Check This Out: Humans of New York

Design Mom just turned me onto this wonderful Tumblr feed...

 Humans of New York

Photo property of Humans of New York

As if we needed to be reminded the depth of people-watching available in cities.

Check out this AWESOME blog.

I discovered a new(ish) blog a while back and am LOVING it. It chronicles a family's relocation to Manhattan and their adventures as they acclimate to city life. Not only do I love their style, but I absolutely love that they are a family of five!

Check it out: nyc taught me

The "F" Word.

Here in the Twenty-first Century, there are still a few taboos that our enlightened society can't seem to rise above. One of them: Faith.

This seems particularly true in areas like architecture and urban planning, where it's presumed that all "people of faith" have bad taste, are afraid of progress, hate cities, and want to live in McMansions in the suburbs. These stereotypes are not completely unwarranted; there are factions of the Christian faith that are in opposition to contemporary voices in culture and urban life. But this small percentage does not speak for the whole.

Faith is particularly taboo in the academic realm where students are told to check their religious lives at the door and, consequently, never have a chance to develop the relationship between their private faith and their career. (Check out Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed for his perspective on how this plays out in the realm of science.) This produces a lot of young people who believe they have to choose between two things they are passionate about: their faith and changing the world.

Is it possible to have both?
Some of us believe so.

A friend of mine, an urban planner in a moderately large city, recently asked me how I navigate my work in the public realm as it relates to my faith. Her experience is that Christians (especially of the conservative vein) are, at best, a joke in the city planning world. Now, my work in community improvement is not nearly as "public" as her position with the city. But, she has heard me speak (and write) quite a bit about how my faith informs my views on politics, community development, and urban life. And she was curious how I manage being an "eco-friendly, urban, transit-loving, libertarian Christian" (her words--not mine) without feeling emotionally crushed while working with my peers.

A blog I frequent--Urbanophile--recently posted a link to an interesting podcast on this issue. You can access it here.

The basic gist of the podcast is this: historically speaking, faith has always been a prime motivator in public life, for progress and justice. So, why do we ignore this connection when training those to whom we entrust our public life?

There is a lot of discussion in Christian circles these days about urbanism and how the Church should address issues related to city life and urban culture. But, the secular arena doesn't seem very educated about the contemporary Christian perspective--and they definitely ignore the historic one.

I'm fairly new to the conversation and definitely don't claim to have all the answers for how faith and public life are supposed to intersect, but, I am convinced that I need not "check my faith at the door" in order to have something to contribute to the broader conversation.

And I would encourage any young, passionate "people of faith" to pursue the health of their faith and the welfare of their city.

Maybe we can have both.







"But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." - the prophet Jeremiah, Old Testament.

City Walks with Kids

I would love to see a book like this published for Cincinnati. We do, after all, live in one of the most walkable cities in the country!

the City Walks with Kids series, published by Chronicle Books

They Did Everything Right

Last week, news broke in New York City that an 8 year-old boy had been abducted, then killed and dismembered, after getting lost only blocks away from the place he was to meet his parents that afternoon. His error: he asked the wrong person for directions. That man took advantage of the situation and it ended tragically.

I’d rather not recount all of the details. You can read them for yourself.

As a parent raising children in an urban area, I am already well-aware of the perceived dangers of city life. I know that many of my peers, with children of the same age, think I’m nuts for planting our family here. And I will admit that I sometimes question this decision, as well, counting the cost of all the extra work my husband I and I have to do to keep our family safe and healthy in the city.

But the more time I spend here (we’ve lived in Over-the-Rhine for over three years now and I worked here for the three years before then), the more I am convinced that although there are certain dangers inherent to urban life, many of the dangers inherent to childhood transcend location. No matter where you plant your family, you run the risk of encountering danger. The likelihood of my children being abducted, breaking an arm, drowning in a neighbor’s pool, or getting hit by a car does not significantly decrease the further we are from the city. In fact, depending on where you live, some dangers will increase while others decrease.

On the issue of child abductions, some basic statistics:

• Family members account for the majority of these reported cases (82 percent)
• Non-family abductions account for 12,000 of these reported cases (18 percent)
• Of non-family abductions, 37 percent are by a stranger

Link: http://kidsfightingchance.com/stats.php

In more tangible terms, for every 100 children abducted, 82 are taken by a family member. 18 are taken by a non-family member. And, of those 18, only 6-7 of them are taken by a stranger. Call me crazy, but this says to me that, if your child is ever the victim of abduction, there is 93% chance they are abducted by someone you already know. And, the people you know will be the people you know no matter where you live.

And this is just one example.

