From the category archives:

Portland

Activity #177: Join a museum

November 21, 2011

Like they used to say on TV, membership has it’s privileges. Both of the Bay Area children’s museums that I have been to are part of a consortium of Children’s Museums that have reciprocal memberships. This means that if you get a one-year membership at Habitot in Berkeley, for example, you can go to the [...]

Build muscles at bootcamp

June 6, 2011

If you are like I was, by the time my baby was 10 weeks old, I had not exercised for about 6 months. Baby Bootcamp was my re-introduction to sweating and I loved it. I am not a gym-goer in my normal life, and Baby Bootcamp was perfect for me. Here’s why: Exercising in the [...]

Go to the theater where crying is allowed

February 28, 2011

Baby-friendly theaters? Yes, please. We sure love our DVRs and Hulu, but refuse to give up on going to the theater. Did you know some theaters also have special showings for new parents? These showings have different names in different cities, but the idea that yours will not (most likely) be the loudest baby in [...]

Activity #40: Park yourself somewhere for PARK(ing) day

September 17, 2010

Today is national PARK(ing) Day, an art-slash-activism event that encourages folks to occupy a public parking space with a DIY park. There are 700 temporary parks across the globe this year. This one was produced by the people who work at method in downtown San Francisco. The idea is that you simply feed the meter [...]

How to: Spend a child-free weekend in Portland

May 26, 2010

I know everyone does not live within a two-hour flight of Portland, Oregon. And some of you even live right there, so a weekend in Portland probably holds less interest for you. But if you are in possession of the same magical combination that I have – a set of willing grandparents, two children who [...]

Activity #363: Do Music Together

May 20, 2010

Yes, I’m endorsing a product/service here. No, I am not being paid to do so. It’s called Music Together and two past experieinces made me decide to recommend this activity. Several of my friends had done Music Together for three consecutive “semesters” and then decided to skip a semester. During that period we met at [...]

Activity #538: Take your toddler for a latte

January 13, 2010

My middle school ex-boyfriend, Neil, is now a rookie dad to a toddler (ain’t facebook great?). He likes to take his son, Graham, out in the Burley trailer for coffee dates. Neil drinks the coffee while Graham sips his leche. Neil reports: Even in the fun Portland winter weather, I like to take Graham out [...]

6 cute umbrellas for preschoolers

November 7, 2009

An umbrella is a terrific gift for a preschooler. My toddler loves to hold her own kid-sized umbrella, and it gives us something to do on a rainy day – go outside and stand there with an umbrella over our heads. I saw this rainbow umbrella for kids in a Museum catalog and thought it [...]

Activity #407: Spend a week in Portland

January 19, 2008

My friend Amanda lives with her husband and son and daughter in Portland, so she’s done this maternity leave thing twice. Once with Jed, and now that he’s in preschool, with baby Willa. She’s done us the favor of laying out a plan for the week that offers a rainy day option for each day, [...]

Activity #417: Knit with your baby

June 22, 2007

There is a lovely knitting shop in Oakland that invites us to come and knit with other moms, babies and moms-to-be. If you are a local to this area, check out Article Pract on Thursdays at 10.30. Sarah in Portland wrote, “Mabel’s has long offered a knitting with babies hour on Mondays (1 to 3 [...]