If you have young children in preschool or daycare in Massachusetts chances are you've heard about the new state-wide mandate to have those children brush their teeth while in care. How do you feel about this? I don’t hate it. I actually really like the idea. However, I realize not everyone agrees with me.
The Omen (II) ruined me for ice skating on a pretty lake in the winter (no, I'm not linking to the scene; if you are too young to know it, consider yourself lucky).
Yes, that's my little guy standing on a frozen pond a couple of years ago, but it was after five days of sub-freezing weather and seeing 250-pound ice fishermen walking on it before I could agree to let him out there.
It would figure I’d marry a guy who loves to ice skate and wants the kids to follow in his footsteps. And, while we could go to an indoor rink, I agree that there is something so quintessentially New England about skating out-of-doors.
So instead of flashing the dreaded movie scene in my head every ten seconds, I've scouted out a few safe outdoor rinks that my kids and I can enjoy without me stopping every ten seconds to say, “did I just hear a crack?” We haven't tried them all, yet, but we will. Feel free to add your favorites that are beyond my little corner of the world.
Continue reading "Safe outdoor skating rinks for the skittish mom" »
My husband learned to ski when he was 27, and I learned when I was 14. While we both enjoy skiing, we do wish that we had learned how to do it when we were much younger. I know this sounds crazy but there aren't very many places to ski in NYC or the Chicago suburbs were he and I respectively grew up.
Sarcasm aside, skiing wasn't as big of a deal for either of us growing up as it seems to be out here in New England. Seeing as there are so many places to choose from to ski, it only makes sense. Armed with the knowledge that what you don't know not only sometimes can't hurt you, but can actually be good for you, we enrolled our 6 year old in ski lessons. At 6 he doesn't really get that he might break his arm, but at 16 or particularly 26 he will!
So where does one go to do ski lessons?
Lifetime, a network I normally avoid like the plague, except that now they are the home of Project Runway and I loves me some Tim Gunn and the Drama with a capital D that happens on that show, premiered their "original" movie, The Pregnancy Pact, on Saturday. "Original" is in quotes because it's loosely based on the real story of 17 teenage girls from Gloucester High School who allegedly made their own pregnancy pact in 2008, so exactly how does that make it original? And I say "loosely based" because the truth of an actual pact has been debated and denied by those involved.
Anyway.
Continue reading "Lifetime TV's "The Pregnancy Pact". A teachable moment?" »
Pork. The other white meat. And I went to a place last weekend known as Craigie On Main in Cambridge, MA and they loves them little piggys. I really don't know if it was the excitement of brunch with the lovely ladies from my high school who I hadn't seen in almost a year, or the atmosphere of this quaint restaurant featuring an open kitchen, but the food was delicious and the service impeccable. I mean, the waiters fold your napkin every time you move from your seat. How many times does that happen in your house these days?
Continue reading "Review - Piggy (Craigie) On Main, Cambridge, MA" »
The Friends of Ipswich Elementary Schools (FRIES) - Doyon Chapter and Boston's Chinese Folk Art Workshop are teaming up to welcome the Year 4708, the Year of the Tiger, with a performance of a variety of traditional Chinese folk arts such as Dragon Dance, Lion Dance, Taiwanese Drums, Chinese yoyo and Folk Dance at the Ipswich Performing Arts Center on Saturday, January 23, 2010. Performance starts at 3:00 p.m. Work out some of those winter blues and try out some of the dances, instruments, and folk arts with the performers at the conclusion of the event.
Tickets are $8.00 each and will not be available at the door. Tickets can be purchased online.
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Feeling outdoorsy? Snowshoeing for Families at Mass Audubon Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Worcester, Sunday, January 24 from 1:30pm - 3:30pm. They’ll teach you how to use snowshoes before heading out onto the trails and then teach you how to look for signs of wildlife as you enjoy the beauty of the sanctuary in winter! Registration is required.
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More of the indoor type? Visit the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art this weekend. Spend the day with the family and take in exhibits like “Golden Legacy: Original Art From 65 Years of Golden Books”. When I lived in Northern California, people would talk all the time about how they couldn't live anywhere else because it's so diverse in CA. Every time I heard that I cracked up because in actuality, Northern California is hardly very diverse at all. Oh, there are people of color there, plenty of them, but the diversity is either hispanic or Asian, and the rest of the world? So not represented. I never got why Californians kept insisting about how diverse they were when you couldn't find a Greek or Italian restaurant to save your life. Lots of Pho, but no souflaki.
If the non-stop barrage of commercials and automated phone calls from politicians, their families, and Curt Schilling related to the special election for US Senator from Massachusetts have left me with only one impression, it is that I disagree with Republican candidate Scott Brown's oversimplified view of the world.
Continue reading "Freedom and Equality at the Expense of a Little Negativity" »
Yesterday my daughter and I attended the rally for Martha Coakley, who is running for Ted Kennedy's seat in the Senate. President Obama, Senator John Kerry, Rep. Barney Frank and Mayor of Boston Tom Menino were some of the dignitaries also in attendance to lend their support to Coakley.
