There's no denying that the holiday season is a magical time for families in NYC. It also tends to be quite expensive. From beloved annual attractions like the New York Botanical Garden's Holiday Train Show to special kids' shows like Jim Henson's Dinosaur Train—Live to posing for family photos for your holiday card, everything seems to designed to plunge you in to debt, and that's not even counting all the presents you need to buy!

That's why we're particularly excited about our latest roundup of great deals for families. Save big on lots of seasonal fun, including the aforementioned Holiday Train Show and Dinosaur Train—Live, (two of our top event picks for November), plus deals on family photo sessions, art, music and dance classes, cool kids' shows and more! Don't wait to take advantage of these great bargains. Deals this good will be gone before you finish those turkey leftovers.

The holidays are just around the corner. What better way to get your kids into the spirit of the season than by bringing them to enjoy some fun-filled and activities? The town of Brookhaven will host several family-friendly holiday-themed activities for you to enjoy! From tree lightings to parades, these holiday activities are guaranteed to spread holiday cheer.

Already feeling some seasonal stress? We hear you. I had a panic attack the other day when I saw that El Museo del Barrio already put its three kings out when Three Kinds Day is in January! While we can't do your holiday shopping for you we can tell you about the best ways to celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah (which overlap next week) and Christmas with kids in NYC, New Jersey, Westchester, Long Island, Connecticut and beyond.

A big thank you to all of our readers who attended our Holiday Photo Event last weekend. (That's my daughter looking deceptively innocent in the Santa pic by Big Apple Portraits above.) If you didn't make it, that's okay since St. Nick is flying into town in just a week on the tail end of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Speaking of the parade, you can get a fantastic sneak peek at the brand-new floats debuting this year on our Facebook page. We've got great pics of Bloomingdale's recently unveiled holiday windows, too.

Outside of NYC, our Boston site posted a wonderful list of picture books about Boston inspired by the one we did a while back about our favorite NYC children's books. The site also has an excellent primer on how to start a babysitting co-op in your community. Closer to home, our Westchester site rounded up the top 25 things to do with kids in Scarsdale and our New Jersey site continued its series on Great Small Towns with a profile of Clifton, NJ. Both destinations make great day trips for NYC families.

Here's what else we covered on the NYC site this week:

It's that time again, New Jersey! Although it seems like Halloween was five minutes ago, we are knee-deep in turkeys, Christmas trees, menorahs, Nutcracker-ing and all the other fun (and hopefully only mildly stressful) things that say "holidays in NJ". Take a peek at our Holiday Guide and find out everything that our state has to offer to max out your holiday spirit. And Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, NJ!

This weekend, celebrate the Long Island Children's Museum's 20th Birthday. Festivities include a birthday party, complete with dance performances, along with a puppet show featuring King Midas. In the mood for some pre-Thanksgiving activities? There's a Turkey Trot in Massapequa, a Native American Feast in Glen Cove, and fun on the farm in Yaphank. Hanukkah is also just around the corner. Check out Thanksgivukkah at the Bernice Jacobson Day School and Camp, along with the Hanukkah Family Day at the Suffolk Y Jewish Community Center. As always, check our events calendar every day for fun activities for the family.

Okay, you've got like maybe a five minute breather before all holidays break loose. You know what I'm talking about. The Thanksgivikkah convergence, in which you must ask your child to channel sublime gratitude while opening the floodgates to eight crazy nights of "me want."  I'm talking about the late-on-the-scene Turkey Day resulting in a shorter than usual shopping season, (though someone might want to tell that to the elves already decorating our local malls). I'm talking about non-stop jingling bells, twinkling lights, and shaking jelly-bowl bellies from now until the new year.

But this weekend, and probably this weekend alone, does not HAVE to be about the holidays. You can celebrate fandom and circus life, toast the Autry on its anniversary, or call me Ishmael with all the other whale-heads reading Moby Dick on the beach.  You can see Disney's Frozen a full five days before the rest of the country. You can dance in your pj's, bust some myths or bust some moves with female mariachis.  You can give thanks, not in a turkeys and pilgrims way, but in a grateful for good health way.

Or you can dive in with both feet and make this weekend an all Hanukkah, getting ready for Christmas, holiday superfun time for the ages. We've got your back either way.

To get you started, here are our favorite picks for the weekend:

Our roundup of events begins tonight, with Brookline’s First Light Festival, one of the holiday season’s kickoff events. Other weekend events include Boston Blink! opening celebration at Faneuil Hall, the Belmont World Film’s Family Festival, a performance of A Little Princess, and the opening of the Boston Frog Ice Skating. Read on for details, and remember that our Events Calendar is filled with many more activities.

Also this week on Mommy Poppins Boston:

• We’ve adding to our Holidays Guide with:
  • holiday tree lightings in Boston;
  • Holiday craft fairs and markets;
  • Thanksgiving recipes from the 1600s that kids can make today;
  • 12 ways for children and families to give this holiday season; and
  • A roundup of places to see A Christmas Carol
• The latest in our Poppins Parents series: Find out how one mom - Amber Bobnar - can make a difference in so many ways.