By Anna Sawin

So yes, this is me. I was one of five lucky women to get made over for Real Simple magazine in the July 2008 issue. They took us not-so-fabulous chicks from the hinterlands of the U.S. and brought us to New York where they styled us and groomed us and used nouns in the singular saying things like “I’d prefer a really crisp denim pant” and “perhaps try a charcoal gaucho with that smoky eye,” all uttered without a SHRED of irony.

So when you start seeing photos like this of yourself in national magazines, wearing a “pricey shoe” and a “white denim pant” and people start writing about you like this—”Anna’s wardrobe isn’t drab, she loves color!”—it’s time to get out Martha Stewart’s Hors D’oeuvres Handbook and serve something appropriate for the outfit.

However, I can’t POSSIBLY cook dressed like this, so I will have to simply mix up a few of these cocktails and start sipping. Join me? I’ll be on the patio by 5:30 p.m.

Limon (Lemon Drop)

1 cup crushed ice, plus ice cubes for chilling
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, strained
2 Tablespoons superfine sugar
4 ounces vodka
3 sprigs mint

Fill glasses with crushed ice and place them in the freezer. Pour the lemon juice, sugar and vodka into a shaker with ice and shake hard for 30 seconds or until the sugar is melted. Pour the liquid over the crushed ice in the glasses. Rub the lip of each glass hard with a mint leaf just before serving, and garnish with a mint sprig.

Fresh Lime Daquiri

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By Katy Killilea

Children love nature and love figuring out how the world works. Little sponge-brain scientists that they are, they study nonfiction books and can often demonstrate perfect recall of the facts they learn. I do not know why my kids turn to me for information on the natural world; I mean, I get it—I’m their mom—but I’m completely unreliable. My sons like to pump me for facts, and this is a list of what I have shared with them, from what little I can remember about my own days as a junior scientist.

1. How to tell if someone likes butter: This can be determined by holding a yellow flower—technically, it should be a buttercup, but in an emergency, any yellow flower will do—near the underside of the chin of the butter-eater in question. A butter lover’s chin will reflect the yellow color. This is completely accurate unless you try it on someone who does not like butter.

2. How lucky you will be: ladybug way. When a ladybug lands on you, count its spots. That figure is the number of days you’ll have extra good luck. Some might assume that finding a dead ladybug means bad luck. We have not found this to be the case.

3. How lucky you will be: bird poo method. This is a nice consolation, should you be pooped upon. If it lands on your hat or clothing, that means one week of good luck. Bare arm: one month of good luck. In the hair: one year. On the face, especially in the vicinity of the mouth: ten years of good luck!

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By Michelle Riggen-Ransom

Lately I’ve been spending far too much time over at the Pop!Tech blog, blinding myself with science. I need more nature! Fortunately, I have a lovely husband and son who’ve been tending to our garden over these past few weeks, so I wanted to provide a mid-summer garden check-in.

Let me remind everyone that this was our first attempt at gardening (we’re no TJ Sondermann) and we’ve had some challenges. But that’s what gardening is all about, right? Experimenting with what works with your soil conditions, light, fertilizer, etc. Well, that and growing some major veggies!

I’ll start literally from the ground up: compost. We bought what in retrospect was a much too large compost bin and have been diligently feeding it our non-dairy, vegetarian table scraps. However, equally diligent have been the Night-time Creepers, who sneak into our yard, break apart the little side door on the bin and strew smelly, half-rotted food along our fence line. We finally had to duct tape the door shut, which so far has been successful. What can’t be solved with duct tape?

Another bummer is that every time you pop open the top of the compost bin, a translucent army of fruit flies zips giddily into your eyes and up your nose. With all that fly action, some very clever spiders have taken up residence and even laid eggs in there. Between the smell and the flies and the spiders, I’ve decided taking out the compost is an excellent chore for my son. Next step will be adding some soil or manure once we’ve got six inches of kitchen stuff piled up (which is taking a while since the bin is sooo big).

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When Newport mom Gwen of Gwen Designs had her first child, her world changed. A child can do that. Since Gwen has been following her path as an artist since she was a child, she channeled her newfound inspiration into creating onesies, T-shirts, and hats for the younger set. Gwen pairs bright, colorful artwork with cute quips and clever sayings sure to make any baby and passing onlooker smile. The original artwork is conceived and created by Gwen using paper, paint, and other mediums that inspire her. She uses a computer to add art and to tweak layout, transferring the design to be worn by lucky babies.

LittleChickieWear is 100 percent organic with no dyes. Organic is important to Gwen as a mom, and she figures that it is important to her daughter, Elizabeth, too. Gwen’s designs have a little something for everyone—from a T-shirt that dares “I just ate and I’m going swimming” to a dreamy earth painting paired with the very green statement, “Locally Grown.”

LittleChickieWear: Onesies, $24; T-shirts, $24; baby hats, $14.

Want to win the “locally grown” onesie pictured?

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If you are a work-at-home parent (or any parent just trying to make a phone call), chances are you require useful ways to occupy your child while you “accomplish” your tasks.

If you have flexibility in your work schedule, here are some helpful solutions to create (quiet) time and allow you to concentrate. If your job requires you to keep regular business hours and you need long stretches of uninterrupted work time, I recommend you work out a childcare schedule with your spouse and/or hire a sitter to watch the kids while you work. You may know some of these tips and tricks already, but I always appreciate a helpful reminder.

Nap Time:
If your kids are young enough to nap, use this time for tasks like answering emails, phone calls, or matters that require concentration and for you to think in complete sentences. Scheduling naps for your baby/child starting from an early age is a good way to adjust them to a regular routine and will eventually make it easier to put them down. As your kids start to drop their naptime, this period can become “quiet time” in their bedroom.

Are you a night owl or an early bird?
I am a night owl, so I am always able to get quality uninterrupted work time in the evening once my kids are in bed. For some people, early morning before the children wake up is their optimal work time. Set up a system with your partner once you decide which time suits you best and have him or her be the “on duty” parent—so if a child wakes up or has trouble falling asleep (which we know is bound to happen), he or she can attend to the child while the other parent works.

Make your office kid friendly:
Have available age-appropriate activities that your kids can enjoy on their own near where you work such as puzzles, blocks, and coloring books. Set up a table with markers, paper, and stickers where they can draw, craft, and “play work”.

Computer Time:
Some parents find it helpful to allow their kids to use an old computer or theirs when it’s available or a leap pad. Favorite kids websites include noggin.com, pbs kids or Doozla. Even though my husband and I use computers extensively for our work, we are reluctant to get our kids hooked on them too early (we know it will happen soon enough), so we have set them up with an old Mac Classic ($10 from a yard sale). Although it does not have flashy games or connect to the Internet, my boys have fun clicking around, changing the Flying Toaster screensavers, creating folders, drawing pictures, and writing simple documents. The simplicity of this machine still allows them a creative outlet—my son made a gmail folder and (pretends) to connect to the Internet to check his mail. And now that my kids are learning to write, they use simple text to write words and short sentences.

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Today I welcome Anna Sawin as a new Kidoinfo contributing writer. Anna lives near the Rhode Island border on the coast of Connecticut, where she writes about her passions: kids, photography, and food. In addition to her professional life as a writer and an editor, she blogs about life with two young boys at Hank & Willie.

It’s summertime, and the activities from each busy day could fill their own photo album. Maybe you’ve got a new digital SLR camera, or maybe you’re a diehard point-n-shooter, but we’ve all got the same goal: taking the best possible pictures of our families, and preserving memories in the jewel-like light in which we remember them.

I can guarantee you’ll see great results in your photos if you try a few of these techniques, and I won’t even talk about shutter speed and f-stops. And if you’re a devotee of automatic settings, you don’t have to change your stripes. You can try all these tips in auto mode.

1. Get involved.
Get close. Then get closer. Then get down low. Chances are you’re taking a photo of your child in a location you’d like to remember—maybe a scenic mountainside or a sparkling beach. But one of the biggest mistakes we make in a photo is trying to include too much information, like taking a landscape shot that just happens to have a small, faraway person in it. Instead, fill the frame with your subject, making them the most important part of the photo. Because they are.

Want to remember the beach? Get up close to your child and photograph his toes buried in the sand, or the look on her face when she spies a new piece of sea glass. Want to remember the mountain? Zoom in as your child reaches to pick a wildflower or throws a rock in a rolling stream.

