This week's most important stories for parents, so you can be the most-in-the-knowiest.

Hard Times. Feeling the money crunch these days? You're not alone. Frugal Dad reports that nearly half of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. And, 25% of all workers reported they save nothing each month. If this is you, check out the post, there are some really good tips on what you need to do to start saving. And by the way its not just the little people, according to the Times, this week saw "one of the most dramatic days in Wall Street’s history" with major companies like Lehman Brothers seeking bankruptcy protection.

Financial Planning for Toddlers. With all this bad news, its a good idea to teach little ones the values of saving now.

Sometimes the streets of NYC can be the most magical place in the world. This will become true for the next nine days when Bhutanese ritual dancers will be appearing throughout the city every day to perform their mesmerizing ancient Tantric Buddhist demon subjugation dance, called Cham. The elaborate costumes of the 13 monks who will be performing are enough to make this event spectacular, but the performance, a kind of danced yoga, makes this a once in a lifetime occurrence.

Bhutan is a tiny, secretive and isolated kingdom in the Himalayas, with very little outside influence and extremely limited tourism is allowed, making the opportunity to see the Bhutanese monks dancing on the streets of our city, for free, an absolutely not to be missed opportunity.

[UPDATED: August 17, 2012]

Whether you want to preserve your heritage, develop your child's brain, or prepare them for the eventual Chinese world dominance, there are many foreign language playgroups in New York City, ready to help you out. Studies show that even brief, regular exposure to a foreign language at a young age can help your child's ability to pick up languages later in life as well as developing their ability to think abstractly and to focus.

Here are some foreign language playgroups to try out: