds Made for Business

Friday, August 15th, 2008

Coming soon in the September issue (on stands Aug. 25), you can read all about a select group of L.A. moms who have created businesses that suit their schedules, financial needs and creative tendencies. In the meantime, I’m collecting a few bios from moms who’ve told me about themselves and their businesses so I can tell you about them … and we can all support moms making it!

For instance, the MiGi Girls are two incredibly stylish L.A. moms, Michele Adams and Gia Russo, who have created nursery decor, written books on how to entertain with class and starred in two shows on the Fine Living Channel Network. Read all about them in this mini-roundup of moms who are bringing their ideas and passion to the business world.

Are you or do you know of another L.A. mom who has a creative idea that she’s built into a business? Let me know by leaving a comment here or on the Moms’ Business page or by dropping me an email.

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Kate Trippin’

Friday, August 15th, 2008

It’s been a busy week, which has somewhat made me neglect my blogging duties. The magazine’s rolling through its third back-to-back deadline, so we’re buried pretty deep. But we did manage to produce a fantastic Best of 2008 product, which just rolled out this week. Check it out, and let me know what you think!

On the family front, Kate’s visiting my mom in New Mexico again. She took a direct flight from LAX to El Paso all by herself, which freaks her mom out – although she did just great and enjoyed every second of it. Have you ever put your child on a plane by himself? I sweated and paced profusely until the phone rang and I got the “Hi, Mom!” call. Tell me about your experiences!

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Hola, Sesame Street Fans

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

This will make you feel old: Sesame Street turns 39 this season.

But tune in, and guaranteed, you’ll feel young again.

Rosita, Sesame Street’s blue bilingual monster, took some time out of her busy Sesame Street day to chat with me about what’s new in the neighborhood. (Carmen Osbahr, the person behind the puppet, also got on the phone to talk about her history with Sesame Street. The Mexico City native chatted about how, as a mom to 8-year-old Alex, she values the presence of the show and the part she gets to play in it.) 

LAP: So, what’s new on Sesame Street?

Rosita: Everyone is talking about mathematics! 

[This season, while focusing on math and literacy, includes several celebrities, who are not only lending their faces but are showing up to teach kids about octagons and other great new concepts and words.]

Rosita: We had this really cool guy that came to Sesame Street. I think his name was David Beckham? My mom said he is cute. Do you think he is cute?

LAP: Oh, yes.

Rosita: Well, he taught me the word “persistence.” And Jack Black, he taught us “disguise.” He was really funny.

[This season also introduces new regulars to mix it up with the muppets.]

Rosita: We have a new neighbor – she opened a laundromat. Leela (see photo) is from India. She has a British accent.

LAP: Is she a monster or a person?

Rosita: (Giggles…) No, she is a human being! She is silly. We’re having fun with her.

[The show will feature a few new segments this year, including one starring the monster Murray in "Murray Has a Little Lamb." His lamb Ovejita ("little lamb" in Spanish) speaks only Spanish, so Rosita enjoys spending time with her.]

Rosita: Ovejita told me she leaves some clues for Murray about different types of schools they’re going to visit. He has to guess where they’re going. They went to one for karate.

[I surveyed a few kids to see what they'd like to know about Rosita, too.]

LAP: Why are you blue?

Rosita: My mommy says I look like my daddy. … My mom is bluey and my dad is bluey yellowy. I’m a combination of both. My hair is from my grandmother.

LAP: You play the guitar and sing on Sesame Street. Is it hard to play with furry fingers?

Rosita: I just use persistence, that David Beckham word (my mom still think he’s cute).

The 39th season of Sesame Street begins on Aug. 11 on PBS. Sesame Workshop will also be launching its newly redesigned Web site on Aug. 11.

 

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Good Parenting!

Monday, August 4th, 2008

Have you had a golden parenting moment lately? You know, those fleeting but satisfying exchanges with your child in which you manage to say just the right thing or have that perfect idea that seems to come out of nowhere but makes you feel like the smartest mom or dad ever?

Ronna Mandel, L.A. Parent’s editorial assistant, had one recently. Coleman, her 7-year-old son, had charged her with taking Fuzzy, one of his favorite stuffed animals, with her to work everyday. Fuzzy seemed to make everyone feel a bit more connected to each other throughout the day and provided a bit of extra security for Coleman. That is, until the dark day last week when Ronna accidentally left Fuzzy behind.

But in a moment of brilliant mothering, Ronna related to Coleman that Fuzzy was enjoying an adventure at the L.A. Parent offices. Not only did Coleman take to the concept; he fully embraced it and decided to dictate a little story to his mom about Fuzzy’s fun overnight excursion:

Fuzzy’s Accidental Overnight at L.A. Parent

By Coleman Sokol

Hi. I’m Coleman. This is a story about when my stuffed animal, Fuzzy, got left at L.A. Parent.

I know my mom did not mean to leave him there, but she did. He stayed all night on top of her computer because every day I give him to her so he will not be at home all alone.

At night, he came down from the top of the computer screen and he typed a message on the computer to my mom, but my mom was sleeping. Fuzzy told me in another e-mail where he was and I told my mom when she got up and at the same time he typed me a letter, too. He told me what it said. It said,

“Dear Coleman, I am overnight at LA Parent, but I am fine. No worries. From Fuzzy.”

So then after I read the letter, I told my mom he was OK. The next day, after the accident at night, we slept together happily ever after.

The End.

P.S.: I don’t let my mom take Fuzzy in to work anymore!

 

 

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Get Your Game On

Friday, August 1st, 2008

As I’ve earlier confessed, I like gadgets… that same devotion applies to video games. I can’t – and never did – spend hours in a basement lost in a virtual haze. But I’ve got a pretty good roster of guilty pleasures when it comes to escaping into a world of Tetris blocks, trivia, guitar tunes and tennis.

I bought the Nintendo Wii for my husband for Father’s Day (it IS for him, I swear!), but we’ve all fallen in love with this new type of gaming that requires you to be on your toes … literally. That’s why I was excited when L.A. Parent writer and editorial assistant Ronna Mandel told me we’d be getting a preview of a few titles coming soon from game developer Electronic Arts, a major player, if you will, in the gaming world.

Three public relations reps from the company brought the games and the consoles, and Ronna and I supplied the kid testers: Ronna’s 7-year-old son Coleman and my two, Kate, 8, and Jack, 4. They brought a couple of offerings that they plan to release this fall, including one call Boogie SuperStar (which combines your skills as a singer and dancer) and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, both of which were for the Wii.

On the Nintendo DS, we played a fun new one called Zubo, which has great characters and graphics (and is slated for a fall release, too).

Ronna is busy compiling some of the latest and greatest games from EA and other companies for a story for LAParent.com that will fit just about any device – and guilty pleasure – in your life. Watch for that around the end of August.

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It’s More Than Fair

Friday, August 1st, 2008

Remember ribbons on quilts? Kids turning over their best artwork to be judged by experts? Sheep and cows standing proud in the livestock arena? All sorts of foods on a stick? Well, most of us don’t, and our kids won’t, either, unless we pack them up and take them to a local fair.

While our glamorous metropolitan areas would indicate otherwise, California is fair country – even Los Angeles. My husband and I grew up in areas where kids raised cows for the fair and rodeo, and grandmothers pickled and preserved things for competition. But we figured it was high time to let our kids in on a little of that action.

We checked out the Orange County Fair (which ends on Aug. 2), where the kids were partial to the leather tooling area, the carnival scene and the goat petting barn. You could get everything from a deep-fried Snickers to a flight of seriously good California wines. 

Check out the online calendar at LAParent.com for upcoming fair dates, and get out among the goats!

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