And unless you and your child are the same height, you’ll want to get down where the action is. It’s all part of getting involved.

2. Find the sweet light.
Your photos will be 1000 percent improved if you do nothing else but this: think about the best times of day for kids to be out in the sun, and shoot your photos then. That usually means early morning before the sun gets too intense (you’re all awake anyway, right?) and afternoon/evening when the intensity wanes.

Here in New England, at this time of year, that translates to before 8:00 a.m. and after 5:30 p.m. (Bribe ‘em with ice cream if they are melting down at day’s end.) Full-day sunlight washes out colors, creates harsh, unflattering shadows, and causes sunburn, of course, while the warmth and softness of early- and late-day sun will bring a beautiful, unrivaled tone to your images.

Now, I know what you’re saying. Plenty of life goes on between 8 and 5:30, in fact most of the day for those of a certain age in my household. So if you’re stuck outside at high noon on a sunny day, pray for a cloud or find some open shade (a spot out of direct sun that’s lit by reflected light, like under a tree) and shoot your photos there. And if you end up with a cloudy day on vacation, you can be the annoying one that chirps, “Well, it’s an absolutely perfect day for photos!”

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By Jaci Arnone
I don’t think I’m sharing anything off the “best-kept secret” list here. Actually, I’m beginning to believe that the Toe Jam Puppet Band is edging up there with the Big Blue Bug as part of Rhode Island’s popular culture. But I urge you, if you haven’t brought your little ones to a Toe Jam show, it’s time!

The Toe Jam Puppet Band will surely be a hit for kids (and adults) of all ages. Their shows are fully interactive, encouraging kids and parents to sing, dance, and participate in storytelling and finger plays. Their masterful shadow puppetry and original songs have made our family loyal followers, five years and going strong.

Their lively performances are spearheaded by fan favorites Tom & Vinny, with frequent guest musicians including bass guitarists, fiddlers, tuba players, and more. Vinny acts as emcee and directs the troupe’s impromptu shenanigans, such as misting the audience with squirt guns during The Car Wash Song. Tom, otherwise known as the Lad in Plaid, writes the band’s original music mainly inspired by his own children. Worth noting for the old-school scenesters, Tom was the bassist for the locally-based punk rock band The Gluons back in “the day.” So, don’t hesitate to request those old favorites (I highly recommend Rockaway Beach, always a hit with our kids)!

You can catch the Toe Jam Puppet Band at Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford every Monday at 10:30 a.m. & 12:30 p.m. In addition, they perform at various locations around Rhode Island and Massachusetts. This summer, dates include shows in Coventry, Pawtucket, Newport, Narragansett, and elsewhere. Check out the Toe Jam Puppet Band website for a full listing of this summer’s shows.

More:
Buttonwood Park Zoo
425 Hawthorn Street, New Bedford, MA
Shows at 10:30 a.m. & 12:30 p.m. every Monday
Cost: Zoo admission plus $5

Great Cookbooks for Families
Reviewed by Katy Killilea

There’s no shortage of cookbooks for families and kids, but the actually useful ones are rare. Jennnifer Carden’s The Toddler Café (2008, Chronicle Books) is definitely one of the good ones.

What makes it so good: the food is nutritious and geared toward a kid palate, instead of just being cute to look at. Every recipe is simple, but not so simple that you’ve already thought them all up yourself already. The results are yummy for adults and kids alike. Illustrative photographs, as lovely as Martha Stewart would have them, show—instead of pristinely composed food on a plate—a messy bowl of beans or a child’s hands digging into a bowl of soup and smearing it over her shirt. These are real recipes for real life.

Divided into useful categories like, “Sandwiches,” “Snack Attack,” and “Protein,” a busy parent can easily find something that fits the bill. Many of the recipes use ingredients that you’re likely to already have on hand. There is more than one recipe that uses up the last bits or cereal or the undesirable crushed cracker pieces no one will eat but you haven’t yet tossed. And because the recipes are so simple, it is easy to have a child join in the preparation.

