Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in baltimore, MD

School of Song

February 23, 2009

A long time ago, before my kids were in the picture, my husband and I used to pretend we were a band.  I sang, wrote lyrics and sort of banged on the keyboard, while he did pretty much everything else.  We had a lot of fun, crafting brilliant songs about soured love and tornadoes, but when the kids came along, and our lives grew more complicated, we left some of our musical ambitions behind.  But because we are both such huge fans of music, and because—often to my six-year-old daughter’s horror—I can communicate very little without turning it into song, our house, even without the screech of feedback, is rarely a quiet place (though seriously, what house filled small children is a quiet place?).  Drop a microphone into our kitchen on an average morning and you’ll hear me crooning unapologetically about spilled corn flakes, the need for raincoats, or whatever else happens to be going on around me.  It’s a sickness, really, this singing about everything, and I sometimes worry that my poor, embarrassed daughter might report me to Social Services just to get it to stop. 

A Tale of Two Reservoirs: Loch Raven and Lake Montebello

February 16, 2009

Ever talk to your kids about the water supply?  I don't mean, like, daily, but has the subject ever come up at your house?  I only ask because this post is, as you no doubt surmised from the title, about reservoirs, and it's occurred to me now that probably most kids (including my own, in all likelihood), have not even the faintest idea what a reservoir is, or where, other than the faucet, their drinking water comes from.

99 Things to Do with Your Young Children (Part One)

by Laura Stallard Petza

January 27, 2009

Lately, my kids have been seeming old to me. Not old as in ready to drive or do their own laundry, but old as in not babies, as in self-sufficient in ways that always surprise me. My daughter, who is in kindergarten already, has launched into a whole new social universe this year. And I, in many ways, am just a satellite--close enough, still, to be in her orbit, but definitely separate, at  Read more...

Shaping an Elf

by Laura Stallard Petza

December 11, 2008

Though we all teach our kids that giving is better than receiving, it can be hard for them to grasp, especially at this time of year, how in the world this can possibly be. Because receiving gifts, as far as most kids are concerned, is one of the highlights of existence, and is, most definitely, a big part of what makes Christmas, Hanukkah (and birthdays) special for them. But teaching  Read more...

Thanks and Giving

by Laura Stallard Petza

November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so glad you stopped by! If you're like me and my family, you've been gearing up for this evening's big, bountiful, belt-busting meal, and maybe taking in a parade or two. Football? We don't do football at my house, but I know plenty of people who do. Anyway, as you enjoy whatever this wonderful holiday brings you, whether it's feast, floats, family or football,  Read more...

Bea Gaddy's Legacy

by Laura Stallard Petza

November 24, 2008

If you've been around Baltimore for any length of time, chances are that you've heard of Beatrice Frankie Gaddy, or Bea Gaddy as she was more popularly known. Born in 1933, Bea Gaddy spent much of her life helping Baltimore's poor and hungry, until she died of breast cancer in 2001. Gaddy herself lived in poverty for many years, and her life story--one of a poor, single mother who went on to  Read more...

Vote!

by Laura Stallard Petza

November 03, 2008

Tomorrow, as you're no doubt aware, is Election Day, and there's never been a better time to get your kids excited about our political process. I always take my kids to the polls, but this year we're doing something extra-special by attending an Election Returns Party. I know that they'll be up late, and I know that they won't grasp the differences between blue states and red states, but I  Read more...