urbanMamas Portland

I had asked him to go put the toy away, if he didn't want his little brother playing with it.  He disappeared up the stairs...  The next second, it seemed, he was back at the base of the stairs, shooting his playmate in the face point blank, with a lego "missile launcher".  At first, I could hardly believe my eyes and then I started with the questions.  How could you do that?  What were you thinking?  Look how hurt he is!  Did you apologize?  And it hits me... we just had this conversation 10 minutes prior to that.  And about 20 minutes before that too.  To me, the rules are very clear:  It's never OK to hurt somebody.  But why does this rule seem so "flexible" in his mind?

Needless to say, instead of the soft line approach with "shooting" toys, it's going to become a hard one.  Honestly I have no idea where that lego set came from or why it had guns in it, but somehow my boy has a honing device onto such toys and can find them anywhere (even when they don't exist!). 

But beyond that, it's apparent that I'm not "Getting through".  I feel like partially, because I'm a different gender, I just don't "get" the aggressive play.  Why do we need to be SO loud, go SO fast, and hit SO hard ALL of the time?  I just don't understand it.  Add to that the fact that people are getting hurt and it seems to make perfect sense:  Quiet down, slow down, don't hit.  How many times do I have to repeat myself, exactly?  In excess of a thousand times, is that right?  What's the range of normal, here, and should I be concerned that we are outside of it?

Now that younger brother is starting to catch on to this "aggressive" play, it seems like the occurrences have increased exponentially.  So I wonder, how do you "make sense" of this?  Is there one magical book?  Some redirection that actually WORKS?  Some behavior modification regime that will get through?  I'm at my wit's end and I want to know where to go from here.... help?

Lots to talk about, apparently, and we didn't even get to it all.

• Need some flexibility at work?  Get the toolkit.  Many of us have longed for greater workplace flexibility since giving birth.  Some of us have it (lucky!), some of us don't.  If you don't (or you want more), here's a terrific resource to help you get it. 
• Campaign for Safe Cosmetics: What's Going On?  The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is asking people about their personal care products. Like....  How many do you use?  Daily?  Which ones?  Any idea what's in them?  
• The Families and Work Institute says... Sick Days are Healthy.  Surprised that employees who have access to paid sick days are healthier?  Of course not.  But always good to have some data to go with your argument. 
• NWEI's Eco-Challenge: Are you in?  There are many things I’d like to be better at, especially when it comes to leading a more sustainable life.  Like…. eating less dairy, driving less, buying less plastic, and biking more, to name a few.  You?  And while I hate to admit it, I also sometimes need a little push (no!) to take the next step. 
  
• Do we need a shorter work week?  How would our lives be different if the official work week was 30 or 35 hours instead of 40? What would it be like if 40 hours really meant 40 hours -- not 50 or more, as it has come to mean for so many people? Not three part-time jobs adding up to 60 hours but offering no benefits?
• People are talkin' about women in politics  My, my.  Not that this awesome, tragic, historical (and histarical) video is surprising or anything. But what are we doing about this [lack of women in politics]? Hopefully not just sitting around eating our itty bitty sandwiches being simple minded little fools. Maybe more of us should go and get elected?
• Then don't get pregnant.  A little while ago I reprinted a Letter to the Editor in The O that resonated with me – it was about the cost of having a baby in the context of health care reform.  Not surprisingly, there was a follow-up to it recommending that the letter’s author take more personal responsibility - never mind that fully 51% of pregnancies are unplanned (why?  uh, s-e-x last time I checked). 
• Stand for Children wants more lottery $ for public schools.  Call me naive, but I've never thought state governments should be in the lottery business (especially when the slope is slippery and states ponder subsidizing drinks and re-allowing smoking to boost "sales").  That said, I also appreciate and regularly benefit from many a lottery-funded project (like state parks).  And don't know if I would like a no-lottery-funds state budget.  But I digress. 

It's officially autumn, kids are back in school, but the opportunities for weekend fun don't seem to be slowing down at all! 

Friday

Ladybug Walks: A guided 60 minute walk around Mt. Tabor for preschoolers, no registration necessary, $3 per child. 10:00-11:30 am.

Story & a Stroll: Join a park naturalist for nature story time and a brief stroll through the park.  This program is geared toward families with young children (preferably ages 3-6). This week the theme is Birds and their Beaks. Tryon Creek State Park. 1:00-2:00 pm (note new time for fall).

NE Moms Playgroup: You don't have to live in NE to join this group of moms that gets together to play and chat.  Bring a snack to share if you can. Milagros Boutique (5433 NE 30th Avenue), 2:00-4:00 pm.

Oaks Park October Fest: Dust off your lederhosen for these German festivities that will feature authentic food, kids crafts, loads of dancing and music (and then there are those rides...). Gate fee ranges from $2-5 depending on day and age. Check website for schedule of the weekend's events.

Saturday

Greensprouts: This celebration promotes the nurturing of life through nature.  From pregnancy to childhood, parents can learn about and explore eco-friendly, community-involved options to raising families.  Workshops, vendors, food, entertainment, and kids activities.  $3 suggested donation.  Peninsula Park, 10:00 am-5:00 pm.

Museum Day: Get a coupon for free museum admission at the Smithsonian website to Pittock Mansion and the World Forestry Center Discovery Museum, among others.

Dragonfest 2009: Don your medievil garb and play games, see a puppet show, have a snack, and then play on the playground. Free, Laurelhurst Park (near the pond on North side of the park), 10:00 am-2:00 pm. 

Welcome the Rain: Celebrate clean water & soak up some knowledge at this community event and "solutions fair" celebrating the rainy season. Will feature workshops, storytelling, marimba music, and much more. Rigler Elementary School (5401 NE Prescott), 10:0 am-3:30 pm

Grand Opening of N. Portland's First HydroPark: Come celebrate the opening of this community potluck and BBQ, kids activities, and music by the Electric Opera Company. Pitman Addition HydroPark (N Concord Ave and N Going Court), 5:00-7:00 pm.

Sunday

Polish Festival: Come enjoy traditional Polish food, dancing, music, and other activities.  St. Statnislaus Church (3900 N. Interstate), check website for even details.

Kids in Nature:  Ddiscover the many different ways spiders live at Tryon Creek State Park, explore the park looking for spider homes, learn about the spiders living in those homes, make your own webs and even shake hands with a tarantula. For children ages 4-7, $10 per child, Tryon Creek State Park. 10:00-11:30 am.

Professor Banjo: The incredible one-man band is back and ready to help you march your way out of summer with great traditional music played with skill and designed to entertain the whole family. Airplay Cafe (701 E. Burnside), $5/person or $10/family, 5:00 pm. 

I've been lugging my children to see plays for years in Portland, but have only found one kid-oriented theater that truly jives with my idea of telling appropriate stories and using appropriate humor to children.  And, importantly, I want to avoid examples of behavior that I'm not wanting to come home with us - you know, siblings pestering each other, people being rude to each other and laughing about it, etc... Which I've seen plenty of - and often at prices I'm very sorry to have paid. 

The one I just can't get enough of is Play After Play in SE Portland.  Have you been?  It's minimalist theater that leaves lots to kids' imaginations - they describe it like this:

Then after the play, they play.  At first I was a bit put off by it, but I've come around and my kids love it.  In their words:

And it's affordable, and family-run, and cozy, and just plain real.  Very Portland.  You can see their fall schedule here.  Their opening show for 2009-10 is "The Greatest Treasure: A Story from China."  Did I mention that each month they present a real story from a different country?  

All that said, I'm sure I'm missing some excellent ones, and that whether or not they fit with my idea of appropriate is of course not the best criterion for others.  Which local children's theaters does your family love?  And why?

I've long been troubled by the academic calendar, especially as a working parent.  Now if I had 12 weeks, not 3, of paid (or unpaid!) vacation every year, I might feel a little differently.  But in general, I find the long summer hard to manage - not to mention the very obvious lost learning we experienced (and yes, my kids learned plenty of other incredibly useful - and fun - things while not in school). 

But I digress, because PPS' current look at the calendar isn't just about summer vacation.  It's actually mostly about the variability in calendars across district schools. Variability that might go away.  Not a bad thing if you think all schools perform best on the exact same calendar.  Does one-size fits all work?  Does it matter when talking calendars?  But if you're someone who thinks that individual schools know how they work best and that human beings do well with a little bit of room to make decisions, it might not seem like the best idea. 

Here's how PPS described it in an email I received from them just today - what do you think?  Good idea?  Bad idea? 

