As you probably know, Parents Who Rock threw a kids' concert last weekend at Montclair High School to raise money for the nationwide, locally based Little Kids Rock organization. Even though there were three concerts on that day, PWR's concert was packed. PWR diva Alma Schneider says, "Turnout was huge--around 300 people. Kids were running and dancing around the entire auditorium. We had a healthy kid's cafe, and Mama Doni was like the Pied Piper with a long line of kids following her around yelling, 'Oy vey!'
She reports they raised $5,000.
To help them reach their donation goals, PWR is throwing another adults-only concert tonight at Diva Lounge. This one is called Grandparents Who Rock.
I'm not embarrassed. I am a huge Dan Zanes fan. I don't need to pretend that I have Alison Krauss on my iPod. Dan Zanes does it for me. Oh, and my kids dig him, too. We're groupies who have seen him 8 times. It will be 9 this Sunday at the Wellmont for his Montclair Pre-K benefit show.
Call me a soggy graham cracker. But Dan Zanes' music is real music. He covers American folk, rock, gospel and gets all multi-cultural. His music makes me--and my kids--happy.
And unlike Alison Krauss or Coldplay, Dan Zanes talked to me on the phone for MontclairKids.
I shivered last night when I took my dog out. I looked over my shoulder, and I surveyed the sidewalks of Bloomfield Avenue where I live. I had a feeling a monster--maybe that scary lady at Mountain Auto Body--was right behind me with a car jack in her hand.
I had the creeps.
I used to get the creeps when I lived on 27th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. The neighborhood was great, but my building was right across from a park where hookers and druggies camped out at night. I got used to them--but if a new druggie hooker showed up, I'd get the creeps.
This is why I moved to Montclair. I wanted to feel just a little safer while walking my dog. Oh, yeah, and I wanted a safer community for my kids.
After four serious crimes around town just in February, I don't feel that safe.
Hey, these are lean economic times. So we headed right over to Free Pancake Day at IHOP on Broad Street in Bloomfield to get fat for free. Or almost free--we had to buy drinks to get the goods. Because we needed chocolate milk to go with our buttermilk short stacks.
It was a tough dinner in the trenches, but we survived. The only problem was, after such a butter-laden, carb-filled, sugary feast, our butts were the size of Belgium waffles. If you want a Belgium waffle butt, too, you can still make it to IHOP by 10 p.m. tonight. Or just be sure to get there early this time next year.
Here is my advice if you go:
Be prepared to wait at least 20 minutes.
Bring toys or iPhones or patience--service is understandably slow.
The place is filled with college kids and big families with babies.
Watch out for the blond homeless woman in the ladies' restroom who reeks
Keep reading to see photos from our pancake adventure.
Today is Fat Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras. Traditionally, the Tuesday before Lent was also called Pancake Tuesday, because all the fats, eggs and dairy needed to be eaten before the forty days of fasting.
But here's what you really need to know: IHOP has named today, National Pancake Day and they are giving away a free short-stack of buttermilk pancakes to everyone. All they ask in return is for you to make a donation to the Children's Miracle Network.
National Pancake Day will run from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. tonight.
I thought the only thing interesting in Short Hills was the Spa. Or maybe that little mall out there.
But now there's another reason to schlep to the softer side of Essex County: Arthur 'Fonzie' Fonzarelli will be speaking on March 25. You know, Henry Winkler.
I don't understand what he's going to say, but the event is free, Henry Winkler always smiles a lot, and everyone in middle school and up is invited.
I'll be home rooting for Slumdog Millionaire. The Clairidge sold out yesterday when I saw it for the early bird matinee. I just hope M.I.A. performs Paper Planes, so I can swagga like her.
I will swagga at home. Alone. My kids will be sleeping. This actually sounds fun to me--watching the Oscars at home in the quiet of my Bloomfield Avenue house. I guess that means I'm mature (i.e. boring) and a parent (i.e. my social life is over).
But I'd still like to know: Are there any local parties? Or do you prefer to stay home--and awake way past your bedtime--too?
Green is a religion in these here parts. So I am not sure I should admit that I have put the milk carton in the garbage can once or twice in my life. A few of my friends might condemn me to fiery pits in hell.
But I can redeem myself with the Green Expo this weekend, and I can take those previously not recyclable yogurt cups to the local Whole Foods.
Montclair's first Green Expo begins Sunday, February 22, 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Learn about recycling, environmentally-friendly cleaning products, and how to make your home more energy efficient. Check out product demonstrations, presentations and info about Fair Trade.Montclair's First Green Expo is free, as we learned on Baristanet.
