The Big Blue Ocean!

This past weekend we visited the Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. With two little ones, the Natural History Museum has always been a favorite, and we're definitely blessed to have such great museums--free, no less!--so close to us. The exhibit is a new part of the permanent collection, joining the ever-popular dinosaur room, the very realistic mammals room, and, of course, the gemstones, including the Hope Diamond.

We went early in the morning on Sunday (well, around 10:30 by the time we actually got there!) and the crowds were definitely manageable. By that I mean, plenty of room for our stroller, but also room enough that we were comfortable letting the kids walk around by themselves with us following right behind them. (Sometimes it's so busy, particularly in the dinosaur room, that I wouldn't set the kids down for a minute.) There's nothing too scary in the exhibit with the exception of one small video being shown on killer whales hunting seals. It's tucked away in the corner, behind the giant Megalodon mouth, and definitely to be avoided for little kids. Or any soft-hearted seal lovers, really.

As always, bring your own snacks and water--they will let you in with them as long as you are discreet--as the food in the museums is on the pricey side. A much better option is to bring your own sandwiches and have an impromptu picnic somewhere on the mall, or, as we discovered on Sunday, in the lovely Smithsonian Castle Gardens.

We stuck to a very manageable three hours, and still saw the whole Oceans exhibit, the mammals next door, and made a quick run into the dinosaur room. In one morning we saw sharks, whales, giraffes, "cute, tiny!" mice, and tyranosaurus rex--which made for two very happy little kids.

Arlington Fire Stations Open House!

Open House: Visit your local fire station!

All Arlington County fire stations will be open to the public Saturday, Oct. 11, from 10 - 4 in celebration of Fire Prevention Week. Bring the kids, climb into a fire truck, learn about fire safety, and more! Find your neighborhood fire station.

Enjoy!

Hot Air Balloon Festival!

Having grown up in Albuquerque, home of a world-famous balloon fiesta, one of my favorite childhood memories is of getting up early to watch the balloons go up. So, it is with great excitement that I found out there is a Shenandoah Valley Balloon Festival next weekend! Starting at 7a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, October 18th and 19th, the balloons will be inflated and, I'm told, take off around 7:30-8:00a.m. Longbranch is about an hour and a half from D.C., out towards Winchester, VA. (See map, below). With the leaves changing fast, by next weekend reports show that the Shenandoahs should be covered in beautiful foliage.

So, take a drive, pack a picnic, and have a wonderful autumn adventure!


View Larger Map

Review of the National Aquarium in Baltimore

This weekend we trekked up to Baltimore to visit the National Aquarium with our almost 3 year old and 15 month old. We had a wonderful, amazing time, and I highly recommend visiting. The building is beautiful, and well laid-out. Everything is extremely kid-friendly, even for very wee ones. Glass walls all the way to the floor enclose many of the tanks, and the smaller exhibits all have a convenient ledge running along the wall in front of them that let even our 15 month old see most everything on her own--a big plus for parents' backs!

COST:
Prices ranged from $21.95 ($12.95 for kids age 3-11) for admission to the aquarium only, up to $28.95 ($17.95) for admission to the aquarium, the dolphin show, and the "4D Immersion Theatre" show. We splurged (thanks, gramma and grampa!) on the whole shebang. Luckily, kids under 3 get in free!

TIMING:
Their website offers some helpful hints on when to visit and when to stay away. We were there by 11am on a winter Sunday of a non-holiday weekend, and although most of our visit we got to see everything quickly, by 2pm it was still getting a bit crowded. I wouldn't even want to try going in the summer or during school holidays; a weekday morning would probably be ideal.

WHAT TO SEE:
The dolphin show! Okay, so it's really the same corny dolphin show that you could see anywhere. But they are just so darn cute! Plus, it's indoors, so it was great fun for a winter afternoon, and the views of the dolphins--above and below the water--were spectacular.

