NYC Moms

Kids and Knives

Numerous parenting books recommend that the way to get children to expand their palate is to get them involved in cooking. The paradox is that the kids may be healthier, but they are also around dangerous sharp knives.

I have a bit of paranoia around sharp things. When I was a kid, my mother cut her finger very badly on our first Cuisinart food processor and I had to apply a tourniquet and call an ambulance when she slumped to the floor.  There was a lot of blood.

In college, I was slicing a bagel, into my hand (I know, a big no-no) and the bread knife slipped. The next day, when it was still gushing blood, I went to health services, where the doctor casually mentioned that next time I see bone, I might want to hightail it to the emergency room.  I still have a giant scar from the serrated edge on my middle finger.

So I tend to shudder when my kids pick up a knife, but I know that at some point, they will need to be able to cut with something sharper than safety scissors. I was particularly intrigued by the new Gourmet Spreader, a five inch knife with a serrated edge.

Chicken fingers or bust

  I can understand the appeal of a children’s menu. Parents get to eat what they want, and kids get a low priced choice of things they want – mac & cheese, plain pasta, chicken fingers.  Everyone is happy.
Except not.  A new restaurant in my neighborhood dared to open without a separate children’s menu, parents complained, and a children’s menu was added. But maybe it’s not such a good thing.

In fact, Nicola Marzovilla, owner of I Trulli, calls children’s menus ‘the death of civilization.’  Perhaps an exaggeration, but consider: if you take your kids to Europe, or Asia, they are unlikely to encounter a chidlren’s menu. Yet kids there grown, and thrive, and eat happily in restaurants.

Many restaurants will gladly make a half order of pasta, or put the sauce on the side, and while the lower prices of a children’s menu are certainly appealing, you can actually take home leftover food from a regular priced entrée and get a second meal out of it. Sides and appetizers usually also work to feed a kid – at a Mexican restaurant, a side of rice and beans was my kids’ default choice.

Staying Active

My father had a fatal heart attack when I was 15, and my siblings and I have always tried to be fit and active, to counteract our family history. His four brothers and both parents all died young of heart attacks, too.

So it is a huge deal to my family that the American Heart Association has a new alliance with Nintendo, and pus its logo on Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports Resorts games.

Sedentary Americans (sadly, most of us) may be surprised how challenging these games can be.  Wii Fit, of course, makes no bones about the fitness component, but my kids really like the competitive aspect, running an obstacle course, or tracking the amount of time, and calories burned.

In the Sports Resort, you can bowl, bicycle, canoe, wake board – all of which combine aerobics with core strength.

Family music

When my children were younger, we were often subjected to the same music, over and over. Hallie had an unhealthy relationship with Barney and Sela had an unfortunate attachment to a Madeleine audiotape (with horrendous intro music). But my older girls are of a generation that actually HAD cassette tapes, and part of the beauty of them was that they eventually wore out.  Just when we couldn’t take it anymore, the tape would break and we won a reprieve.

Nora was in love with a tape from her Music Together class. Shortly after she started the class, teachers started handing out CDs, but we had the tape. She cried for it every time we were in the car, and the other girls were so repulsed by it that we ‘accidentally’ ripped the tape.

With CDs, you are stuck. If your child wants to listen to the soundtrack from Hannah Montana over and over, an indestructible CD means you are stuck.

Multi-tasking and Exercise

As a mother of three, I am a big fan of multitasking. If I want to watch television, I have to make the bed, fold laundry, answer email. If brownies are needed for the bake sale, I throw in another pan with potatoes, onions and carrots and we have roasted vegetables for another night.

So I was excited by Shatobu “the workout that you wear.” The idea behind this shapewear is that resistance bands tone muscles while you go about your day –you SHApe, TOne and BUrn. If your day consists of sitting on the couch and eating Godiva, you’re not going to look like Iman, but if you move around a moderate amount, in theory you burn 12% more calories.

Raising kids in NYC

There are many reasons for raising my children in New York City: our great community, wonderful parks, amazing resources, from museums to theater to music.

Another consideration for me and my husband – NYC has the United State’s highest population of Jews. It feels great when Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Passover are shared with the city at large; NYC public schools are always closed on these days and even if you are not Jewish, you know at least a tiny bit about the holiday.

New York has 4 Jewish museums, each with a strong component for children. The Jewish Museum,has an interactive gallery, and exhibits like the current “Curious George Saves the Day” appeal to museum-goers of any denomination. The Jewish Children’s Museum is designed for all faiths, and is in Crown Heights, with a large Hasidic and Caribbean population. The Yeshiva University Museum and the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust focus on history that is not just relevant to Jews.

Earth Day over and over

I am not a huge Martha Stewart show fan, but my husband sent away for 4 tickets and we went to the taping on Earth Day.  Martha devoted the show to Earth Day, talking to an African safari guide, Ric Burns (who has a new film, Into the Deep, on whaling) and Chris Jones, the editor of National Geographic. We got a really nice swag bag with DVDs and books that were discussed.  Oddly, though we also got a huge plastic bag; inside, was a tiny tube of lip balm.  On this, of all days, the over-packaging seemed ridiculous. That’s what worries me about Earth Day.  Everyone makes an eco-pledge, NBC turns its logo green – even the “I Love NY” campaign has a green heart now, to emphasize New York State’s green assets.  And then everyone goes back to his wasteful ways.

NYC Teens and Dating

My 12 year old just broke up with her boyfriend.  Their ‘relationship’ lasted all three weeks, and seemed to consist mainly of hours spent IM-ing, texting, and, occasionally, actually talking on the phone.  I’m not sure how much time they spent with each other, in the flesh. Not that I want to even consider flesh in the context of my 12 year old.

Dating has radically changed since today’s parents were kids, and one of the major culprits seems to be cell phones. When I was young, a boy called me on the sole family phone.  My parents were likely to answer the phone, or at least know that the boy called.  But since NYC teens travel alone, they usually have cell phones, and that is how the teens communicate with one another.

On the NY Parents with teens listserve, a recent thread concerned a boy asking a girl out by text message.  While this seems oddly impersonal to the older generation, kids who have seen Sex in the City  (no, not my 12 year old) will never forget Berger breaking up with Carrie by Post-it.

Not your mother’s Tupperware party

Back in the day, when many moms didn’t work, one enterprising mom in every neighborhood had a side business selling Tupperware to her friends.  Before the Internet, this was the only way to buy plastic storage containers that burped.

After women’s lib, the emergence of women in the work force and global recession, many women are trying new/old ways of making money.  In my neighborhood, that seems to be by throwing parties where you sit through a sales presentation.  In the past few months, I’ve been to Pampered Chef (for kitchen products), Silpada and Lia Sophia (both jewelry) parties.

Spring cleaning - with or without kids

Until my oldest daughter went to college, she had never used a vacuum cleaner.  She and her roommate splurged on a Dustbuster, though I doubt it gets much use.  When my kids were younger, they used to love to ‘help’ clean, with mini-mops and brooms but I don’t think they ever actually cleaned anything.

Until recently. I went on a Spring cleaning binge while they were on Spring break and instead of cleaning while they were out with their friends, I hauled out the mop and pail right in front of them.  They didn’t seem to notice.

Nora’s interest was piqued, though, when I climbed onto the kitchen island and started dusting the light fixture. She thought it looked like fun to stand three feet off the ground, and it is, as long as you ignore the dust particles shooting up your nose.