Green Expo Bnai Keshet Synagogue 99 South Fullerton Ave. Montclair, NJ 07042
To me, there's nothing better than taking my kids to an event where I can also drink hard liquor. So tonight, we're heading to Kid Kat Kabaret at Piano's Bar & Grill in Bloomfield.
It's a win-win. We support local kids who come to perform, my little ones shut up to watch, and I get to drink gin and tonic.
Many of you may know about The MtcWatercooler, a Yahoo group that's full of information but moderated by a small clan of over-protective, self-righteous locals. MontclairUnModerated, another Yahoo Group, eases up on the rules for posting (because there aren't any), but it's not as active. Both listservs are worthwhile to join, though, to get recommendations for everything from plumbers to unlodge Thomas the Train from your toilet to a specialist who can teach you to talk to your plants. You can also use these online groups to find a highly recommended sitter who won't feed your kids the Philodendron.
Speaking of over-protective, I read a post on MontclairUnModerated that listed a free e-book that is right up our community's anal alley. It's all about how today's parents over-protect and micromanage our children much like the MtcWatercooler micromanages us.
There's a lot going on this week. We wrote about Sunday's concert craze here and our Upcoming Events calendar is filled with other local happenings. Here are a few of this week's highlights:
Go to the Montclair Public Library today and make an African Mask. Afterward, your masterpiece will be displayed in the library for the rest of the month.
Montclair Art Museum's Free Family Day will focus on African influence on the American arts. Check out a Hip Hop demonstration, take a Stepping workshop and learn the martial art of Capoeira.
Over at Van Vleck House & Gardens, you can learn how to tap a Sugar Maple tree and make maple syrup. Get a taste of Montclair's maple syrup too, but you'll have to bring your own pancakes.
Starseed Yoga is starting an eight week mothering group for new moms and their babies every Monday afternoon. Each week, discuss important topics related to motherhood, like "Will I ever get more sleep?".
When I was a kid going to concerts was something you did as a teenager. My first concert was Def Leppard, I was thirteen, and I lost my voice screaming Pour Some Sugar on Me.
These days our spoiled kids are still in diapers when they get their first concert experience. I'm as guilty as the next parent: My oldest daughter was 15 months when she went to her first show. That's her on the left at her latest concert, They Might Be Giants last month at Le Poisson Rouge in the Village.
Three very cool kids concerts are coming to Montclair this Sunday. They're all so good that I don't even know which one we should see.
While we were on a Sunday afternoon drive (looking for open houses with free cookies--we didn't find either), we stumbled across this sign at Edgemont Pond.
We found the following safety announcement that just might save your life.
This past Thursday, we braved winds that knocked down trees all over town. Basically, we risked our lives for the love of chocolate.
In honor of Valentine's Day, Whole Foods in Montclair and West Orange invited the community to their Chocolate Festivals. My three kids and I headed to West Orange to test it out. You know, to see if Chocolate Fest was any good.
So, if you still need a last-minute Valentine's present, run to Whole Foods for the following four items that pleased our sophisticated pallets. Those pallets being mine, my twin 3-year-olds, a 1-year-old (the car hijacker from Verona Park) and a German.*
*Or for Godiva's sake, do Shop Local. We love The Chocolate Path, it just so happens that they didn't invite us over for free food last week.
Now that we have kids, a night of romance is watching 24 together while drinking Alka-Seltzer (Mexicali Rose takeout just doesn't settle as well as it used to). Stinky diapers, sleep deprivation and PBS Sprout don't do much for the libido either.
But this year, as you well know, Valentine's Day is on Saturday.
And the local area doesn't disappoint. Here are plenty of romantic, adult things for you and your sweetie to do. (And if you still watch 24 and drink Alka-Seltzer together after a night on the town, that's certainly your prerogative.)
But I'm not so good at writing something sweet like, say, a love letter, Valentine's note or a Honey Do List.
I am always intrigued by real romantic writing, especially on Valentine's Day. So I might grab my Honey Do and go to Luna Stage this Saturday to listen to the prize-winning play, A. R. Gurney's Love Letters. It's a two-character drama--famously performed by greats such as Elizabeth Taylor and James Earl Jones--written in the form of letters.
It's about this disastrous thing called romance.
Luna Stage Artistic Director Jane Mandel and her husband, actor Frankie R. Faison, will perform. Here's what Jane told me about love recently.
You probably already realize this, but Montclair public schools and most privates school are on Winter Break next week.
I love my three rugrats pumpkins, but I can't spend every day with them Feb. 16 through 20.
I have a job--and I don't mean this one at MontclairKids. I have a job that, like, pays.
I am lucky that I just ran into Sarah Cruz, owner of Village Play Room in Montclair. She's running a camp for kids next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and she'll take my twin 3-year-olds. She's available for kids up through elementary school.
