Learning to Crawl

Keep Em Busy Weekend Planner

Evan Serpick — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:44:59 +0000

I'm really excited about the Winter Festival of Wonders this weekend in Station North. To be honest, I've been feeling a little burned out on the birthday party/play date/kid museum circuit lately and longing for something a little more culturally/intellectually stimulating, and this seems like the rare event designed to stimulate both kids and adults. Located at a converted warehouse called Area 405, the festival includes really interesting installations by artists both local and national, along with magic and belly dancing, and percussion workshops, and all kinds of performers. Click on schedule to plot your attack.

Our favorite kid band Milkshake (pictured) is having its second annual Valentine Spectacular on Saturday at 10:30. There will be sweet tarts and chocolate kisses from Moo the Cow, crafts, face painting, a book fair, and, of course, a fantastic show by Milkshake, with a portion of proceeds benefitting Arts on Stage. We went last year and had a blast.

There are a still a bunch of shows left for Disney on Ice's 100 Years of Magic at the 1st Mariner Arena, featuring all the Disney stars, including those from Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and tons more.

Also Sunday, from 1 to 4 pm, is Gilman Cultural Arts Festival at the school's old gym. From this video culled from last year's event, it looks like a really cool thing for the students, and it's open to the public. More info at Gilman.edu.

Keep Em Busy Weekend Planner

Evan Serpick — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:54:00 +0000

Lot of great stuff this weekend:

The BSO's Family Series Concerts continues with "LIFE: A Journey Through Time," which include photographs by National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting, accompanied by mood music composed by Baltimore's own Phillip Glass.

Also tonight and tomorrow, there are three more showings of "Fiddler on the Roof" (left) at the Lyric.

For your bug-loving critters, the Maryland Science Center just opened a new exhbit, Harry's Bug Adventure: My Bug World, full of live bugs, games, and more.

Local Mom Makes Killer Kid Ipad App

Evan Serpick — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:53:53 +0000

Joyce Hesselberth, a local designer/illustrator and the woman behind one of my favorite local blogs, kidbaltimore.com, has created an app for the iPad called PrestoBingo SHAPES. It's aimed at kids ages 2 to 6 and, from the demo, looks like something my boys would love. It also has the super cool, clean aesthetic of all of Hesselberth's work. There no iPhone version yet, but Joyce tells me she's working on ways to make it manageable on a smaller screen.

Check it out!

We Are Terrible Parents: Our Son Has a Gun

Evan Serpick — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:29:41 +0000

Our sole remaining parenting principle has gone by the wayside: Our son has a gun.

Well, it’s a nerf gun (pictured), but it certainly looks like a gun: You point it at people, pull a trigger, and shoot them—in this case with foam pellets that have little suction cups on the tips.

By allowing our son to play with the gun, we have waved goodbye to the last of the lofty principals that my wife and I had set for ourselves when our first son was born five years ago. When Brenda and I found out that she was pregnant, we would sit up at night excitedly talking about what great parents we were going to be and, by extension, mock all the "terrible" parents out there who gave their babies Slurpies in a milk bottle while taking them to see R-rated movies on the subway after midnight (we lived in New York then).

For some reason, our version of great parenting was some strange puritanical version of hell, possibly with no electricity, where children play chess by the fireside and listen to nothing but classical music. And while we haven't yet introduced them to the Saw movies, we've certainly indulged in some of the other "terrible" parenting we used to judge others for.

Below is a partial list of the rules we dreamed of keeping in those heady days of pre-parenthood and approximately how long it took us to abandon them.

-Only wooden toys (less than 24 hours). Okay, this one was a little over-the-top and, to be fair to me, Brenda's idea. (This is my blog. If you want her take on things, check out her blog.) In those early days, plastic seemed like the enemy. It still is, I guess, only we've seen the enemy and it's all over our playroom, backyard, bedrooms, etc.

