November 2007
Monthly Archive
December Giveaway: Music Together in the City
Posted by Kimberly on 30 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Contests & Giveaways
Music Together in the City is giving away one semester of classes, good for one child and their parent or caretaker! Their new semester beings in mid January in over 10 locations. 
Singing, Dancing, Playing with TONS of instruments! Sounds like fun, right?
"One of my dreams for my children was that they have a love of music,
and now they do! Someone in our household is always singing, either
with a recording or making up songs of their own. I don’t know if there
is a sweeter sound than that of a child singing. Thank you, Music Together. We’ve taken ten semesters now — that says a lot!"
What is Music Together?
• A community of families sharing songs, instrument play, rhythm chants and movement activities in a relaxed, playful, non-performance-oriented setting.
• Music learned through developmentally appropriate activities that support and respect the unique learning styles of very young children.
• Infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers participating at their own levels in family-style classes of mixed ages.
• Parents and caregivers contributing to the enrichment of their child’s music environment-regardless of their own musical abilities.
• A new song collection every semester for three years, featuring great arrangements of original and traditional songs in a variety of tonalities, meters and cultural styles.
Music Together® is for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their parents/caregiver. The classes include songs, rhythmic rhymes and movement, and instrument play activities that are developmentally appropriate for the children and easy for parents and caregivers, regardless of their own musical ability.
For more information please take a look at their website: www.musictogethernyc.com
Mom in the City members can enter simply by sending an email to contests@mominthecity.com with "Music" in the Subject line. The winner will be chosen on December 31st.
December Giveaway: A Kid’s Life
Posted by Kimberly on 30 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Contests & Giveaways
One mom will win a family four pack of tickets to A Kid’s Life. .JPG)
After a well received national tour, the new kid’s musical A Kid’s Life! will perform Off-Broadway at The York Theatre beginning Saturday, December 8thfor an initial six week run (through Sunday, January 13) .
A Kid’s Life! follows Zack, an adorable five-year old boy and his golden retriever and best friend, Starsky. Together, they embark on a fun-filled adventure through their hometown where they befriend Zoe, a spunky five-year old girl who is new to town and rather shy. Over the course of the day, Zack and Zoe encounter many new friends: from a talking clock who teaches them the importance of time, to a beautiful owl who reminds them that animals have feelings too, to an orange tree that gives them a deeper appreciation of nature. Mr. Sullivan, the corner store clerk, joins the fun by showing them just how wonderful A Kid’s Life! can be!
A Kid’s Life! is a heart warming musical featuring contagious toe-tapping music, dazzling dance with a colorful cast of larger-than-life characters and positive messages. This feel-good musical is sure to get you moving. A Kid’s Life! is a delight for the whole family.
A Kid’s Life! is playing at The York Theatre (619 Lexington Avenue)
Starting December 8 and Runs every Saturday and Sunday 10am and 12:30 until 1/13
Special holiday shows starting 12/22
Buy your tickets at 866-811-4111 Or check out more about the show at www.akidslife.com"
Mom in the City members can enter simply by sending an email to contests@mominthecity.com with "A Kid’s Life" in the Subject line. The winner will be chosen on December 6th.
December Giveaway: Guggenheim’s “Peter & The Wolf”
Posted by Kimberly on 30 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Contests & Giveaways
Works & Process at the Guggenheim is giving away a family four pack of tickets to a special holiday performance of Peter & The Wolf. The winner can choose from any of the dates listed below:
December 15, 4 pm
December 16, 2:30 and 4 pm
December 17, 10:30 am and 12 pm .jpg)
"Isaac Mizrahi. Juilliard. Peter & The Wolf
Isaac Mizrahi and the Juilliard Ensemble bring Peter and his famous adversary to life as children learn to recognize instruments of the orchestra. A magical installation of paper sculptures and cutouts by artist Andrew Scott Ross illustrates Prokofiev’s vibrant and engaging masterpiece. New York City Opera Music Director George Manahan conducts.
Share this beloved classic with a special child in your life.
Tickets are available now at 212 423 3587, M-F, 1-5 pm
$35, $30 Members
Recommended for children ages 5-10
Guggenheim Museum (5th Ave at 89th St)"
Mom in the City members can enter simply by sending an email to contests@mominthecity.com with "Peter & The Wolf" in the Subject line. The winner will be chosen on December 6.
December Giveaway: Book Bundle
Posted by Kimberly on 30 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Contests & Giveaways
One member will win a bundle of three books:
Two new books, Listen, Listen and One City, Two Brothers, by Barefoot Books, an award-winning children’s book publisher. Both books have received starred reviews from the American Library Association’s magazine, Booklist.
The other book is a signed copy of Lisa Kothari’s Dear Peppers and Pollywogs…: What Parents Want to Know About Planning Their Kids’ Parties
-How much should we spend on party presents? This is the book to pull out when you face party conundrums. With a succinct format, you will easily be able to find the answer to your question to help make your party planning less stressful!" Mom in the City members can enter simply by sending an email to contests@mominthecity.com with "Books" in the Subject line. The winner will be chosen on December 31st.
"What’s to throwing kids’ parties? According to popular media today, it’s a complicated business full of perplexing problems. When your kid’s party needs to be planned, all sorts of questions arise:
-What happens when my kid invites 50 guests to his party before the invitation list has even been drawn up?
-How do you return the fish your child received as a party favor?