Verona Park was hopping Wednesday in the balmy 60-degree weather. We at MontclairKids wouldn't miss the local news involving our kids, so we went to the park to check things out. Luckily, we call this work.
It was nice to see a crowd outside enjoying Spring in February.
We didn't mind standing in line for a swing. We didn't even mind when a local mommy (yes, mommy) wouldn't share her Little Tykes car with a handle. Her wee daughter didn't give a poo about the toy, so my 17-month-old sat down in the red plastic seat. This mom told my baby to get out of the car, and when he did, she wiped the thing down with a baby wipe and some antibacterial lotion. She was so dramatic about it that I'm thinking she should try out for a play at Luna Stage. (See my baby high-jacking the car at left.)
We've been hard at work on our spiffy little calendar of family-oriented local happenings. We call it Upcoming Events. Check back often when you're looking for things to do. And keep reading below for this week's family highlights:
Head over to the library after school today to celebrate the 200th anniversary of President Lincoln's birth. They'll be lots of fun activities, music and one lucky kid has a chance to win 200 pennies
The Family Y Will Be Your Valentine's Night Sitter Feb. 14 Are you the romantic type who likes to go out on Valentine's Day--or maybe you just wanna stay home? It's on a Saturday this year, and if you are scrambling for a babysitter, the Montclair YMCA will watch your kids till 10:00 p.m.
Brace Yourself: School's Out Next Week
Feb. 16-18 Montclair schools will be closed from Monday, February 16 to 18 for President's Day and teacher workshops. If you need childcare or just want to find something for your kids to do instead of sitting home in front of SpongeBob, the Family Center Y and the Soccer Domain come to the rescue with their day camps. Also, stay tuned to MontclairKids for a story on another local option called The Village Playgroup.
This day is so damn nice that I haven't written up a good MontclairKids post yet. Stay tuned, though. I have some good ones. I just have to go to Verona Park first.
Thank goodness for global warming. Are you slacking off due to this weird sunny day? Or hopefully, you're just soaking up the 60s.
I'm not a loser because I haven't yet taken down my Christmas Tree. I'm a loser for many other reasons.
The town of Montclair made me feel better about myself last Friday and this Monday when they finished taking down our town tree. The Department of Shade Trees--yes, we have a Department of Shade Trees--was hard at work. I watched them last year when they were hard at work putting it up.
And I was there when Mayor Jerry Fried officiated the tree lighting. Later that night, I actually drank a few glasses of wine with the mayor and bum-rushed his neighbor's chicken coup. But that's another story.
It looked complicated to take down the town tree (see photo). Much
more complicated than it would be to take down my own. Mine is not
real, BTW. So it's not exactly a fire hazard. In fact, it's bare
because I have a 1-year-old, two 3-year-olds and a puppy. It's a minimalist tree, and I kind of enjoy looking at it. Especially in
February.
Waking early with young children has few benefits, but today I found one of them. This morning, the sunrise was so beautiful I felt like singing The Sound of Music or maybe Damn It Feels Good to be a Gangsta.
Here's how the sun looked from my back porch, at left. The front of my house looks onto Bloomfield Avenue (yuck), but in the back, I can watch the sun rise over New York City. (Which you can't exactly see because I am not the world's best photographer.)
Hope you have a nice morning, afternoon and evening. We will because we don't have to wear snow boots. Can you believe temperatures are supposed to get close to 50 today?
Keep your kids busy and do something sweet at the same time. Senior Care & Activities Center on Walnut and Greenwood streets requested kid-made placemats for their Valentine's Day party this Thursday.
The seniors love getting homemade gifts from children. Really.This means someone else will ooh and ahh over your kid's scribbles, too.
I'm very lucky that I didn't do any damage to anyone--or myself--last night when I wrecked my Volkswagen Beetle into a curb on Bloomfield Avenue in Verona.
I
was turning into a driveway, and I missed. The curb wouldn't have done
much damage on it's own, but an old parking meter pole was sticking up
out of the ground. I smacked into it and broke the front axle of the
car. I did serious damage to this little Beetle convertible (at left, girls just sitting in it last summer). Some autobody shop in town is going to get a nice paycheck.
But I
feel bad today. Just bad. First of all, I was careless. I was running
late to a meeting, and I totally blame myself for not paying enough
attention. Second, it's going to be a very expensive mistake, and
wasting money right now stresses me out. Third, I'm worried that I'm
truly a crappy driver or that something's going on with my eyesight.
This is the second time I've whacked into something I didn't see in 4
months.
Last night, Thursday, I went to the evening tour of Rand while everyone else was watching The Office. My advice is to go to the morning tours if you can. You get a much better view of the school and how it works when the kids are actually there.