As an aside, consider this: as soon as summer hits, the news is littered with tragic stories of children drowning in a neighbor’s pool. I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a single property within two miles of my home that has a backyard pool. And the two public pools within those two miles are surrounded by high security fences and manned by lifeguards when open for business. So, this childhood danger is actually greatly reduced by living in the city.

The most tragic thing about the boy killed in Brooklyn was not that he was abducted, or that he was killed, or that it happened only blocks away from his intended meeting place. The most tragic thing for me, as a parent, is knowing that his parents did everything right and it happened anyway.

The family lived in an insular Orthodox Jewish community, a community where you’d assume residents were safe and adults were trustworthy. The boy was a month shy of 9 years old and had been begging his parents to allow him to walk home from summer camp alone. This was the first time they’d allowed it and they even walked the route with him, to insure he knew exactly where to go. Somehow, he got lost anyway. And when he stopped to ask for directions, the man he asked happened to be the one person within who knows how many miles who would take advantage of the situation.

I think about my hometown, in the SW suburbs of Chicago. And I think about the twelve or so blocks between my childhood home and my middle school. I think about the millions of times I must have walked that mile when I was eleven years old. And I think about how “safe” it seemed, even though it involved crossing multiple lanes of traffic in a pedestrian un-friendly area.

And then I think about my friend Karen’s home, in Blue Island, IL, which was a far cry from my suburban neighborhood only seven miles away. And I think about riding our bikes around her neighborhood when we were probably no older than ten years old. I think about the first drug deal I ever witnessed. And I think about the stories she told. And I think about the first time I drove through Blue Island as an adult and thought: I can’t believe her parents let us wander around this neighborhood alone!

But now I think I understand.

I think about my neighborhood. I think about the ten blocks between my home and the public library and I think: My son already knows this route and he’s not even three years old. Of course, by the time he’s ten years old, I would assume he’s competent to take this walk alone, even if I wouldn't yet allow it at that point.

The truth is, a good parent knows their child well enough to know when they are ready to “face the world alone.” And the best they can do is trust that they’ve given their child every tool necessary to take care of themselves on that walk down the block, then the walk around the corner, then eventually the walk down to the library. And when something goes wrong, if something goes wrong, chances are that it was nothing the parents could have foreseen and that they did everything right.

This is why it’s tragic when something terrible happens to a child. Regardless of what normal, natural, everyday thing they were doing when the tragedy happened, there is only so much we can do to protect them. And it doesn’t matter where they live. At a certain point, we need to allow them the freedom to take steps out the door alone.

I fear for my son’s life at least a dozen times a day. And my daughter, who is still about three weeks away from being born, is already stressing me out. But I know that, as they grow, the best thing I can do is provide the tools they’ll need to navigate this city without me. And the tools they’ll need here are different than the tools they’d need if we lived in the suburbs, but they are no more or less important. And my neighborhood is no more or less “safe.” It’s just different. The dangers are different. The people are different. The streets and houses and stores are different. And my children will be different because of it. (Heck, that’s part of the reason we’re here.)

The sentiment spoken at the boy’s funeral is perfect for the situation:

“He got lost, he got lost,” he said... “There’s nothing to say, he got lost. God wanted it.”

As a person of faith myself, I can understand what he means. For others, it’s a difficult thing to take in. But the sentiment is something we can all appreciate because it’s true: when something like this happens, there is often a simple explanation for how it happened. In this case, “he got lost.” I’ve been lost before. And you probably have, too. And it happens in the city and in the suburbs and on the hiking trail and in a foreign city. And sometimes you stop to ask the wrong person for directions and you end up more lost than you were before. Or sometimes it ends in tragedy.

Often times, there's simply nothing you should have done differently.

I hope that little boy's parents know that.

Ode to New York Kids

I found this today on Stroller Traffic. It's quite charming for those of us who have chosen the urban life for our children:

If You Can Make It Here... 100 reasons to raise kids in NYC


Now, I know that Cincinnati is no New York City, but what's your favorite thing about raising kids here? I gonna start making my list...

Things to Love: Winter Survival Toys

On most days, if my son has not left the house by 10am for either a walk, playtime at the park, or a few moments on the front stoop to watch the neighbors walk their dogs, I start to sense he might go crazy. He's an extrovert with a lot of energy and curiosity. And I try to make sure I provide as many opportunities as are reasonable for him to get out and explore our city. But, let's face it, no one really wants to take a walk when it's 20 degrees and freezing rain outside. So, there have been a few days these past few months when we've never left the house.