Special Offer: Care.com
7 Favorite Things for 2007 (December)
Posted by Kimberly on 30 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Favorite Things
1. Nintendo Wii: I haven’t been a video game person since Pac-man originally came out (wow, time is flying!). Anyway, I gave this system to my husband for his birthday in November. It is so much fun! It comes with a sports bundle (golf, boxing, baseball, bowling) which I find to be a great workout on a cold, wintery day. What’s humbling is that my three year old has beat me in boxing by knocking me out the last two times that we played. (I blame it on him being left-handed - I never see my demise coming!)
2.JJ COLE’s bundleme: I only hear raves about this product, including from a local mom at a library story hour. I’m not a big stroller user, but I would definitely get this if they made them for front carriers like the Bjorn. They are so much more attractive than what is currently on the market. 
3. Ann Taylor Loft: Back in my corporate days, I was an Ann Taylor woman. Now, I lean more towards Ann Taylor Loft. They offer a pretty nice selection of clothes at reasonable prices. (Their shoe selection isn’t great, but there are plenty of other shoe stores.) Be sure to sign up for their email list, so that you can get discounts/sale notices in your Inbox. Another good tip when doing your online shopping there is to type "Ann Taylor Loft coupon" in your google search engine. There are usually percent off and/or free shipping coupons available.
4. PBS KIDS: I love that many of their shows are educational. The show of the moment in our home is SUPER WHY!. I like that it uses classic books to teach simple lessons. (I also like that they have a multicultural cast, including a Black princess.)
5. Storybook Escapades: A new thing that I have started doing with my oldest son (inspired by SUPER WHY! and Kids Off the Couch) is doing activities that relate to the books that we read. I think that I enjoy our little "escapades" as much as (if not more than!) he does. Recently, after reading Pinkalicious, we baked strawberry/pink cupcakes together (in the story, the little girl eats so many pink cupcakes that she turns pink). It was so cute…my son kept saying, "I’m going to eat ALL of the cupcakes so that I can turn pink and then I’m going to jump out and say Pink-a-boo!". It was a great bonding time.
6. Christmas in the City: As a teacher, my husband does not work the week of Christmas. We considered going away, but frankly, I hate the hassle of traveling during the holidays. Besides, in my opinion, there’s no place that I’d rather be for Christmas than NYC. So we’re going to "vacation in the city". In other words, we’re going to do several of the "touristy" Christmas things that people travel from all over the world to do. If you’re looking for Christmas activities, I have compiled a list here.
7. Huggable Hangers: I had never heard about these hangers before (even though they are Home Shopping Network’s #1 selling product — I don’t watch HSN on a regular basis). Then, I received a gift package of them. They are great! They are velvet covered (so clothes don’t slip off) and thin (in order to maximize closet space). They are also sturdy (so you don’t have to worry about your clothes ending up on the floor) and cute (the ones that I received were black with chrome hooks). Both my husband and my aunt-in-law liked the hangers so much that I gave some away. Now, I have to get more for myself!
Recommended Events (December)
Posted by Kimberly on 30 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Events
There are several events that my family will be attending this month. The ones that I’m especially excited about are the following:
-Divalysscious Moms "babes in toyland" event at FAO Schwarz on Sunday December 2nd (8am - 10am). We can only stay an hour because we have a 9:30 commitment, but my husband and son (who have never been to FAO Schwarz) are so excited to be going.
-CMOM holiday performances: This year, I really want to introduce my oldest son to a variety of holiday celebrations besides Christmas, so I’m looking forward to the Bananukah event on 12/8 for Hanukkah and the Drum and Dance event on 12/26 for Kwanzaa.
Recommended Books
Posted by Kimberly on 30 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Books
In November, I skimmed several books but nothing really worth recommending on the adult side.
On the kiddie side, three books that both my son and I really enjoyed were the following:
-Pinkalicious (actually my husband enjoyed reading this book to my son a lot too!)
-Llama llama red pajama
and
-Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity
Two More Gift Ideas for Kids
Posted by Kimberly on 30 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Gift Ideas
Last month, when I did the holiday toy guide, I still hadn’t found a digital camera for kids (one of the things on my son’s wish list) that I could highly recommend. Now I have. It’s the VTech Kidizoom Digital Camera for ages three to six. After reading several positive reviews from other parents, we had the opportunity to test it out ourselves.
My son loves taking pictures with this camera and using the game mode (three preschool games) when he’s not taking pictures. It also has some fun editing options so that kids can distort pictures/add frames around pictures/etc.
APPROX. RETAIL: $59.99
I didn’t include clothing in my gift lists since I’m not the biggest fashionista. (I left that to the experts at little biRd.) However, I do want to recommend holiday clothing purchases from a great company that is a celebrity favorite and one of Mom in the City’s giveaway sponsors, City Threads. Recently, a new second-time mom/ Mom in the City member was gifted the super-cute "Big Sister" tee for her older daughter/proud new sister.
Work/life Balance Survey
Posted by Kimberly on 30 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Special Opportunities
In case you’re interested…
Villanova University is doing a study about what mothers want from the workplace. They are specifically interested in what stay-at-home moms will need if/when they decide to eventually pursue work outside of the home (e.g., what will they need as they transition back into the workforce? Onsite childcare? Flexible work hours? Supportive boss?).
If you’re interested in taking their survey, click here.