Minty Pea Pops, Lilypad Pancakes, Rainbow Rice Balls, and Waffle Grilled Cheese all use unexpected ingredients in unexpected ways. New favorites at our house are the Twistin’ Chicken, a terrific upgrade for parents who depend mightily on the Bell & Evans chicken-in-a-box, and Confetti de Fruta, a fruit salsa served with sweet tortilla chips. And if you have just gone berry picking, you’re already halfway there.

Confetti de Fruta
From The Toddler Café ‘By Jennifer Carden

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We recently took our kids to NYC. Although all in all it was a fun trip, and the kids, my husband, and I enjoyed the vacation, we were reminded of a few things. Six-year-old boys (no longer in strollers) can walk a lot but not always quite as far as we want them to. We saw many different things as we wandered around Greenwich Village and Soho with our children but definitely far fewer galleries than my husband and I used to see when we visited the city without kids. Sometimes the best food was not always convenient but luckily there was a hot dog or pretzel stand at almost every corner. You can often find a Starbucks close by when your child needs a bathroom. And sometimes it does not take much to dazzle children – a simple ride in a taxicab, on a bus, or on the subway, looking at the tall buildings, listening to street musicians, or walking through Times Square can be the event itself.

Highlights for our kids (in no particular order):
The Superhero show at the MET, Strand bookstore, ice cream at Dylan’s Candy Bar, Washington Square Park, Central Park, huge movie posters for Get Smart and WALL-E, the Disney store, the Sony Wonder Lab, riding in a taxi cab, taking the Amtrak train to NYC, lots of street musicians including a guy playing two trumpets at once, tall buildings, riding many elevators and escalators, Pearl Art Center and ice cream at the Ice Cream Factory in Chinatown.

How we got there: Amtrak train from downtown Providence to Penn Station (8th Ave 31st). On the way to the city, we sat in a group of 4 seats that face each other so we could read, play games and eat food easily. Heading home Sunday night, however, the train was overcrowded and we all had to sit in aisle seats to be near one another— not quite as relaxing.

Where we stayed: A relative’s apartment near Columbus Circle—very cost effective.

Details:
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Aside from the traveling Superheroes exhibit (which runs until September 1, 2008), we saw the Medieval Arms & Armor and The Temple of Dendur from the permanent collection.
Location: 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
Enter through the Education entrance at 83rd street. Less crowded and conveniently located bathrooms.
(212) 535-7710
Cost: Suggested admission for adults $20, Free for kids under 12

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By Maura Keating

Remember when you only worried about whether sunscreen would work? Now I worry about the chemicals that make the sunscreen work. (To see how your favorite sunscreen—and other cosmetics—measures up, visit the Skin Deep website.) With an active toddler, I can’t hide from the sun, but I can extend the shade. Protect-a-Bub makes products that help you protect your Bub from the elements, including sunshades, swim and sun wear, rain covers, carrier covers, stroller inserts, blankets, hats, and even lip moisturizer. We tested a few of Protect-a-Bub’s sun protection products—the Classic Single and Back Seat Tandem Stroller Sunshades, Sun Protective Swimwear, Reversible Swim Hats, and the ‘Paint Your Own’ Sun Hat kit.

When I test-drove and reviewed eight strollers this past spring, I discovered that finding a good canopy on a good stroller is near impossible. As my son gets heavier, we have become semi-frequent stroller users. The stroller is especially essential for difficult nap times. My son passes out by the time I near the Seven Stars Café to retrieve the iced coffee that I earned for patience with a difficult toddler. Although I was content with the canopy on our current stroller, the hood does not pull down as far as I would like. On sunny days, my son’s legs stick out from the bottom and I need to apply sunscreen if he’s wearing shorts or sandals. Since some stroller trips (especially emergency nap inducers) aren’t planned, finding and then applying sunscreen on a reluctant toddler can be a hassle.

The Protect-a-Bub Sunshade is a lifesaver. The sunshade ties easily to any stroller frame with four double ties. The breathable mesh fabric (available in black or blue) is rated with an Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) of 50+. That rating means that it provides 98-plus percent protection from the sun’s rays while still allowing air to circulate, keeping Baby cool. The side vents allow Baby to see what is happening on all sides, enabling toddlers to keep their eyes on passing fire trucks and dogs, while maintaining 70 percent sun protection.

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