This week's hot tips and important stories for parents, so you can be the most-in-the-knowiest.

The Mommy Wars staring Sarah Palin.  Having raised a bunch of debates with her scandal filled life, somehow this gun toting, moose eating, anti-choice woman is suddenly the poster child for working moms. I am all for her exercising her rights to make the choice to go back to work 3 days after having a kid even if I couldn't even get off the couch on day 3 but that don't make me like her. And anyway, in the end it's her politics that we need to watch out for not her mommy style. 

Blogger Susie Bright admits to feeling somewhat sorry for her, she's the latest "photogenic 'spokesmodel' that the GOP specializes in recruiting for jobs that they prefer to be handled by professionals behind the scenes". Vanity Fair reports on the reaction by Urban Baby mommies and it's not good. And for some reason her story inspires movie comparisons - Gawker does a Juno comparison and my favorite, Maureen Dowd's op-ed compares the whole saga to Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality.

The Astroland Amusement Park out at Coney Island is closing its doors forever after this Sunday, September 7, so if you want to get one more tilt-a-whirl ride in now's the time to go. The park will be open 10am to 10pm on Saturday and Sunday. The Cyclone roller coaster will not be closing, however, so hurling by the beach will still be an option. [via NewYorkology]

In other amusement park news...

The school year has started back up and with it comes a whole new wave of fun weekend activities for kids. This weekend is especially packed with cool alternative events especially fun for kids like the River to River Festival's Big Draw, Howl Kidz, The Art Parade and Circus Amok plus some cool street festivals, a county fair in Staten Island and more.

I recently had the opportunity to talk to Clara Hemphill and ask her some questions; I'm happy to be able to share her responses with you. Read on to hear her tips for the one thing you should check out on a school tour, the most important way to be involved in your child's education, and some great schools that don't require top test scores to get in.

This is traditionally the week that competitive preschools open their application process, but more and more parents, tired of vying for the same few spots, are opting out of the preschool rat race and looking to preschool alternatives. At the same time, some dedicated parents are creating their own alternatives by starting co-operative neighborhood preschools.

Preschool is a magical time and a lot of that magic comes from the warm, nurturing, creative environment of the school. Little neighborhood preschools and preschool alternatives, whether started by parents or well established can make the preschool years the most magical ones of all.

10 Year Old Jennifer is THRILLED with her Shark Boat ride.

Shuli, our Shark Boat Giveaway winner, wrote me a nice note saying what a great time her family had on their free Shark Boat ride this Labor Day Weekend. Read about their great day:

Photo Credit: Downtown Express

Reading Downtown Express today, I stumbled on an event too good not to mention, so you're getting an extra post today. The 16th Annual New York City Tugboat Race is this Sunday, August 31st. Tugboats are one of those magical, anachronistic, secret microcosms of NYC that we so often forget about, but the more you learn about them, the more interesting they are.

At 9:30 about 15 tugboats will gather off the waters of W. 44th St and parade up t o 72nd St. where there will be a race and then a "pushing contest." Crews will compete in a line toss competition and there will be spectator competitions too. The event ends at 2pm. Check the Working Harbor Website for details on the the event, schedule, best places to view the events or to purchase tickets for a spot on the spectator boat.

Follow up this event with some Tugboat Children's Books like Little Toot which will paint a rich picture of the life of tugboats on the NYC harbor.

It's officially the last weekend of summer and Labor Day Weekend traditionally means barbecuing with friends. While I don't have a place to barbecue, I'm still in the mood to hang out outdoors and drink some beers with friends, while my kids play nearby. So I gathered up some of the best places to get that same backyard barbecue feeling at one of NYC's outdoor family friendly bars, where you can hang out outdoors with some friends, some beer and chow while our kids hopefully play contentedly in the child-friendly space available.

Here are the best family-friendly outdoor bars in NYC to share a beer with kids (well, don't share the beer with your kids, but you know what I mean):