Anna Fader

Founder & CEO of Mommy Poppins
Anna was born in Park Slope, spent her early years in the West Village. By the time she graduated high school, she had lived in 4 of the 5 boroughs. Growing up in NYC in the '70s meant the streets were her playgrounds. Museums and avant garde music venues were the kid-friendly activities. And living downtown taught her the importance of creating community for families in NYC.

Now, raising her own two children in the city, she tries to create the same sense of magic and community she felt growing up, despite today's more commercialized version of kid-friendly New York.

She started Mommy Poppins in 2007 to share a more artsy, educational, uncommercial, community-oriented vision of raising kids in New York City. Today Mommy Poppins is relied on by millions of families as the authority on the best things to do with kids beyond New York City: from Boston to Philly, Los Angeles, Houston and travel guides for dozens more cities and destinations.

Latest posts by Anna

5 Best Indoor Activities for NYC Kids

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 11/15/2007 - 1:21am

Though the weather doesn't seem like it will ever approach the lows that will force you & your brood inside. It's going to happen! Whether you have a newborn, toddler or school-aged child you're going to be faced with long hours inside this winter. After you have watched every video, played every game & read every book in the house you're going to need to venture outside or risk what I'd like to call M.G.S.C. Disorder better known as "Mommy's Going Stir Crazy".

Here are some ideas on where to go for indoor activities in New York that will be fun for parents as well as children.

Giveaway-a-Thon Winners and More Discounts

Submitted by Anna Fader on Wed, 11/14/2007 - 2:32am

Big news! We have a winner of the Dish's Dish Giveaway. Congratulations to Sally! Sally, you better duck. There's a lot of envious eyes glaring your way. No, seriously. We're all really happy for you. Kind of. ;-)

If you didn't win anything, but are in love with some of the stuff, please do go and try it out for yourself anyway. The DishГўв‚¬в„ўs Dish and Kaboost are both offering Mommy Poppins readers 10% off as added incentive.

Holiday Gift Ideas: Go Publish Yourself

Submitted by Anna Fader on Tue, 11/13/2007 - 1:48am

As the end of the year and the holiday season approaches I start to think of photos. Whether it's realizing that another year has gone by that I haven't organized our photos into albums, or the thought that maybe I should put together some photos of the kids for holiday gifts.

Luckily my friend, Sara, has figured this all out for us already. She recommends a website called blurb.com which can help you turn your photos into albums lickity split. It's great whether you're just getting organized or perhaps making some holiday gift books. Here's what Sara says:

Middle School Muddle Blog Helps NYC Parents

Submitted by Anna Fader on Mon, 11/12/2007 - 2:39am

Don't forget. You have until midnight tonight to enter theГЇВїВЅ Giveaway-a-Thon Finale and win two weeks of dinners prepared for you in your home.ГЇВїВЅ

Many people know about Inside Schools as a terrific resource for parents looking to find information about NYC public schools. It's one of the only places you can find clear, relatively unbiased, anecdotal information about the best NYC public schools from elementary school through high school. The site was created by Clara Hemphill, who wrote the definitive books on NYC schools, New York City's Best Public Elementary Schools and New York City's Best Public Middle Schools.

One of the great things about the website is that they continue to update it and add various features. One new addition is a blog by education writer and fellow parent, Liz Willen. Liz is tracking her own experience as she searches, tours and applies for middle school with her son. She's a veteran. Besides being an education writer, she's been through this before and has an older son at Clinton School for Artists and Writers.

Giveaway-a-Thon Finale: The Dish's Dishes cooks for you

Submitted by Anna Fader on Fri, 11/09/2007 - 4:56am

Congratulations to Sharon who won the Ayumie Horie Pottery Giveaway. It's truly beautiful.

Next up, I've been hyping today's giveaway for a week and a half. I'm super excited about it and I hope everyone else is too.

How many moms have thought, "You know what I really need? A wife."? Probably all of them. While I, of course, have a staff of five (you know, nanny, cleaning woman, chef, Saturday nanny and pet concierge), not everyone is so lucky. But seriously, putting dinner on the table is probably the most challenging part of parenting. It's so much easier to just order in, but that's so expensive and unhealthy.

The Dish's Dish is a new service in New York that is just what every NYC parent needs. The Culinistas at the Dish's Dish will plan your customized menu, do the grocery shopping and prepare a whole week's worth of meals so that all you have to do is come home and heat them up.

Giveaway-a-Thon Day 4: Ayumi Horie Pottery for Kids

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 1:25am

Kelly Randt is our winner of the Mugwaz Fashion Craft Kits. Congrats. Today we have a beautiful piece of pottery to give away and tomorrow is our big finale so be sure to check in.

Did you ever think that some day you would be serving lunch to your kids off Sponge Bob plastic plates? I never did. Wouldn't it be dreamy to have beautiful, but functional real ceramic tableware that you loved as much as your kids did?

Giveaway-a-Thon Day 3: Fun Fashion Craft Kits

Submitted by Anna Fader on Wed, 11/07/2007 - 2:25am

Lots of winners today from yesterday's Prizeapalooza. Evelina won the Kaboost. Rebecca G won the Laughing Pizza concert tickets and CD. And the Blush topless undershirt winners are Izzy's Mama, NeeshaN and Gayle. Thanks everyone who is spreading the word and entering the contests.

And the fun goes on...Today, another great product giveaway created by a local NYC mom. But, before I get into the prizes, a couple of quick notes. Someone brought up the issue of privacy and SPAM yesterday. Be assured, I'm not collecting your email addresses and I wouldn't know what to do with them if I did. You will not get any SPAM from me or any other source when you subscribe to Mommy Poppins or pass a link to a friend through this site.

On the note of subscriptions. If you have subscribed via email, make sure you reply to the verification email in order to activate your subscription. If you can't find your verification email, just resubscribe and reply to the new one.

Now, on to today's giveaway!

What is a Mugwaz? They're really fun fashion craft kits. Kids can create their own fashion accessories from flip flops to bags to belts. The kits are easy enough for preschoolers, but cool enough for tweens and the packaging is almost as much fun as the kits with cute cartoons all over that are fun to read.

Giveaway-a-Thon Day 2: Prizeapalooza

Submitted by Anna Fader on Tue, 11/06/2007 - 2:24am

The response to yesterday's Via Toy Box giveaway was great and the winner of the Via Toy box is...MB Burns. Congratulations. We are all jealous! Thank you everyone who spread the word and entered the contest. And, don't fret, today I've got a slew of great prizes to giveaway.

The first prize is, I think, one of the best new baby product designs of the year. The Kaboost Chair Booster is beautiful, functional and an ingenious new solution to dining with children. It's another product that is great for families in the city because it helps apartments looking stylish and grown-up while still functioning as kid places. The Kaboost Chair Booster turns any ordinary chair into a high chair by boosting the whole chair rather than just the seat. It is also foldable and portable (and storable) other great qualities that city parents need in products. You can see my original write-up of the Kaboost Portable Chair Booster here. One lucky winner will get a free Kaboost.

But there's more...