An old friend bemoaned on Facebook her frustration at not being able to keep her toddler in bed past 4:30 in the morning. Not only does the kid wake her up, but wakes up the younger siblings as well (sounds like a great morning routine!).

If you have an early riser, you've felt her pain. Sleep. It's the one thing a parent just can't get enough of. And the issues never seem to go away, they just change. Just because you had a baby sleeping through the night at 9 weeks doesn't mean you are out of the hot water. As many parents of toddlers will tell you, the issue becomes not getting your kids to sleep through the night, but to keep them in bed past dawn.

Have you ever wondered what is actually in the Ripleys Believe It or Not! Odditorium? We've walked by it so many times and written it off as a tourist attraction (with the price tag to match), but we recently heard they are starting "Extreme Sleepovers" and thought we'd check it out. I didn't expect to care much for it, but found the experience surprisingly interesting. Find out more about this zany museum and it's special events:

Sometimes the MTA takes a while to update their website, so I was pretty excited to spy, recently, a new working elevator at one of my most traveled transit hubs.

Valentine's Day is a holiday I've always had a love-hate relationship with, but considering my husband's love affair with all things Apple, this year I'm turning it over to his mistress to celebrate Valentines Day. It's a good move, really, because Apple seems to have the bases covered this V-Day from free apps to help you plan a special night out, to heart iTunes store gift cards, or even a pretty pink or red iPod Nano and plenty of creative ways to use the technology to make special, memorable Valentines Day Cards and Keepsakes. Read on to find out more about some really cool and creative Valentines Day Gift Ideas.

Oh, and check the Snap This Up section at the top of the home page for a great giveaway! (hint: it's an iPod and you can touch it)

A few interesting articles to share this week about Facebook privacy (you may be surprised what you don't know), the lifelong health benefits of vaccinations, and some quirky New Yorkers who are going without heat. Plus school news about a new school, new program and lots of new playgrounds. And free self-defense classes for teens and FREE movie rentals.

This week there are lots of fun kids concerts being offered by local businesses to help raise money for aid to Haiti. And a bunch of baby and kid stores are donating a portion of their sales to relief efforts also. Take some time to have some fun and do some good at the same time.

Four day weeks always seem the longest, but the good weather has us energized to get out and go this weekend. Read on for where to get your (traditional) groove on, what kids' shows to see, and what concerts are in town (Audra Rox!), Plus make your own stained glass windows, a scavenger hunt in Grand Central, make your own breads, camp fairs, nature tours and more.

No matter what age they are, kids really have good theater in this town. New York City is uniquely set up to provide top quality children’s entertainment, thanks to its host of actors, musicians, puppeteers and storytellers happy to perform for the little ones. Better yet, these productions are created to specifically engage a young child and many of the shows are interactive, usually about an hour in length and generally affordable. If you haven’t taken your child to live theater performance yet, check out this list of shows being performed this winter and get going.