Here's my list of things that have gotten us through the Winter and kept us busy on the days when a walk around town is just not an option:

Balance Bike

Granted, this toy would not be as effective if my son were already a pro. But, since it's a new toy--his big gift for his second birthday in January--he is only just learning how to ride it and he moves slowly and carefully enough to ride it in our home. Our version of the balance bike is similar to the one shown in the photo and those available at this link, but is not labeled with a brand name. I purchased it on a whim about six months ago when I saw a listing on Craigslist with an unbeatable price for one made by "some European manufacturer" that the seller couldn't recall. (Local favorite Park + Vine sells a version, too!) Either way, we love the bike. It's very well made, looks great, and will be awesome for playing outside this Spring. Also, since the seat moves up and down, it could last us another year, easy.


Play-Doh

My husband said his mother never let him play with Play-Doh as a child. She was an art teacher and her taste in materials was far too advanced for the stuff. Heck, I'll admit it. I would have never purchased it for my son. But, a friend gave it to him for his birthday and he ABSOLUTELY LOVES IT. I cannot overstate this: he's crazy over Play-Doh. I, on the other hand, cannot stand the smell of the stuff and have been hunting around for homemade versions to take its place. Since there are a million recipes online, I trust I can find a kinder-scented alternative. But, in the meantime, it's kept him happy for hours these past few weeks.


Library Books

One of my favorite things about living in Over-the-Rhine is that awesome cultural amenities like the public library are only a short walk away. My son's recent borrows include: a book about Curious George and a firetruck; Dino Parade; a really advanced "Learn German" read-along CD (which we laughed at and then put back in the bag to return on our next trip); Woodie Guthrie's New Baby Train; another adorable book to prepare him for being a big brother called There's Going to Be A Baby; and a book about tubas (at his request). The library isn't only good for books, though. We attend a storytime there on the Monday mornings when I don't work. And there is a computer for him to use (since I won't let him fiddle with mine). Even on cruddy-weather days, the 10 minute walk is bearable when we can spend a ton of time wandering around the library hunting for books for me and books for him. Sometimes we bring a snack; sometimes we stop for a snack on the way home; sometimes we wait until we get home and can crack open a new book while we eat our lunch. Either way, we try not to go more than two weeks between visits to the library to freshen-up on books for both Mama (sometimes Daddy) and son.


Sprig's Eco-Trucks

Last year, my mom purchased my son an amazing toy made by Sprig. This company produces toys made from "Sprigwood," a composite of recycled wood and reclaimed plastic. The toys have no painted surfaces, minimal packaging, and don't require batteries for fun. I absolutely LOVED the toy she bought him last year and mentioned that she could purchase him as many toys made by the same company as she wanted. For his birthday this year, she brought him two more of their toys--the Eco-Trucks. Just like their predecessor, he loves them. Learning to manipulate the digger and dump truck's movable pieces has taken some time, but it has also kept him occupied and requires brainpower and coordination. Unlike some other brands of environmentally-friendly toys, we have been impressed by how well the Sprig toys roll and move. And I think they look super cool, too!


What about you?
What has helped you keep your kids occupied during cold and rainy stay-inside weather?

Do This: Clean the Highway and Get a Free Trip to the Zoo!

This year, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful will again kick-off the Great American Cleanup with the Ohio State Roadway Cleanup on March 26th. On this day, hundreds of volunteers will take to the highways to clean and beautify our city's dirtiest exit and entry ramps.

Why should you volunteer?
The first 500 volunteers will receive a free admission ticket to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden for participating in the event. (Volunteers must be signed up with KCB prior to the event and at least 16 years old with a parent or guardian present if under 18.) This is the perfect opportunity for a parent or two who want to plan a trip to the zoo, but would rather not have to pay for multiple admission tickets. If both parents volunteer at the State Roadway Cleanup, their tickets will be free! Find a sitter for the morning and come volunteer!

You can also help choose the cleanup locations by submitting your pick for the dirtiest highway exit or entrance ramp in Cincinnati. Voting ends on March 11th.

Sign up now for details about meeting times and locations!

Do This: Blue Manatee kids' programming

My plan today, due to the warmer weather, was a walk to the downtown branch of the library for the weekly storytime. But, because I had another side-trip to make, we decided to try something new and get out of downtown.

When my son was young, before he was fully-mobile, we drove out to the Blue Manatee Bookstore in Oakley every so often so I could grab a cup of coffee with a friend and our kids could peek through some books. Sometimes we'd make it a day trip and stop in to The Spotted Goose and King Arthur's Court Toys.

I haven't been to the bookstore for the past six months or so but, early this morning, I checked the schedule and registered my son for the art class at 10am.

The class cost me $5, lasted a half hour, and we came home with two art projects. Izzy loved his first official painting experience, and it was fun to watch him alongside his peers. The class was for ages 2-4, with eight kids total.

