Weekend Fun: Free Concerts & Swimming

Happy Friday to you!

I hope the week was a good one. I'm sure it will be a great weekend as we head into the July.

I thought I'd just mention some of the cool things going on this weekend out and around town.

FREE CONCERTS IN THE PARK. On Friday, June 29, free concerts will be offered at the Bladensburg Waterfront Park in Bladensburg and Montpelier Mansion in Laurel. If you want hip-hop and R&B, head to the waterfront to hear Heda from 6 - 7:30 pm. If you want oldies from the 50s-70s, the Retro Rockets will be rocking the mansion from 7:30 - 9:30 pm. (A PDF list of summer concerts and their performers is online here.)

FREE SWIMMING FOR ALL. I mentioned a week or so ago that kids could swim free in the county at most pools with an free youth ID. Well, on Saturday, June 30, everyone can swim free at the reopening of the  Theresa Banks Memorial Aquatics Center/Glenarden Complex, 8615-A McLain Avenue in Glenarden. The free swim is from 4 - 6:45 pm. If you come earlier in the day, starting at noon, there will be free aqua fitness demonstrations, including HydroSpin, Aqua Zumba, Aqua Belly Dancing and Water Aerobics. For more information about the reopening celebration, visit http://www.pgparks.com/page46085.aspx or call 301-772-5515.

If you're into non-free fun, the National Harbor is hosting the Great American Festival on Saturday, too. That runs from 3-10 pm and will feature a variety of bands performing. Tickets start at $39.99. For a list of performers and ticket information, visit http://www.greatamericanfestival.com/.

For other things to do this weekend, check out our groovy calendar.

Catch you later.

-Hyattsville Mom

Hmmm...?

Remember, back in the day, when Arsenio Hall had his own show and was really popular, he had that segment called, "Things that Make you go, Hmmmm"?

I had one of those moments recently with the upcoming movie Ted. I saw a still poster for it (the picture to the left). Seeing the sweet Teddy bear, I thought it might be a kids movie and pulled up the YouTube trailer. Thankfully, my kids were at camp, not at home with me, because Ted is rated R. Ted is not about a cuddly teddy bear kids might adore, as I thought when seeing the poster.

Ted is about a foul-mouthed, beer drinking teddy bear who is a roommate to an equally foul-mouthed character portrayed by Mark Wahlberg. 

The movie does not fit my tastes at all. But, I have to say, "hmmm" on the poster. Why the ambiguity? The teddy bear alone makes one think cute and cuddly, not rude and crude.

The beer is a tip-off it's not kid-friendly.

I guess others had the same thoughts I did, because I've seen newer posters and they're like the one on the right. They give more an indication that this is not an upcoming family flick. 

That's my mini-rant for today.

Tomorrow, I'll have a weekend roundup.

-Hyattsville Mom

Fun to do: Today at 2 pm, kids can see Nicolo the Jester at the Beltsville library branch. The show is designed for kids ages 6 and up.  For more information, visit http://www.pgcmls.info/BVSRP1.


Also, tomorrow, the Circus Camp will give a FREE performance at 1 pm in the Greenbelt Community Center, 15 Crescent Rd.  Circus Camp is performed by kids ages 8 and up; acts include juggling, clown routines and unicycle riding. For more information, call the community center at 301-397-2208.

Seeking low-radiation, long-lasting, really smart, and not opposed to being dropped occassionally

Yes, I'm in the market for a new cell phone. My most recent cell phone has been a dud. Yes, Samsung M920 (also known as the Transform) has really sucked, in my experience. Now,  I freely admit I've dropped this puppy on a few occasions, but I contend even brand new it never worked particularly great. (If you've had a great experience with this phone, wonderful, but I've not).

So, now that my contract is set to expire and my phone is constantly telling me that the "phone application has stopped working," I'm in the market for something new and well,  BETTER.