-No TV (6 months). We both advocated this, though I'll admit, I didn't think it would last. I was absolutely a child of TV. I remember days when I would literally wake up and turn on the TV, watch until I left for school, come home and turn on the TV until dinner, then watch from after dinner until bed. I had little doubt that my kid would appreciate a good sitcom. The breakdown came even earlier than we thought, though. We discovered that those Baby Einstein videos could hold little Jack's attention for a solid 20 minutes while a solo parent cooked dinner or did some other chore. We comforted ourselves in the thought that they were secretly turning our baby into a genius, though I doubt any parent who has ever seen those videos—which largely consist of grown-ups playing with baby toys—really believed that.

-No Formula (10 months). Brenda managed to keep Jack in breast milk, even after she started going back to work part-time at 7 months. By 10 months, she was taking heroic measures to keep Jack in pumped breast milk, even as she started working full time. I distinctly remember a conversation with the pediatrician about our efforts to keep him exclusively on breast milk, with no formula and, even though he strongly promoted breast feeding, said, "It's not poison, ya know." I remember thinking, "I guess not," because up until then, I think we had sort of convinced ourselves it was.

-Only organic food (18 months). As Jack moved on to solids, we initially bought only the organic baby food. Well, we initially thought we'd make all own baby food, but that idea didn't even make it to his first feeding. The organic-only plan lasted until we started sharing the food we were eating. Some of it was organic, some not.

-Only real music (2 years). This one was mostly my doing. As a lifelong music-lover, I was determined to avoid "children's music" and wean my boys on the classics: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, etc. And for the first couple years, we managed to keep to that. Nothing made me happier than when we would get in the car and Jack would request "Trenchtown Rock." But, inevitably, as Jack got into Sesame Street and The Wiggles (see "No TV"), listening to "C is for Cookie" and "Big Red Car" took precedence even over Abbey Road. Of course, I've since been won over by our favorite kid band, Milkshake, and I'm practically a groupie.

-They will eat the same food we eat for dinner every night (2.5 years). Before we had kids, I distinctly remember going to my sister's house for dinner and watching her serve chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, and asparagus to the adults, while bringing chicken nuggets and mac n cheese to her toddlers at the kids' table. I viciously scolded her in my head and thought "We'll never do that—our kids will eat the same good as everyone else!" And emphatically, "No nuggets!" Flash forward to last weekend, when we were at my sister's house for dinner, where she served delicious veggie lasagna, and I asked her, in a shamed whisper, if she had chicken nuggets—my boys's favorite food—in the freezer.

-No TV at night (3 years). Well, ok, a few cartoons in the morning is one thing, but we'll never sit and watch TV at night instead of playing with wooden toys and playing chess! Then, at some point, a really bad day happens. Brenda and I are both stressed out, exhausted, and/or sick. The boys are restless and needy. It's an evening like that when you quietly thank the Lord for on-demand episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba.

-No violent TV/movies (4 years). At some point, the wheels kinda came off the TV situation, and the boys were watching the Star Wars movies, Harry Potter, Spiderman, etc. The only line we drew was banning America's Funniest Home Videos and Wipeout because they would inevitably try to re-enact various scenes. A low point came during our flight to California over the holidays. I was setting up the portable DVD player so that Benny, now 3, could watch Spiderman 3 and I happened to notice that it was rated PG-13. That caused a real moment of reflection.

-No toy guns (5 years). And perhaps that last one led to the fall of our last rule. It's true that these rules are like dominos or a house of cards. Once one falls, it's hard to stop the cascade. A few months ago, we had a brunch playdate at a friend's house. Inevitably, my boys were fascinated by all the toys that they hadn't seen before. The highlight was probably the Nerf gun pictured above. The kids took turns shooting those foam pellets at the walls and laughing hysterically. Cut to a few weeks later and Jack and I are at Target. I had promised him he could pick out a small toy for being good all week, and he spotted the Nerf gun. It was $7.99, which was less than anything else he wanted (though it only came with 2 foam pellets; extra ones sold separately, I later discovered). "Ah, screw it," I thought, and as I dropped the toy gun into the cart, I had the distinct feeling of defeat in my heart. This weekend we're gonna pick up some Slurpies and go see Devil Inside...

Keep Em Busy, Warm, and Rooting for the Ravens...