The Portland School Board's performance auditor is recommending that PPS reduce or eliminate individual schools' deviations from the standard school calendar, and encourages PPS to move to a common single calendar for the district's 85 schools.  He wrote: 

 "There are a variety of benefits to providing flexibility to schools to adopt various unique school calendars and schedules," Tracy wrote. "However, the multiple calendars and schedules used by Portland schools also result in higher transportation costs, reduced nutrition revenues and more administrative burden. More importantly, many of the deviations from the standard calendars reduce the amount of instruction time provided to students."

One of my least favorite things about returning to work post maternity leave is pumping.  With regularity, every three hours despite being in my office or out and about I have to hook myself up and pump.  I close the door, draw the blinds, and turn off the lights hoping that it would prevent disruptions from coworkers. Short of putting a sign on the door stating that I am pumping, I hope every time that disruptions are minimal.  Inevitably someone knocks.  Uh, "I'll be right out in a few minutes," I would say.  I'm the kind that's a bit private about pumping at work and feel like I shouldn't draw attention to what is happening behind closed doors but I am wondering if I need to.  Should I put a sign on my door?  What should it say?  What have you done and is it effective?

I've recently found myself entering the world of the "soccer mom".  Though my spouse is the one that has been taking the lead on coordinating schedules for practices and games, this will soon change.  With two working parents, two kids participating in soccer, two evening practices per week, and game day on Friday evenings and Saturday...you get the picture!  Juggling schedules for picking up the kids from school and daycare is one thing, but to try to fit in a nutritious supper on soccer days is mind boggling. For us, there really is not even slack in the schedule to allow going home to prepare a meal and feed the kids before practice. This leaves me wondering how others cope with afterschool activities and feeding the family.  I'd love to hear your meals-on-the go ideas.  Do you feed them post practice or do you try to squeeze it in before?

We know there are ad hoc mama groups forming all the time in our midst, but a papa group is harder to come by.  We just received an email from Impact Northwest at the Brentwood-Darlington Community Center announcing the formation of a new playgroup, geared toward fathers.

The Family Support Workers with Healthy Start saw a need to provide support for the fathers of the community.  So often services are provided and focus on the mother and child, but rarely is there a program dedicated specifically to fathers.  With that in mind the Healthy Start program created a Dad and child play group.  The goal of the group is to provide support and a sense of belonging among fathers in the community.  The group is geared toward fathers of children from birth to 3 years old.
 
With a generous grant from SE Uplift, and pizzas donated by Papa Murphy’s the dad’s group meets three times a month.  We have gotten community volunteers, who are also fathers to act as facilitators for each group.  At each group we are able to have both an English and Spanish speaking facilitator.  There is no agenda for each group, but rather an environment in which dad’s can talk to other dad’s about the struggles and triumphs of fatherhood.

Group times/dates for the rest of 2009 are: Sept 21; Oct 6, 14, and 19h; Nov 2, 11, and 16; and Dec 7, 16, and 21.  All of the groups meet from 6:00pm-7:30pm at the Brentwood-Darlington Community Center, 7211 SE 62nd Ave., Portland, Oregon 97206.  For more information, please contact Jessica Bell at jbell@impactnw.org or (503)988-5961 x256

We've added these playgroups to the urbanMamas calendar.  Hope you can take advantage of the groups!

We adults may have vitamins or supplements we take, but I could use some suggestions on vitamins or supplements for the kids set.  A quick status update on my Facebook about my almost 6-yo down with a scratchy throat and sniffles solicited a few quick suggestions, including Hyland's "Sniffles and Sneezes", "C-Plus Cold Tablets" and kids Emergen-C.  When you feel that the kids' immunity levels are low, do you supplement with something other than lots of fluids and fruits/veggies high in Vitamin C?

Beyond previous recommendations of financial advisors, perhaps you can offer suggestions for credit/debt counselors?  An urbanMama recently emailed:

My husband and I have gotten ourselves into quite the financial pickle and we need to get our ducks in a row (sorry for all the cheesy metaphors).  We tend to argue - or, at the very least get testy with each other - whenever we try to discuss how to best handle the financial mess we have made.  I think it would really help us to meet with a financial expert who can help us figure out the best way to fix our money problems.  Any recommendations for financial advisors, credit/debt counselors, etc would be greatly appreciated!

