urbanMamas Portland

The mama guilt and chest tightening is in full effect again today, as I ready the fridge and leave notes everywhere for work that requires me to be away for 24+hrs.  Yesterday, in preparation for another busy week wherein I must ask my kids to be independent and responsible (taking care of themselves, letting themselves into the home, staying alone for stretches), we all went to the museum and enjoyed a great interactive history exhibit.  And, yet, we squabbled almost all other times of the day.

Our time is so limited, and I desperately want to make every minute matter.  A few commenters on last week's thread suggest:

Maybe the more useful conversation is how to connect with your kids and build a good relationship when your hours are limited. There's a huge swath of the population that works inflexible, long hours out of necessity. And there are others who have made the choice to put in those hours. So then what?

A great question indeed.  How do you maintain a strong relationship with your kids when your time together is necessarily limited?

A colleague of mine has a two-month old daughter.  Back at work while his wife enjoys another month at home, he still looked a little foggy and fuzzy as we caught up last week.  Beyond what baby gear essentials they needed, he wondered: what piece of advice did I (parent to three, eldest being 12) have for him?

My answer, which I learned from watching my own mother (full-time bread-winning, bread-making mama like me): ask for help when you need it, offer help when you can.

 Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend with your kids, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

Red Yarn is bringing his puppetry, music, and interactive storytelling to The Warehouse Cafe every Friday at 10.  $5 suggested donation. 

Head over to the lovely Green Bean Books on Friday for its monthly Spanish Storytime sponsored by Portland Early Learning Project.  Friday from 11:15 to 11:45.  Free! 

Celebrate Dia de los Muertos with a special storytime at the Hillsboro Schute Park Library on Friday from 3:30 to 5.  This will be a bilingual presentation and will be followed by a craft.  Please preregister by calling 503 615 6500.  Free! 

Free admission to the Portland Children's Museum this Friday from 4 to 8! 

Last week, I reached a tipping point where too much was too much.  Posted on my Facebook page:

Just when my mama guilt was at 200% for too much travel & work in the past two weeks, I shared with a colleague, who told me that two decades of all work, no home resulted in a broken marriage, estranged children, and much loneliness. Signal to recalibrate. Worse: when my daughter came home just now, she said, "Mom! I never see you anymore."

The reality is that I work.  Have to.  The reality is that the hours can be long and late.  Have to.  The reality is that I have to ask my kids to step up and help me.  Have to.  Aged 12 and almost-9, I have been asking them to ready themselves in the morning when their dad and I have to leave super early.  They feed themselves breakfast, get themselves dressed, and get themselves to school.  In the afternoons, sometimes my older child can be home alone from 3 to 6pm.  And, sometimes, I will leave instructions on how to heat up dinner, maybe a casserole that needs to be warmed for an hour.  And in the largest request for my children to be independent: I asked them to come home from school alone, to fix their after-school snacks, to get homework done, and to get themselves to their after-school lesson (2.3 miles away, via bike, via well-known safe route), then to get themselves back home again.

To be sure, these are pretty tall orders, espcially for our pre-teens.  Also to be sure, I would have come up with alternatives if I could think of any (ask a neighbor for a ride? Tried two who couldn't.  Get a cab? Cost - and - would it was just as (un-)safe? Reschedule? Couldn't finagle that either).  Whenever possible, we do plan for homework groups or calling on neighbors to try to fill in where we cannot.  As we all know, it takes a village.

As the product of two working parents, the oldest of three, I was left alone with my siblings a lot.  From a young age, I cooked, cleaned, helped shuttle to after-school activities, in addition to my own homework load and my own after-school activities.  I also helped care for a younger cousin (or two) often.  I am sensitive to the loneliness that can stem from being alone after-school for too long.  I am sensitive to asking for too much from our youngsters from such a young age.

Then again: Can it be all-together avoided?  Is it all-together bad to ask them to contribute in this way, taking ownership over self and activities, playing large part in meeting family needs (like preparing dinner)?

Here’s the scoop for this weekend. For more ideas on what to do in Portland with kids this Halloween, check PDX Kids Calendar  and the urbanMamas calendar page.

Lots of spooky happenings going on at neighborhood community centers around town on Friday.  St Johns has its Halloween Spooktacular - a costumed carnival party.  Game tickets are 5/$1. Friday from 6 to 8:30. Mt. Scott has its Halloween Carnival as well - creepy crafts and activities, carnival games, movie, family swim.  $3/person or 4 cans of food. Friday from 6 to 8. And Peninsula Park has its Monster Mash with games, crafts, food, prizes, and face painting.  Friday from 6 to 8:30.  Free!  

I'm the mother of a kid with Asperger's, and dear friends who have kids with Down Syndrome. I've watched as our cultural relationship to children with minor and major developmental disabilities has changed; when I was in high school, the students who were friends with the kids in the classroom behind the cafeteria were looked on with a mixture of awe and utter incomprehension. It was something like sainthood: lovely, admirable, but most couldn't see themselves on that path. But now, it's not unusual for children with Down Syndrome to be beloved by their classmates, and the ones with the kind of dear social ineptitude I sometimes see in my own child, tolerated with kindness. I've had conversations with the high schoolers I coach about the "r" word. All agree, it's totally uncool. I've watched my kids interact with children who have a variety of disabilities, and it's just a thing. Something that is, and is not to be pitied, or belittled, and does not detract from the coolness of the kid.

We have a harder time in my house with that word. My husband's family grew up in what seems to me to have been a lot of bigotry. (It was probably not unusual for the time, but my current context makes a stark contrast.) I'm often left correcting my brother-in-law for his use of the "r" word, or some similarly unacceptable cultural slur. I know he doesn't really mean any of this, and my kids are savvy enough to know that it's not o.k. just because their uncle says it, but it still rankles. I often pull him aside and have the talk with him, this is his nephew he's slurring, and the boys' friends -- he apologizes, promises to work harder. I get it. It's hard to undo that kind of aculturization.

I tend to forgive my brother-in-law. But I can't really forgive someone like Ann Coulter. That's why this post was incredible -- it took Ann to task for her slur, and yet, forgave her. (I want to see her fired, and her audience ripped from her, honestly.)

I keep thinking, oh how far we've come! And then something like this happens -- our President called the R-word by someone with a huge platform, who is paid well for her bombast -- and I think, oh dear. We Americans are still those people. We're still the bigots.

Can we change? Can we do like our children are doing already? How common is the Coulter sort of aculturization? Is Portland a bubble of peace and love? If it's a bubble, it's a bubble I'm happy to live in -- but I so look forward to the way forward. Do you ever hear the "r" word, or is it going away in your world too?

Now that my little ones are older -- my youngest is five, and all of my three boys are in school -- I sometimes forget what it's like to be a new mom. That's one reason I love the writing playgroups I've started with Stealing Time and my long-time "home school MFA" classmate Mara Collins; at once I'm doing something I love (talking about writing and reading) and connecting with, mostly, mothers whose children are very young. Even though it's distant for me, remembering what it was like to be a new mother without a lot of community and validation was really hard. It was about that time, though, that I met a mom's group, and then soon after the lovely ladies of urbanMamas.

So I could relate when I asked our new member Tuesday why she had come. She didn't have a writing project specifically in mind. "I just want to get out of the house," she said. That's as good a reason as any!

It brought me back to the feelings of my young mama days, how I wanted to somehow stay relevant to the world and yet still honor my new role as a mother; how hard it was to get to know the new mother self while at the same time learning how to deal with a small very needy being; how little was left at the end of all that and yet how much I needed to use what little was left in an altruistic way.

We're planning to start rolling out the writing playgroups to other neighborhoods and cities starting in the winter, to give more people this chance to "get out of the house" in a way that engages your brain and still honors your motherhood (or, if you're an at-home dad, your fatherhood). If you're a new mom, how do you connect with all the other selves that sometimes get muffled in motherhood? If you're not so new any more, how did you do it back then?

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

A little rain never stopped us Portlanders!  Check out this week's ladybug nature walk at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge on Friday at 10.  Explore nature, rain or shine!  $3 per preschooler.  Exact location here. 

This week's Messy Monkeys at 100th  Monkey Studios is appropriate for the season: pumpkins!  Make an orange collage, paint a pumpkin, and open up a pumpkin to study the pulp.  Friday from 10 to 12. $8/hour/child.  Advance registration appreciated.  

On our neighborhood yahoo-group, I recently asked the question: "how many trick-or-treaters should we plan for?"  As I am one year new to this neighborhood, I didn't want to be left with a million bags of extra Twix (what will YOU give out this year?).  Goodness knows I still have a few baskets of candy from last year.

Schools might ban costumes, but many families will still head out into the night to enjoy the fright of the ghouls and gobblins begging for candy.  A neighborhood long-timer emailed: "do your kids a favor, take them to the other nearby neighborhoods to enjoy the decorations and sights!"  Last year, our first in our new neighborhood, indeed we went out-of-bounds.  We went to the neighborhood about a mile away (maybe less), which is well-known to be the place to go for any holiday.  Every single home on that street invests countless hours of planning and concocting the most elaborate displays.  Many, many families commute to that area to gawk.  Lines from the front door trail to the street, just to see first-hand the great work of those residents.  It was stressful.

To me?  The crowds are not worth it.  What's wrong with our own neighborhood?  So what if our houses aren't as big or decked out?  Residents who have been around for a few years say: "no one has come by in the past three years" or "a bowl of my jumbo Snickers were untouched all night".

There's still something to be said for staying in your own neighborhood, though, right?  In the name of getting to know others, in the name of community building, in the name of building momentum?

I just asked the kids, "Do you want to stay in our neighborhood to trick or treat this year?"  They didn't respond right away.  They thought hard about it, but they ended up saying: "No."

Your take?

I am a single mom with two little girls (ages 6 1/2 and 8). With the elections coming up, we watched bits and pieces of the presidential debate. This prompted a lot of questions which makes my little political mama's heart race with joy: Finally; they're old enough.