The rainforest habitat, complete with birds and monkeys in addition to the fish and turtles, is fun and, um, toasty warm. So dress in layers.

The best part was the simple stuff--the open tanks with sting and manta rays, and one giant sea turtle gliding serenely by. The large shark tanks; I never knew that sharks were so bug-eyed when not in "attack" state. The many countless smaller tanks featuring thousands of varieties of fish and other sea, ocean, river, marsh, and swamp creatures. Really, it was all stunning.

WHAT TO AVOID:
The "4D Immersion Theatre" show. It ended up being about 15-20 minutes taken from the Planet Earth "Shallow Waters" episode. While I whole-heartedly endorse Planet Earth as the awesomest thing I've ever seen on television, since I'd already seen all the footage, this show was nothing new. The film is shown in 3D, with the special glasses and all. However (and correct me if I'm wrong on the science) but since it wasn't originally shot in 3D footage, the 3D-ness of the film was barely noticeable. What was noticeable was the "4D" part: without giving all the secrets away, let me just say that special effects involving water squirting, air blowing, and seats vibrating gave the kids in the audience plenty to scream about. While this might be a hit with your 8 year old, it definitely was not a hit with the little ones! So, be warned, this show's special effects are S-C-A-R-Y for kids under 8 or so. And I wasn't so impressed with them myself (how many times can water squirting your face still be considered amusing, really?)

FOOD:
We visited the cafe on the bottom floor, right outside the dolphin show, called Frog Cafe. We sampled their french fries, grilled chicken sandwich and mini cheese pizza. The fries, thick cut and seasoned, were simply outstanding. The grilled chicken was lackluster on a limp, un-toasted bun, and the mini pizza was overpowered by sauce, but was otherwise fine. All told it was fine for speedy food to shore up the waning energy of our toddlers, but there are so many other eating options in the harbor that I'd recommend waiting to eat until after you leave.

(We sprinted in the cold over to the Phillips Seafood Restaurant in the Harborplace Light Street pavillion; the wait there was a too-long 30 minutes, so we opted for crab cake, shrimp, and fish baskets at the Phillips Seafood Express, right next door. It was all cooked fresh, and ranged from $8 to $12 a basket. Delicious! Highly recommend the crab cake sandwich ($12).)

OTHER TIDBITS:
Strollers are not allowed! Somehow our trip planner missed this information on the website, so we arrived with a huge diaper bag and 2 umbrella strollers. We had to check the strollers at the entrance (for free, happily) and also left our coats. They have framed kid backpack carriers and soft front carriers for patron use, which was a nice touch. We opted to let our kids walk, and they did just fine.

Overall, we had a wonderful time, and I'm sure the kids will be talking about it for weeks to come!

Shrek the Halls!

If you are fans of Shrek, this 30 minute short film, "Shrek theHalls," is hilarious. It aired first about a week and a half ago, andI recorded it. We've watched it probably every day of the past weekand a half, and I'm still laughing every time. It's replaying tomorrow, Tuesday, December 11 at 8pm, on ABC.

One warning--I forgot to pre-screen, and my son was a little scared at one part of the story. About half-way through three of the characters tell their version of the "Night Before Christmas" story; first Donkey, then Puss, then Gingy, the Gingerbread cookie. Gingy's story is about how Christmas is a "nightmare" and depicts Gingy's girlfriend's head being eaten by a gigantic Santa Claus. Although really funny for adults, the music, lighting, and screams of the cookies make this short section too scary for small children. It only lasts about 30 seconds, so a quick fast-forward should move you past this scene. As a comparison, my son requests that we skip the Santa scene here but still happily watches the rest. He was too scared after the first 30 seconds of the old traditional Rudolph movie (the snow? the music? the old-fashioned animation?) and didn't last much longer for the Charlie Brown Christmas ("he's too sad, mama, is he missing his mommy and daddy?"), so my son might just be on the sensitive side! The rest of the "Shrek" short is not scary at all, but does include typical Shrek humor.

More info: http://abc.go.com/specials/shrekthehalls.html

Happy watching!

Informal Poll of TV Habits

Of late, the admittedly engaging theme songs to Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse have gotten a lot of play in our house. Not only do I know all the words, I've even given command performances. We know all the characters by name, my son jumping up and down on the couch and shouting, "Donald! Daisy! Goofy! Minnie! Mickey! THAT'S ME!" in time with the music. He pats along with June, Quincy, Annie, and Leo like a pro. Even my hands-free headset has a name: Rocket, of course. (Pretty clever, I must say.)

So, when Lisa Guernsey wrote a New York Times Op-Ed about the Baby Einstein videos that claim to make your children smarter (more precisely, "our products are designed to encourage discovery and inspire new ways for parents and little ones to interact."), I was interested in finding out what other parents in my community were doing with the whole TV-and-children issue.

In my very informal poll of children's TV-watching habits among DC Metro area parents (all members of DCUM), I was sure that everyone else would have much better TV management skills than I did. As it turns out, we're all in much the same boat, which really should be no surprise. Although I anticipated that there would be more parents who have banned TV, I found that of the small sampling (~40) of respondents, they were pretty evenly split.

No TV at all	8
No TV until age 1	2
No TV until age 2	8
1-2 hrs/wk	3
Less than 1hr/day	5
About 1 hr/day	10
1-2 hrs/day	5

Shows most often watched include

• Blues Clues
• Wonder Pets
• Wiggles
• Jack's Music Show
• Little Einsteins
  
• Barney
• Thomas the Tank Engine
• Dora the Explorer
• Bear in the Big Blue House
• Caillou
• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
• Baby Einstein videos
• HBO Special Classical Baby ("Winner of a Peabody Award and three Emmy® Awards and ingeniously designed to introduce young children to masterpieces of classical music, painting and dance, Classical Baby is a creative kaleidoscope of color, motion and music, played out in an accessible, comforting format.")

Channels:

• Noggin
• Nick JR
• PBS Kids
• Animal Planet

What's Wrong with TV?

Despite all the press about how bad TV watching is for language development, that wasn’t the primary concern cited (perhaps because it’s the most obvious one). What was mentioned by several parents was the desire to protect kids from advertising as well as from the content of TV shows.

We're in the "no TV at home at all" camp…we are trying very hard to keep him away from all of the heavy marketing/ advertising/ character-mindset associated with kid's shows. More than the TV stupor, we're trying to keep him away from the "I want this" whining that results from the mind numbing advertising prowess of these kid's marketing machines.

The main rule we have is that he does not watch TV alone in the room. One of us is there to point out things that we disagree with or are factually wrong to try to convey the idea of not passively accepting everything the TV tells him, and to skip the parts that he finds scary or bothersome.

One mom who felt that the TV watching was getting out of control (up to 3 hours a day) canceled their cable: It has made huge difference in our home...The battles are significantly reduced and I feel less overwhelmed by all the noise and chaos at home.

One note I found particularly insightful comment was from a mom who wondered what TV was taking the place of:

What I think about when I think about TV is, What are my kids NOT doing if they are watching TV? Not playing, not building, not practicing an instrument, not cooking, not looking at books (not fighting with each other!!)

When and Where?

The most common times for TV-watching were getting ready in the morning and preparing dinner in the evening. Some parents said that their children only watched DVDs in the car, or only watched at their grandparents’ house or friends’ houses.

Numerous people wrote about their disappointment that videos and TV are used at daycares, camps and at school.

I don't mind a VERY occasional use of a video (i.e., bad weather days or as a special treat), but in my mind, preschools or camps for children are not the place for TV watching. Good places don't need to resort to their use.

I have to confess, I was so surprised to find out that it was common for TV-watching to be a school activity! For young children, isn’t the point of pre-school that they are getting social interaction, learning experiences, new activities…heck, if I want them to watch TV, they can stay home and do that! I guess we should all be grateful they aren’t watching A Christmas Story like we did every December.

