Now that we've put away the winter coats (tentatively), thoughts of warm weather and the many, many school-less days coming are filling our heads. We hope that we can take the edge off with our New Jersey Summer Camp Guide, chock-full of choices from your basic outdoors swim-and-frolic Day Camps to budding thespian Performing Arts Camps, from cool Museum and Zoo Camps to unusual and creative Indoor Camps, and from see-ya-later-mom-and-dad Sleepaway Camps to wonderful Special Needs Camps. Dig right in and see if you can't find the perfect fit for your potential camper. And enjoy the thoughts of sunblock and watermelon, of pools and sports, of warm nights and long days and... well, you get it. Summer.

RATED P: The Musical” is the new SOPAC musical comedy exploring the wonders and lunacy of raising kids from conception to college drop-off. Starring local Broadway veterans, RATED P brings the audience on a hilarious and touching journey of both the joys and the drama of parenthood. Teresa Sellinger interviewed Sandy Rustin, the book/lyrics writer, whose own parenting experience served as the impetus for Rated P. (And keep on reading for a special giveaway for opening night tickets!)

Don't wait for summer to head to the city's zoos. Spring is the perfect time to visit. The animals are friskier in the cooler weather, and the crowds haven't yet hit.

Plus the zoos are bursting with special spring programming. Visit with new baby animals, like the goats at the Central Park Zoo and two new wallabies at the Prospect Park Zoo's recently reopened Australian Walkabout exhibit. The Bronx Zoo is throwing its fantastic Animal Tales Extravaganza festival, featuring costumed characters and other activities. The New York Aquarium just cut the kelp on its Conservation Hall exhibit, where you can marvel at amazing marine life. The Queens Zoo is hosting its first-ever sleepover and has a new Lynx on view.

And that's just a handful of the things that will make you go wild at the zoo this season.

The Connecticut mommy poppins calendar lists fun things to do each day of the week. However, we've assembled the weekend lowdown so you can get a step ahead on your social calendar. Looking for something fun and different? The 13th Annual Pawcatuck River Duck Race will be held in downtown Westerly-Pawcatuck. The Pawcatuck River will be filled with approximately 20,000 yellow rubber duckies all racing toward the finish line. In Milford, It's everything kites at the 4th annual Milford Living Kite Fly where the ConnectiKiters join in with their dazzling kites and astonishing dips and twirls at Walnut Beach.

Justin Bieber may travel with a personal stylist, but when it comes to kids’ haircuts, the rest of us are fated to find a salon that won’t elicit screams of terror and battles of will.  Lucky for you, we’ve rounded up a group of the best New Jersey children’s hair shops–places that not only cater to kids, but coddle them with treats, video games, race car chairs and HDTV— a far cry from the buzzcut-only barber shops of our day! We've even found a few that have accomodations for special needs kids to make their haircut less traumatizing. Oh, and remember to grab a trimming from the sweepings as a keepsake–Bieber’s lock just sold on Ebay for $40,668.–and hey, you never know who’ll be bidding on your future star’s hair in the future!

Whenever the weather starts warming up, I immediately think of Bob Marley. I hear your collective, “huh?” but let me explain. I am a music maven. I associate specific songs and artists with everything from seasons to subway stations. (The 72nd Street 1-2-3 stop has Vampire Weekend all over it).

When my daughter was born, music took on an even more important role in my life. I love introducing her to all of my favorite tunes, and finding new bands for us to shake our booties to.

As you can imagine, we go to a lot of concerts, and I'm particularly excited about the lineup at the third annual Kindiefest in Brooklyn, a music conference that highlights cool kids' bands. Organized by bigwigs involved with the genre, (which now goes way beyond Dan Zanes), most of the con is industry only. But it caps off with an amazing, open-to-the-public concert on Sunday, May 1 at noon at Littlefield in Boerum Hill. Kiddie music queen Elizabeth Mitchell and You are My Flower headlines the show, and the Verve Pipe, Aaron Nigel Smith, Oran Etkin, Heidi Swedberg, and Tim and the Space Cadets are also on the program. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door, and babies are free.

Reading about all of these music makers, I started thinking about my favorite local kids' groups. No surprise that we have a lot of great ones, since NYC is such a rockin' town. Here are my top five Big Apple bands for kids and families.

Eliza, a mother of 3 living in Litchfield County, had an inspirational moment one day while grocery shopping. Tired of the usual meatballs, burgers and Bolognese rotation, she has begun a quest to cook authentic ethnic meals from a different region each week. Last week was India, this week Spain and next week will be Israel. 

With several family birthdays requiring special favorite dishes, I was only able to cook two Spanish meals this week but both were delicious.  Similar to all other Mediterranean countries, the Spanish cuisine has two basic elements- olive oil and garlic.  

My daughter loves all things feline, so I was thrilled to take her with me to preview this film (opening today). She was hoping for adorable lion cubs and I was hoping for a great story, awesome cinematography and thrills/chills. I’m glad to report that Disney did not disappoint either of us.  “African Cats” is a beautiful and moving documentary about the love of (cat) mothers for their (kitty) children. The expression “she’s like a mother lion” will make a lot more sense once you’ve seen “African Cats”.