The first weekend of March is living up to the cliché that the month comes in like a lion, since it is packed with Spring-welcoming holidays Holi and Nokour (don't forget this weekend is the big , colorful Pagwah Festival!); a free children's gardening workshop; a Dr. Seuss Birthday Party; St. Patrick's Day Parades in Queens and Staten Island; and cool crafts, music and museum, and Shakespeare events. Read on and plan your weekend!

Most commonly known as a drinking holiday, St. Patrick’s Day is usually a time to lock the kids in your house. But not this year! Queens has one of the largest Irish communities in NYC and there are some great parades and classes to look into even before the actual holiday. Here is the skinny:

One of the really great things about New York CIty is having all these cultures living here together. And by far the most fun way to experience them is through food. From food carts to family friendly restaurants, dining out on ethnic foods is delicious, fun and educational.  

One of my favorite ethnic food experiences, and probably one of the most interesting restaurant experiences for kids is Korean barbecue. Korean barbecue has a couple of things going for it that make it a favorite for both me and kids:

When I was a little kid we lived near what we called Abingdon Square Park and is now called Bleeker Park, the playground on 7th Avenue in the West Village. It was a great park and the main feature was a giant concrete boat that we would climb on, tunnel under, jump over and in general inspired many imaginative games. The concrete boat is long gone now and I can only imagine that some kid smashing their face into it one too many times hastened its end.

Now most NYC playgrounds look pretty much the same: generic climbing equipment, slides, sometimes swings or a water feature, but a new playground in Union Square definitely breaks the mold for NYC playgrounds.

If I had to give one piece of advice to a new parent in NYC, or anywhere for that matter, it would have nothing to do with stroller choice or sleep schedules. It would be to find a parents group and find it fast.

Being a new mother (or father) in NYC can be surprisingly isolaing. There's people all around, but it's hard to actually meet other new parents and we need that essential support network of mommy and daddy friends here in the city more than anyone. While there are lots of resrources, from community groups to fee-based classes or clubs, what worked wonders for this Manhattan mom was the internet, specifically Meetup.com.