You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.--Pablo Neruda

The cherry blossom petals flutter like the beats of your heart, racing with the expectation of another season. Spring. The one that doesn't let you  forget that it's a fresh start. Brimming with memories of past warm evenings spent around cafe tables, on picnic blankets, in stadium seats, strolling in the city well-past the kids' bedtime, just taking in the heady newness of this, the best season. Fortunately NJ feels the same way, so there are lots of wonderful things to do, like running with your coat off and shedding the winter blahs. And in honor of my dad, who spends winter forlornly waiting for pitchers and catchers to report to spring training: The true harbinger of spring is not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of the bat on the ball.--Bill Veeck

If you’re planning a child’s birthday like I am, you know the sense of responsibility that comes with the choice you make. After all, a child’s 4th birthday only comes around once. Got to make it special! Special you shall! There are plenty of arts and crafts options if you are looking to have somebody else host your child’s birthday party. I found some that will host your party and others that will come to you. Either way, your little one will have a special day to remember. Check out what I’ve found for arts and crafts parties in New Haven County.

We had an awesome time last Saturday at our live baby chicks portrait sessions at Big Apple Portraits. And we were really impressed by how gorgeous our readers are (the kids were cute, too). Though the photo shoot is over, Easter fun is just beginning. There are a slew of egg hunts in NYC throughout the month as well as plenty of Easter activities in Connecticut, New Jersey and on Long Island. Meanwhile St. Patrick's Day is this Sunday and there are lots of ways to celebrate throughout the tri-state area this weekend, including parades in NYC and a way over yonder.

Have you looked at our NYC Birthday Party Guide lately? We've added a lot of new posts over the past few weeks, including info on indoor swimming pool parties, our top ten party places in the Bronx and Queens, and Brooklyn gym parties. If you're planning a vacation not a birthday, be sure to check out our Travel site. We recently reviewed the Mountaintop Lodge at Lake Naomi in the Poconos and rounded up farms where families can stay overnight near NYC.

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

Last week NYC Department of Education Chancellor, Dennis Walcott, hosted a live webinar to discuss changes to the Common Core State Standards and the New York State ELA and Math Assessments in 2013. The Chancellor stated that the tests have been reformulated and will be quite a bit harder this year because they will assess children on the new Common Core material. Math questions will have multiple parts and require more than one function. For example, students may have a word problem where they first need to add and then multiply in order to solve it. The tests are also moving away from multiple choice questions and within a few years will be completely essay based

My son's fourth grade teacher said that the math segment of the predictive test they took in January was so hard that a few students literally cried. Perhaps in response, it seems their class has done almost nothing except test prep for the past several weeks.

During the Chancellor's webinar, one parent asked why the DOE was putting the Common Core material in the tests this year—why not wait a full year before assessing them on the brand-new material? The Chancellor replied, "We cannot wait to raise our standards," illustrating that his team sees making the tests harder as raising the standard, rather than letting classroom instruction be the measure. I suspect most educators don't consider months of test prep as raising the standards of education. Even some who originally lauded the Common Core are now turning a more skeptical eye toward the assessment-based educational reform.

But as much as we may hate the high-stakes nature of the New York State Assessments, kids have to take them. So my goal here is to help parents navigate the situation our children are facing today. We can call for policy change, but in the meantime, our kids are dealing with these new tests now. As parents, we need to advocate for our children while staying cool and not increasing their anxiety over the tests.

It’s St. Patrick’s Day this weekend!  At Darlings and Divas in Amityville, kids will get into the holiday spirit with a Shamrock Diva Party, complete with festive manicures, makeup, and hairstyling.  In Montauk, The 51st Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade boasts several marching bands along with appearances by Long Island fire departments.  The 25th Annual Glen Cove St. Patrick's Day Parade will offer a mix of marching bands, along with vintage cars, costumed performers, face painters, fire and police units, and more.  In Stony Brook, head on over to the Long Island Museum for its St. Patrick’s Day storytelling program, where you’ll hear stories and songs from around the world, including ones from Ireland.  Also on tap: the Greatest Show on Earth—the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus—will present Built to Amaze at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale. As always, check out our events calendar every day for fun activities for the family!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! There are plenty o' ways to celebrate this weekend beyond Manhattan's big St. Patrick's Day Parade, like more low-key processions in Staten Island and Park Slope, and the Irish Arts Center's annual family open house.

Easter egg hunts are also afoot in Tribeca and Brooklyn. Plus it's a great weekend for family culture: Two new circus shows, Cirque du Soleil's Totem and Bello Mania at the New Victory Theater, make their debuts, Patti Smith narrates Tubby the Tuba with the Little Orchestra Society and the American School of Ballet presents a free dance performance.

These are just a few of the great things going on this weekend. All of our best bets are below. You can find additional options in our Event Calendar.

I'm not Irish and I don't like beer or corned beef, so St. Patrick's Day has always been a non-event for me.  Just another day on the calendar.  However, with kids this holiday takes on a whole new meaning and offers so many new opportunities for fun.  This weekend I (along with the kiddos of course) am going to make my very first Leprechaun Trap.  Yes, that's right, a Leprechaun Trap.  A few short years ago I never knew such a thing existed.  Also on the agenda for Sunday are rainbow cupcakes and a Pinterest inspired craft. 

Last week, we gave you a challenge: Spend 8 minutes each day, for 30 days, on a creative activity with your kids. If you’re like me, this isn’t easy. Then again, a challenge isn’t supposed to be easy, is it?

I’ve had to find creative ways to work creativity into my family’s hectic days, and I’ve discovered a wonderful outlet that achieves multiple goals – food art. From bento boxes to cakes you can draw on, there is no end to fun ways to get creative in the kitchen with your kids. Read on for some of my favorite ideas.