How do you handle an ill-behaved, nose-picking younger brother? If anybody should know it's Edwina Spoonapple, a girl from Paw Paw Michigan who performs a musical advice column from her garage. Such is the set-up of the DR2 Kids Theater's production of Dear Edwina. The situation reminds me of my favorite Judy Blume stories from childhood and the storytelling of Dear Edwina is just as vivid and fun as those books are. Add the terrific music and you have the best of childrens' theater.

Our new 2009 Summer Camp Guide is up with over 70 New York City Day Camps, Suburban Day Camps, Sleep Away Camps, and Camp Services. Whether you're looking for a program for your preschooler for a couple of days a week, a week-long program to explore a special interest like science, the arts or a favorite sport, looking to stay in the city, or bus them out for some country air every day, or even a great sleep-away camp, we've got lots of great camps for you to choose from. Check it out.

Over the weekend a few things crossed my mind.  Primarily, at nine years late, should I completely abandon the idea of getting my wedding gift thank-you cards written?  The answer I’ve come to is yes.  Yes I am a shmuck, and yes I should give up the guilt.  But then I ran into this website that has the very coolest stationary and back story (which I’m guessing is fiction?  I hope?) And I really love the cards.  Maybe I’m digging these enough to send out the nine-year late cards?  Naaaaah.  But I will pick some up for future use, for I am older and wiser and more socially apt.   

After finding this treasure, I also found out that the way my husband parents our child is not completely wrong, I found out how to deal with my son being bullied, I found out some simple tricks I can use to pretend I’m awesome in the kitchen, and I continued to mourn Lux Interior.  Wanna see?

Yes, keeping the romance alive with your spouse is important even after you have kids, sometimes more so. But, I've never been a big fan of the forced romance of Valentine's Day. We love celebrating Valentine's Day with our kids, who get much more pleasure out of chocolates and flowers than I ever have.

Our tradition starts the night before when my husband cuts paper hearts out of construction paper and sprinkles them all over my daughter's bed and bedroom floor while she sleeps so that she wakes up to a sea of love. And the day concludes with the four of us enjoying a candlelit picnic of delicacies spread out on the floor of our living room. Again, our kids love the romance and I think we have our own kind of romantic moment from being a young family all happy together.

Plan your own romantic Valentines Day dinner for four at home and make it even more magical by not having to lift a finger. Susie's Supper Club is a new service that will deliver a complete dinner ready to heat up and serve. Not only is the food delicious, but it is much healthier than restaurant food, made from organic ingredients purchased from local farms practicing sustainable farming.

Do you have a parenting story to tell?  Click to find out how to share your story and possibly have it reenacted by Megan Mullally and Cheryl Hines.  Also:  where to share your secrets and read other peoples', stuff we already knew now backed up by science, new information on Breast Cancer and don’t miss this year’s award winning books. Do it!

I think the holiday hang-over is finally over and the family events machine is gearing up again. This weekend there are too many great events to list so make sure to check our calendar for lots more fun activities we just couldn't get to here. But, below are some super winter festivals, kids day at the comic conference, free museum programs and stay tuned. Later in the day I have some cool film events to share.  

Confession #1: Children’s shows typically bore me to tears. Yes, even my own children’s school productions. Get them up, get them on, then get me out. Add my children’s short attention spans and tendency to sigh and squirm excessively throughout performances and you get the picture of our typical family theater outing. So it was with great trepidation that I ventured to TADA Youth Theater with my five- and three-yr old daughters for a child-actor only production, “Golly Gee Whiz!”. Much to my surprise, not only did the show command the undivided attention of every child in the audience, but (confession #2) all of us, repeat ALL of us, thoroughly enjoyed the show.

(Keep reading for a special offer from TADA!)

Got a note from Emmanuel who wanted to know about Winter Vacation Camps so we rounded up some cool ones. There are vacation camps for every kid from preschoolers to teenagers with lots of variety; science camps, arts camps, sports camps, even a week-long skiing and sleep away camp in the Berkshires. Cool.