If there is one thing that is universally true about NYC parents, it’s that we care about our children’s education. A lot. Meanwhile, the world is changing fast. Technology and a more global outlook means rethinking the very core of our educational systems. One of the upshots of these changes is a multitude of new learning options. One of the schools that is rocking the educational boat is our sponsor, BASIS Independent School, opening in Red Hook this coming fall.

BASIS was founded by a mother (and educator) and her economist husband in Arizona with the goal of creating U.S. schools that are more on par with the high expectations and substance of the best educational institutions in the world. BASIS.ed now manages 12 schools in Arizona, Texas and Washington D.C., which consistently rank among the best not just in the country, but world over.

BASIS Independent Brooklyn will be a unique offering on the NYC education scene with a STEM-focused curriculum and a model that is somewhere between a charter school and a private school. We interviewed Jill McConnell, the founding Head of School, to find out more about BASIS and STEM education.

It's official... an official snow day that is. On Saturday, January 4, the Parks Department is inviting New Yorkers to come out to a neighborhood park for some winter fun. White-capped hills around the city are open for sledding, snowman-making and more. And at five designated locations, the Parks Department will be handing out sleds and free hot chocolate while supplies last from 11am to 3pm.

Whenever I need recommendations on what to buy, I turn to my friends at Cool Mom Picks. Liz Gumbinner and Kristen Chase, the founders of Cool Mom Picks and Cool Mom Tech, know their stuff; especially when it comes to the very best gear, toys and design for stylish kids and their grown-ups. So I'm super psyched that Liz has offered to give us her best tech holiday gift picks specifically for New Yorkers, because, you know, we have special needs.

Check out her great gift ideas that will make anybody's tiny-apartment-living, stinky-subway-commuting, trying-to-stick-to-a-budget please just a little bit better. And then read on because we've got a great giveaway from Target for a Skylanders Swap Force Starter Pack with an Exclusive Target Two-Pack.

The wonderful thing about brunch is that it embodies a sense of luxury and decadence: Waking up late, lingering over indulgent breakfast foods, and sometimes even drinking before noon! But then there’s brunch in NYC, which often includes waiting ages for a table at crowded and noisy restaurants. That may have been fine when you were childless, but now that you have kids, you're just happy if you can eat some eggs and get home without a meltdown. Hitting a trendy brunch spot and savoring a second cup of coffee is out of the question.

Personally, I’d given up on brunch long ago until a random and fortuitous thing happened. Last fall, I was forced to have breakfast in a hotel and something dawned on me. Hotels are great at breakfast, they are generally kid-friendly and, aside from a few of the famous ones, they never have lines for brunch.

To test my theory, I set out to look for the best hotel brunches with kids in NYC. Over the past six months, I’ve been brunching with my family at hotels all over Manhattan to find out if they really are the special secret I imagined them to be. After months of selfless brunch testing (see the sacrifices I make for you?), the results are in. I’ve discovered some truly off-the-radar brunch spots that you should definitely add to your list. After all, just because you have kids doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the finer things in life—you just need to find the right place to do it.

UPDATE: Our iPhone app is no longer active, but our site is optimized for use on mobile and has maps to find locations near you. You can add it to your home screen too by dragging the URL to your phone. 

Finally, after months of work and lots of reader support, the Mommy Poppins app is now available for download! We're very excited to share it with you and look forward to hearing what you think, too.

We created this app to help families find the best places for kids to learn, create, shop, eat and play indoors and out while on the go in NYC and beyond. You'll find the same curated content that we offer on our site, all tried and tested by local moms so you're in the know before you go.

A very heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated and spread the word about our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that helped ensure that the app could be offered for FREE.

Here are 5 things we hope you'll love about the Mommy Poppins app. Or just go ahead and download it now for FREE in the iTunes app store and decide for yourself what your favorite features are.

It's back-to-school time, when parents heave a joint sigh of relief/groan of pain as they send their kids off to be educated for another year. To help you ease back into the new school routine, we're doing a huge giveaway with back-to-school essentials and swag.

We've got some amazing prizes that you and your children will love. Brand-new bikes, a year's supply of school uniforms and vitamins, backpacks, books, school supplies and more. Click on each link to enter that giveaway. You must enter each giveaway separately to be eligible to win that prize.

There are multiple ways to enter. Plus you can share with your friends to earn even more entries, and spread your entries out throughout the giveaway week. Pay attention, though, because each giveaway ends on a different date. Good luck!

#familytravel

Traveling with a family can be hard. You have to negotiate everyone's needs, children don't always adjust to new surroundings or schedules easily and have frequent and sometimes finicky eating and other needs, and it's just plain expensive. The easiest way to solve many of these problems is to rent a home rather than staying in a hotel. While hotels are lovely, houses give you a lot more room and comfort and amenities that families really need, like a kitchen and possibly laundry, toys, and other kid-friendly gear. Renting a home can be less expensive than a nice hotel, but it could also be costly. One way to get all the comforts of a home without the expense is house swapping. I'm a big fan of house swapping and have done several vacations this way. House swapping is more than a form of accommodation, it's a way of life. Here's what I love about traveling this way: