How Not To Break Your Kid's Legs

When Rob told me a couple weeks ago that one of his colleague's 2-year old kid's leg broke going down a playground slide with his mom, I thought it was some sad, fluke thing.  Then I read this article, which reports that leg breaks and fractures of this kind are pretty common.  It basically says it's dangerous going down a slide with your kid because if their shoe or leg gets caught, the adult's weight keeps propelling them forward, making the kid's leg twist even more forcefully.  If the kid was alone, his own weight would stop him or atleast slow him down.

I'm so glad I read that!  I don't think we'll stop going down the slide with him completely, especially at this age when Greyson can't go on slides on his own, but we'll be hyper-vigilant about limbs being tucked in.

The Best Part of The Whitney's 2012 Biennial 2012

The best part about the Whitney's Biennial this year was its proximity to Ladurée, the Parisian macaron shop that I've been wanting to go to since it opened several months ago on the Upper East Side.

I have a love-hate relationship with the Biennial.  The first time I went, maybe 10 years ago, I was blown away and kept going back hoping it'd be as good, but always left disappointed.  Sort of like the Barneys Warehouse Sale, except I learned my lesson about that sale long ago.

There were some pieces at the Biennial that got us thinking about recent trends in contemporary American art, I guess. 

But for the most part, we were underwhelmed.  For example, below is a piece from the Biennial made up of cardboard, wires and aluminum foil.  I liked the description of the piece more than the piece itself because atleast it's funny.  The cardboard hanging from the ceiling says all that!

 Here's another piece below.  An artist's apartment is moved into the museum.  Is that interesting art?  Not so much!

Atleast, I was able to nurse Greyson in one of the film rooms (below)...

And going to the Biennial gave us an excuse to check out a playground in Central Park, introduce Greyson to the Alice in Wonderland statue and get sandwiches at Lenny's, a sandwich place we miss and don't have in Brooklyn, on the Upper West Side.  So, we made a fun day out of it. 

If you go to the Biennial this year, I'd suggest you do the same!

What I Wish I Knew Before Our Baby's First Easter

Since Greyson is only 9 months old and can't appreciate church or an Easter egg hunt, my main mission for his first Easter was to get a picture with an Easter Bunny.  I figured there'd be something in our Brooklyn neighborhood, the baby capital of New York, but there wasn't.  And when I stumbled upon this list of Easter activities around New York, it looked like Trinity Church at Wall Street was our best bet for a fun and beautiful Easter...Bunny included and free!

Here's how they described the event:


Easter Fun Fest – Financial District
Sunday, April 8 12:30-2:30pm
Trinity Wall Street, Broadway at Wall Street
FREE
Children 6 and under can hunt for candy-filled plastic eggs in the historic church's south yard while bigger kids hit the north yard for a more challenging scavenger hunt. Families can also make bonnets, pose for a pic with the Easter Bunny or groove to live music from the Bari Koral Band.

We had hoped to go to the service beforehand, but Greyson's first nap didn't line up, so we go to Trinity Church at 1:30 pm.  You could hear kids from inside the Rector Street subway station and as soon as we got out of the subway station near the church, we were faced with a huge line.  I asked a parent in line if it was for the Easter egg hunt or for pictures with the bunny and he said both.  This was an INSANE line.  It went around 3 sides of the block!  It was a perfectly sunny 65 degrees day.  Who wants to stand on line for hours on a beautiful day?

Click to find out what we decided to do and what you want to know if you go to Trinity Church next Easter!

Ice Cream Carts Are The New Drug Dealers in Park Slope

See the ice cream vendor trying to lure Greyson in with her smiles?  Just like a drug dealer.

 The New York Post just ran an article about parents against ice cream carts on playgrounds, using quotes from parents that were originally posted on Park Slope Parents, the listserv.  There was a mom who compared the carts to drug dealers.  The people who were pro-carts said the vendors were just trying to make a living and that it's nice to have a cool treat on a hot day.  The people who were anti-carts said that the vendors were ruining their kids' days because the weren't allowed to have ice cream.  Plus, who knows what kinds of toxins and preservatives are in those ice creams??

Now that I'm on Park Slope Parents I see why Park Slope families get the reputation of being militant and crazy.  Some are militant and crazy...but I think most of them are normal parents, but they're not the ones emailing their opinions saying they don't care about the ice cream vendors either way.

Reporters scavenge for stories about parenting on the listserv.  It's easy for them!  A discussion will start on the forum and then people with extreme opinions start chiming in and it turns into a verbal tornado.  When probably 95% of the people on the listserv aren't vehement about the issue either way.  Reporters see a discussion with all sorts of polarizing elements and all of a sudden every parent in Park Slope is either adamantly for or against ice cream vendors in the park.  That makes for great copy!  Meanwhile, when I've seen those vendors in the park, no one has seemed to care.  I saw them and thought it was a little weird, but I was like, whatever.  It's harmless.  But, if I had to choose sides, I'd say that vendors shouldn't be on the playgrounds.  Where's the line?  There could be 100 vendors in there and then you'd be at a food court, not a playground.

I love the listserv, though.  It's very entertaining.  And I love that even people who aren't on the listserv are kept apprised of the crazies.  Because the people who don't live in Park Slope or have kids are like, this has got to be a joke.  But it's not!  These people really exist!

Ice cream is like a drug!