I'm seeking a phone with low radiation. (You can check your phone's radiation level here: http://www.cellrisk.com/. The lower the number, the better.  I don't even consider phones in excess of 1.) The problem is a lot of the touted phones (newer iphones, for example) are high radiation, so I have limited choices.  I also want a phone that's smart. Really smart. One where the phone is hardwired, not an app, not prone to suddenly crashing. And I want a decent battery life. You know, enough to go on my kid's fieldtrip and not have to turn it off three hours in, fearing the battery will die and I won't be able to make a call if there's an emergency.

Finally, I have kids. And I often am trying to do 5 or 6 things at once with only two hands, so I need a phone that can withstand the occasional dropping. Withstanding frequent dropping would be a real plus.  But, does such a phone exist? I don't know. I'm on the hunt. I'll let you know what I find.

-Hyattsville Mom

Book Tuesday: Fifty Shades

Well, the hot book in recent months, the one that has everyone talking has been Fifty Shades of Grey.

Haven't heard of it? Well, this erotic love story has been called "Mommy porn" and has been tops on the charts (NYT, USA Today, Amazon) for awhile now. It even got a surge on Moher's Day, with people buying this gift for Mom (I hope it's husbands; as, I'm just a bit too old fashioned to hand my mother porn, excuse me, eroita, for a gift).

The book started as Twilight fan fiction. So, basically E.L. James, a huge Twilight fan, decided to take the characters from Twilight and write a different story. The characters, now Christian and Anastasia, started off as  Edward and Bella. And like in the Twilight book, Christian keeps telling Anastasia he's bad for her, that she should stay away. While Edward felt he was bad for Bella because he was a vampire, Christian feels he's bad for Anastasia because he's into S&M and wants to tie her up and do a sundry of BDSM things to her.

We read this for my book club, and I've got to say there were varying opinions. Some people barely got through it, citing disinterest in the story and subpar writing. Others didn't just read the first one, but went through the entire trilogy (which includes Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed). What's interesting is the label or porn or erotica, is accurate in some senses.  There are very erotic scenes in the book. But, it's not all porn. The book is really very character driven.  Christian is so mentally a mess, I found myself mainly compelled to read more to find out what happened to make this dude the way he is.  The porn is interesting initially because it's one of the few insights you have into Christian. It's also interesting because, unless you're into the BDSM lifestyle, you learn about a lot of things you've never heard of or even contemplated.

So, in the sense of pulling the reader in, James does a good job. One of the criticisms at book club was the writing wasn't particularly great. Characters flush alot, and there's a lot of repetitiveness in general. Even having enjoyed the book, I can't disagree with comments about the writing. However, I didn't find it as distracting as those who disliked the book.

As far as books go, this one is an easy read, and probably worth putting on the radar if you like having read the hot book of the moment. It's available at the PG library: as of today they had 194 copies of the book. Zero of them were available. So, you'll be on a waitlist if you want it.


Anyone out there with thoughts on Fifty Shades you'd like to share?

That's it for today.

--Hyattsville Mom


Fun to do: Tomorrow (June 27)  at 7 pm, there's a free Jazz concert on the grounds of the Riversdale House Museum, 4811 Riverdale Road  in Riverdale Park. Check the calendar for more fun items this week. 

Schoolbus Bullying Incident Raises More Important Issues than this Particular Monitor's Suffering

Like many out there, the past few days, I have seen lots of news reports about the bus monitor who was bullied in Greece, NY. While I feel the outrage at the children for talking to her like that, I also feel something that I've not heard many others express: "Why would she let those kids talk to her like that?"

I understand that she was very upset and the children were incredibly cruel, but I don't fully understand, how an adult in a position of authority, lets kids run roughshod over her like that. I wanted her to take control of the situation, and tell those kids they would be punished if they didn't stop their inappropriate remarks. And then I wanted it to happen.

Without fully understanding the situation at the school system, I can't entirely blame the bus monitor, Karen Klein. But, I think there are some questions we need to be asking: Why did she endure this without taking charge? Was it a lack of training by the people at the school on how to handle bullying kids? Was it just her own personality? Or was it that she'd tried numerous times to get misbehaving kids disciplined only to have school officials say no?