We will occassionally receive inquiries from outside of Portland, from mamas and papas seeking a similar support network and community in their neck of the woods.  We thought that we'd post this question, in the event that some of you may have a suggestion or two.  An urbanMama emails:

I just moved from Portland to Eugene and really wish there was something like urbanMamas for the Eugene folks. Is there? Pleeeease hook me up with some good parenting websites and groups for the Eugene area.

I sat in a recent session at the National Safe Routes to School conference on parental choice and encouraging more kids to walk and bike to school.  The discussion quickly led on, stranger danger, one of the primary reasons fewer than 15% of kids today biking or walking to school. As a parent, a couple times over, I can understand the fear.  But is it completely out of control?  The New York Times recent article on The Walk-to-School Fight states:

When to detach the parental leash? The trip to and from school has become emblematic of the conflict parents feel between teaching children autonomy and keeping them safe. In parenting blogs and books, the school-bus stop itself is shorthand for the turmoil of contemporary parents over when to relinquish control...

In 1969, 41 percent of children either walked or biked to school; by 2001, only 13 percent still did, according to data from the National Household Travel Survey. In many low-income neighborhoods, children have no choice but to walk. During the same period, children either being driven or driving themselves to school rose to 55 percent from 20 percent. Experts say the transition has not only contributed to the rise in pollution, traffic congestion and childhood obesity, but has also hampered children’s ability to navigate the world.

Which begs the question, at what age would you feel comfortable letting your child walk or bike to school without your supervision?

This summer was our first with a child "out" for the summer, so summer was a lot more summery this year. As the weather turns autumnal and school is now underway, I find myself reflecting on my favorite things from the summer.  What would I do again for sure?  What did we discover for the first time?  Try after years of wanting to?  Which ONE thing would I choose above all others? 

For me, it stands out clear: Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center.  My mom, my kids and I signed up for the family insect weekend in late August, and it was a ball from the minute we arrived.  Ancient forest, wood thrones, swimming holes, instant friends --- a dinner bell!  I'll definietly be back next summer, if not before. 

One of the other families on our trip was the creator of the Portland Family Adventures blog, who wrote a great piece about Opal Creek, from the family-friendly angle.

What was your family's best summer happening?

Who knew the second weekend in September would be so full of fun activities (and sunshine!)?  Have a great weekend!

Friday

Kruger's Corn Maze: Opening Day! $5 per person, kids under 4 are free, plus one kid gets in free with paying adult. 9:00 am-sunset.

Saturday

Muddy Boot Festival: A celebration of everything organic and sustainable.  Workshops and activities for adults and kids (coffee ground fossils, recycled crafts, treasure hunts, paper making, and puppet making) plus some great music (Jackstraw, Freak Mountain Ramblers, Foghorn Duo, March Fourth Marching Band and many more). $5 for folks over 12.  St. Philip Neri Church (2408 SE 16th Avenue), Saturday and Sunday, see website for schedule of events.

Sally the Salmon: The world premiere of the latest Mudeye Puppet production. Follow the travels of a small fry named Sally as she leaves behind her home at Sweetwater Stream to venture up the river to the sea and back again. Will she make it past dams, predators and more? Not without some help from fellow creatures of the river! $5 adults, $3 kids, Backspace (115 NW 5th Avenue), 10:30-11:30 am.

Aquifer Adventure: Argh! This pirate-themed festival about our groundwater supply will feature treasure hunts, canoe rides, games, food, and prizes (not to mention live pirates). Free, Airport Way at 166th Avenue, 12:00-4:00 pm.

Belmont Street Fair: Live music, bouncy houses, kids fun center, Safety Saturday at the Belmont Firehouse (35th Avenue, 10:00 am-3:00 pm) and of course Saint Cupcake and the Sunnyside playground. 10:00 am-5:00 pm.

Dragon Boat Races: Cheer on your favorite boat at this Portland tradition as 60 teams compete along the waterfront.  Food and entertainment is just north of the Hawthorne Bridge.  The Portland Fire Boat will also make an appearance before the races start. Heats start at 9:00 am.

Green Means Go: Celebrate the opening of the new green line Max with free rides (starting at 11:30 am), music (drumming, choral, marching bands and more!), balloon creations, arts and crafts, and a climbing rock wall.  Oh, and did we mentions magicians, jugglers, face painting, and stilt walkers?  Pioneer Courthouse Square, 11:00 am-6:00 pm.