We started talking politics 4 years ago, but they were so young. We talked about how there's a president and a little bit about his role, but there's only so much a 2 and 4 year old can "get". This time though, I think they're starting to get it. With the debate running in the background, we discussed government and the various levels. We talked about voting and how/ why it's important. All of this lead into a discussion about women's suffrage and how women used to be viewed as less important than men. Oh the shock! Here I have spent all of their childhoods talking about how people are equal and we should treat everyone the same (no matter sex, race or the sandwich in their lunchbox). My girls were dumbfounded to find out that the rest of the world doesn't and hasn't always felt the same way.  

Albeit a rather hasty and muddled conversation, something registered with them- they have both commented on our talk since that night and even still will randomly ask questions about women & their rights.

We live in a country where - in spite of all of it's flaws - we have the right to vote. Women have a voice and they are booming... if we let them. 

A friend recently emailed and said that I had to watch the OPB special "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity" (based on the book by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn). One night, after I tucked my girls into bed, I cozied up under the quilt and got lost in the stories of women and girls around the world. Every story was full of tragedy and loss and yet each one was flanked with a gutsy heroine that was bringing hope to these cities and villages while fighting an uphill battle against the community and traditions.

It hasn't been all that long that American women have had the right to vote or demand that their voice be heard. I'm curious, how are you handling these delicate issues with your girls? Do you talk about how their counterparts in other countries are growing up, how some of our own relatives and predecessors have suffered real, blatant barriers because of gender?  And for those of you rearing little men, how do you talk to them about women's rights?

 Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar for comprehensive family fun options and the urbanMamas calendar page.

Bring in your family, friends, and a pumpkin for a night of messy fun at the Mt. Scott Community Center.  Paint your pumpkin with a cat, ghost, or whatever you want!  Friday from 6 to 8.  Free!  For other fall fun ideas, check out PDX Kids Calendar’s compilation of fall activities here.

The Community Music Center’s Family Friday Concert Series kicks off with a bang on Friday with the folksy/bluegrassy tunes of Whistlin' Rufus.  Show starts at 7:15.  Admission is free, with a $5 suggested donation per person or $15/family.   

The 25th Apple Tasting at Portland Nursery is this weekend and next, Friday through Sunday from 10 to 5.  Activities over the weekend include cooking demonstrations, face painting, crafts, hula hoops, and a scavenger hunt.  Free! 

It was my son's birthday celebration at school the other day, and - when I handed the teacher four 8-by-10 photos to represent each year of his life along with a few sentences about his personality at those ages - I sheepishly said, "I didn't bring a treat or anything."  

She said, "That's ok."

My son has told me that they sometimes have ice cream at school to celebrate a birthday.  Or perhaps they have cupcakes but he cannot have one "because I'm allergic".  When one mama wrote: 

My children's school got around this whole issue by making birthdays party- and treat-free (much to many parents' relief). Instead, the birthday child can choose to have a "birthday book" celebration. He or she brings a book from home to share with the class. After the book is read, the child can either take the book home or donate it to the classroom library. My older son has always chosen to skip the celebration. I'm curious what my younger son will choose.

With our older children, I have probably sent some kind of "treat" about half of the time.  For one of my daughters, it was often grapes or clementine oranges, as these were her favorite fruits.  Sometimes I would do mini corn muffins or dried cranberries.  Mostly, though, it was a stressor for us and I wondered if we really needed to go through the exercise.  I wouldn't mind a treat-free policy for birthday celebration at schools, I'll be honest.  I would rather prepare some photos to share with the class and I have previously come into my child's class on the birthday itself to share 10 or 15 minutes of stories and photos of my little celebrant.  It makes them feel like royalty!

How do you feel about birthday celebrations at school?  What are your favorite ways to celebrate?

An urbanMamas recently emailed:

I have a question and wonder if any urbanMamas already know the answer. I have heard, anecdotally, that some doctors and midwives want to check a woman's progesterone levels as soon as she finds out she's pregnant so she can get on hormonal support if necessary. Other offices don't want to see her until 7-10 weeks in. I just found out I'm pregnant (yay!) after a previous early miscarriage, and I think I'd like to find a doctor/midwife who would be willing to see me now and get some bloodwork done to test hormone levels. I'm not sure how to find that person though! Does anyone know - who is willing to test progesterone early in pregnancy in Portland?

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

The 61st Annual Greek Festival is this weekend at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in NE Portland.  Experience Greek culture, traditions, food, music, and dance.  Kids-friendly activities include face painting, gold medals, ivy wreaths, coloring, and puppet shows.  Admission is free, but there is a fee of $2 to the children's area.  Food is an additional cost.  Friday and Saturday from 10 to 10, Sunday from 12 to 8.   

Enjoy free admission to the Children’s Museum this Friday from 4 to 8, where you can check out the new exhibit Chagall for Children.  

Check out a free, all-ages performance by the Shakespeare Liberation Army at MAC on Friday at 7 of  "Over the Cliff Notes on Macbeth."  If you didn't get Shakespeare before, you will now!  

Opera Theater Oregon is performing The Old Maid and the Thief, a vintage radio opera, at the Mission Theater.  Performances are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 and Sunday at 2.  Tickets are $17-20 for adults, $14 for students, and free for children 12 and under.  

Reed College's Fall Canyon Day is Saturday from 9 to 3 at the east end of the canyon closest to the Studio Art Building.  The event welcomes all ages to help protect and restore the natural vegetation in the canyon.  Tools and food are provided.  

October brings Family Harvest Days to the Oregon Garden every Saturday from 10 to 4.  Enjoy educational harvest activities, crafts (like pumpkin painting) and games.   Free with garden admission of $0-11.  There are lots more ideas for kid-friendly fall fun by PDX Kids Calendar here. 

Have fun and use that brain at the Portland Youth Spelling Bee at Mississippi Pizza on Saturday from 1 to 2:30.  Kids ages 5 to 18 are welcome to participate. 

Oktoberfest celebrations continue at St John’s Theater and Pub on Saturday at 1.  Enjoy live music, food, and general revelry.  Free!  

Cheer on your favorite runner at the Portland marathon and half marathon this Sunday!  Runners will be going through downtown, over the St Johns' Bridge, and through many other locations around town. Course maps are here.  Race starts at 7.  And there's still time to sign up for the kid's run on Saturday from 9 to 12. 

Admission to OMSI is only $2 on Sunday.  Hours are from 9:30 to 5:30.  

Check out the kid-friendly performance of Trains, Trams, and Trolleys by the Oregon Symphony on Sunday at 2 at the Schnitz.  Tickets start at $10.   

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

At an event the other evening, there was pomp and circumstance to celebrate a very worthy mama-owned eco-conscious baby & kid store.  There were treats contributed by local purveyors, including some basil & tomato cheese pizza and chocolate-coated ice cream cones (think: drumsticks).  YUM, right?

Not for all.

A little boy, maybe 4 years old, sat at the toddler table looking longingly at the other kids devouring their snacks (of the cold variety), my son included (though he was wearing more of the ice cream on his face and shirt than he had in the cone).  The boy said to his dad: "I want one of those."

His dad, with a sad and almost upset voice said curtly, "Sorry, son, you can't have that.  You actually can't have anything here.  You're allergic."  He took out a box of rice milk and handed it to the boy.  Droopy-eyed, the boy sipped, still eyeing the treats all around.

It broke my heart.  I know I was adding insult to injury with my own boy licking dairy deliciousness right in front of the boy, who I presume was allergic to dairy.  Still, I do know the pain and I have felt that edge in my voice before.  My boy, allergic to egg-whites and peanuts, has gone to many birthday celebrations where he can't have the cake, cookies or cupcakes.  Even at his school, I have been told in the afternoon: we had a birthday celebration at school today with cupcakes, but we didn't give your boy any.  Once, invited to join friends' for take-out for a quick weekday dinner, I had that curt voice and said, "we can't eat anything here", looking at the smorgasbord of chow mein, egg-foo-young, and stir fry with bits of fried egg.

There are many allergies and there are things that are more common allergies than others (peanuts).  Is is possible to be able to accomodate all allergies all the time?  How do you handle it when your child cannot partake in fun food treats because he is allergic?

It is right around the corner, next week.  I thought I'd put a little plug out there to get us thinking about how we'll be getting to school next Wednesday.  It's International Walk & Bike to School Day.  

Last week at our local city council meeting, the mayor proclaimed October 3, 2012 "Walk and Roll to School Day 2012" in Alameda, and my family was there to acknowledge and receive the proclamation.  As part of my "thank you" comments, I highlighted the top three reasons I believe so whole-heartedly in walking and rolling to school.

1. It creates community.  The moment we set foot out the door and head toward school, we see neighbors, wave "hellos", and exchange "good mornings."  In my 1+ year in my new neighborhood, I have never met as many families as I did in the first 5 days of walking to school.
2. Increased physical activity can improve concentration.  Even when I have to sit through long meetings, leaving the room to do 10 jumping jacks can help me return with more focus.  A walk or bike ride to school can have the same effect on our kids.
3. It reduces the number of vehicles at the school and reduces risk of accidents.  Cars, glare from the sun, kids walking (sometimes darting), opening doors: it all gives me the heebie-jeebies.  YIKES!

No doubt, many of our schools have traditions and ongoing walk & bike efforts.  But, what if we don't? Where to start?

Here’s the scoop for the weekend.  For more ideas for what to do with the kids this beautiful fall weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

The Seventh Annual American Indian Day Celebration comes to Pioneer Courthouse Square on Friday from 12 to 7.  There will be drum groups, dancers, vendors, and booths from many tribal organizations.  Free!  

Celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival at 100th Monkey Studios on Friday from 10 to 12.  Paint with washable ink and brushes, make a votive candle holder, and take home a recipe for a mooncake.  $8/hour.  Best for ages 1 to 6.  Registration encouraged.  

Numerous museums across Portland are free on Saturday for Smithsonian Museum Day.  Participating museums include the Museum of Contemporary Craft, Oregon History Museum, Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center, Portland Art Museum, Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals, Fort Vancouver, and the World Forestry Center.  Be sure to print out your ticket, good for 2 free admissions, here.   

Gather on the north side of the pond at Laurelhurst Park on Saturday from 10 to 2  for Dragonfest.  Expect music, games, activities, crafts, a BYOpicnic, bake sale, costume contest, jousting, and other activities.  Best for ages 12 and under.  Free!  

Get ready for one of the last street fairs of the season with Fun on Foster on Saturday from 10 to 5.  Artists, djs, food, face painting, movies, bikes, tango, and more.   On Foster between SE 49th and 93rd.  Free! 

Start gearing up for Halloween with Spooky Science at the North Portland Library on Saturday at 11.  Mad Science will show exciting and engaging scientific Halloween surprises - melting goo and floating objects included.  Best for ages 5 to 12.  Free! 

Get your little Star Wars fiend ready for a Star Wars Party for Little Kids at the Beaverton Library Saturday from 2:30 to 4.  Pretend play with games and crafts.  Please feel free to come in costume! Best for ages 2 to 8, preregistration required.  503 350 3600.  Free!   

The final Sunday Parkways of the season comes to East Portland on Sunday from 11 to 4.  Seven miles of streets  and trails will be closed to traffic and brimming with activities, music, food and vendors.  View the map here.  Free! 

Listen to a performance of traditional Irish music by Innisfree at the Northwest Library on Sunday from 2 to 3.  In between singing and playing, the musicians will share the history of the music and show some dance steps.  Free!    

Check out the Harvest Century Family Ride in Hillsboro - a three mile, flat course great for families. Check in and registration is Sunday from 1 to 2, with the ride beginning at 2:30. The family ride is free.  

White Bird will honor its 15th anniversary of bringing the best dance from around the world by presenting The Continental, a line dance, at Pioneer Courthouse Square.  There will be two 30-minute performances - one on Sunday at 2, the other at 4.  Both are free.  

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

My daughter & her girlfriends were hanging out (at this age, they don't "play".  they "hang out".) upstairs when they rowdily came downstairs to the kitchen, where I was in the midst of a little craftiness (which came in a surprising spurt last weekend).  I was making shortbread cookies, frosting them with orange and decorating into basketballs, for my son's birthday celebration.

The girlfriends squealed: "See?  Your mom *is* cool!"  

I felt smug.  I felt affirmed.  I felt welcomed.

It was almost like I myself was back in middle school, wanting somehow to fit in, wanting to be wanted.  Wanting to fit in with my daughter and her friends, wanting to be wanted by my daughter and her friends.

I feel like my tweenagehood and teenagehood was so recent.  I remember it vividly.  I remember feeling increasingly estranged from my mom, from my parents.  I remember feeling the angst and wallowing in it, feeling lonely with only one or two people I would really regard as confidantes.  

This is new territory for me, parenting a tween daughter.  Have you been through it?  Do you remember feeling like you wanted to be wanted, feeling encouraged when labeled "cool" by her friends?

 Lots going on this weekend, here's just a small sample.  For other ideas for kid-friendly fun in Portland, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

Celebrate Oktoberfest at Oaks Park Friday through Sunday with authentic food and beverages, live oompah music and dancing, games, and lots of other festivities.  $2-5/person.

Check out two of Portland's favorite kindie acts - Tallulah's Daddy and Mr. Hoo - in one show!  Friday from 5 to 7 at Jam on Hawthorne.  $10 suggested donation.   

RiverFest returns to the Tom McCall Riverfront Park and other locations this Friday through Sunday with lots of events and activities that celebrate the Willamette - river cruises, kayaking, bike tours, canoe rides, park clean ups, and lots of other options.  See here for a detailed schedule.  

This weekend marks the grand opening of the new Oregon Rail Heritage Center.  See the three steam locomotives in their new home, and enjoy live music, kids activities, and guided tours.  Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 5.  Free!

This one may be worth the trip - the Flock & Fiber Festival is this Saturday from 9 to 5 and Sunday from 9 to 4 at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds.  See tons of fiber-producing animals, fiber arts, goodies, and related food.  Free!  

The 19th Annual Polish Festival is this Saturday from 11 to 10 and Sunday from 12 to 6 in Norht Portland.  There will be nonstop stage performances, a polka contest, street dance, and of course delicious Polish food.  Admission is free. 

Environmentally friendly hands-on craft activities for families and children under 12 await at the Children's Discovery Craft Carnival at Lents Park on Sunday from 1 to 4.  Plus, the Alphabeticians will be performing from 1 to 2! Registration is appreciated - amy@jcwc.org or 503 652 7477.    

Join family and friends in celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the oldest holidays in Vietnam and China.  At the Gregory Heights Library.  Saturday from 2 to 3:30.  Free! 

Celebrate the Equinox with the North Tabor Neighborhood with  music from Zimba Marimba, a balloon artist, food, crafts, and yard games.  At the Providence Montessori Playground on Saturday from 2 to 6. 

The grand opening of Chagall for Children, the new exhibit at the PCM, is Sunday from 9 to 5.   Arranged like a miniature art gallery, the exhibit encourages children to play with the art and create masterpieces of their own.  Free with admission of $9.   

Hoyt Arboretum is installing new trail signage, and celebrating the transformation with games, prizes, and fun for all ages.  Sunday from 2 to 5.  Free!  

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

Well, she didn't say it quite like that, but I am sure it sounded like that to her younger sister.  My older daughter turns 12 this weekend, and she has made plans with her girlfriends to hang out afterschool, have dinner (with us, her parents) at one of her favorite restaurants, then go play a round of mini golf, all with her friends (and us, her parents).  One thing she was explicit about: "can we find something else for *her* to do?"

This is a little different than the birthday party where we ponder whether to invite the friend & his little brother.  We're talking about the celebrant's own sister.

Her sister is deflated, 3 years her junior, wanting ever so much to be a part of the fun and celebration.  Granted, we will have more celebration reserved just for the family, so there will be an opportunity for Sister the Younger to celebrate with Sister the Elder.

On the one hand, I want to respect the Elder's wishes for space from her sister, wishes for a little autonomy, wishes for some fun with her own friends.  On the other hand, we like to exude inclusivity, especially among family.  Everyone is invited, all the time!

Well: WWYuMsD?  What would you urbanMamas do?

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

Check out Tallulah's Daddy as he brings sweet, acoustic music for kids ages 1 to 7 to Café au Play.  Friday at 10.  Suggested donation.    

The last of the summer Ladybug Nature Walks is this Friday (fall walks continue next week).  A great chance for you and your preschooler to explore a local park.  Friday's walk is at Woodstock Park at 47th and Steele at 10.  $3/preschooler.   

The 22nd Annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival is Saturday from 8 to 4 in downtown Forest Grove.  You can register the day of the event to chalk up your own square, and enjoy the music and entertainment.  $7-12 per square (includes cost of chalk).

The 23rd Annual Scappoose Sauerkraut Festival is on Saturday from 10 to 6 a Heritage Park in Scappoose.  Activities include cabbage bowling, sauerkraut ice cream, sauerkraut eating contest, music, and a kids' activity station.  Free admission.   

This Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 6, OMSI is hosting the inaugural Portland Mini Maker Faire, a family-friendly showcase of creativity, cool technology, and hte maker movement.  The weekend will be filled with exhibits, talks, demos, and performances - many of them hands-on.  $12 adults, $8 youth ages 3-13 and seniors.

Celebrate Central American and Mexican Independence at the El Grito Festival in Pioneer Courthouse Square. The celebration includes authentic Latino food, and live Mariachi and Ballet Folklorico. Saturday from 11 to 11.  Free!

The 6th Annual Slabtown Festival is on Saturday from 11 to 6 in the parking lot at the NW Library.  Celebrate the Slabtown neighborhood with lots of kid-friendly fun, like a parade, Red Yarn, Penny the Puppeteer, The Alphabeticians, storytimes, and more.  Free! 

We are half way to St. Patrick's Day!  Many of the local McMenamins are celebrating on Saturday with Irish music and dancing.  Details here.

Big and little pirates are welcome to join the Portland Water Bureau and the Columbia Slough watershed Council for an aquifer adventure - a family festival about groundwater.  Activities include games and a canoe ride in search of hidden treasure.  Costumes welcome.  Saturday from 12 to 4 at the Portland Water Bureau Canoe Launch.  Free!  

The Third Annual Fiets of Parenthood is happening this Sunday from 12 to 4.  The goal - to see how many people you can carry on your bike and still complete a challenging obstacle course.  Event lineup includes a family bike obstacle course, kids races, a bike-centric haiku competition, and more.  Event starts at Clever Cycles in SE PDX. 

Enjoy this gorgeous weather while we have it with a story and stroll at Tryon Creek.  The theme this week is The Kissing Hand: Raccoons.  Sunday from 10:30 to 11:45.  Best for ages 2 to 6.  Pre-registration required.  Free!  

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

Riding in town yesterday, I noticed a pair of youth riding up ahead in the bike lane.  There was a boy, younger, maybe under age 10, based on his size and the size of his bike.  He wore his helmet and pedaled pretty hard to keep up with his companion.

The other child was probably in middle school, based on the size of her bike.  Maybe they were siblings?  Maybe she was tasked with picking him up after school and riding home with him?  I don't know.  I was heading someplace and didn't stop to converse.

As I approached, I noticed that the elder child, certainly not older than 16 years old, had a shiny Nutcase in her front basket as she pedaled along in the bike lane.  I was surprised, and I was sad.

While there is no federal law that requires children to wear helmets on bikes (or scooters, skateboards or inline skates), 22 states and hundreds of localities have laws and ordinances mostly requiring all children under the age of 16 to wear a helmet while riding a bicycle or even as a passenger on a bicycle.

This info from the University of Michigan says that:

• wearing a helmet while riding a bike reduces risk of death by over 50 percent
• every 3 days, a child is killed in the US while riding a bike
• about half of children riding a bike where no helmet laws exist never wear a helmet
• helmet usage would prevent 40,000 head injuries and 50,000 scalp injuries in children, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Much of children's helmet usage might have to do with observing their own parents.  Some of these parents cannot afford a helmet (one of every two children of polled families earning less than $30,000 never wear a helmet).  Even though 78% of polled parents ride a bike, 27% of them never wear helmets.

Beyond parents, there is also the fashion statement.  My own daughter said that three of her friends, all of whom ride their bikes to school every day, asked their parents to drive them to school on picture day, to avoid "helmet hair".  As children get older, like this middle school-aged girl I saw pedaling ahead of me, they might become more and more conscious about wearing a helmet.  They aren't cool and they don't make for the best 'dos.

As I came closer, I said, "What about your helmet?"  I slowed a little bit to see what reaction I would get.  She looked sheepish as she pulled over and stopped.  I think she might have put her helmet on, but I couldn't stop to see.  

Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.  Or, maybe, since I did decide to do something, I should have pulled over and given the whole story on why helmet usage is important.  Like wearing our seatbelts, it's a no-brainer: it saves lives.  I don't know.  What would you have done?  Pedaled on? Stopped to chat?  Do you see youth, especially teens and pre-teens, not wearing helmets while they bike?

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

This is the last weekend to catch a movie in the park, sponsored by Portland Parks & Rec.  Your choices this final weekend are Funny Face at Director Park and Hugo at MAC on Friday, and Pee-wee's Big Adventure at Wallace Park on Saturday.  All movies start at dark, with pre-movie entertainment at 6:30.  Free!  

Children's performer Red Yarn is playing a new regular gig over at Milagros on Fridays from 3:30 to 4:15.  Expect music, puppetry, and interactive storytelling.  $3 suggested donation per person.  

Jazz up your back to school supplies using recycled craft supplies.  At the Mt Scott Community Center on Friday from 5 to 7. Free!   

Hillside's 6th Annual Ice Cream Social is at the Hillside Community Center on Friday beginning at 6:30.  The event is free, but donations are accepted.   

Saturday from 10 to 1, enjoy free admission to the Washington County Museum and take part in free hands-on history and art activities.  Free!  

Join in the fun at Musicalu, a free-family-friendly concert series on Gresham’s Art Plaza. This is the final month, and Professor Banjo will be returning from up north to play with Mo Phillips. Saturday from 11 to 12.  Free!   

The Belmont Street Fair is Saturday from 12 to 7 in and around SE Belmont and 38th.  There will be live music, art, entertainment, shopping, food, drink.  Free!  

Oktoberfest celebrations begin!  Head to the Kennedy School on Saturday beginning at 12 for oom-pah bands, bratwurst, and good times.   Free! 

The Tualatin Riverfront Music Festival is Saturday from 3 to 8 at the Tualatin Community Park and features musical performances by  Rust, De La Warr, and special guests.  Tickets are $5 in advance, $7 at the gate. Kids 12 and under are free.  

Make a bookmark collage at Green Bean Books on Sunday from 10 to 2.  Just in time for back to school!  Free!  

It's Fiesta Fun Day at Oaks Amusement Park on Sunday from 12 to 6.  Enjoy south of the border style fun with live music, dancing, and ethnic food.  

Check out a rehearsal by Portland Opera in Director Park on Sunday from 2 to 5.  Free!  

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

45,000sq ft of gently used kids' & maternity items all in one place! Find everything you need for fall and winter for preemies to pre-teens.  Shopping at JBF is recycling at its best: saving the planet by buying preloved items from local families!   Shop, Sell, Save, Smart! 

The Just Between Friends Kids' ReSale Event is held at the Portland Expo Center on September 13-16th.

Things are slowing down a bit as back to school becomes a reality.  But there's still plenty to do to have one last shebang before the unofficial end to summer!  For more ideas for what to do in Portland this Labor Day Weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

Super fun Messy Monkey art activity going on at 100th Monkey Studios on Friday from 10-12 - make and decorate musical instruments like shakers and drums and make some noisy art.  For ages 1-6.  Pre-registration appreciated.  $8/hr.

Summer's almost over! Celebrate with one last hoorah at the Mt Scott Community Center.  Enjoy open swim, outdoor water activities, food, music, and a movie in the park. Friday from 1 to 10.  Free!   

We're nearing the end of the movies in the park season!  This weekend, catch Willy Wonka at Dawson Park, or The Adventures of Tintin at Mt Scott Park on Friday, or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 at Wellington Park on Saturday.  All movies begin at dusk, with pre-movie entertainment at 6:30.   

It's that time of year again!  The pirates are descending upon St Helens for the annual Pirate Festival.  There will be face painting, balloons, crafts, dragon theater puppets, cannon shows, inflatable rides, sword fight shows, and plenty of pirate-related activities. The festival runs Saturday from 10 AM to midnight and Sunday from 10 AM to 11PM. $6 ages 3-12; $12 ages 13 and up.

Another fun festival is also happening this weekend: Art in the Pearl in the NW Park blocks.  Over 100 artists will show and sell their works, plus there will be live music and theater and hands-on art activities for kids and adults.  Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 6, and Monday from 10 to 5.  Free to enter. 

And another  one - Bella Organic's Blackberry Bluegrass & Country Festival is this weekend. In addition to lots of berries, there will be tons of music from Portland favorites like Jackstraw.  Plus barnyard animals, pony rides, bounce castle, face painting, a cow train, and other kid-friendly fun.  Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 10.  $5 for ages 4-12; $10 for adults.   

OMSI is hosting the 26th Annual Reptile Show this Saturday through Monday from 9:30 to 7.  Over100 exotic animals will be on display, including a variety of captive bred snakes, lizards, turtles, alligators, and more. $3 for non-members.    

Enjoy a free classical music performance with Portland Festival Symphony in Lake Oswego's Foothills Park his Sunday at 5. Free!  

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details -especially this holiday weekend - by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

I'm not sure if it's a 21st-century thing or connected to my oldest's anxiety, but he went most of his nine years without learning how to tie his shoes. Every once in a while I'd sit with him and try to get him to put the pieces together, but he always gave up in frustration when he couldn't get it. He wore slip-ons or asked for help with his running shoes.

And then he went away to camp with brand-new shoes. We instantly fell in love with the shoes when I picked them off the shelf at Clogs-N-More Kids; "but you're going to have to tie them," I said, "by yourself, by tomorrow."

"I can do it," he said, and sure enough! After a few practices with me, he did. When he came home he demonstrated his technique to me; perfect. And only a month past his 10th birthday.

Have any of you struggled with older kids who never learned to tie their shoes? Have you waited them out, like I did; or put in some intensive skills development? If you haven't yet reached the "finally!" point, take heart. Maybe your kid will be next.

I have three children, one born in New York and two born in Portland.  From the time when they were all young, my husband has commented that their teeth growth has been significantly affected by their water source in the formative years.  Our first child drank fluoridated water for the first three years of their lives.  Our second two children never did.

For our youngest, we don't yet know how the earliest years have affected his teeth, as he is only turning 3.  For our middle child, she has already had carries and fillings, while our eldest seems to have the best oral health.  This could also be a result of being the best tooth-brusher among them.

As educated parents (with ample health care coverage), we have swished, taken oral fluoride supplements prescribed by our pediatrician and used fluoride toothpaste.  Even still, one of our children - born and raised in Portland - has suffered cavities.

My best estimation of what is happening in Portland and Oregon is that, indeed, "we are in a dental crisis".  One in three of our children has untreated tooth decay, and one in five has "rampant decay", which is 7 or more cavities.  

The impact on low-income communities and communities of color is disproportionate: African Americans have twice the rate of tooth decay than white counterparts, 72% of Native Americans have untreated cavities, 46% of Oregon's Latino children have untreated tooth decay.  All these issues result in absenteeism and ultimately affects a child's success in school.  This is a preventable childhood disease.  Does the swishing work?  Yes, but it doesn't help the children before kinder age. And also, what about swishing in the summer or what about teachers who might forget the swish or kids that just throw it out?

Sometimes I like to know who else is support a certain cause.  This fluoridation effort, who else supports it, aside from health, dental, or medical organizations?  Some other supporters include: Urban Leauge, Central City Concern, Children First for Oregon, p:ear, Native American Youth Association, Latino Network, African Women's Coaltion, and many more.  (Full List Here in *pdf)

Commissioner Randy Leonard has been a supporter of this effort.  The Portland City Council is holding a public hearing on water fluoridation next Tuesdsay, September 6, at 2pm in the City Hall Council Chambers.  Interested in learning more?  Please attend.

Representatives from the Everyone Deserves Healthy Teeth Coalition has reached out to me and has offered to offer a Q&A situation where we can have readers email questions and concerns, to see if we can find answers.  For example: I, too, was concerned about the Harvard IQ study that is oft referenced, but - after chatting with other researchers and reading more online from a researcher-mom in Eugene - it sounds like the Harvard study is inconclusive.  I have plenty of questions about fluorosis, and - after again talking with others - it sounds like fluorosis can happen at higher levels of fluoridation but not at the level used to prevent tooth decay (0.7mg/L).  Do you have questions?  Send them over to urbanMamas@gmail.com and we will see if we can find answers.

I have suggested that we gather a group of subject-matter experts - a dentist, a medical doctor, a naturopath, maybe even a teacher who has implented the swish program at schools - to field questions from mamas and papas.  Interested in helping to coordinate this effort?  Please email us at urbanMamas@gmail.com and we will put you in touch!  Perhaps a playdate for parents and kids, where we have the opportunity to learn more?

Until then, keep talking, keep reading up on the issue, and keep informed.  It seems highly likely that this effort will pass in Portland, and we - as parents - need to educate ourselves on all the facts as it relates to fluoridating our water.

Street fairs, Sunday Parkways, Italian Festivals…. There’s a lot going on.  For even more ideas for kid-friendly events, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

Festa Italiana hits Pioneer Courthouse Square on Thursday and continues through Saturday from 11 to 11. Italian food, music, marionettes, and much more.  Free admission. 

Matt Clark and Mr. Hoo are joining forces at Jam on Hawthorne on Friday from 5 to 6:30.  Enjoy some of the best Kindie musicians around! $10/family.   

The Fulton Park Ice Cream Social is Friday from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Fulton Park Community Center. Make your own sundaes, climb the rock wall, and enjoy the great outdoors.  Free! 

It's Open Cockpit Day at the Pearson Air Museum.  Climb into the cockpit of specially selected airplanes.  Kids ages 8 to 17 can also get free airplane rides, weather permitting.  Saturday from 9 to 5.  Admission ranges from $0-7 based on age.  

Powell's Books is celebrating its 41st anniversary with food carts, games, authors, music (including from Tallulah's Daddy), activities, and more.  Saturday from  2 to 9. Free! 

Aaron Nigel Smith is having a CD Release Party for his new CD at Mississippi Pizza on Saturday at 4.$15/family or $5/person.   

Check out some Shakespeare in the park on Sunday at 1.  Original Practice Shakespeare Festival will be performing As You Like It at Mt Tabor Park.  Free!  

TheHawthorne Street Fair and SE Portland Sunday Parkways areconverging on Sunday.  Hawthorne is known for its eclectic mix of boutiques, cafes, and music - and its annual street fair does not disappoint!  This year it is being held in conjunction with Sunday Parkways, so lots of streets will be closed all the way from Laurelhurst to Mt. Tabor. And there will be even more music and mayhem than usual. Should be a fantastic time. The Hawthorne Street Fair is 10 to 5, and Sunday Parkways goes from 11 to 4.  Free!  

Interested in seeing a "Dive-In" movie?  Puss in Boots will be showing at Sellwood Pool on Friday, Wilson Pool on Saturday, and Grant Pool on Sunday at 8.  Watch from the comfort of the warmly-heated pool.  Admission is $5 for adults, $3 youth ($3.50 for Wilson Pool).   

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

This summer as been hot and fun, but fall is around the corner. Let's meet for lunch and talk summer, fall, school, PTA, whatever is on our minds.

date: Thursday, September 27th 

time: 12:30

location: Southpark Seafood (on the Park Blocks @ SW Salmon)

Please RSVP in the comments by Tuesday, September 25. 

I love the summer. Heat wave, string of grey days, whatever. The summer is my fave. And August is typically the month in which I seem to do it all; I start the month with the annual Blogher conference somewhere fantastic (this year was New York City), I spend lots of time with the cross country team I volunteer coach for, I can lots of peaches and tomatoes, I run the Hood-to-Coast race. If I'm lucky, I go camping.

The best thing I did this year was camping with my boys and the cross country team. Both Cleveland's and Grant's teams go each year to Silver Falls State Park a few hours to the south of Portland. It was incredible; not only did the boys and I have a glorious time unplugged, with the usual joys of camping -- cooking over a fire, going days without a screen in front of us, climbing and wading and running and making stacks of pine cones and looking at the stars -- plus (for me) the running and (for the kids) the bonding with a bunch of great teenagers. It was a great give-back for the time I give to the team; they were like a big family, embracing my kids and taking responsibility, and my kids' appetites for being a part of the team throughout the season and when THEY are high schoolers was whetted.

My two older boys are doing Trackers Earth camps this week, and then the summer is almost over! I've done so many things I hoped I'd do, but I know I've probably missed some great things, too. What was your favorite thing this summer? What is the one thing you can't go back to school without experiencing? Is there anything you mourn missing out on?

We've made a case against water fluoridation here before.

Sam Adams says he doesn't care that voters have said 'no' to water fluoridation three times (in 1956, 1962 and 1980), and he will support a plan to add a $5 million fluoridation plant -- it would take at least five years to build and cost taxpayers about $575,000 a year to run once it was going. Commissioner Nick Fish, one of the two others who have publicly supported the project (Dan Saltzman is the third) told an Oregonian reporter how much poor families need fluoridation.

In a statement released Thursday, while on vacation, Fish said many hard-working families can't pay for fluoride. "With fluoridated water, simply drinking tap water gives all of our children the same opportunity to start life with healthy teeth," Fish said.

It's a bizarre argument, given that fluoride has been freely offered in Portland public schools every morning for decades. I swished the fluoride when I was in kindergarten (and my family was, indeed, poor); my kids swish the fluoride. Sure, preschoolers can't have access to fluoride unless they pay for it, but (umm) there are so many ways we don't support the health of poor families that this just seems a weird thing to plant a $5 million-plus flag in. Also, many health advocates have repeatedly noted that fluoride's benefit is topical, and there have been documented effects of fluoride poisoning -- from ingestion -- for about as long as water has been fluoridated.

According to a meta-analysis of fluoridation studies published in the journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, high levels of water fluoridation had a negative impact on the IQs of children. Here's another mark against fluoridation, found on the web site of Oregon Citizens for Safe Drinking Water:

A recently published study from Harvard found that young boys between the ages of five and ten years old who drink fluoridated water at so called “optimal” levels  of one part per million have a 500% greater likelihood of developing osteosarcoma, a rare and often fatal bone cancer, than boys who do not drink fluoridated water.  The study corroborates earlier studies on the fluoride/osteosarcoma link by the National Cancer Institute and the New Jersey Health Department.

I think the most powerful argument against adding fluoride to water, though, is that parents of babies are asked to avoid giving them fluoridated water to drink. The CDC itself, a supporter of fluoridation, says in a very carefully-worded statement that parents should not use exclusively fluoridated water to reconstitute baby formula. Baby and toddler toothpaste doesn't contain fluoride, because it's considered dangerous for babies to ingest.

I've read a book on fluoridation, and came through the experience firmly against it. I don't disagree with the use of topical fluoride; I think it's perfectly acceptable to use fluoride toothpaste. In fact, it's a lot cheaper to purchase flouride toothpaste than the natural fluoride-free alternatives (Sam and Nick, take note, poor parents now have no choice but excessive fluoridation).

I really don't think this move makes sense for any of us. If we as a city have decided that our tax dollars should support the heath of the poorer members of our community, the most efficient way to achieve that would be in health outreach to poor families -- more fresh whole foods and less sugar, more social-emotional supports for young families, more dental treatments for poor families -- than prophylactically medicating the entire city through our water system. I can't believe this is just about dental health, because there are so many better ways to approach it (and, once again! we already HAVE a fluoridation program for children in Portland!)

If the city council does indeed vote for this plan, we'll have the opportunity to overturn it. It will be expensive (money better spent on true community building and food and farms and arts and all sorts of things); it will take a lot of our time and energy; it will be seriously annoying. We already said "no." We have alternatives that work. We could spend $100,000 a year to buy toothpaste and fluoride tablets for every kid in Portland.

It's just not the Portland way, Sam & Co. Let the parents make the choices about their children's health. We can be trusted. Stop making it so clear you don't agree.

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check out the kid-friendly happenings on PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

The 106th annual Clackamas County Fair is happening now through Sunday in Canby. In addition to traditional fair fun, there will be lots of entertainment including music, dance, animal races, and more.   Friday and Saturday from 10 to midnight, and Sunday from 10 to 8.  Admission is $0-8 depending on age.    

Check out Soil Superheroes at Blue Lake on Friday from 1 to 5.  Learn about how bugs can help your garden crow.  For ages 3 and up.  Please pre-register.   Free, with $5 parking fee.

Multnomah Village's Multnomah Days is going on all day Saturday starting at 8. There will be a parade, music, kids zone, arts & crafts sale.  Come by and enjoy the fun.

One of my favorite Portland traditions is this weekend- the Adult Soapbox Derby on Mt. Tabor.  Bring your kiddos and a picnic and watch the crazy crafty soapbox cars whiz by. Saturday from 10 to 4.  

On Saturday from 10 to 4, Seaport Celebration will take you inside the fences of an active marine terminal to explore the working waterfront with activities and excitement for all ages.  Entertainment includes Mo Phillips, The Alphabeticians, and Mad Science.  Free! 

Enjoy free admission to the Museum of the Oregon Territory on Saturday, and take part in corn husk crafts and other games typical of the pre-1900 era. Best for ages 6 and up.  Activities take place from 1 to 2. Free! 

Portland Parks & Rec is hosting a family celebration of cooking and eating the healthy way at the St Johns Community Center on Sunday from 10 to 1. There will be cooking demos and free samples and tastings.  Free! 

The India Festival is Sunday from 11 to 8:30 in Pioneer Courthouse Square. There will be live music, dancing, food, entertainment and you can catch a glimpse of India's culture, history and people.  Free! 

Portland Taiko presents People of the Drum at the Mt Scott Community Center on Sunday at 3:30.  Free, and great for all ages.

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

Developed by an avid traveler, experienced emergency room nurse, and local mama of two, SKYREADY Kits have all you need to stay healthy in the air. The stylish and easy to use kit comes with nurse approved eye mask, ear plugs, face mask, surface wipes, hand sanitizer, and Vitamin C. 

Head over to the giveaway tab to enter to win!

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check the dozens of kid-friendly activities listed this weekend over at PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

Alpenrose Dairy is hosting the Little League World Series, with teams competing from across the world.  Games begin Thursday at 10 and continue throughout the week.  Full schedule here.  All games are free!    

See the Bobs Red Mill Spar for the Spurtle Oatmeal Throwdown at Bob’s Red Mill on Friday from 2 to 3.  Think Iron Chef, with the mystery ingredient being oatmeal.  Free!  

The Bite of Oregon Festival returns to the Waterfront Park Friday through Saturday. in addition to lots of amazing food, there will be kid-friendly entertainment like Penny the Puppeteer, the Nutrition Magician, and cooking classes.  $5 to enter.  Kids 12 and under are free.   

Another yummy option this weekend - the Tualatin Crawfish Festival is this Friday and Saturday.  There will be a wide variety of food, entertainment, and activities for all ages.  Friday near the lake at Tualatin Commons from 5 to 9 (free!) - and Saturday from 7 AM to 9 PM at the Tualatin Community Park.  $4 adults, $2 seniors and kids 2-17.   

The Galaxy Dance Festival  returns to Director Park on Friday and Saturday.  Join for an eclectic mix of dance performances, classes, and demonstrations.  Friday from 9 to 8 and Saturday from 10 to 6:15.  Free!     

The Alberta Street Fair is Saturday from 11 to 7!  Check out some of the amazing vendors that line Alberta (Salt & Straw, Collage, Mimosa Studios, to name a few), music on multiple stages, the kids parade, and large kids fun zone hosted by our friends at PDX Kids Calendar.  NE Alberta between 10th and 30th.  $2 suggested donation.

