You're always close to great restaurants when you're in Bay Ridge. It's one of the many reasons we love living here. In fact, there are so many diverse culinary choices, my husband and I have been known to spend the first hour of our date nights strolling up and down Third Avenue before finally settling on a spot, always delicious.

But when we have our four kids in tow, indecisiveness is not an option. They don't want to walk and they want to eat now! Here are my family's top 11 kid-friendly restaurants in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Shopping is mandatory during the holiday season, though its probably the part that kids like the least. They would rather be having fun around town, taking in a performance of the Nutcracker or checking out a cool holiday train display. So what to do when shopping duty calls?

There are a few ways to approach holiday shopping with your children in tow. You've got the twin options of bribery and coercion, or the combination of those two into one for maximum effect. Well how about scouting out the shopping centers with play spaces and entertainment to help make the experience more fun? We've rounded up your best bets for getting loads of shopping done in and around Westchester with kids in tow along with tips for keeping them happy while (or after) you shop!

Is it a holly, jolly Christmas if there isn't a picture with Santa to prove it?  Despite the effort (crinoline, curdoroys, etc.), sometimes inordinate cost and perhaps dark memories of your own (you've seen the Christmas Story, haven't you?), most parents can't resist the lure of a Santa on set, waiting to kindly try and convince your tot he's indeed the greatest guy on the planet.  I speak from experience. I've got a 5-year-old who's finally come around, an almost 3-year-old who would have none of it in 2012 (after two banner years), and a near one-year-old who will, no doubt, freak.  God only knows how this year's pic will turn out ... and therein lies the draw.

There are several spots across Fairfield County where your little ones can whisper in Santa's ear, pretty much every day until Christmas.  Or, you can keep an eye out for one-day Winter Festivals in your local schools -- they often feature a Santa photo op. We've also rounded up the Top 25 Santa Activities in CT. You might want to check that out, too!

It's beginning to look a lot like... well, you know. Over the past week, my daughter and I have been rushing around playing tourist, seeing all of NYC's iconic holiday sights like Santa at Macy's, the spectacular department store holiday windows and the tree at Rockefeller Center. Admittedly, we experienced that last one from the comfort of an MTA bus. We're not crazy enough to try to get close!

Our NYC Holiday Guide includes all kinds of festive fun in the city as well as links to our tri-state-area Holiday Guides. There are some seasonal experiences you can only have outside of the five boroughs, like Polar Express Santa trains and cutting your own Christmas tree.

Since it's a new month, we also posted our December Go Lists highlighting the absolute best things to do throughout the month in NYC, Westchester, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut. The sheer number of activities in December is overwhelming and we hope these Go Lists help you plan out your family's calendar so you don't miss the really special stuff.

And a couple of cool odds and ends: There's still time to enter this week's awesome giveaway: a family-four pack to Sahara Sam's indoor water park in New Jersey. Got a car? Then you may want to plan a night trip to see some of the best holiday displays in the outer boroughs, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut. And our Travel site has a wonderful post about spending Christmas in Dublin, Ireland.

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

Welcome to the first weekend in December. Explore how Christmas is celebrated in other parts of the world at the Hallockville Museum Farm. Enjoy an interactive holiday program with Johnny Cuomo at the Walt Whitman Birthplace NYS Historic Site. A Christmas parade, complete with lighted floats and costumed characters takes place at the Yaphank Fire Department. The streets of Stony Brook Village Center come alive with caroling, beautifully decorated Christmas trees, and a special visit by Santa. Also on tap: Village Christmas Tree & Menorah Lighting Ceremony in Westhampton Beach, and a Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony in West Babylon. For even more ideas on how to enjoy all that the season has to offer, be sure to check out our Holiday Fun Guide. As always, check our events calendar every day for fun activities for the family. 

Our December calendar continues to fill with free and fun holiday specials, craft fairs, winter festivals, and your pick of wintertime events. The Mass Horticultural Society concludes its Festival of Trees this weekend, and the Concord Museum is decked out for the holidays with its annual Family Trees exhibit. Concerts with Ben Rudnick and Stacey Peasley, plus the opening of Boston Children’s Theatre’s The Velveteen Rabbit are just a few of the great things going on this weekend. Read on for all of our picks. You can find additional options in our Event Calendar and our Holiday Fun Guide.

Also this week on Mommy Poppins Boston:

• Outdoor gift picks to gear up the kids for winter - from our friends and outdoors experts at Appalachian Mountain Club
• Getting your shopping done without the whining - free and cheap indoor entertainment for the kids
• Concord Museum's Family Trees: celebrating children's literature
• Where to see Santa with kids
• The Polar Express arrives in town - all aboard!

Enjoy!

And now it starts. We've had our Thanksgiving turkey and lit our Hanukkah candles, not to mention shopped Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Green Tuesday, and There Must Be Something Left to Buy Wednesday. There's no kidding ourselves: the Christmas season is here and now. Santa Claus has come to town, and he won't leave until he's had a year's worth of breakfasts. (He really likes breakfast.)

Of course, December in LA is more than just Santa Claus. It's holiday lights. It's boat parades. It's Nutcracker upon Nutcracker, and snow, snow, snow. It's also the time of year that our calendar is so jam-packed that our weekly posts can only scratch the surface of the infinite possibilities for family fun. Trust me, though we do our best to highlight the hottest and the coolest, you're going to want to peruse our full calendar to make sure you're not missing a thing.

(Like say a giveaway. Which we might be doing at any time now. Like for instance, right this minute.  And it could be for something awesome. Something princess. Something Disney. Just saying.)

Here are our favorite picks for the weekend, just to get you started...

This first full weekend of December brings with it many holiday events and celebrations for Westchester families, including Christmas tree lightings, holiday fests and more.

Many towns are holding their annual tree lightings including Pound Ridge, Tarrytown, Ardsley, and Bedford Hills. Yorktown is hosting its Annual Lights Parade and Tree Lighting and Chappaqua is having their Holiday Open House and Tree Lighting. Rumor has it that Santa will be visiting most of these festivities.

Stop in to Lasden Park in Somers and Westmoreland Sanctuary in Mount Kisco to make nature-themed ornaments. Westmoreland will also be hosting the Old Timey Handmade Holiday on Saturday where you can make ornaments, soap, candles and wreaths. Philipsburg Manor will be hosting an open house and will be lit by candle lanterns and bonfires.

Visit Philipse Manor in Yonkers for the St. Nicholas Day Celebration and enjoy Dutch musical performances, treats and a visit from St. Nicholas himself. Stop by Sportime USA in Elmsford for Lunch with Santa.

If your family loves art, on Sunday, drop in to the Katonah Museum of Art for Community Portrait Day or visit the Hudson River Museum or the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Arts for Free Arts Day programming. Or if you’re the animal loving family, visit Teatown Lake Reservation and Greenburgh Nature Center to meet the animals.

The holiday train display at Greenburgh Nature Center kicks off on Saturday and all weekend long, Tuckahoe celebrates Winterfest with a tree lighting, Santa and his reindeers, and ice skating.

Read on for our top weekend picks. If you see something that piques your interest, click through to the event listing to view full details. Looking for more options? Be sure to check our Event Calendar for more fun happening this weekend and beyond. Also be sure to check out our December Go List, filled with great events happening all month long!