Evan Serpick — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:11:42 +0000

The forecast calls for snow tonight and tomorrow, but probably not enough for hours of sledding and snowmen—though considering how snow-deprived we've been so far this season, I'm sure we'll try to get at least one or two sloppy snowballs crafted.

Luckily, there a lot of good stuff going on this weekend.

Tomorrow is the Orioles Fan Fest at the Convention Center, which features O's stars past (Jim Palmer, Rick Dempsey, Brady Anderson) and present (Matt Wieters, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis) signing autographs and doing Q-and-A's with fans. There will be batting and pitching cages, hitting, pitching, base-running and fielding clinics for kids, face-painting, pictures with the Bird and lots more. Goes from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Also tomorrow, Port Discovery is hosting a Chinese New Year Celebration (pictured). Usher in the Year of the Dragon by learning the lion dance, making masks, take chopsticks lessons, eating snacks from P.F. Changs, and learning Chinese calligraphy.

Sunday, of course, is Ravens game day. But if you're from, I don't know, Pittsburgh or something, and your team isn't in the playoffs anymore, go to see Harold & Mudge at Howard Community College's Smith Center, as part of Candlelight Concert Society's CandleKids series.

Have a great one!

Happy New Keep Em Busy!

Evan Serpick — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:27:38 +0000

This weekend, the Walters is hosting a Three Kings Day party, which sounds like a lot of fun, whether you usually celebrate the traditionally Latino holiday or not. There is also the drop-in art activities there from 10am to 3pm on both Saturday and Sunday, as usual.

There's a lor going on at Port Discovery this weekend. It's Purple Weekend there, meaning all kids who show support for the Ravens by wearing purple get half off admission. Also, tomorrow is Healthy First Saturdays, where kids can make healthy snacks with reps from Wegmans and McCormick and company, attend a Kinderfit class with the Kindersinger, watch science demonstrations, and much more.

If you're a Bank of America customer, it's also a GREAT weekend to take the kids to the American Visionary Art Museum, since admission is FREE for all Bank of America cardholders.

Keep Em Busy!

Evan Serpick — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:59:09 +0000

This is the last full weekend before Christmas, the last chance to check out some of the great holiday stuff around town.

In addition to the ongoing things I mentioned last week (like Holiday Festival of Toys and Trains at the B&O Railroad Museum or the massive train display at the Shops at Kenilworth), there's the essential Miracle on 34th Street in Hamden (pictured), which was recognized by AOL Travel as one of the "10 Best Christmas Light Displays in the U.S."

Also, the Waterfront Partnership has done a great job with the "It's a Waterfront Life" series of events and promotions around the holidays. For one thing, there's the amazing Christmas light show projected onto the Power Plant building on Friday and Saturday nights at 6, 7, 8, and 9 pm (follow the link to see a video). Also, on Sunday from Noon to 5pm, Harbor East will hold it's Let It Snow Celebration, featuring ice carvings, holiday music, and strolling entertainment. Go here for a full list of "It's a Waterfront Life" activities.

Also, on Saturday at 11 am, Baltimore's Choral Arts Society will present its Christmas for Kids program at Goucher's Kraushaar Auditorium, featuring Pepito the Clown, Rodney the Reindeer and, of course, Santa.

Keep Em Busy...

Evan Serpick — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:49:30 +0000

With the holidays approaching, kids will (hopefully) be looking to stay in the "nice" column. Enjoy it while it lasts....

On Saturday morning, the Baltimore Museum of Industry is having a big Breakfast with Santa event from 8:30 to 10:30, with a full buffet, magic show, and lots of time to sweet talk old Saint Nick (and take pictures with him).

There are showings throughout the weekend of the BSO's Cirque de la Symphonie, which combined orchestral museum with aerial acrobatics, juggling, contortionists, and other amazing performers.

Also Saturday, from 1 to 5pm is Rock the Dock Family Holiday Bash at the Power Plant, featuring lots of crafts, train rides on the promenade, a moon bounce, visits from Santa, and samples from all the Power Plant tenants, including soup from the newest one: Phillips Seafood.

