My oldest son was four-years-old before we figured out that his constant coughs, colds and bronchial infections were being caused by food allergies. Once we removed the offending items from his diet, he became a different child (though the hearing loss he suffered as a result of us not catching his condition sooner remains to this day).

Because of my own experience, I always urge parents whose kids suffer from mysterious maladies to get them tested, and then follow the prescribed dietary guidelines to the letter. Whether your child has a major issue like Celiac disease or a minor sensitivity, you'll want to be vigilant about what they put into their mouths—but that doesn't mean you'll have to cook every meal from scratch yourself. In New York City, many restaurants are able to accommodate guests with a variety of food allergies. Today, we've rounded up our favorite NYC eateries that offer a wide range of gluten-free dishes and are also kid-friendly, so affected members of your family can eat their cake (and pasta and pizza) and digest it, too.

Those folks in other cities who think that LA's version of history and culture consists of Disneyland and beach volleyball - do they know that two of the nation's 13 presidential museums are here in the LA area? That we live in a hotbed of presidential history hosting more presidential libraries than Washington DC and New York City combined? 'Cause they are, and we do. If you haven't yet reached this item on our 100 Things To Do with LA Kids list, we're happy to give you a sneak preview of what awaits at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda.

With the last of our Tootsie Pops headed out the door from Halloween, we are looking ahead to Thanksgiving.  The New Haven area has a variety of interesting, fun and kid-friendly holiday events…so we’ll be hopping on the Merritt Parkway and heading to New Haven for some Thanksgiving fun!

Not so long ago, it was every kid's dream to join the circus. Times may have changed, but never fear: the circus is alive and well and raising its tent across Southern California. We spent an afternoon under the Circus Vargas tent this week, and because we believe in dreams, we'll be sharing the fun and sending one lucky Mommy Poppins subscriber family to the circus, too (details to follow in our weekly newsletter).

It's felt like the Hurricane Sandy show (with a brief cameo by an unnamed nor'easter) for the past few weeks and—aside from seeing people come together to help those in need, which has been inspiring—we haven't liked it one little bit. While our New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut sites are back up and running, our Long Island site is still dormant due to lack of power for our bloggers. It's a tricky balance to strike right now: Those of us who can are trying to get back to our normal routines, but we can't help but think about those who lost their homes or loved ones. We encourage you to continue to help victims of the storm in any way you can. We here at Mommy Poppins are planning to host an event to benefit Hurricane Sandy survivors in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for details.

We started gearing up for the holidays this week on our NYC site with a look at the brand-new route for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We've got tips on where to stand and the balloon inflation the night before. Meanwhile our Connecticut site shared the best Thanksgiving activities in Fairfield County, including details on Stamford's big parade. If you're wondering what to do on Monday when NYC public schools are closed in observance of Veterans Day, we've got lots of ideas in our weekend events roundup, including info on some holiday camps in case you can't afford to take the day off from work. We also have a great roundup of fall deals on kids' entertainment, home cleaning and more.

Here's what else we covered on our NYC site this week:

Long Island is slowly trying to get back to normal (as much as it can) following Sandy (for ways you can help, click here), and you'll find events and activities slowly coming back. This weekend you'll find a DIY rocket workshop at the Children's Museum of the East End, a drumming workshop at the Long Island Children's Museum, ImaginOcean playing at the NYCB Theatre at Westbury, and Disney on Ice at Nassau Coliseum. Plus, the weather is supposed to warm up a bit to melt all that snow out there....

Long Island suffered a devastating blow in the wake of super storm Sandy, and parts of the area are still struggling to recover. It doesn’t help that in the aftermath, temperatures have dipped into the 30s and lower and now to add insult to injury, a blanket of snow is covering the ground. There are still tens of thousands of Long Islanders without power and far too many who have been left homeless by the storm. Following are just a few ways you can help. Additionally, nearly every municipality and church has organized some kind of relief effort. Give your local town or village, community center, or church a call to ask what you can do to help. And if you know of an organization in need of volunteers and/or donations, please do share in the comments section below.