So I think Rand had a lot of positive things going for it. But did I get as emotionally attached to it as I did to Northeast? No. Does it mean that if my kid has to go to Rand, I'll be one of the crazed parents at the Board of Ed fighting for the switch? No.
Rand isn't my first choice, though, and I'm all caught up in the process. It's kind of like getting caught up in the first season of Lost--Montclair's school choice process is just as wacky, but not nearly as fun.
As I wrote on my Healthy Living page for CafeMom (my day job that pays for MontclairKids), I was psyched to be invited to the Salma Hayek One Pack = One
Vaccine press conference yesterday. Maybe you caught her segment on the Today Show. Anyway, she met with us mommy bloggers and
press folks to talk about her recent heartbreaking and
inspiring trip to Sierra Leone.
I got to sit in the front row, and I swear Salma Hayek looked at me and smiled. Or maybe she had a rock in her eye.
Salma was in Sierra Leone
last fall with the good people from UNICEF and Pampers Diapers.
Together, they're trying to bring tetanus vaccines to this and other
developing countries. Maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT)--often
contracted from sharp instruments during home births--kills up to 21
percent of all infants in Sierra Leone.
Our keyboards are smoking over here at MontclairKids, and we've finally outsmarted our weekly calendar feature. Well, almost.
From now until infinity--or at least until we get real jobs--we will list family, kid and generally appropriate local things to do in the Upcoming Events calendar to the right. (Note to spammers: We're not interested in horny divorcees with breasts almost as big at record-breaker Sheyla Hershey's.)
So if you ever find yourself alone with kids, scratching your head about what to do with them, click on the date to the right to see everything that's going on.
We're still working out a few bugs, so here are this week's highlights, starting with the Children's Language Workshop tonight, and check out Chocolate Chip Chamber Music this Saturday.
I walked by one of my favorite little shops today in the snow, and it was completely empty. I froze and cursed this crap economy. Luckily, though, my store hasn't closed. I called Milk Money (at left) to get the deal on my favorite little consignment shop.
Snow, more snow in New Jersey today. I'm watching Dr. Phil, and the National Weather Service keeps interrupting to tell me there's, like, a Winter Weather Advisory tonight until midnight.
I look out my window, and it's coming down and blowing around. Bloomfield Avenue looks clear as of 3:43 p.m. (see left). Wunderground says to brace ourselves for 2 to 4 inches. I'm braced for anything and everything except for my kids to be out of school tomorrow.
Are you digging more snow? We are digging, but not that kind of digging.
Wow. Who'd a thought we'd get a shaker around these parts? Yet another reason not to live in Morristown.
Here's the latest from the New York Times:
A small earthquake hit central New Jersey late Monday night, according to seismologists. No one was reported to have been injured.
Residents likened the
earthquake, which struck just after 10:30 p.m., to everything from "a
bomb" to an underground explosion to "a thump."
The epicenter
of the quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 3.0, was reported at
Victory Gardens, although it could be felt in Rockaway, Dover and
Morris Plains, according to Won-Young Kim, a seismologist for the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, in Palisades, N.Y.
Kids at Montclair Heights Reformed Church raised $850 to support the national Souper Bowl campaign. Yesterday, while I was drinking beer and eating guacamole, these kids gave the money--and lots of food--to Toni's Soup Kitchen in Montclair. It was the church's fourth year to chip in.
Another local group, Cooking with Friends, headed by super mom Alison Bermack, donated almost 100 quarts homemade frozen soup to Human Needs Food Pantry. It reminds me of a NYC sign I pass all the time as I come and go from Port Authority. Ben's: "We cure beef. Our chicken soup cures everything else."
Jersey's own, Bruce Springstreen, made us proud during the Super Bowl last night, singing the country away from our serious financial troubles. Like, he almost made me forget that there will be no bonus from Wall Street to Union Street this year.
He rocked it. Then he rocked his crotch right into a camera. I wrote more about how men's testicles are super sensitive for my column on CafeMom as the sun rose this morning.
As you probably know, Parents Who Rock threw a kids' concert last weekend at Montclair High School to raise money for the nationwide, locally based Little Kids Rock organization. Even though there were three concerts on that day, PWR's concert was packed. PWR diva Alma Schneider says, "Turnout was huge--around 300 people. Kids were running and dancing around the entire auditorium. We had a healthy kid's cafe, and Mama Doni was like the Pied Piper with a long line of kids following her around yelling, 'Oy vey!' 
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Green is a religion in these here parts. So I am not sure I should admit that I have put the milk carton in the garbage can once or twice in my life. A few of my friends might condemn me to fiery pits in hell.
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