If you're still looking for inspiration, check out the Holiday Festival of Toys and Trains at the B&O Railroad Museum (which has the largest display of model and toy layouts in Baltimore), or the Shops at Kenilworth, which also has a legendary train display (pictured), plus Breakfast with Santa Saturday morning at 10, and music by Peabody's Young Pianists program at 2pm.

Winner of BSO Tickets!

Evan Serpick — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:06:56 +0000

We had 15 readers share their favorite holiday traditions in our contest to win matinee tickets to the BSO's Cirque de la Symphonie. (Unfortunately, the Facebook plug-in on the contest page isn't showing all the comments/entries—it's an ongoing problem we're working on—but we're able to see all the entries on the administrator page). Also, sorry for posting the winner a day later than promised—I was struck by a vicious cold.

The winner is Ginny MacAnespie, whose tradition seemed to capture the spirit of the season: "One of our family's favorite holiday traditions is to go out to dinner on Christmas Eve (leave a nice tip for the server as a blessing) and then drive around for and hour or two looking at Christmas lights." Ginny, please let us know if you prefer tickets to the Wednesday or Friday matinee.

If you didn't win, never fear: You can buy tickets at really reasonable prices here.

And since readers haven't been able to see all the other great traditions that were submitted, I've copied and pasted them here:

Katherine Levin: Fav tradition is new pjs for all the children on xmas eve.

Heather Weisse Walsh: One of our fav traditions is strolling up 34th Street every year (hot chocolate in hand). We're also looking forward to checking out the BSO's debut of A Christmas Carol in a few weeks. :)

Karen Alexander: My favorite holiday tradition is going to McLean Nurseries in Parkville to buy wreaths and holiday greenery - I grew up near there so I am transported back to my childhood every time I visit!

Ann Williams Duncan: A favorite family tradition is one shared by many -- making christmas cookies. A great excuse for the kids to make a huge mess and get creative!

Amy Highstein-Berman: favorite holiday tradition is hanging with the family!

Cynthia Hill: Waking up Christmas morning with the family all in the holiday PJ's purchased for the family photos while opening gifts around the tree with the fire place blazing in the background.

Christina Drews-Leonard: We have a great neighborhood holiday tradition - a cookie swap and caroling party.

Melia Adams Wilkinson: First and foremost, getting the tree and trimming it. For traditions outside of the house, I love going to the Mt Vernon Tree Lighting. Tis the season!

Kate Sperlein: our families favorite holiday tradition is making gingerbread houses and going to see the lights on 34th street.

Jessica Emrick: Spending Christmas Eve with my family (and eating pizza for those of us who don't eat fish) for our Seven Fish dinner tradition. Then playing board games the rest of the night.

Casi Dow: Ever since moving to Baltimore - I love the lighted boat parade! Can't wait for it this Saturday!

Stephanie Amatucci: The Wednesday showing also happens to be my sisters birthday! What a perfect start to the holiday season for myself and my best friend!

Caroline Oppenheimer: This will be a very good performance for my whole family to see.

Ioana Nicolaescu Fleming: My favorite holiday tradition is caroling. My boy is 2.5 years old can already sing a couple of them. He's so cute pumping his fist and saying "Hey!" at Jingle Bells :)

FREE Tickets to the BSO's Cirque de la Symphonie

Evan Serpick — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:59:41 +0000

The BSO has come up with an ingenious way to get kids to listen to and appreciate orchestral music: Put a circus over it!

The Cirque de la Symphonie—which is not affiliated with Cirque du Soleil, but comes from the same European cirque tradition—pairs holiday music with aerial acrobats, strong men, contortionists, jugglers and other performers. It sounds like a match made in heaven, both for parents and kids.

The BSO has graciously offered to give away four tickets to a matinee performance on either Wednesday, December 7th or Friday, December 9th (winner's choice) to one of our readers! To be eligible to win, please both "Like" Learning to Crawl on Facebook (there's a button on the right of this page) and leave a comment here with your favorite holiday season tradition. The contest is open until noon on Monday, December 5th, and I'll announce a winner soon thereafter. Good luck!

To see all show times and to buy tickets, go here.