For Cincinnati parents, I would highly recommend a trip to the Blue Manatee, either to browse, catch a storytime, or take a scheduled class. (I believe they host private parties, as well, which I'm going to keep in mind for my mid-winter birthday boy.) Check out the website and find a time to stop in. Heck, you can spend the whole day in Oakley--books, toys, boutique goods, and even a trip to a good ol' soda and ice cream shop!

Enjoy your trip!

I Couldn't Agree More

I definitely haven't said much lately on this blog. Rest assured, it's not for lack of ideas or desire. I've simply been too busy and overwhelmed to sit down and write.

Until I get my act together and write something original, chew on this:

A great article, courtesy of good.is about the value of planning cities with families in mind.

Thanks, GOOD. I couldn't have said it any better.

Things to Love: Finding Inspiration in Other People's Homes

To take a break from things particularly urban or related to parenting, check out my favorite house tours posted by Apartment Therapy in the past few months at the links below.

Steven Arroyo's "Think Tank."

Annie and Paul Build a Home in Sync.

Andrew and Kathleen's Inspired Home.

Stephen's Re-Imagined Rowhouse.

Mae and BJ's Chic Pet-Friendly Pad.

Drew's Fantastic Factory Conversion.
(A quick note about this tour: This home is in Norwood, Ohio. I lived in Norwood for almost two years and passed by this building about a million times, always curious what was inside. I often thought that it would make an awesome conversion to a home. Low-and-behold! I wasn't the only one with the thought. This renovation is well worth checking out. You can see more information and photos at Drew's blog, here.)

On a personal note:
Recently, I've been inspired to create a list of small design and organizing projects I can tackle during naptimes on days I don't work and on nights like tonight when I'm wide awake and everyone else is in bed. I'm hoping that some small projects will help transform our new home into something that really looks like us--rather than just a building to hold all of our stuff.

Because our time-frame for moving was so small and our schedules have been so hectic since our move, we haven't been able to do some of the most basic new-house projects. Because we--literally--moved in only hours after the previous owner was gone, cleaning was the only thing we had time for. And, now, I want to get started making this place feel like "home!"

One of the first things on our list has been a huge backyard renovation, tearing out three useless planting beds so we can till the soil, level the yard, and start fresh. Some photos of "Phase I" of the Backyard Reclamation Project, (basically just demolition) just for kicks:

After raised-bed planters were removed.

The steel, aluminum, and wood we tore out.

Pavers we dug out of the ground. Saved to re-use.

Go Play Outside: Recycled Playground

Check out Landezine's coverage of this awesome playground in the Netherlands made from recycled windmill wings. I've seen photos of this playground on various blogs, but this one seems like a good place to start. Check it out!

Designed by 2012 Architecten.

Opportunity Missed.

I'm disappointed that I just read about this event now, a few hours after it ended.

Urban Pioneers - The Cult of Personality

Did anyone go?
How was it?

Go Play Outside: Alone?

My son is not yet two years old, but I can already see that 1. he is a severe extrovert and 2. he loves being out of the house. So, what does this mean for his adolescent years, when the most natural expenditure of his energy will be to go outside and play with his friends--without my supervision?

I mean, seriously.
Am I willing to let my 10 year old son out in Over-the-Rhine to play, or to walk alone to library for that matter?

The issue of unsupervised youth has come up recently in the news, among friends, and in the parenting class we're involved with at our church. And now we're asking ourselves these same questions again.

When our son is ten years old, who will he play with?
Where will they play?
Will I let them play alone?

There is a lot of talk in parenting circles about the dangers of the modern world. And it's almost comical the steps some parents take to protect their children--everything from fairly benign re-designing of public playscapes to be "safer" for kids to the more ridiculous tracking their movements with GPS chips.

Thanks to some links from CityKin, I have been reading in on the conversations among radical parents across the nation who are defying the modern ideals of a "safe childhood" and are instead raising their children to be wise, independent, and self-reliant in the world. These particular folks call the movement "free-range kids," and have some great things to say about how ridiculous we've become in our quest to protect our children from the "dangers" of the modern world.

I am quick to admit that my husband and I do often question the wisdom of raising children in the city, mostly because of two issues: this apparent need for more supervision in an urban environment and the lack of greenspace and natural areas. But, we decided that the benefits of an urban lifestyle were worth combating these problems rather than allowing them to send us to the suburbs (where we know parents deal with the very same issues, anyway).