What's Good About TV?

One respondent thoughtfully noted:

It’s hard when we live in a world where we can't necessarily let our kids out to play without us either organizing a playdate or else just letting them roam the neighborhood for fear of abduction or danger. TV seems a much safer alternative.

I hadn't thought of TV-watching in quite this light, but it's so true. I know that when I was young we would always be somewhere up the street, with the neighborhood kids, in someone's yard or playing on the sidewalks in front of our houses. I'm sure my mom had at least a general idea of where we were and who we were with, but for me, the thought of letting my kids play outside without my eyes on them at all times is just too scary. Am I alone in this neurosis? Are there people--and places--out there who let their children roam the neighborhood?

Lessons Learned

In the end, I thought these two responses sum up both sides quite nicely:

We have limited time together, and none of us really want to spend it in front of a television.

I think this is yet another area of parenting where most of us have some "ideal" notion in our heads that we should be spending every waking moment being "perfect" parents (whatever that is) and stimulating/educating/spending "quality" time with our kids.

In our family, the TV is definitely a morning-rush and dinnertime activity. Since daddy is on morning duty, and I’m always so relieved that it’s not me that has to get everyone ready and out the door, I’m not even going to suggest that he leave the TV off then! (I know it’s only maybe 15-20 minutes of Baby Einstein or Mickey Mouse, anyway). Dinnertime is my purview, however…lately I’ve been setting up my toddler with his own bowls and spoon on a chair at the counter so he can mix and stir (and turn the lights on and off!) to his heart’s content. Our little one is usually demanding to be in the middle of the activity, so a doorway jumper keeps her active, contained, and happy. We all help mommy cook, we sing songs (last night it was 50 rounds of “I’m a Happy Helper!”), and we’re all together.

A huge thank you to everyone who responded to the poll!!

More Information:

American Academy of Pediatrics' Recommendations.

Georgetown University's Early Learning Project.

Lisa Guernsey, who wrote the New York Time Op-Ed that inspired the poll.

The Boob Tube: What the experts say

Everyone knows that TV is the devil. It turns us and our children into mindless drones who can't play creatively, can't resist the myriad advertisements that interrupt our viewing, can't concentrate on any task for more than a few minutes. It is responsible for childhood obesity (particularly among low-income children), If it's so bad, why do so many of us watch so much of it? If it's so bad, then what does that say about all of us who grew up watching TV, and not the "educational" shows on PBS, Nick Jr., and Disney today, but McGyver, Nightrider and the Dukes of Hazzard?

In an article in Slate, The Benefits of Bozo: Proof that TV doesn't harm kids, the author talks about one key problem with all the research into how terrible TV is for kids:

Most studies of the impact of television, however, are seriously flawed. They compare kids who watch TV and kids who don't, when kids in those two groups live in very different environments...Because of their income advantage, the less-TV kids have all sorts of things going for them that have nothing to do with the impact of television.

Although, personally, I'm still on the fence about whether all research findings come down to socio-economic status (poverty being a topic for another day), this is an interesting point.

The moral of this story? All research is not created equal. Be very, very discerning about what you put your faith in, and be a smart consumer of information. In this, as in everything, read the labels!







Not surprisingly, the Turnoff TV organization has plenty of statistics on their website



"The heart of Johnson's argument is...that today's pop-culture consumer has to do more "cognitive work"--making snap decisions and coming up with long-term strategies in role-playing video games, for example, or mastering new virtual environments on the Internet-- than ever before. Johnson makes a compelling case that even today's least nutritional TV junk food–the Joe Millionaires and Survivors so commonly derided as evidence of America's cultural decline--is more complex and stimulating, in terms of plot complexity and the amount of external information viewers need to understand them, than the Love Boats and I Love Lucys that preceded it." Reviewed on Amazon.com. Reviewed by the New Yorker. About the book on Wikipedia.org.