Sunday

Grandparents Day at Oaks Bottom:  If you're lucky enough to have grandparents in town (either yours or your kids!), bring them along on a stroll around the 160-acre Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge. The walk is a two-mile loop on both paved and uneven dirt paths, with two moderate hills. Please register before Friday at 4:00 pm. 503-292-6855, ask to be transferred to #112.  Free, 12:00 pm.

Rosh Hashana Celebration: Come celebrate the Jewish New Year with the Portland Jewish Academy.  Storytelling, arts and crafts, games, apples and honey. Free, ages 6 and under,  Hollywood Library (4040 NE Tillamook), 3:15-4:45 pm.

Sundays for Families at the Portland Art Museum: Find a grandparent (or a surrogate!) and send them with your kids to the super family friendly events at PAM (storytime, outdoor arts and crafts, and family tour), $12 adults, kids under 17 are free. 12:30-3:30 pm.

This was posted on the schools forum, but we thought this discussion would appeal to the broader community.  A reader writes:

I am new to the PPS system and would like to hear from parents regarding sugar and media in their school. My family moved here recently and my daughter entered a class where the teacher uses the "candy-reward" system.  I was not familiar with the system as my daughter came from a Waldorf school so we were a bit taken back.  My understanding is that many teachers use treats, specifically to reward and motivate children.  To add more salt to the wound, the teacher also uses movies and many cartoons as a teaching tool.

The last straw happened last week when my daughter came home after watching cartoons and the 3 stooges while doing class work.  She said the kids who finished their work could watch the TV, but the others had to keep their head down and do their work.  She was upset because it was hard to concentrate with the 3 stooges in the background and many of the children laughing.  The teachers response was" well, it's the same as the kids doing homework in front of the TV!  I tried to bring this up at a PTA meeting but was told these types of things are not handled by PTA.  The teacher and the principal are totally unresponsive and from what I understand, this has been addressed by many parents throughout the years at this particular school.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  I would like to start a campaign to keep sugar out of the classroom, especially for rewards and also to use a movie for educational purposes ONLY!!

Must be the back-to-school mood, or something, because Activistas is picking up, covering topics from green schools to health care reform and back.  Some recent ones you might find interesting - including a garage sale report out:

• 28 green moms talk about green schools.   I follow green mom bloggers for work.  So when they banded together to create the Green Moms Carnival, I was pretty happy.  Every month they pick a topic, all write about it, and (best of all) post it in one place.  There's little I love more than convenience, so this pleases me greatly.
• CA moms are just saying no to BPA.  Yes, there are BPA-free baby bottles.  No, they’re not cheap or available in every neighborhood.  And you’re right, your ‘to-do’ list should not include getting a degree in toxicology, deciphering cryptic labels, or spending hours (that you likely don’t have) researching and hunting down the safest products.
• Garage sale update: $1,500 ain't all bad.  We did it!  We collected, we sorted, we priced, we schlepped, we sold, we donated. And, importantly, we earned!  $1,500 total - $150 of which we gave to Cafe au Play, which generously shared their high-traffic location with us on sale day. 
• Sick and wrong.  I recently read an article in Rolling Stone Magazine (of all places) that gives a pretty good summary of health care reform and the mess we're now in.  Here's how it starts...and trust me, you want to keep reading:
• Tell the city: We need a loo @ Jameson Square: At first glance, adding a toilet to a public park might not seem like a news-worthy topic.  But if you've ever tried to play at Jamison Square with your kids and they needed to use the bathroom, you know that it's a problem.  No public bathrooms means parents have to buy something at a local business to use their facilities or worse, kids are using trees, neighboring condo's yards, etc. as outdoor toilets.

And, of course, a whole lot more.  Check it out.

Even though the restaurant did not get the best review in the Willamette Week (http://wweek.com/editorial/3542/12981/), I am still looking forward to lunching with the working mamas on Thursday, September 10th at The Original (http://www.originaldinerant.com/) located at
300 SW 6th Avenue @ Oak. Reservation at 12:30 under Courtney/urbanMamas.

See you there.

If you miss it live - or your child doesn't give you the full report out (natch) - you can read the much-anticipated transcript here. Thoughts??

If you're a Facebook fan of PPS, you may have seen its status update yesterday saying:

How did you feel about all the hoopla  - warranted?  Silly? Think your district handled it right??  PPS' approach worked for me. 

It seems that each week brings a new bit of evidence or an old-but-new-to-me essay inspiring me to work even harder to ply my children with nutritious, slow, fresh, whole, inconvenient foods. This summer, I've been making progress, involving the kids in the magic of the garden and cooking foods they (supposedly) love in the slow, slow way. A few weeks ago, Everett harvested two pumpkins and brought them inside to me to make his favorite food: pumpkin pie. I did so, in a crust made of whole wheat flour and lard I rendered myself (I believe in high quality animal fats, but that's for another time), using that pumpkin from our front yard garden, eggs from our backyard chickens, and honey from the People's Co-op farmer's market. I worried that it wasn't sweet enough. Was too lumpy. Wouldn't be like that pie at the annual Thanksgiving feast at his school.

He loved it, and offered a piece to a friend who came to visit, saying, "my mom made this, and it's really good!" There were tears, fat and heavy, in my eyes. I'd just finished reading this article about how a young man's diet is the best -- by far, far better than socio-economic class or community or parenting situation or playing violent video games or anything -- the best predictor of criminal behavior. Eat mostly junk food, you're more likely to go to jail. Period.

And yet, here we are, about to head back to school, where the lunchtime fare at most public schools is decidedly junk food. At Everett's school, it's particularly bad, and the teachers there will back me up. The vegetables that are available are so burned by refrigerants, or spoiled, they're inedible. The rare fruits and veggies that survive the weeks (or longer?) from harvest to lunch tray are doused in chemical preservatives and, often, sugar. The meat is from the lowest possible quality sources; the baked goods are thoroughly packed with processed ingredients. Whole foods are cut up and wrapped in plastic. The best thing there is yogurt, and that's full of sugar. Each meal surely exceeds the new recommendation from the American Heart Association that we severely limit our daily added sugar intake. The real food at Everett's school is rare (and he insists on eating school lunches; he's struggling mightily with other kids making fun of him, so I don't dare put my foot down).

It could be better. Slow Food USA is working to to advocate for this. Today, right now (I should have written this earlier!) in conjunction with the awesome Time Based Art festival, is a Slow Food Eat-In picnic as part of the National Day of Action to get real food in schools. I am going. I am bringing a salad I made of green beans (cut in half crosswise and cooked about six minutes in boiling water) sauteed with cherry tomatoes (cut in half) and crushed garlic -- all from my garden -- in a little bacon fat, and tossed with salt and feta cheese. It's real food and I harvested it today. I know this can't be the lunch at Everett's school tomorrow. But it should be, some day.

And I'd love to share some with you if you can make it to this event. There's one in NE Portland, tonight, too. Or tell your real-food-in-schools story, here.

Happy holiday weekend!  Here's a few tidbits to help you squeeze some last minute fun into the summer before school is officially in session next week!  If you really want to live it up, head on down to Salem for the Oregon State Fair (where they boast over 9,000 things to do, see, and taste) or stick a little closer to home for Art in the Pearl, where they'll have yummy food and hands-on art activities for kids.

Friday

Ladybug Walk: A guided 60 minute walk around Alberta Park for preschoolers, no registration necessary, rain or shine, $3 per child. 10:00-11:00 am.

Story & a Stroll: Join a park naturalist for a free nature story time and a brief stroll through the park. This program is geared toward families with young children (preferably ages 3-6 but all are welcome.). The Kissing Hand,  1:00-2:00 pm.

Free First Friday at Portland Children's Museum: Bring a school supply for the Friends of the Children program and make a magic pencil wand to prepare for school. 5:00-8:00 pm.

Portland Corn Maze:  Hmmm, it seems a bit early for this given that it isn't even Labor Day, but if you want to beat the crowds, check out this year's maze which celebrates the Portland skyline. Kids under 5 are free, 6-12 are $5, 13 and up are $7. Thursday through Monday, 10:00 am.

PGE Park Fan Appreciation Weekend: PGE has a whole host of activities planned over the weekend to thank fans for a great season (fireworks, $5 tickets, $1 hot dogs and ice cream, give aways, running the bases, and more).  Check out the website for specific activities.