For families like us who believe that urban living is inherently better than a sub-urban lifestyle (for multiple reasons which I am always willing to defend, but cannot go into here) and want to know how to keep your children safe without going bonkers about every possible danger, I have a few suggestions:

1. Be realistic about danger.

We all know that life is dangerous, and that there are people and ideas and places that can hurt us lurking around every corner. But, the only real way your children will learn to combat danger is to face it with wisdom and discernment. And if your children are never exposed to uncomfortable or seemingly dangerous situations when they are young and are never forced to navigate their world alone as they grow older, they will never gain the skills in problem-solving and adaptation that will make adult dangers much easier to navigate.

2. Let go. Slowly.

Children who are locked in child-proofed homes or fenced in manicured backyards are given no opportunities to practice the art of trial and error. It is normal and healthy for children--even very young children--to make mistakes. Without falls and bumps and bruises, children never learn to navigate dangers or to correct their mistakes.

Now, there are obvious limits to the dangers we should allow our children to confront at a young age. This is why I say, "Let go. Slowly." But, let common sense be the guild as you allow your child's environment to get a little more risky all the time. Watch them closely for their first few years and you'll see how they naturally adapt to their surroundings and learn skills to confront new problems as they grow.

3. Let kids solve their own problems.

Some examples:
Once your child can climb up and down the stairs, let him. Even if it takes longer.
Once your child can open the door, ask him to open it for you.
Let your son get his own shoes. And put them on, if he can.
Let him figure out where he left his toy, instead of finding it for him.
Give directions and be patient as he tries to follow them. Don't help if he doesn't need help.
Let your child solve petty conflicts with friends on their own, without your mediation.

Allowing young children to clean up their own messes, entertain themselves, do their own work, and solve their own problems will pay off in dividends as they grow older. A child who is competent in his own little world will have an easier time navigating the world outside his front door. He will be more resourceful, more resilient, and more responsible. And since you have watched how competent he is at home, you will be more likely to trust this competence to help him outside of the home.

4. Have a lot of kids.

Now, I understand that most people don't want a dozen children, but hear me out on this. Having multiple children--i.e. built-in playmates--is great for urban living because if your 7 year-old daughter has two older brothers to take her to the park, she doesn't need you to do it.

And if having multiple children is not your cup of tea, you could simply make an effort to get to know other families in the immediate, walkable area. And if there are no other children nearby, or if you don't trust the other families nearby to be with your kids, then you could always start an intentional community. (I'm totally, 100%, serious about this, by the way. No creepy cult-talk intended.)

Basically, the "safety in numbers" scenario is a great way to calm a parent's worry and keep children safe.

5. Get outside.

By "get outside" I mean you should physically leave the house and get outside with your young children to explore your neighborhood. This is helpful for two reasons. First, the best way to decrease "stranger danger" is to have fewer strangers. If your child knows and is known by the local grocer, the woman at the bank, the postal worker, the librarian, and the guy who is always begging for change outside the library, then there will be five more sets of eyes watching him venture out into the neighborhood by himself some day. Stop worrying that everyone in your neighborhood might secretly be a pedophile and get to know them. Learn their names. Introduce your children. And learn what it means to actually be a community.

Secondly, this principle remains true for strange places, not just strange people. If you know your neighborhood, and spend time in and around your neighborhood with your children when they are young, they will know their way around as well as you do. They will know which intersections are busiest, which streets to avoid, which coffeeshops serve the best hot chocolate, and where to buy tissues when they get a bloody nose playing in the park. Teach them how to get to the police or fire station, the library, and the grocery store. Make your environment familiar to your children and they will be a million times more secure and discerning when on their own.



At our home, we are lucky to have a small backyard which will provide at least some opportunity for our young children to play alone outside in a confined environment. But, our small backyard will not be enough for a young boy who wants to ride his bike or organize an ad-hoc baseball game. So, I hope that by the time our son is old enough to venture out of the house by himself, we are ready to let him. And, even if I'm not ready, I want to make sure that he is.

What about you?
Where do you live?
Do you feel safe letting your children out alone to play?
Why or why not?


Food for thought:
Read this story about a radical "holiday" for kids.
Could you do it?


And check this out. Adventure Playgrounds.
Wow. I plan to write more about this, eventually.

Getting Around: Do I Really NEED a Stroller?

Before our son was born, my husband and I avoided much of the pre-baby purchasing craze. We purchased only a small percentage of those "must-have" toys, gadgets, and pieces of furniture and picked up the rest of what we actually needed when we discovered that we did, indeed, need it. Because we were prudent in our purchasing, we saved a lot of money and have less (comparatively) to store in the crawlspace until we decide it's time for baby #2.

But, all prudence aside, there was one item that I obsessed about for months: a stroller.