If your kiddos are anything like my Grady, they will be so excited for Big Truck Day at the Conestoga Recreation and Aquatic Center. Climb aboard various big trucks, including a SWAT team truck, fire trucks, monster trucks, and more.  Saturday from 10 to 2.  Free!  

The Community Music Center is hosting a celebration to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the historic Francis Street Firehouse.  There will be live music, building tours, a rock climbing wall, and refreshments.  Saturday from 1 to 4.  Free!   

The Hollywood Theater is hosting a Jim Henson Muppets festival this weekend.  Sample movies include Sesame Street at 40, Muppets History 101, and others.  Please see Hollywood Theater's website for full details. 

The International Tree Climbing Championship is this Saturday from 8 to 5 and Sunday from 9 to 5 in Laurelhurst Park.  Watch the champions and try it yourself - bucket rides, knot tying, tree identification, crafts, and more.  Free!  

OMSI's largest star party of the year is Sunday evening beginning at sunset. Watch the Perseid Meteor Showers at either LL "Stub" Stewart State Park or Rooster Rock State Park.  Telescopes will be set up for use.  Free, with $5 vehicle parking fee.  (Please check for cancellations.) 

 Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check the kid-friendly events on PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

The Big Latch On is this weekend!  Help break the world record of women breastfeeding simultaneously on either Friday or Saturday.  Check here for locations.

The Washington Park Summer Festival kicks off tomorrow and continues through August 12. In the next few days, you can catch BodyVox (Thursday), The Strange Tones (Friday), Opera in the Park (Saturday) and Portland Festival Symphony (Sunday).  All performances begin at 6 at the Rose Garden Amphitheater and are free!

The Clark County Fair kicks off this weekend.  Carnival rides, farm animals, medieval jousting, air bikes...  it goes on and on.  Admission ranges from $7-10, with kids under 7 free.  Parking and carnival rides are additional charges.  Friday from 8 AM to 11, Saturday from 10 to 11, and Sunday from 10 to 10.  

The World Forestry Center is hosting a free kids workshop on Friday from 9 to 2 for kids ages 5 to 12.  The workshop will teach children do-it-yourself skills and tool safety.  Free!  

Free admission to the Children’s Museum on Friday from 4 to 8!

Dance the night away at Director Park on Friday with the Alex Krebs Tango Quartet.  Take a free lesson from 6 to 6:45 before the dancing begins at 7.  Free! 

Fremont Fest is this Saturday from 10 to 6. There will be a parade, multiple kid zones, face painting, music, and a chance to explore the Fremont neighborhood (Fremont between 41st and 52nd).  Free! 

OMSI is hosting Dirt to Dinner, a bilingual festival-style health and wellness event on Saturday and Sunday that will look at the life cycle of food from farm to table and beyond.  Check the website for the full schedule.  At the OMSI Front Plaza.  Free!  (Oh, and Sunday is $2 admission to the museum.)   

Before texting there was the telegraph.  Learn about this old form of communicating at the Museum of the Oregon Territory on Saturday at 1.  Best for ages 6 to 16.  Free!

Trek in the Park opens this weekend. Yes, it's just what it sounds like - a reenactment of a classic Star Trek episode. This year: Journey to Babel.  Saturday and Sunday at 5 at Cathedral Park.

Curious about bugs?  Check out Adventures with Bugs with the Bug Chicks at the Troutdale Library on Sunday from 1 to 2:30.  Free!

Celebrate the children with glasses in your life during Glasses Play Day at Custer Park on Sunday from 2:30 to 4.  Free!  

Check out Sundae in the Park, the Sellwood Park tradition featuring 50 cent ice cream sundaes, music, puppets, science, rock climbing, the Muppet Movie at dusk, and loads more.  Sunday from 12-11.  Free!   

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

Festival madness continues this weekend. Here are some highlights - even more can be found on PDX Kids Calendar’s events calendar and summer fun page, and on the urbanMamas calendar page.

Milwaukie Daze are in downtown Milwaukie this Friday through Sunday from 10 to 10.  There will be a parade, vendors, fireworks, and lots to eat, drink, and play.  Free admission.

Make beautiful stained glass using recycled plastic, melted crayons, paper, and paint at the Central Library on Friday at 10:30.  Best for ages 5-10.  Free!

Bella Organics' Blueberry Festival is this Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 10.  Blues/rock bands, food, and of course- blueberries.  $10 - tickets available here.

The 20th Annual Division-Clinton Street Fair is this Saturday from 10 to 10.  There will be a parade, vendors, activities, and music on three stages. 

Sway to the rhythm of hula dancers and Polynesian singers at the Ho'lkeand Hawaiian Festival at Esther Short Park in Vancouver on Saturday from 10 to 7.  There will also be Keiki events, traditional Hawaiian games, and nose flute making.  Free!

The NW Book Festival is Saturday from 11 to 5 at Pioneer Courthouse Square.  Children's authors Rob Adamowki and Rita Traut Kabeto will be there, along with dozens of other authors.   Free!

The 7th Annual Party in the Park in Beaverton is Saturday from 11 to 5.  Enjoy the Beaverton International celebration and more outdoor fun for the whole family.  Free!

The 17th Annual Columbia Slough Regatta is Sunday from 9 to 1.  Launch into the water by St Johns Canoe Launch and enjoy hands-on nature activities. Bring your own boat or make a reservation for a rental. Suggested $7 donation. 

Check out The Big Float on Sunday beginning at 12:30.  Brave and hearty souls will form a human flotilla of inner tubes and other watercraft and sail the Willamette from the Hawthorne Bridge.  There will be music, food, and a kids activity area as well.  Free to watch, $5 to float.

KC Puppetree's 'B' Show will be at Milagros this Sunday at 11.  Meet Bee, Bat, and Bald Eagle as they belt their B-eautiful ballads. $3-5.

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

Today I went, with my three boys, to my obstetrician's office. We weren't there for fun. I was undergoing a LEEP procedure to shock off some shockingly bad cells from my cervix. After one bad pap smear prior to becoming pregnant with Everett, the more-common-than-I-ever-knew-at-22 cervical "pre-cancer" had returned.

Dr. Kehoe was reassuring and spirit-cheering. She'd told me that I had nothing to worry about, really; we'd get rid of the bad cells and I'd still have a mostly-intact cervix and an ability to birth babies. I said something to Everett, who's now 10, about the aim of the appointment several weeks ago when I went in for the biopsy procedure. This time, though I skimmed over it (I think I might have said exactly, "cut some bad cells out of me so I'll be healthy") I didn't give as much information.

"Why do you seem so worried?" asked Everett as we locked the door on our way out of the house.

"I don't think it's going to be very much fun," I said. "It's going to be very un-fun."

But at its core what I'm worried about is the very real exposure to my own mortality. As sole caregiver to my boys for the next year -- and, as I sometimes worry, the only one so equipped to love them in the particular way they seem to need -- the idea of them having to live without me is too stark to face, for me, or them.

Wow, festivals galore on tap this weekend. Here are some highlights - even more can be found on PDX Kids Calendar’s events calendar and summer fun page, and on the urbanMamas calendar page.

The Oregon Berry Festival is happening Friday and Saturday at the Ecotrust Building in NW Portland.  In addition to lots of berries, there will be children's activities and live entertainment.  Friday from 12 to 6 and Saturday from 11 to 4:30.  Free admission!

Yoshida's Sand in the City is this Friday through Sunday at Pioneer Courthouse Square.  Watch experts make some amazing sand castles and play in the sand yourself.  Plus kid-friendly entertainment.  $10/family or $4/person suggested donation to benefit Impact NW.

The 32nd annual Cathedral Park Jazz Festival begins Friday at 5 and continues through Sunday.  This is a free festival featuring all different styles of jazz.  Lineup is here.

West Linn's 56th Annual Old Time Fair is this Friday through Sunday.  There will be food, music, carnival rides, a car show, parade, and family-friendly games and activities. Here's the schedule.

The Montavilla Street Fair is this Sunday from 10 to 4. Check out some live music, crafts, vendors, face painting, and more on SE Stark, primarily between 76th and 82nd.  Free!

Head to Sellwood Park on Sunday beginning at 1 for Superpalooza. There will be carnival games and food, music by Mo Phillips and Mr. Ben, and a showing of the Zookeeper at dusk.  Festivities begin at 1. Free!

Portland Sunday Parkways arrives in SW Portland this Sunday from 11to 4. Enjoy the hills of the SW without cars and check out the activities, music, food, and vendors along the way.  Here's the route map, which includes Multnomah Village, Gabriel Park, and the Hillsdale Business District.

Phew.  And some non-festival activities to round that out. 

Check out The Alphabeticians at their free show at the Midland library on Friday at 2.

Head to the Mt. Scott Community Center on Friday from 6 to 8 for a game of kickball, followed by some ice cream.  Free!

The lovely Play after Play is performing The Gentle People on Saturday at 10 at the Brooklyn Bay. After the performance, the audience is invited to play on stage with the actors. Tickets are $7, free for kids under 2.

The Fifth Annual Tour de Parks in Hillsboro in Saturday beginning at1.  Grab your bike and get ready to ride anywhere from 1.5 to 60 miles.  Suggested $5 donation for adult riders. Please preregister here.

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

I clearly remember my mom nursing my brother.  It was painful, based on the crumpled look on her face.  More painful than the actual nursing was the actual latching-off, removing baby mouth from mama breast.  In early books, I read about a couple of key components of nursing: (1) good latch, mouth open wide! and (2) break the seal before unlatching, removing from breast.  My mom's breasts, by the end of her few months of nursing my brother, were mangled.  Her nipples were so stretched out, hardened from the poor latch-on and poor latch-off.

When I nursed my first child, I soon realized the effect of the lazy latch off.  If I let her slip off the breast, lips still firmly wrapped around my breast and nipple, she would elongate my breast and nipple with every latch off.  The result - after days, weeks, years - was not pretty.  My breasts - well, at least my nipples - were starting to look like my mom's, a very skewed breast-to-nipple ratio (approaching 1 to 1!).  Mamas, you know what I mean.

As I approach the three-year mark nursing my third child, I look at my bare breasts in the mirror, and I sigh.  My nam-nams are looking as tired as my face.  They are weathered, flappy.  The worst of it, I think, are my nipples.  The mechanism of getting the nourishment from my milk stores to my child's stomach, my nipples have seen better (and shorter) days.  After almost a decade of combined nursing, is there any way to revive my nam-nams?  Is there a way to perk my ladies up?  Is there a way to unform what has become an extra-large avent nipple?  Or, do I look at my breasts and feel accomplished for all the comfort and nourishment I have provided (and continue to provide) my children for all those years?

"My child doesn't get much media", said the mama to me as we watched our kids sit in front of a video, "so he is totally sucked in when he gets it."  I said: "Oh."  I feel like I have heard myself say the same thing of my own child.  

Later that weekend, after allowing my child to have a juice box offered by another child, I said, "My child doesn't usually drink juice," noting my child's high-energy response to the drink, "so he is totally hyper when he drinks it."

As I hear myself saying the above, I hear my unspoken thoughts "your child shouldn't drink juice".  Then, I hear the other mama's unspoken thoughts (or what I assume they could be): "your child shouldn't watch videos".  I had a sinky feeling in my stomach.  I am juding.  I am being judged.  But, it doesn't sound like it, does it?

No doubt you have heard similar statements before.  Maybe you have even made them.  Does it feel judgy only if one is already sensitive to the issue?  Or, this might go into the category of "over-thinking" things.

Lots going on this weekend! For more ideas for summer fun, check out PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

Have some fun with trains at Portland's Union Station this Friday and Saturday from 10 to 4 in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Union Pacific Railroad.  Features include a portable locomotive simulator so you can feel what it's like to run a big diesel locomotive.  Free!

Portland chefs compete to create the ultimate ice cream treat at the Dairy Farmers of Oregon Ice Cream Churn-a-ment at Pioneer Courthouse Square on Friday from 12 to 1:30.  Free ice cream samples while they last!  Free!  

Meet local artists, participate in arts & crafts demos, and listen to live music at Art in the Park at St Johns Park.  Friday from 5 to 8.  Free!

The annual Mississippi Avenue Street Fair is this Saturday beginning at 10.  Celebrate the funky and eclectic businesses of the Mississippi neighborhood with music, crafts, food, and more.  Some great musicians are on tap, including The Alphabeticians, Mr. Ben, and Professor Banjo.    

Celebrate Bastille Day at Director Park on Saturday from 12 to 6 with music, french chefs, food vendors, activities, and more.  Free!

The 5th Annual Street Dance in downtown West Linn is Saturday beginning at 5. Festivities start with food booths and vendors, plus a juggling performance, before "Big Night Out" rocks the street dance at 8.  Free!

The Forest Music Series at Tryon Creek kicks off this Saturday at 6:30 with Sweet Thunder jazz quartet.  Free!

Superhero fun run and 5k? Super fun!  Only $10 for ages 10 and up - 9 and under are free.  Costumes or capes encouraged.  Meet life like super heroes, engage in crafts, and win prizes too.  At the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade Sunday beginning at 8.

McMenamin's Edgefield is celebrating its 101st birthday with live music, history tours, and more.  Sunday beginning at 11.  Free!

Green Bean Books is hosting its second annual fairy day Sunday beginning at 1.  Read fairy stores, build a fairy house, and make fairy wings.  $5/child.  Please reserve your spot - 503 954 2354.

Check out Red Yarn's music and puppet show at the Village Ballroom Sunday at 3:30.  $5. 

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

When we first moved to California last year, lots of families were buzzing about the Academy of Sciences in SF, a museum that had undergone a 5-year, $500 million reconstruction project.  When I saw the the $29.95 price tag (per adult), my jaw dropped.  For my family, a day at the Academy $100.  I realize that this is probably on the high end of any museum.

Many eons ago, when we had just moved to Portland, we wanted to frequent the Oregon Zoo.  With a newborn and preschooler happy to gawk and animals any day, I was a mama on a 4-month maternity leave, lots of time to spend at the zoo!  When I looked at the prices, I wasn't sure if we would take the leap.  Then, we got to talking with another parent, and ended up sharing a family "plus" membership, which would allow me one free guest every visit (perhaps my spouse, or a friend) and my kids were still free at that time.  The "plus" membership also came with passes to Zoo lights and other special events.  Score!

Admittedly, we were working the system, but - gosh - at the time, it seemed like a reasonable thing to do.  I have a single parent friend looking to partner with another single parent to "share" memberships to a couple of institutions that were perfect for her kids ages - the zoo and children's museum.

Now, there are museum passes at many libraries that are available to borrow: the Children's Museum pass at Multnomah County Libraries and - now, in the east bay area - we find passes for a multitude of museums via the libraries of Contra Costa County, Alameda County, Berkeley, Oakland and many more through the "Discover & Go" program.  Without such a program, going to the zoo, zoo, zoo could amount to the sort of thing that is reserved for special occasions.

Do you frequent museums & zoos?  Do you find them affordable?  When has it made sense to join certain institutions?

No sooner does it turn warm than we all realize why we like living here: heat does have its drawbacks. Yes: my clothes on the line are drying super fast! No: I don't feel much like engaging in slow cooking enterprises that take all afternoon. Dishes that get us through the rest of the year, like tacos and chicken soup and chili, seem too much.

And often, we eat little between a mid-morning breakfast and dinner. The boys and I snack on fruit and chips and salsa and hummus. Come late afternoon, I know I need to fix them something and no one has the slightest idea what they want.

My go-to, especially when there are friends about, as is often in the summer. One of our frequent visitors is a vegetarian, and another is very picky, so bread-and-cheese combos are the best for him: grilled cheese and carrot sticks and cherries is dinner they all can eat happily (and boy do those cherries disappear). My other standby choices are terribly dull: hamburger patties and roasted or parboiled-plus-butter veggies. Whole-wheat spaghetti with sausage and tomato sauce (for my boys) and cheese (for the visitors). Hot dogs with baked bean-style lentils (we have lots of lentils and they were a hit with the boys!). Fried eggs, scramble eggs, boiled eggs. Bread with butter and honey.

Soon we'll have corn on the cob to boil and eat with butter and tomatoes to roast and cucumbers to slice thin for sandwiches and crudite and chop for dips and gazpacho. But in the meantime, I'd love a few ideas... what was a hit with your crowd? What do you feel like fixing when the thermometer crosses the hot-for-Portland 80F? (I'll share the recipes for the boy-approved hummus and lentil dip in an edit to the post later, promise!)

Happy Fourth!  If you're staying in town this weekend, here are some ideas.  For more ideas, check out the kid-friendly events at PDX Kids Calendar and at the urbanMamas calendar page.

Enjoy free admission to the Portland Children's Museum on Friday from 4 to 8.   

The Lake Oswego Summer Splash Concerts kick off this Friday from 12:30 to 1:30 at Millenium Plaza.  Featured this week: Naomi LaViolette. Free!

Another fun concert option: check out Dirty Syncopators (Funk For the People) at Fernhill Park as part of PP&R's summer free for all celebration.  Friday at 6:30.  Free!

 Tanabata, the Star Festival, returns to the Japanese Garden this Saturday from 1 to 3.   With the help of volunteer student teachers from Japan, children and parents can follow the Japanese custom of writing their wishes, making paper ornaments and decorating bamboo branches to take home for good luck.  Free with admission.

Feeling artsy?  Head to 100th Monkey Studios for their pop-in Saturday event, "Summer in the City."   Make tie-dye, bubble solution to take home, and all sorts of other fun summery projects.  Starts at 10 am.  $12 per child, with discounts for multiple children.

Soar with books at the Pearson Air Museum on Saturday at 10.  This program consists of a craft project and reading an aviation-themed picture book under the wings of one of our historic aircraft.  Kids under 6 are free.  Regular admission fees apply to everyone else. 

Check out Musicalu at the Arts Plaza in Gresham, a family-friendly series of music featuring some of the best kindie bands in the Northwest.  This week, it's The Alphabeticians.  Saturday at 11.  Free!

The Second Annual Wooden Boat festival is Sunday from 12 to 6  at the Willamette Sailing Club. Explore classic wooden boats, see new wooden boats in the making, and learn about the Willamette and Columbia Rivers' rich maritime heritage.

And yet another fun concert option - Conjunto Alegre (Salsa, Cumbia, Merengue, Bachata) is playing a free concert in McCoy Park on Sunday at 6:30.  Free!

And last one - Pacific Crest Wind Symphony is also playing a free concert on Sunday.  Get some culture in the beautiful outdoors.  Sunday at 6 at Director Park.  Free!

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

• Staying up late.  Last night, it was 10+pm before the kids were settled in beds.  Maybe it was closer to 11pm. (for more, read "Summer Sleep, What time to bed?")
• More media.  "Can we watch TV?", they begged, on a weeknight.  It would never be a request during the school year, but - now that we are in summer mode - not only is it a request, it is a granted request.
• Playing outside until 8:30, 9pm.  Before and after dinner, the kids are found outside, rollerblading, scootering, Skuuting.  
• Playing in the neighborhood, unsupervised.  In our current neighborhood, there is one street they are allowed to cross.  All other times, they need to stay on the sidewalk.
• Exploring new boundaries of independence.  I just sent my two older kids on an excursion to get groceries, the store is about 0.4mi away.  They were successful, generally speaking.
• Sleeping in.  We are lucky to have a schedule where my husband or I can work from home many days of the summer.  Those late morning days are delicious and allow for some slow getting up.
• Trips to Grandma's and other relatives!  We have found a chaperon (relative traveling the same itinerary as our kids) to accompany our two eldest kids cross-country to deliver them to their grandparents.
• The Summer Reading Program.  Kudos to all the libraries out there and the volunteers that keep the summer reading programs exiciting for the kids.  My kids do it every year and love it!  Although my middle schooler reads over an hour a day, she refuses to fill out the little game card.  She's too old for that.

Tell me more!  What are you & the kids enjoying more of, now that it's summer?

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

The Fourth of July is just around the corner!  Check out PDX Kids Calendar for the round-up of Fourth of July events in Portland.

Portland Parks & Rec's summer free for all kicks off  this week! That means the start of free movies in the park!  This weekend you can catch  the Adventures of Tintin at Knott Park on Friday and E.T. at King School Park on Saturday.  Movies begin at dusk, pre-concert entertainment begins at 6:30.

On Friday at 12, the Joy Now Camp will put on a youth marching and circus performance at Director Park.  Free!

The annual Peninsula Park ice cream social is this Friday from 5 to 7.  Enjoy free ice cream and family-friendly activities.  Hosted at the June Key Delta House.

On Saturday from 8:30 to 10, your child can take part in a Kids Cook class at the PSU Farmers Market.  Learn to stuff your own raviolis with chef Mat Kline.  $5.  Registration required.

Presto the Magician is performing a “just for fun” magic show at the Albina library on Saturday at 10:15. Free!

Turn a shoe into a creative flower pot at Drake's 7 Dees on Stark.  Materials provided.  $7 walk-in, $5 if pre-registered.  Saturday at 11.

Celebrate the solstice and the beginning of summer with a star party, hosted by OMSI.  Look through telescopes and binoculars to see what's out there!  Two locations: Rooster Rock State Park and L.L. "Stub" Stewart Park on Saturday at sunset. $5/vehicle.

Speaking of OMSI... on Sunday, enjoy $2 discounted admission all day. 

And if you're still not scienced out, check this out - kids can walk a scale model of the solar system at Swan Island on Sunday beginning at 10:30. The event entails a round trip walk of around1mile and will end around noon.

Alpenrose’s Dairyville is open for the summer.  Sunday from 1 to 4, explore the quaint little “town,” which includes a miniature train display.  Free!

Another option for train lovers – Molalla Train Park is open for free train rides on miniature trains at the private train park outside of Molalla, Oregon.  Sunday from 12 to 5.  Free, with donations accepted.

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

You're all invited. Think of it as a salon for writers and readers-to-be, a celebration of mothers with ideas and the fathers too, a little sweet stop in the midst of a week, a chance to catch our breath and catch up. With the help of Two Tarts Bakery in NW Portland and some great friends-and-urbanMamas, I'm throwing a little party to help launch our literary magazine and to thank the helpers who've already backed us. There will be goodie bags including treats from Alma Chocolate and the canvolution and more to come.

Wednesday, June 27
6:30 to 9 p.m.
Two Tarts Bakery, 2309 NW Kearney St.
Things to eat. Things to drink! A raffle! Kids are up to you.

After the jump: my description of the party. I had fun with this.

Have you read the epic, flag-planting, fierce-debate-inspiring cover story in The Atlantic? I came across it the evening it was published and immediately -- though it was past 1 a.m. when I finished -- read the entire story, 12,000-some words and all. I wanted to stop in the middle several times to say, "this is ground breaking! This is amazing!" but I read through to the end. Of course, by this time, it had already begun to create controversy.

I read it almost like gospel. In my opinion, Anne-Marie Slaughter eloquently and persuasively make the case for why it is impossible for women today to "have it all at once" -- the high-powered career, and children who are well-cared for -- and how societal expectations, policies, and our own relationships might be changed to make "having it all" possible. For one, the "culture of face time" needs to be wiped out (something I agree with so much I'd happily write an entire 12,000-word column on that alone); for another, family values, even the sort that value older parents and siblings and partners, need to be re-valued (this one's worth a couple of books).

The biggest criticism of Slaughter's article is that she doesn't discuss the potential contribution of dads enough; she makes a point that "having it all is possible if you marry the right person" is one of the "half-truths we hold dear." Her husband, indeed, was a working dad rock star, a nurturing dad who helped his boys learn lines for the school play and made Hungarian palacsinta for foreign food night. She mentions Sheryl Sandberg, who famously pointed to her own husband and said, "There’s my work-life balance." Well, great. Not all of us make such brilliant choices; and even if we do pick fantastic husbands, it's still not ideal to put far more of the parenting load on dad. There are times we as moms want to be around; there are times we're really just needed; there are times that a culture that valued family more than work would be nice. OK: that would be nice all the time. We're also going to have to stop expecting any young parent to dedicate him or herself to a job. It's just ridiculous that any boss (or financial backer) should see a new parent or parent-to-be and think: "well, we'll give them a week or two off for family leave and then the responsibility will be done." We should change the expectation of work entirely; 40 hours should be more than enough. You should be able to go home and turn off, even if you do work in a high-powered job. Unless actual lives are actually depending on you. (And then it's probably better if you're actually happy.)

Slaughter makes a point of the Washington in-joke, that those who say they're leaving  a position to spend time with their family are using it as a euphemism for "fired," and that when one does actually leave to spend time with one's family, everyone rushes to say, "it's true! FAMILY! Really!" and hardly anyone believes it.

I left my last full-time job to spend time with my family. But, to be honest, this was also a euphemism. My family took more than the hours "after" work could fit. I didn't "marry the right person." I had kids with extraordinary (in the literal meaning of the word, "outside the ordinary," not "insanely difficult beyond all reason" as it often has come to mean) challenges that kept me running around to IEP meetings and to pick them up from school and up at night, literally. They required more from me than someone who wants to vault up in her career can handle.

So, I -- if you are to take literally the weird and logically-flawed reasoning of another Atlantic writer, Elizabeth Wurtzel -- became an unreal feminist. (Here's what she wrote, so you don't have to click, "Let's please be serious grown-ups: real feminists don't depend on men. Real feminists earn a living, have money and means of their own." Her argument was based on "1% wives," who she tarred and feathered as being "dumb" and so obsessed with yoga that they had no room in their brains for anything else, and were ruining feminism for us all by being so dumb and making their 1% husbands think that's what all women are like. I am not exaggerating her piece at all. Like I said: weird.) I started to, over time, depend on a man whose living is mostly made on the other side of the planet driving VIPs to their Very Important Appointments for the Army.

So I can't have it all. And I'm only a feminist in the eyes of the generous. Throwing off an Ivy League MBA for the thrift-shopping, bike-riding, weed-pulling, dish-washing life of an Army wife is fullscale traitorism in Wurtzel's mind, and I'll bet Anne-Marie Slaughter would never have made this call in her 30s, though maybe she would consider it in retrospect.

This is when we find something else. I'm an idea person; I make up what-I-imagine-are-paradigm-shifting ways to run the business world while I shower and while I run and while I bike and while I wash dishes. One of my many such plots was "Mom VC." A venture capital firm run by mothers, kind of micro-social venture capital. Each woman would contribute either time or money -- not a lot by VC standards, $1,000 or so -- or their skills as lawyer/marketer/graphic designer/accountant/strategy expert/content writer/editor. A board would decide where investments would go. We'd all be "job creators," creating jobs for other moms, jobs they could make as flexible as their family needed them to be.

I still love this idea. But it would take an extreme amount of time and dedication to make it happen. Could we? Would we? I think so. In the meantime we have Kickstarter. And it's, amazingly, becoming the kind of place where we can have, not "it all," but a little bit.

I think of it as a version of my Mom VC, but not just moms, and you can buy in with anything. Here are three projects you can support -- use your own venture capital in any amount -- for Portland mothers working to create jobs we can believe in.

• Stealing Time, a literary magazine for parents. This is my project and it's already shown me just how incredible the community here in Portland, and across the U.S. social media landscape, can be. We've had donations of time and talent and love beyond what I could hope for, mostly by moms, but some of it by people who just care about great writing and reading. It's a literary magazine for parents to take the place of the closing-down Brain, Child, and to also be something more; one issue a year will be devoted to pregnancy and childbirth, creating the only regular venue for truly literary writing about pregnancy. Funding ends July 2.
• Yankers, time- and stress-saving baby clothes. These adorable and sensible baby clothes are the brainchild of Rosalee Rester, a mom whose funny Babywit was the stuff of consumer lust when I first became a parent. She's back with "stylish, modern, all-in-one outfits designed with a unique and simple pull down panel in the back. This panel allows easy access to your baby's diaper without having to deal with any snaps or fasteners." I love innovation like this; it's exactly the sort of thing a Mom VC would back. Funding ends July 13.
• Dark and Light, a love story for babies. This board book series was created by sweet Portland mom Shasta Kerns Moore, one of whose twin sons has cerebral palsy. The book "is an elegantly simple board book aimed at very young children. The pictures are straight-forward enough that babies can follow along while adults can consider the wider implications of the story's metaphors." Funding ends June 27.

Now that summer is out and outdoor recreating is in (not that it was ever "out"), we find multi-use paths packed with walkers, runners, bikers, starting-to-bikers, toddlers, roller-bladers, skateboarders, dogs, squirrels, birds, and many other users.  There are clusters of middle- and high-schoolers, there are amblers with headphones on, there are darting animals, children.  Bodies travel at different paces - fast, slow, medium, stopped.  On a warm weekend day, the multi-use path can be an obstacle course.

Even the widest of paths aren't as wide as a car lane (11-12 feet across).  More typically, the path might be 7 or 8 feet across, just enough for two way cross traffic in single file.  Collisions and brushes with others can be frequent if you are walking/riding/skuuting 2+ abreast.  Weaving in and out of bodies takes skill, whether on foot or wheels.

How do we encourage the kids to "share the path" responsibly, reasonable?  My tips include:

• walk/ride to the right, always.
• 2+ abreast is ok, so long as there is no oncoming traffic
• "single file!" is what I utter loudly when we spot oncoming traffic, and my kids immediately pull ahead of me and I drop to the rear position, and we will go in single file to allow enough width for passing
• use the bell!  whether on a scooter, bike, jogger: we ring, ring from a distance behind and call "on your left" as we pass
• ride straight, as much as possible, unless you are on a super-wide path.  
• for the learning pedalers, learning scooters: walk/ride behind, to be able to call out and ask the little ones ahead to stop, pull to the side, or ride as straight as possible.
• be defensive.  as with driving, we have to anticipate the unexpected: a dog on a long leash speeding ahead crosswise along the path, leash obstructing; a toddler darting out from one side of the path to the other, maybe chasing a leaf, squirrel, bird; an early bike-rider swerving considerably as you try to overtake/pass.

With a few close calls in just the past couple of days, I thought I'd collect your thoughts on how we can manage the multi-use paths safely, responsibly, and teach our kids to do the same?