What a week! The winter snow has been sparkling and shining a little brighter, the sun seems to be sending more warmth (and not in a bad Global Warming way, but a nice winter cool way). But even as the world seems to be humming at a more positive frequency, there are still major issues.  Things like trying to get your kids to school on time, finding a nice place to eat with the kids, and obviously the bane of the NY mother’s existence, the stroller vs. staircase showdown.  Figure it all out with me after the jump!

Just had a baby? About to have a baby? Thinking about having a baby? Thinking about thinking about having a baby? If you answered yes to any of the above you should come to the New Parents Expo and Family Fun Day this weekend being hosted by NY Family and Big City Moms.

At the Expo you'll find out about children's clothes, Mommy & Me classes, nursery furniture & accessories, stroller and car seats, family photographers, baby announcements, day care and nanny services, baby supplies, Birthday venues, School experts, more...and guess what? It's all free! And guess what else? I'll be there at my little Mommy Poppins table doling out irreverent advice and talking people down. Come say hi!

I'm also going to be doing a great giveaway of items from Giggle:

What an amazing week so far.  With a day of service followed by a day of change, do you feel any different?  No doubt if you’re on the East Coast, you still are feeling the cold (C’mon West Coast ladies, don’t taunt us with your 80-degree weather.  That’s just not fair.)  Today, there are still great ideas you may not have explored for indoor activities, perhaps including painting your son’s room pink?  Or how about a Reading Party?  Also, we can’t help but include some inaugural coverage including President Obama’s letter to his daughters.  The sweetness is after the jump.  Do it!

Choosing a summer camp is always a complicated algorithm of deciding between myriad choices: day or sleep away camps, staying in the city or sending the kids to the country, all-around or specialized sports, arts or science camps...but this year there is another factor that is weighing heavily into family summer planning and that is finances.

One thing that can help making a decision about summer camp easier is going to a camp fair. There are four Camp Fairs coming up. At the upcoming New York Family Camp Fairs you'll find over 40 day and sleep-away camps represented for kids from preschools to teens. You can meet camp directors, ask them your questions and get a feeling of the camp's personality, plus get information and applications all in one place. Believe me, that's a lot easier than calling each camp individually to request their cheesy video brochure (you'll plenty of those at the camp fair too).

Raise your hand if you learned to read from The Electric Company...So many of us did. Now Sesame Workshop is bringing The Electric Company back with a whole new updated and revamped show complete with some of our favorite bits, like phonetic silhouettes and celebrity guest stars. I have to confess that I watched the preview segments myself and thought ,well, let's say that they didn't live up to my youtube enhanced memories of the classic Electric Company. But what do I know? I'm old. So I didn't dismiss it without letting my kids weighing in...

Soul of Shaolin is a spectacular performance by the troupe that opened the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the first production from the People's Republic of China to Ever appear on Broadway. Part circus, part martial arts demonstration and part Peking Opera, held together by a simple—and not entirely necessary—plot, Shaolin is one amazing feat of acrobatics after another, with swords flashing, spears rattling and a little dancing thrown in.

In third grade something amazing happened. All of a sudden my daughter graduated from reading books that seemed to be written for the sole purpose of teaching kids to read, and started reading some really good children's literature. Some of her favorite books this year have been from the Inkheart series: Inkheart, Inkspell and Inkdeath, by Cornelia Funke.

Inkheart, is a fantasy fiction story about a girl whose father has the ability to read people in to and out of books which obviously goes all wrong and sets them off on an adventure of a lifetime. As my daughter puts it, "It's scary enough that you want to keep reading to the next chapter, but not so scary you have nightmares." But, what she loves most about these books was that the stories are all about books, with lots of clever references to other favorite books.

Inkheart is a child booklover's book that keeps its readers engrossed for the full 560 pages and on through the next books, which are just as long.

They have just made a movie out of Inkheart which will be in theaters on Friday, January 23, 2009. I hope it's good otherwise there are going to be a lot of very disappointed Inkheart fans.

Happy Martin Luther King Day. Whether you're working or home with the kiddos, here's all the news that's (probably not) fit for print. Ever wonder what would happen if you named your kid something crazy, like, say Adolf Hitler? One family in NJ just found out. Plus, facing the velvet rope at a nightclub as a mother, scientists who are experimenting on their own kids, indoor alternatives to keep your kids from climbing the walls, Uncle Mexico wants you, and which sex toy is right for you?  Jump!