Those questions need to be answered, because adults are supposed to be the people in charge. They're supposed to deal with these things when children can't. And I am at a loss when something like this happens. From what I've read in news accounts, Ms. Klein did nothing to even try to get these kids disciplined. She let it go, allowing these vicious children to continue riding the bus unchecked and probably attack people their own age. 


I'm sorry, where I come from, that's not acceptable. When children act up/misbehave, other children look to adults to see what is going to happen. When adults don't rein that in, then the other kids start misbehaving too, or at least view misbehavior as an acceptable thing, because nothing bad happens. The other day, my kid woke up and said, "Mom, I'm hungry. Make me breakfast." At which point, I stood there, and said, "Excuse me. You need to start over." At which point, she rephrased her demand, adding the appropriate deference to her voice, the word please and phrased it as a question, not a demand. I'm her mother, not her servant. However, I'm sure she would treat me like her servant if I let her. Just like these kids will continue to bully, if adults let them.  


I understand that even kids who are punished, will often keep at it, but there are plenty who will stop. And we need to try to get as many kids on the stop track as we can. And that takes the people in charge acting like they're in charge. When you're in the position of monitoring behavior on a bus, you should do so. And this behavior, I'm certain, violates the school's rules of behavior for buses. Even if she didn't want to have a severe confrontation with the children, she at the least should have told them what  they were doing was against the school bus rules and that she was going to write them up. But, there's nothing. There's crying. 


And I understand she was terribly upset because one of the children crossed a line that no one should cross by telling Klein she was old and alone because her whole family committed suicide. And in fact, one of her children did commit suicide.  So, on that level, I get how she could become unhinged after that. And after that, maybe I would cry and be unable to do my job, so I don't want to be too harsh on her.

But, I still think we need to look at the role of authority figures on buses and in schools.  Adults need to stand up to children who are bullies.  Even if she didn't during the incident, she needed to report those kids and ensure they were disciplined. If adults can't stand up to the bullying and ensure it is punished, then what hope do these kids' peers have?

Also, even when kids misbehave like this, it doesn't mean they're bad kids. It was also important for those kids' parents to know. Some, if not all, of those parents would be mortified to know their kids were behaving that way. And some of those parents--had they been told--would actually have implemented discipline to change that behavior.  (Now, because of the video and public pressure, they know).  If parents aren't aware of what's going on, they have no hope of changing the kids behavior. And the longer kids behave like that unchecked, the more it becomes entrenched, the more it becomes habit. And it becomes harder to get kids out of that cycle. So, it's important to tell authorities and to have authorities do something--including telling parents. I know there are parents out there who don't care or don't know how to change their kids' behavior, but for the ones who do have a clue and a care, it's important they know these things.

That's my rant for today. I'll catch you tomorrow for Book Tuesday.

-Hyattsville Mom.

Make Sure Your Kids are BRAVE before Venturing to See this Movie

Movie Review
I went to see the sneak preview of Brave in early June, so I've had a little time to think and reflect on it. The best way to describe this film is: Breathtaking, lifelike animation with a decent story that might be scary for small kids.

I went to see it with my husband, son, 8, and daughter, 5, and  didn't know a whole lot about the story.  From beginning to end, this film outdid itself with the animation. It was so lush, so gorgeous, so lifelike, parts felt like it was a non-animated film. It's really visually stunning.

But, because of that, parts of the film, in my opinion, might be scary for smaller kids, especially the large, growling, teeth-baring, paw-swiping bears featured prominently in the film.

The film follows the story of princess Merida, a  curly, red-haired girl who loves archery and horse riding and has no interest in doing things typically associated with princesses. Her father, King Fergus, lost his leg to a bear attack (said attack is the opening scene of the film; we do not see King Fergus' leg ripped off, thankfully). Since the "bear incident"--as I like to call it--the king loves hunting bears. Fergus would particularly like to finish off the bear who took his appendage. Queen Elinor, Merida's mother, wants Merida to marry a prince from one of the nearby tribes, in order to keep peace in the Kingdom.

Merida refuses, and during the resulting fight, the princess slashes a tapestry depicting the royal family, leaving her mother's depiction separated from the family's image. Merida then goes into the woods, where she meets a witch and asks the old hag for a formula to change her mother. Without even asking what the formula--tucked into a pastry--will do, Merida returns home and feeds the pastry to her mother.  Queen Elinor promptly turns into a bear. This is not good, given the King's hatred of bears.

Merida and her mother escape the castle, and try to find the witch. They learn through a message the witch left behind that Merida must "mend" what she has broken in order to return her mother to human form. If she can't complete the mend by the next sunrise, Elinor will remain a bear forever. Assuming she must mend the tapestry, Merida, with her mother in tow, returns to the castle to try to get the tapestry and reverse the spell.

Will it work? Well, it's a Disney Pixar flick, so I'm sure you can figure out the answer. Overall, the film is entertaining, but my 5-year-old was not particularly happy when the mother turned into a bear; she also looked quite disturbed when the bear queen turned on her daughter, growling menacingly at her (though this was a temporary thing; the bear queen quickly seemed to regain her senses).  There are also a couple of intense moments in the film. At one point, King Fergus tries to kill his wife -- refusing to believe his daughter's assertion that the bear is really queen Elinor. Also the queen bear fights with another of her grisly brethren (the near-rabid one who amputated Fergus) in a well-illustrated, very realistic battle scene.

In terms of just a movie-going experience for your average adult; this is a nice film. But, if going as a family, determine first if this kind of stuff will frighten your children before setting off to see BRAVE.

-Hyattsville Mom

P.S. Mick LaSalle from at the San Francisco wrote a review of BRAVE that somewhat captured some of the misgivings I felt when leaving the film. He notes: "Indeed, what are we to make of a movie about a teenage girl who poisons her mother? That's really what we're talking about here: The daughter gives her mother a poisoned cake that turns Mom into a bear. Furthermore, what are the unconscious impulses behind a story about a daughter, having committing this crime against Mom, then turning around and becoming Mom's greatest defender - even to the point of protecting Mom when Dad unknowingly wants to kill her?" Here's the link to the review: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2012%2F06%2F21%2FDDE11P4EPR.DTL

Free Swimming this Summer and a few More things to do

This blog is supposed to--occasionally, at least--discuss things in Hyattsville and the surrounding area, right? But, it's been awhile since I talked Hyattsville things. So, getting back to the basics, I wanted to mention that kids ages 6-17 can swim for free at several area pools on Friday & Saturday after 4 pm.

To do the free swimming, the child just needs a youth ID, which is free to all youths ages 6-17. Just stop by a community center to get one (you'll need a birth certificate if you don't already have a SmartLink account for the child). Parental supervision is required for all children under the age of 11. The pools included in the free swimming are:


Ellen Linson Pool 
5211 Paint Branch Parkway,  College Park, MD
301-277-3717; TTY 301-446-6802
http://www.pgparks.com/Things_To_Do/Sports/Aquatics/Ellen_Linson_Swimming_Pool.htm

Fairland Sports & Aquatics Complex
13820 and 13950 Old Gunpowder Road, Laurel, MD
301-362-6060; TTY 301-362-6090
http://www.pgparks.com/Things_To_Do/Sports/Fairland_Sports_and_Aquatics_Complex.htm

Glenn Dale Splash Park
11901 Glenn Dale Boulevard, Glenn Dale, MD
301-352-8980; TTY 301-446-6802
http://www.pgparks.com/Things_To_Do/Sports/Aquatics/Glenn_Dale_Splash_Park.htm

Hamilton Splash Park
3901 Hamilton Street , Hyattsville, MD
301-779-8224, 301-853-9115; TTY 301-446-6802
http://www.pgparks.com/page1168.aspx