Up until the point I actually purchased our stroller (a month or so after our son's birth), I obsessed about which stroller to buy. I no longer noticed the cheery grins on the faces of babies in passing. Instead, I noticed only their stroller--the brand, the color, the style. And, I took mental notes of each stroller I'd actually seen in person, weighing the size and shape. And, of course, the price.

Some friends told me that a stroller was not a big deal: "Just get a cheap one; I barely use mine," they said. For some, that might be true. If you only intend to use a stroller at the mall, or for the occasional walk to the park, it really doesn't matter too much which stroller you get. But, for a parent who lives in a city and plans on walking a few miles a day, a stroller is a big deal. And because I didn't have a thousand dollar stroller budget like some parents in Park Slope or LA, I couldn't just order the latest hip-mamma stroller spotted in a magazine.


Like any niche market, the world of strollers is vast and becomes quickly overwhelming.

Things to consider:

Price- Is your budget $200 or $2000?

Age Range- Do you need a stroller that adapts to hold an infant carseat? Do you want a cot or full recline for a newborn? Do you want to be able to use it when your child is three years old? Do you need a stroller that can become a double stroller for the next child?

Size and Weight- Will it fit in your trunk? Can you lift it with your child in it if you need to navigate stairs? Can it maneuver on the sidewalk/between store aisles?

Other considerations- Is it practical for where you will use it? Where is it made? Are the tires better for flat surfaces or uneven surfaces? Does it fold up easily/quickly/with one hand? How well is it constructed? With what materials is it made? How large is the storage compartment? It the seat wide enough for your child? Does the seat seem comfortable for long walks? Does it have a warranty? Does it come with accessories or will you need to purchase other pieces separately? Can you use it with the infant carseat you've already purchased or registered for? Is the color scheme gender neutral to use with future children?

You may be thinking: Seriously? Does it really matter that much what stroller I purchase?

Take this into consideration: For the past 18 months, I've taken an average of 3 walks a week around downtown to run errands, grocery shop, visit the bank, etc. And if each of these walks averages about 3 miles, that's roughly 700 miles I've logged on my stroller so far. And, I intend to use it up until we have another baby, which adds many more miles to its lifespan.

Basically, my stroller is a tool that I will have used almost every day for 2-3 years. So, I'm thankful that I took my time picking out a stroller that was exactly what I needed, for what I could afford to spend.



On a personal note:

I ended up purchasing the Baby Jogger City Mini stroller and the infant car seat adapter, which allows the stroller to hold many of the most popular infant car seats. (I found a Maxi Cosi car seat at a discounted price online because it was in a discontinued color!)

The stroller is everything I'd hoped for. It's lightweight, sturdy, sleek, super easy to manuveur, and my whole "travel system" (stroller, adapter, car seat) only cost a total of $425. This might seem like a lot, but when you compare it to a moderately priced "travel system stroller" you can purchase at Babies R Us for $325, you're only paying $100 more for something that is about a million pounds lighter and a million times easier to use and travel with. (And a lot more attractive, if you ask me.) I'd say I made a heck of a purchase, especially considering the stroller I was really lusting after would have set me back an easy $900 for the entire "travel system."

For parents who don't have $1000+ to spend on a fancy stroller, I highly recommend the Baby Jogger series. Baby Jogger makes everything from hip, urban fashion strollers like their City Select (starting at about $500), to bonafide jogging strollers like their Performance Jogger which runs about $450. Mine is their mid-priced urban-use stroller. They have recently released a Bassinet/Pram accessory and a Glider Board for an older sibling to ride along, giving their single strollers an extended life. Many of their strollers can be purchased as a double stroller, and their City Select is a multi-use stroller for infants or toddlers and can be adapted to be a double stroller.




One large caveat is that big-box baby stores like Babies R Us don't sell many high-quality strollers, at least not in-store. So, in a Midwestern city like Cincinnati, it's hard to find floor models to test drive. My advice: visit every high-end baby store you can find within a reasonable distance and look at everything. Seeing a $1200 stroller in-person will tell you whether or not it's really worth your hard earned money. Likewise, test-driving a cheaper stroller that the manufacturer is trying to pass off as high-end may convince you that it's worth paying the extra $100-200 for the better stroller. (Hint: 3-wheels does not equal high quality.)

When you can't find floor models, you can make up the difference by doing a lot of online research. Read reviews. Read parenting blogs. And don't be embarrassed to stop a parent on the street and ask about their stroller. Chances are, if you see a parent using a high-end stroller, they would be happy to tell you about it and give a quick review.



In short, if you are not going to use your stroller a lot, then maybe a $100 stroller is a good idea.

But, if you live in the city and would rather enjoy your walks downtown, maybe reconsidering your priorities is a good idea. For us, it was a choice between purchasing "baby furniture" or a nice, attractive, high-functioning stroller.

