Kids | This is authentic

kids

127 articles

Here comes the sun

My slightly tattered bottle of Natural Radiance, an all natural sunscreen with rooibus, chamomile, rose hips, shea butter, and a whole mess of other ingredients that help protect and nurture the skin.

Sunscreen season is upon us. And while slathering thick layers of zinc oxide on my daughter’s skin brings back memories of my childhood swimming teacher (who would have made a perfect drill sergeant in a WW2 movie) I have been trying my damndest to find some effective all natural alternatives. Both because I try to have my family ingest as few harsh chemicals as possible and because I want us to get as much vitamin D as possible, and most sunscreens cut our bodies’ natural production down to a miniscule amount.

Enter Loving Care Sun Protection by Natural Radiance. An all natural herbal lotion that is loaded with antioxidants like Rooibus and Green Tea, oils like shea butter, vitamin E and coconut oil for moisture as well as sun protection and over 14 herbs selected for their healing and protecting powers.

If we are spending the entire day outdoors, at the beach or in some flower-ridden meadow somewhere, I’ll still opt for the somewhat waterproof Badger sunscreen, with that hard-to-rub-in-yet-highly-effective zinc oxide. But for the more typical city-style days of running in and out of buildings, trips on the subway, an hour at the playground before we melt and run into an air conditioned store for shelter, etc, this stuff is perfect. And with these ingredients, it’s like you are giving your skin an herbal tea party.

What’s not to love about that on a hot summer day?

Yesterday, at some point…

food - kids - photography

Last weekend we went strawberry picking and this particular example won the prize as the most oddly shaped berry any of us had ever seen. It was delicious, though, as was the rest of the haul. It’s a miracle any made it all the way home with us.

The real prime season for this delectable fruit is quickly coming to an end, so if you can get yourselves out to a farm for some picking, now is the time. If you’re on the east end of Long Island, I strongly recommend Hank’s Farmstand in Southampton, which offers strawberries, raspberries and blackberries as well as pumpkins for the picking. Nice fields and not at all crowded, this place feels like an actual farm rather than the suburban petting zoo style spots I’m sure we’ve all experienced at least once.

Oh and don’t forget the sunscreen!

___________________________________
Yesterday, at some point is a series of photographs that describe a moment I experienced during the previous day. The posts are meant to be stand alone images, though at times I can’t control myself, and I end up expanding the caption into a more lengthy bit of text. Hopefully the extra information is useful, or at least interesting. If not, feel free to ignore it.

Showing off the city

kids - links - places

The Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory is a favorite spot on a summer day. This photo comes courtesy of thingstoseenyc.com. I know I’ve taken many photos of this place, but I can’t put my hands on them…

So my sister-in-law is coming to visit from the west coast with her two kids and husband in tow… they have all sorts of other family obligations (her husband’s family is nearby in Jersey) so we only have a limited time to hang out with them and show them our world. The girls have, essentially, never been to New York, so this will be their first real window into what their younger cousin’s life is like here.

In a perfect world, here are links to some of the things I would love to do with them. Hopefully these will come in handy as things you guys could do when you want to show off this big bad city of ours (or when you come to visit!)

The Kara Walker installation at the old Domino Sugar Factory in Williamsburg is only up for a few more weeks. Then it gets destroyed and the factory becomes another luxury condo. The show is a once in a lifetime experience. If you’re in Brooklyn before July 6, don’t miss it.

Take the East River Ferry to Dumbo and ride Jane’s Carousel (and play in the playground there, call ahead to pick up pizza at Grimaldi’s, grab some cones at The Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, and then stroll back to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge. Fun!)

If you’re organized, go see a Broadway show. I vote for Matilda or The Lion King. If you’re adventurous, head to TKTS in Times Square or it’s two other locations to see what kind of same day discount tickets are available… a great way to enjoy a show at a fraction of the regular (astronomical, if you ask me) cost.

Take the ferry to Governor’s Island. I have never done this and am dying to. Pack a delicious lunch, explore the 30 acres of park and old buildings… what’s not to love?

If you’re looking for the ultimate kids toy store, look no further than FAO Schwartz. This has been the BEST. TOY. STORE. EVER. since before I was a kid.