J. Franklyn Bourne Memorial Pool
6500 Calmos Street,  Seat Pleasant, MD
301-350-4422, 301-583-2572; TTY 301-446-6802
http://www.pgparks.com/Things_To_Do/Sports/Aquatics/J__Franklyn_Bourne_Memorial_Pool.htm

Lane Manor Splash Park
7601 West Park Drive , Hyattsville, MD
301-422-7284, 301-853-9115; TTY 301-446-6802
http://www.pgparks.com/Things_To_Do/Sports/Aquatics/Lane_Manor_Splash_Park.htm

North Barnaby Splash Park
5000 Wheeler Road, Oxon Hill, MD
301-894-1150, 301-446-6800; TTY 301-446-6802
http://www.pgparks.com/Things_To_Do/Sports/Aquatics/North_Barnaby_Splash_Park.htm

Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex
8001 Sheriff Road, Landover, MD
301-583-2400; TTY 301-583-2483
http://www.pgsportsandlearn.com/Our_Facility/Aquatic_Center.htm

Rollingcrest-Chillum Splash Pool
6122 Sargent Road, Chillum, MD
301-853-9115; TTY 301-446-6802
http://www.pgparks.com/Things_To_Do/Sports/Aquatics/Rollingcrest-Chillum_Splash_Pool.htm

Theresa Banks Memorial Aquatics Center
8615-A McLain Avenue, Glenarden, MD
301-772-5515/16; TTY 301-446-6802
http://www.pgparks.com/Things_To_Do/Sports/Aquatics/Theresa_Banks_Memorial_Aquatics_Center_Glenarden_Complex.htm

Lastly, I went ahead and updated the calendar of events. It includes a tie-dye event, live animal show and free jazz concerts. There are just a few things at present, so send me anything interesting you think would be great for the calendar. That's it for today. Tomorrow is my review of Disney's Brave.

-Hyattsville Mom

Car Safety for Kids -- Laws are for Minimum Safety

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we were out of town last week, visiting my family in Illinois.  Because we were traveling by plane and then rental car, one of the things I had to do was look up the child safety seat laws in Illinois to make sure we were bringing the right stuff.  One of the things I was reminded of, was that child safety seat laws are really just minimum safety guidelines. It's important to read further to make sure you're best protecting your child/children.

My daughter is 5 and my son is 8, and they both currently ride in booster seats.  Under Maryland law, my son does not have to ride in a booster, but my husband and I both think the seatbelt fits better with the booster. However, for the purposes of this trip, my husband, who hates lugging stuff around the airport, asked me to check if Illinois required a booster seat.

My response was, "I'll check, but I think the booster is safer."  So, I went to http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/childsafety_laws.html, a site that summarizes the child safety laws for all 50 states.

Like Maryland, Illinois allows 8-year-olds to ride without a boost. But, upon reading further, I found that adult seatbelts are designed with for a person with minimum height of 4'9" and minimum weight 80 lbs. My son is neither (he's 4'7" and I don't own a scale, so I'm not sure his exact weight, but he was 60 lbs at a November doctor appt; and I feel confident he hasn't gained 20 lbs since then).  And I don't know that many 8-year-olds who are that big. So, I told my husband we'd bring both booster seats.

Anticipating the fighting, my hubby also wanted to know at what age kids could ride in the front seat in Illinois. "They have to be 12 in Maryland," he told me. But, he was wrong. Maryland law does not prohibit children from riding in the front seat, unless they are in a rear-facing infant carrier. Anyone (other than a person in a rear-facing infant carrier) may ride in the front. Maryland notes this is extremely dangerous and not recommended, but they do allow it. Similarly, Illinois recommends youngsters stay in the backseat until 12, but it's not a requirement.

Sometimes, I think it's easy to hear the basics of the law, like 8-years-old means you don't need a booster, and do it. But for maximum safety, staying in the booster a little longer is better.  I'm really glad, however, that we don't do a lot of car pooling, because I think that also leads to the desire to pull kids out of the booster right at 8. It's much easier to have someone pick up your kid and take them somewhere if you don't have to worry about physically transferring a booster seat to that other parent. And there's also the embarrassment factor, where kids feel pressure to get out of the booster if their friends aren't in one.