I am very glad I chose the stroller.

Things to Love: Bento for a Better Lunch!

I've always been a fan of eating smaller portions of many things as a single meal, rather than the one-burrito-to-hold-it-all meal philosophy. So, it's only natural that I often prepare my son's meals that way. A normal child's lunch in the McEwan household: A teeny sandwich, a few small pieces of cheese, a handful of grapes, shredded carrots (because his teeth are not quite ready for chomping on full bites yet), a couple pretzel sticks, and sometimes a cookie (though my son, funny enough, usually skips on the sweets).

Enter: Bento. (or Obento--choose your poison)

photo courtesy My Life as a Gaijin blog

In short, Bento is the artful presentation of a meal, but if you're familiar with the concept you know that it isn't quite that simple. I have been familiar with Bento since the summer I spent in Guam a million years back and saw the Japanese culinary phenomenon firsthand. I didn't really understand the breadth of the phenomenon until much later, when I discovered the obsessive side of Bento. (And, man, people take their Bento very seriously, collecting oodles and globs of Bento supplies, entering contests for the best Bento, and I can only imagine having serious anxiety over your average "sack lunch" meals.)

All obsessions aside, Bento is awesome for many reasons:

1. It is potentially waste-free. Not only will parents save on plastic baggies and paper lunch bags by purchasing reusable bento boxes, but the meal itself is free of wrapping and often made from scratch. (i.e. serious Bento parents don't toss a single-serving twix bar in the lunch for good measure)

2. It is a clever way to encourage hearty and healthy meals. So the philosophy goes: when food looks fun, kids are more likely to eat it. Even if a parent doesn't go all-out Bento crazy and make a freaking aquarium for their child's school lunch, some simple Bento tricks can turn a healthy meal into something colorful and inviting. ("Eat me," basically.)

3. It takes less time to eat. Rather than navigating a half dozen ziploc bags during their 15 minutes of lunch, your children can open their box, survey the food in one take, and eat it all up. As our local paper recently pointed out, kids are being given less and less time to eat their meals at school, which leads to lots of waste and (I would assume) a lot of kids skipping to dessert so they don't have to mess with their 1/2lb peanut butter and jelly sandwich that's been wrapped in a yard of tin foil.

4. It's a way to expend some creative energy while loving your family. If you're anything like me, you worry that parenthood has stripped you of your pazazz. I know, I know, a few attractive Bento lunches won't jump start my music career, but they could remind me that I still have that creativity lurking inside me. And, they will remind my children that I love them at the same time. Seriously, who wouldn't feel like a million bucks when they opened their lunch to find this:

photo courtesy O'Bento Lunch 4 Kidz blog

If you're interested in adapting a little bit of the Bento philosophy into feeding your family, you can find some tips, tricks, and advice at the following links.

Another Lunch
Lunch in a Box
Just Bento

Locally, you can purchase some basic Bento boxes (like Laptop Lunches) at local favorite Park + Vine. On my next trip to the market, I'll take a closer look at Saigon Market to see what they've got in stock, too. And I'd bet that Jungle Jim's has some interesting Bento supplies, though I haven't been up there in ages...

Read This: The Urbivore

I've discovered a new blog--The Urbivore's Dilemma.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Prediger at Urbivore's Dilemma.

I was turned on to it by the folks over at GOOD. (Check them out if you're not already familiar.) It chronicles a New Yorker's experience of switching from a diet consisting of mostly take-out to one of primarily local produce from her new CSA share.

Since this is my first year as a CSA shareholder (I've bought into an Urban Farm Project), I immediately understood the dilemma. The challenge of a CSA is not only adjusting to a vegetable-based diet, but of learning to cook with whatever food is fresh, in-season, and available. The first few weeks of my CSA were hard to navigate--lots of lettuce and greens, beets, and turnips. (I froze a lot of the root vegetables, hoping to figure out what to do with them at a later time.) But the past few weeks have been much easier--carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, etc. It's been a relief to use the vegetables in meals I would normally cook, but still gives me a little room to experiment. The familiarity of the more recent produce makes my investment seem more reasonable.

I'm excited to follow along with the Urbivore's experiment in changing her diet and maybe get some good ideas for my own local produce experiment. Does anyone else want to share their experience of learning to eat local, in-season produce? Recipes? Funny recipe failures?

Read This: Suburban vs City Living costs

According to a recent article in the New York Times, most families will actually save money by choosing to live in New York City rather than moving to the suburbs once they have children.

There are a few caveats:
- The cost of paying for private schooling in lieu of public city schools changes the numbers quite drastically.
- The article presumes that the working parent(s) work in the city.
- As stated in the article, sometimes ideology or suburban lifestyle trumps affordability for growing families and they leave the city anyway.

You can read the full article here.

I would love to see the same article written for Cincinnati. My presumption is that the numbers would be the same: for a family whose working parent(s) work in the city, they would save money by living nearer to work. This should be common sense, no?

Maybe I'll write that article, all numbers and statistics included.

Thoughts?

Swings!

Browsing on Good Magazine's website, I stumbled upon a brilliant street art project by French artist Jerome G. Demuth (also known as "G"). He's been installing swings in public places around Paris!



Check out the article here and more photos of his work here.

Summer in the City

Between buying a house, packing up our apartment, wrapping up the busy season at work, my husband beginning his busy season at work, and taking care of my mother in-law after spine surgery, blogging hasn't been a priority in the McEwan house.

But.

I wanted to take at least a moment to share my favorite things about summers in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Tall Stacks Festival-
Tall Stacks is supposed to happen every three or four years, but hasn't happened since 2006 and can't find any information about when we can expect the next festival. The festival features national, regional, and local music acts, loads of expressions of Ohio river culture, and appearances by dozens of fabulous riverboats. Highlights from 2006: Heartless Bastards, Wilco, Medeski Martin & Wood, Over the Rhine, Blind Boys of Alabama, and Rosanne Cash. I sure hope they schedule another one soon... (Does anyone know any insider information about this?)

Fountain Square-
Cincinnati really does it up on the Square during the summer. There are public events scheduled nearly around the clock, with everything from family-friendly movie nights to wine tastings. You can expect live music nearly every night of the week (Friday nights courtesy of Midpoint Music Festival) and some days during the lunch hour (I'll be playing an Acoustic Thursday on August 26th). It's nice to know that I can walk down to Fountain Square on any given day and find tons of people milling around. The energy is infectious.

Kayaking on the Little Miami-
Although I haven't been since my son was born, taking a day-long kayak trip down the river is easily one of my top five favorite summer activities. I don't have my own boat, but I have rented multiple times from Morgan's Canoe Livery and have always been pleased (though the price has increased quite a bit since my first time five years ago). Does anyone else have a favorite Livery?

Backpacking at the Red River Gorge-
Confession: I've never been to the Gorge in the Summer, but I'm sure it's just as fantastic as it's been in the Spring. If you're looking for a nice extended weekend backpacking trip within a few hour drive, it can't be beat. And if backcountry camping is not your bag, you can find rental cabins with basic amentities to soften the wilderness experience. Try Red River Gorgeous on for size.

Local State Parks-
Growing up in Chicago, with the beautiful Lake Michigan in the city and (seemingly) millions of fresh water lakes within driving distance, lake culture is in my blood. Since I can't drive the 6 hours to Michigan where my family has a small summer cottage, it's nice to have other lakes nearby. The only one I've spent a decent amount of time at is at Caesar Creek State Park, where the beach is clean and swimming-friendly, if a bit cold. A lot of my friends frequent East Fork State Park, as well. (There was a national rowing regatta held there last weekend. How cool is that?)

The Public Library-
I know that the library is not a particularly summer activity, but hot summers do give me a new appreciation for the downtown library's convenient, walkable location and it's air conditioned comfort. It's the perfect place to pop-in during a hot walk downtown, use the bathroom, change a diaper, and see what's new on the shelves. They just held their summer Friends of the Library book sale, which was awesome. (Sorry if you missed it!)

Biking to work-
I'll admit it--I'm a fair weather bicyclist. But, since I live a mile from my office, I have absolutely no excuse to drive to work unless necessary. Since the onset of Spring, I've walked or biked to work about 80% of the time and it's proven to be a great decision. Not only do I get some exercise, but I get to see bits and pieces of downtown in a way I wouldn't if I was driving. And, I actually save a bit of time when I ride my bike since I don't have to worry about finding free parking near City Hall. (Parking tickets suck.) I hope I can continue this into the Fall (and Winter?).

gratisfest-
Gratisfest is like that favorite coffeeshop that you love too much to keep secret, but way too much to tell everyone about, lest it become everyone else's favorite coffeeshop and, suddenly, you can't find an open table. It's a small, mostly private (though not invite-only) music and arts festival on a family farm in SE Indiana. It's super family-friendly, but also super grown-up (which is awfully hard to find), with good food, good music, communal art projects, camping, beer, and fresh air. Suffice to say, when the patron saint of Gratisfest birthed the event a few years ago, he brought something amazing to life and I've been honored to be included in the fun the past few years. It's the perfect way to end the summer.


What about you?
What are your favorite things about Summer in Cincinnati?