As the mother of a baby and a toddler, I dread taking the kids to the pediatrician's office. When one is under the weather or has a checkup scheduled, it’s a pain to drag the other one along. Plus, I worry about all of the germs they’ll be exposed to.

And when either of them gets sick during the night, I always wish the pediatrician could come on over, just like the doc did on Little House on the Prairie. It's so difficult to diagnose what's wrong over the phone.

That’s why I was very intrigued when I found out about Dr. Edward Kulich, a New York City pediatrician who only does house calls. So when I noticed my 10-month old was showing signs of pink eye, I gave him a call.

When I was a kid I loved being outside. My mom lived on a farm and my brothers and I spent many a summer getting lost in the cornfields, and locked in the chicken coop. (That last one was just me.) But  upon the discovery of gossip magazines and teen angst, I decided that hot, sweaty, buggy, cold, windy, mild, sunny, rainy, snowy, overcast, undercast, sideways weather was just not for me, and I broke up with the outdoors. Inside and I had a good time, but eventually Central Park and picnics called me back outside, and then I camped. I slept outside. I even had fun, despite the torrential rain. And then I had children, who should really come with a warning: MUST NOT BE KEPT INSIDE ALL WEEKEND. PRONE TO SELF DESTRUCTION. So, we hike. (And camp, but that's another story. Stay tuned.)

As of 2012, it seems like the cooperative is no more. However, Sunnyside Ballet has moved to a new larger space.

Here in Sunnyside, Queens, just steps away from the 40th Street-Lowery Street stop on the 7 train, is a lovely little studio for kids' dance and theater classes. The name of the Sunnyside Arts Cooperative says it all: It was launched in June 2009 by several moms, all working arts professionals, who wanted to share their expertise with neighborhood families.

Their vision is paying off. One of the founders, Catherine Lutton Espinosa—a former performer with the Martha Graham Dance Company who teaches creative movement and is also studying for her master's in early childhood development at Hunter—says that not only the kids are learning, the moms are, too.

Read on for an inside look at this unique community spot.

Who doesn't like a birthday party ... especially when the birthday girl weighs 3,000 pounds and gets her own two-week celebration? Kids of all ages will enjoy the party being thrown for Button the Hippo's 14th birthday at Adventure Aquarium. The two-week celebration—running from April 16th through May 1st—has something for everyone to enjoy.

Earth Day is fast approaching but as they say, shouldn't every day be Earth Day?

In the spirit of that statement, the National Wildlife Federation has teamed up with Nickelodeon, TheMotherhood.com and other bloggers (including Mommy Poppins!) to get the word out about B Kind 2 Earth Day, which encourages everyone to do something nice for the planet on Earth Day and beyond. 

But you don't have to wait until April 22 to start: Grab the brood, head outdoors and reconnect with our fantastic planet today and all year long. If you feel inspired, make your pledge to do something kind for the Earth on the B Kind 2 Earth Day Facebook page.

There's something huge at the American Museum of Natural History, and I'm not talking about the Blue Whale. I'm referring to the groundbreaking new exhibit The World’s Largest Dinosaurs, which is sure to be a big hit with amateur paleontologists young and old. This fascinating show focuses on the supersized sauropods, and goes beyond dusty old bones to examine these giants as the living creatures they once were.

This exhibit isn’t about when but how these animals lived and thrived for 140,000 years. Their story is told in different sections, each with kid-friendly interactives and tons of models, which delve into the physiology and biology of these enormous creatures. We explored the exhibit last week, and you won’t want to miss this innovate spotlight on the sauropods.

Have some power struggles in your family? Kids wearing you out? You wearing them out? Enter the lovely and down-to-earth Susan Stiffelman, author of Parenting Without Power Struggles: Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids while Staying Cool, Calm and Connected. Ms. Stiffelman is a licensed Marriage, Family and Child counselor, an Educational Therapist, and Parent Educator. She's also a teacher. And a mom. A mom to a college student, which means that she raised a child to adulthood without killing him or having a nervous breakdown. This alone would give her the authority to speak on the topic at hand, but, oh, there's so much more.

Is everybody ready for spring break? We know your kids are. Public-school students are off from Saturday through Tuesday, April 26 and it's certainly an eventful time. Passover kicks off the evening of Monday, April 18, and Easter follows on Sunday, April 24. In between, we celebrate our planet on Earth Day, which falls on Friday, April 22. No need to wait until the official dates; you can hunt for eggs, munch on matzo and honor Mother Nature this weekend and all spring break long. 

There are lots of non-holiday activities too. We've rounded up awesome (and inexpensive) things to do over spring break as well as some cool camps. The Tribeca Film Festival is hosting free "drive-in" movies and there are exhibits to explore, concerts to rock out to, shows to see, fairs to attend and other spring fun.

Break is the perfect excuse to finally take a day or weekend trip, or just hit another borough or cross a nearby bridge. So read on to see what else we covered this week on Mommy Poppins in NYC, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut.