This is the time of year when parents start worrying about how much their kids will forget over the summer. As the mom of a kindergartner who's starting to read on his own, I want to make sure that he continues to leaf  through—and more importantly, love—books. That's why I'm signing him up for Summer Reading.

On Thursday, June 9, New York City’s three public library systems launch the 2011 edition of this wonderful annual program. Since all public school students have that day off, they can attend one of many free kick-off celebrations and sign up for the program, which tracks kids' consumption of books, music, DVDs and video games.

Read on (or better yet, have your kids do it) for the info on Thursday's fetes, and how your children can get in on this summer-long tradition.

Hot enough for you? It's hard to believe that less than six months ago we were enjoying snow days. Now we have 80-plus degree temperatures and hurricane warnings.

The upside to summer seemingly arriving early is you can start enjoying warm-weather activities, like beaches, sprinklers and boat rides. Plus, looks like we have clear skies for all of the incredible fairs and festivals taking place this weekend.

And that's just a bit of what's going on. Here's what we covered this week on Mommy Poppins in NYC, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut.  

June. Ahhh… The end of car pools, coats and homework crying fits. The beginning of summer, when the memory-making feels almost visceral. The gluttonous gorging on strawberries; gleeful races to the sea foam; the tucked up legs in the freezing movie theater, and yes, the management of a tremendous amount of wet towels. This weekend kicks it all off with good eats, nature-time, sea life (human and animal), and even some beary nice theatre. Welcome, summer. I feel nostalgic already.

We realize that every weekend we say there are so many amazing events, you'll have trouble deciding what to do. But this Saturday and Sunday, you'll truly wish you had the ability to clone yourself, especially with all the fairs and festivals going on.

A lot of the fun takes place in our city's wonderful green spaces. Washington Square Park welcomes the World Science Festival Street Fair, Tompkins Square Park goes arty with the Howl! Festival and Madison Square Park throws its annual Spring Kids Fest.

There are also two fabulous free trolley tours in the Bronx. On Friday evening, you can catch the City Island Seaside Trolley and on Saturday the Bronx Culture Trolley celebrates Puerto Rican pride with stops at various Mott Haven art spots and a community festival.

Other highlights include Gustafer Yellowgold in concert, the Central Park Zoo debut of Dora & Diego’s 4-D Adventure, the return of Frogs: A Chorus of Colors at the American Museum of Natural History and so much more. Plus, since it's the first weekend of June, many museums offer free admission times.

Read on for our best bets for the weekend, and remember, the Mommy Poppins Event Calendar contains even more options. Have a great weekend!

Strawberries, festivals, turtles and the discovery of body odor are just some of the fun and exciting events we have lined up for you. Variety is definitely the word for the weekend! If the word body odor threw you for a loop, read on to see why it’s included in this post. You’ll be pleasantly surprised! Whatever you choose to do this weekend, we wish you a happy and exciting one.

Your kids want to try fencing because they idolize Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, and you want them to study it because you heard that it looks great on a college application.

But enrolling your kid in a fencing class has many more practical benefits. It's fantastic exercise, and helps kids improve their agility, concentration and decision-making skills. Plus, fencing often attracts kids who aren't into more traditional sports, since it depends more on strategy and skill than athletic ability.

We've rounded up six great NYC schools for your aspiring swashbuckler, most of which offer reasonably priced introductory packages that help you decide whether your kid's ready for a long-term commitment. En guarde!

^{As a single mother of twin boys who are both diagnosed with PDD-NOS (AUTISM SPECTRUM) and ADHD, I have had my share of “almost to the point of having a mental breakdown” moments over the past five and a half years.  Some people say when they found out their children had an Autism Spectrum Disorder that they went through the five states of grief.  Not me.}

I was never in denial, never angry that the life I had planned for them was never going to happen, never tried to bargain with a “higher power” to make my children “typical”.  I never became grief-stricken over the loss of the quiet, polite, exceptionally smart children I thought I was going to have.  I jumped right into the “acceptance” stage and went into SuperMommy mode.  Juggling almost 36 hours of early intervention each week, washing clothes, cooking, cleaning, and caring for my boys – alone – was completely overwhelming.  But I did it….. with some regrets.  My biggest one was not seeking out support from other individuals who were going through the same thing I was. For those of you facing the most challenging, yet most amazing experience of your life – raising a child with Autism – get support. Seek out those who can understand your grief and frustrations and share with you their joys and accomplishments.  You won’t regret it!

Summer is here and many will begin retreating from the city in search of nature and the idea of peaceful living. Some of us have made the rural lifestyle a full-time affair here in Connecticut while others of us just dream about it (okay, or have nightmares about it). But seriously,  how do some of these working parents end up with chickens and sheep living on their property? Well, we've got the inside scoop. Watch out, it just might inspire you to add a chicken or two to the family.

Karen and Elliott Davis live in Washington, CT with their lovely young son and daughter. Step by step they have created New Leaf Farm right outside their back door.

1) What were you before becoming interested in having a mini-farm on your property and what inspired you to do so?
Both of us work at full time jobs; however, it has been a life long passion to connect more with our land and with our food, which inspired us to find our "inner farmers".

2) What is living and growing on your land right now?
Two years ago, we started with an assortment of 25 heritage chickens that we are raising organically, we then established a flock of Icelandic sheep; this year we started making maple syrup from our own trees and have also started raising honeybees and will plant 50 organic old-world cider apple trees.

3) Are the kids into it and do they help out with the care-taking?
Our kids have enthusiastically taken to these projects- from caring for the animals which encompass many chores, to the marketing of the products,  They are learning the value of hard work and making their own money.  Their responsibilities include gathering and delivering the eggs, feeding the sheep, boiling and bottling syrup etc and having to discuss the benefits of our products and making change with customers.