Saturday

Rookie Rides: Enjoy a 7 mile ride on the Springwater Corridor from OMSI to Oaks Bottom and back with other families and novice riders. 10:00 am.

Bicycle Transportation Alliance BBQ Benefit: Hot dogs (veggie also) and lemonade, $3 each. New Seasons, Saturday & Sunday, 12:00-4:00

Kids Spelling Bee: help your kids dust off those dusty summer spelling skills with this super fun, prize filled, kid focused spelling bee.  Oh, and have some pizza too! Mississippi Pizza (3552 N. Mississippi), 1:00 pm

Sunday

$2 Sunday at OMSI: $2 admission for all, and just in time for the Reptile Amphibian Show, with over 100 exotic animals will be on display, including a large variety of captive-bred snakes, lizards, turtles, alligators, and more. Facepainting from 1:00-3:30 pm.

Family Sunday at PAM: In September, visitors of all ages can create their own sculpture inspired by works in the Jubitz Center for Modern and Contemporary Art, along with outdoor art making from 1:00-3:00 and storytime at 2:30 pm.  The MC Esher Exhibit is also still on display. Adults are $12, kids under 17 are free.

Operating hours at our public schools, depending on the program and grade, can range from 9:30 to 11:30 AM to a more average schedule of 8AM to 3PM.  For the full-time working parent, especially in single parent households, these schedules would obviously require both before- and after-care.  We've previously listed out the before- and after- daycare providers at PPS schools.  PPS Childcare website states:

The Portland Public Schools Board of Education passed a Childcare Policy in December of 1997 that provides for safe, affordable, educationally appropriate childcare for all elementary school students before and after school hours. Childcare is not only a parenting issue, or a workplace issue, but also an education issue.

We recently received an email from urbanMama Tia, who writes about her challenges with PPS aftercare:

My five-year-old son is about to start kindergarten at our neighborhood school, Peninsula Elementary.  My four-year-old daughter will remain in day care near my office in Hillsboro.  Since I am a divorced mom with a hefty commute, before- and after-school care has been a major concern.  I thought my son had a reserved spot in the on-site day care program at Peninsula, so was pretty well dumbfounded a few weeks ago to learn (mostly by accident) that the program has been terminated.  PPS has made no arrangements to replace it.  This affects nearly all the other schools in the Kenton/St Johns area, because Clarendon/Portsmouth, James John, Ockley Green, and Rosa Parks had all bused children to Peninsula for the child care program.  Sitton apparently has an entirely different provider, and a new provider is launching an on-site program at Chief Joseph -- but there are no plans to transport children from the other Kenton/St Johns schools to those locations.

... Nancy Hauth, the childcare coordinator for PPS, has been sympathetic but unable to remedy this gaping North Portland hole in the before- and after-school program.  When I last contacted her I realized that my list of grievances with PPS is already alarmingly long.

I'm worried that there may be other affected parents in the neighborhood who don't even know yet that there's a problem.  My political hackles are up, too, over the fact that PPS' failure here is localized to a big swath of North Portland.  Can you help me get the word out, and maybe spawn some activism on this issue?  I am a total newbie at dealing with the school district and, if nothing else, would love to identify PPS-veteran mentors.

Have you been in a situation left without before- and after-care at your school?  Have you been affected by this change in the North Portland PPS area?  How do we address this need and lack?

The end of summer vacation is closing in on us quickly.  Last weekend, I took my rising fourth-grader and her classmate to the store to acquire all the items on their supply lists.  The stores (we opted for Fred Meyer's and Walgreens) were overwhelming with all their back-to-school displays, reams of paper, and boxes of Pee Chee folders.  Of course, they were all out of No. 2 pencils!  We carefully chose our items and surprisingly ended up with a bill that was half of what it had been in previous years.

Somewhere in all the school supply craze, I know I've seen signs for school supply drives.  I can recall only one organization, though: Schoolhouse Supplies is a nonprofit organization helps schools by providing free supplies, donated by businesses, to teachers of classrooms in need.  Their school supply drive started on August 1st, but there's still time to contribute before drives end on Labor Day.  Details on locations and participating businesses on the Schoolhouse Supplies website.

This year: where are you shopping for your school supplies?  Have you heard of community school supply drives that could use additional support?