Of course a trip to the Natural History Museum with a Planetarium show thrown in is a sure fire hit. Try to avoid school holidays, as this is probably the number one destination for most kids on their days off. Right now there’s an exhibit called “The Power of Poison” which looks like a real crowd pleaser…

And what would a trip to NYC be without a little shopping… I think I’ll send these folks to Uniqlo. It’s got great stuff at super reasonable prices, and they don’t have anything like it back home. Uniqlo’s flagship store is the biggest retail location on 5th Avenue, for what that’s worth. My in-laws are also really into outdoor sports stuff (something I know very little about, but whatever) so maybe a trip to Paragon would be a nice thing to do. Oh and Dave is really into playing guitar, so I’m going to take him to Main Drag in Williamsburg and hopefully shop vicariously through him while he’s there.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg, naturally. But hopefully once they get a taste of the big apple they will be back wanting more before too long…

Yesterday, at some point…

kids - photography

Sometimes pictures need no captions.

Why I kind of wish I were a french mom in the late sixties

food - kids

Children’s cookbook author Christine Ripault, back in the day, just casually stirring up a few things for the kids.

It’s quite obvious, isn’t it? Because I would get to dress like above pictured french author Christine Ripault, and feed my kids things like malted milk and carrot juice for breakfast and Wheatena soup with swiss cheese for dinner. Or supper, as it’s referred to in her book.

I can’t remember now exactly why I bought a copy of Ripault’s out-of-print-yet-still-available classic book Children’s Gastronomique, but I did, and I have loved it continually ever since. As the book hails from the pre-everything-is-processed days of the 1960′s, the food is wholesome, but not at all precious. Boiling and chopping up some lettuce leaves and adding this to cream of wheat is something I would never have thought up on my own, nor would I have found it in any of my Alice Waters-esque slow food style cookbooks, which I love, by the way. But boy did my daughter love this dish back in the day when she was just starting to eat solid food.

And there are some simple but also delicious recipes from major Parisian kitchens… The chef at Maxim’s, for example, recommends this Brill Fillet Au Court-Bouillon in which you prepare a court-bouillon (basically a vegetable broth with vinegar and some herbs), then use it to poach a fish fillet in a covered pan till it’s done, toss a bit of salt and pepper on and finally serve it up with butter and lemon juice.

Delicious!

Sure, we’ve learned a thing or two about nutrition since then, and for one thing might now trade in some of the white bread for whole grain, but the essence is still there. Plus it’s just so great to absorb how nonchalant the french are when it comes to just about anything. Very refreshing, especially if you are, like I was, an over researched, slightly anxious, secretly insecure new mother.

But at the end of the day, as long as I just show up to cook dinner in outfits like my girl Christine’s, I’ll win any kind of parenting contest hands down!

Children's Gastronomique, by Christine Ripault

Here’s my copy of the renowned book, a bit beat up but all the better for the wear, if you ask me. Published way back in 1968. Still available on Alibris and eBay.

Strawberry season!

food - kids

Freshly cut and ready to pop into my mouth… oh no wait… into our muffins.

Strawberry season is rocking into full swing around these parts, and the Farmers Markets are bursting with color as boxes upon boxes of fresh sumptuous berries await purchase. So naturally, for this week’s year end Family Pot Luck breakfast at my daughter’s school, we decided to make strawberry muffins. One year I will be smart and bring a bottle of juice or something. But that was not my fate this go around, and I must say, the effort was worth it.

The muffins are actually quite simple to make– chopping the strawberries is the most difficult part. Unless you count having a 6 year old sous chef, which tends to turn everything into a somewhat more laborious endeavor than the solo version would have been. Sure it took us twice as long… but we had twice as much fun.

The muffins! Or at least, some of them…

And look at the result!! Worth every minute (and grain of spilled sugar, of which there were many.) Click below for the full recipe, and happy baking! — Read more

Bye bye mini me

kids

I just bought these fancy summer espadrilles from Old Navy for my daughter. I am now just hoping that they last the entire summer…

I have officially given up being strict about what my daughter wears. Actually I did that about 3 years ago, when she started having strong opinions on the subject. Truly a girls girl, she never wears pants, and would have sparkles all over every last accessory if they were made available to her.

When she was a toddler, I would have rather keeled over than given in to the obsession with shine, but I now realize that the only way to beat ‘em is to (sort of) join ‘em. So if the shoes must glitter, at least they can do so in a way that is somewhat palatable to the adult (me, pretty much always) who will be constantly by the side of the kid in question.

Which is why I jumped at these silver espadrilles when I saw them yesterday at Old Navy (on sale now for $16… run don’t walk) Sure, Old Navy isn’t known for it’s high quality, but little feet grow faster than most shoes wear out anyway, so who cares? And at these kinds of prices (sorry J Crew) who really cares?

Let us just say that I walked to school beside a little girl whose sparkly feet were floating on air this morning. And if that isn’t a parenting high point, I don’t know what is.

Plus her favorite color is brown, Wonder Woman is her preferred princess, and she loves Tretorns, so all is not lost…

An enchanted winter to remember

kids

The Winter Of Enchantment, by Victoria Walker is a tale of multiple worlds, two kids, an evil Enchanter and a cat, among other things…

I have no idea where this book came from.

Seriously. I know I didn’t buy it, and my husband never buys children’s books, so he’s out. Don’t remember getting this as a gift, and it’s too clean to have been discovered at the dump. And yet, a couple of weeks ago, The Winter Of Enchantment just surfaced, in our house, in a pile of books. Naturally, we picked it up and began to read.

We were not disappointed. Back in 1968, when she was evidently just 21 years old, Victoria Walker crafted a masterful tale of a boy (set in the perfect Victorian (aka olden-days) London with horse drawn carriages, absentee fathers and all) who finds his way into an alternate world and devotes the rest of the story to rescuing the enchanting girl he meets on the other side of the mirror.

There is adventure, and near tragedy. The seasons make an appearance in the form of gods, tables produce lavish meals as long as you ask politely, there are huge houses made entirely of glass… all in all the perfect thing to read with a kid who is into an alternate universe filled with fantasy and excitement.

Which is just about every kid, if you think about it.

Monday, Monday– or more links about summer vacation and drinking

kids - links

Maybe the perfect thing to help us get through the full on (in every sense of the word) days of summer is a nice drink. Or 4. Photo from Momfilter and most likely by Yolanda Edwards.

Bunmi Laditan is a woman after my own heart. Is it so wrong to just not want to take your kids to Disney World?

Scary Mommy might not have the greatest tips on how to survive air travel with kids (I just can’t get behind dressing everybody in elastic waisted pants, no matter how practical it may sound) but they sure are funny…

Travels with Clara, on the other hand, is one of my all time favorite blogs when it comes to traveling with kids. Yolanda doesn’t post all that often (what with her busy job up at Conde Nast Traveler plus overseeing Momfilter and all) but her advice is always solid and often unusual, the photos are lovely, and most of the places she talks about are off the beaten track (no Disney World here!)

When I read this Apartment Therapy post on making a summer to-do list, I felt both horribly inadequate (What? Was I supposed to do that too? Along with everything else?) and angry (Isn’t it enough just to make it out of the school year alive? Why put extra pressure on ourselves during vacation?) But then I started thinking that it might be a good idea. As long as the list doesn’t include a trip to Disney World, that is…

Whenever I start feeling inadequate about this transition into summertime, I just turn to this post by Jen Hatmaker on being the worst end-of-school-year-mom ever and laugh till I cry. It might seriously be the funniest thing I have ever read in my life.

Perhaps, at the end of the day, especially in the summertime, what is really needed is a good drink. Not anything too strong, mind you, just something to take the edge off. Leave it to Momfilter to supply just the thing in the form of an Aperol Spritz.

Look! Up in the sky!

kids

Look Up! A kids book about bird watching by Annette Leblanc Cate.

Once a week my daughter’s class gets to check a book out of the library at school. You never know what’s gong to come home… for awhile it was books from the Magic Treehouse series, a couple of weeks ago a thesaurus, and twice she’s brought home these semi horrible modern takes on Greek mythology called Goddess Girls (think Sydney Sheldon novels for the young readers world.)

But anything that keeps the kids interested in reading is worth having around for a week, right?

And then sometimes a book crosses the threshold that we don’t ever want to give up. Look Up! is one of those books. In fact, I like it so much that I am going to order our ow copy just as soon as I finish this post.

Meticulously written and illustrated with humor and love by Annette LeBlanc Cate, the book is the perfect introduction to the world of bird watching for kids. There is tons of information, without seeming at all overwhelming, and the cheeky narrator opens doors to this singular universe that even the most novice of naturalists will want to step through. Plus the cartoon birds, lovingly drawn in a totally approachable style, have all sorts of amusing things to say about their world.

In this chart, the birds tell us all about their various colors, while also throwing in some funny facts about temperament (the Merlin just says “Grrrrr” while looking at the smaller birds he can’t eat because he’s in a chart)

This page begins to describe all of the different styles of feet, tails and plumage one might find when looking at our avian neighbors.

Our walks to school now take twice as long, because we are both busy stopping and trying to figure out just what kind of sparrow we’re looking at, or whether or not that was a crow flying overhead.

But it’s time well spent. So much more fun to look at birds than text messages, if you know what I’m saying…

This is authentic - "

127 articles