Rookie Moms

Karen Solomon, author of The Cheap Bastard’s Guide to San Francisco, used to work with Whitney years ago when the Internet was fresh and before they were both mamas (when I still lived across the Bay in San Francisco and dated all the wrong guys *sigh*).

If you’re coming to BlogHer with children next week, we hope you enjoy Karen’s suggestions!

These days Karen shares with us Seven CHEAP Things To Do With Kids in San Francisco (many of them approved by Baby Emmett):

Sunday: Whip Cracking and Juggling Classes at Circus Center
Crack that whip. Juggle that ball. Ladies, gentlemen, and children of all ages are welcome not just to watch the circus arts at this full-time school offering a myriad of classes, but also to participate and learn a few tricks. And Sunday evenings, real circus knowledge can be yours for the price of a bag of peanuts. At 6:00pm, anyone is welcome to get their whip cracking skills cracking, and at 7:00, an additional four dollars buys three hours of juggling instruction. Drop-ins are welcome. You may not fly through the air with the greatest of ease, but hey, it’s better than being shot out of a cannon…

755 Frederick St., SF
(415) 759-8123
Sundays, 6:00 and 7:00pm
$4 per class ($8 for both)
info@circuscenter.org

Monday: A Yerba Buena Gardens blowout
Spend a day in penny-pinching splendor in SF’s multifaceted Yerba Buena Gardens area. Picnic or relax on the lawn between YB and the Metreon, making sure to check out the Martin Luther King, Jr. waterfall. A brief stint in the Metreon – the City’s own failed mall-of-the-future, will yield free video games in the Sony Playstation store. If you can pry the kids away, there’s an excellent playground on the rooftop of Yerba Buena – with a nearby ice skating rink and bowling alley if you’re up to a splurge. If not, the $3 antique carousel in front of Zeum is an equally entertaining tryst.

Centered around Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Mission between 3rd and 4th, SF
(415) 978.2700
Mostly free

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You city mamas probably already know that it’s Pride Weekend season.  That is Gay Pride for those who are not familiar with this most fabulous event.  The family-friendly folks who march with their kids in San Francisco have invited us (anyone who wants) to join them, and I’m thinking it sounds like a good idea for my little dude. He knows what a parade is, and I’m thinking when I inform him that he can actually BE IN THE PARADE, he might go crazy with excitement.  And more, he can wear a funny hat and ride his tricycle if he wants.  And, more, it’s all about being proud of who you are, and my son is all about that. Proud that he pooped in the potty, proud of his sister for eating watermelon. He shares generous doses of pride with us all the time, so this seems like a good event for him.

I posted some of the details on East Bay SavvySource for my local peeps, but it’s Pride weekend in a few other cities, I think.

(photo of our friends Norrie and Angela courtesy of Mama Isobel)

Misty’s found a way for her baby to enjoy some summertime water fun: Fill baby’s high chair tray with water for warm weather splashing!

I love this activity for hot, housebound babies everywhere (especially those of us jailed by an older napping child).

Baby Madeline’s high chair has a very deep lip, enough to hold about half an inch of water. Misty filled that with tap water, stripped her down, and let her splash around as she wants. It is amusing to see her reaction when she splashes herself, and her obvious enjoyment of the new experience.

[This fun trick discovered on ParentHacks]

Did you know the Cardboard Box was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1998?

My mom sent me a link to fridgeboxworld.com and I got so excited about it that I had to email the director, April Capil, and ask her to write an activity for us. She has founded a company that produces cardboard boxes especially for the purpose of imaginary play, and she explains, “I brought the cardboard box back via the cardboard-box-with-training-wheels, Fridge Box, as a way of being “green” and encouraging creativity and resourcefulness in the generation behind us. The cardboard box, of course, is one of the few toys made from recycled materials, that can also be recycled when you’re done with it!”

More from April:

“So, you’re sold on bringing back the cardboard box. Now what do you do? Well, start with a box, preferable a big one. It doesn’t have to be a Fridge Box; you don’t need to buy some McGroovy’s rivets (but you can!). Just start with a large empty box and ask your children what it looks like to them. Some may say, “Duh, a box,” but chances are, their imagination isn’t totally atrophied; it’s just been waiting for a workout. Ask them if they think that, together, you could turn this box into something else (if necessary, hit up Mr. McGroovy’s site for some fresh ideas). It’s good to start with a structure (a house or building) or a vehicle (like a train, truck, car, plane, spaceship, submarine, etc.), and let things evolve from there.If you have two or three boxes, even better - see if you can connect them somehow, like a series of boxcars on a track, or a mansion with “West” and “East” wings. Start adding to the box(es) using cutouts from magazines, glue sticks, markers, crayons - whatever you have handy. Feel free to cut out windows, doors, escape hatches… in a couple of hours, you can go to the moon and back in a cardboard rocket with your children - the only limit is their imaginations.

In closing, don’t be afraid your child will scoff at this lowly plaything made of brown kraft. The cardboard box is a favorite of children all over the world, and can provide hours of creative play with minimal costs and a minimal impact on the planet. Best of all, it builds skills that toys with more bells and whistles can’t - creativity and resourcefulness. And who doesn’t need more of that?