That's it for today.

-Hyattsville Mom

Book Tuesday: Rainbow Fairies are Fun Read for Kids

Book 1 of series

Well, it's Tuesday again (funny thing how this day just keeps coming back to us :)

Anyway, that means it's time to talk books. This week, I thought I'd mention the Rainbow Fairies. This is a series of books my daughter loves. The books follow two human girls, Rachel and Kirsty, on their adventures helping fairies. The first set of books, has the girls helping find the actual rainbow fairies. In subsequent book series, Rachel and Kirsty help the fairies find magical objects that have been lost in the human world.

The books are lots of fun for kids to read themselves, and also serve as a nice introduction to chapter books of the type you can read aloud to your kids.

Now, if your child is able to read these books on their own, this is a perfect series. If you are going to read them to your child, then I must caution that the series feels never ending. There are tons of these books. There are Rainbow fairies, Petal fairies, Night fairies, Popstar fairies, Dance fairies, Fun Day  fairies, Weather fairies, Music fairies and Magical Animal fairies.  So, be prepared to do a lot of reading to your kid if she likes them. And I say she because these skew way feminine. Not to say boys don't like them, but I don't think this is in the sweetspot for most boys.

In addition to the books, the rainbow fairies have a website: http://www.rainbowmagiconline.com.  It has games, printable coloring pages, and other stuff for your avid rainbow fairy fan. They typically have lots of the books at library, and they're quite popular, according ton one of the children's librarian's I spoke with.

The Rainbow Fairy series is by Daisy Meadows (a pseudonym for the four authors who write the series). In addition to the library, you can find the books at most major bookstores.

Justifiable Travelcide?

Just returned from a weeklong-trip to visit my family in Illinois, and I totally get why there's no travel-related section of justifiable homicide. Otherwise, only I would have returned from our trip (unless my hubby had gotten the idea first).

The trip itself was great. Chicago is full of traffic, as usual, and downstate is peaceful, calming and breathtakingly beautiful near the river (yes, don't be fooled; Illinois is not all flat).

But, I don't know if we would have made it there, because my husband is a bear to travel with. He's the time man. "It's 5:15." Yeah, I know. "It's 5:16." Yes, I kinda guessed because you said it was 5:15 a minute ago. "It's 5:17."  Maybe, you could actually help get stuff ready instead of standing there telling me the time. "It's 5:18." Really, you're just going to stand there, not help out and be annoying? "It's 5:19." We actually don't have to leave for the airport until 5:30. "It's 5:20." I know what I'm getting you for Father's Day--a muzzle.

And so that was my morning. Not good on any day, but when I've got to make sure I've got everything and separated liquids so I can go through security and get the kids teeth brushed.  Not good. And then, I get everyone out and in the car and he takes an additional 10 minutes to get out the door. We drive about 2 blocks and he goes, "I want to go back and make sure I locked the door."  Then and there, I was ready to strangle him.

And my kids. They were fine on the flight. But the drive from Chicago to Peoria. Three hours of torture. They fought over everything. Whether to put the center armrest up or down. Whether the box of 24 crayons they were sharing was "in the middle" or more to one person's side or the other's. Which activity book they wanted to do. One was humming to loud. One was chewing too loud. One's arm or foot or strand of hair was on the other person's side of the car. OK, maybe I wouldn't have considered Travelcide with the children, but I was ready to evict one of them--make them ride the train or something.

Despite the lack of fun while actually traveling, we did have a great trip. And I'm glad we're all back safe and sound, and not trapped in a vehicle of any type (plane, train, auto) with each other.

-Hyattsville Mom

It Might be Worth Paddling to Madagascar to See this Flick!

Movie Review

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted is a great film for everyone in the family to see. It's funny, charming, entertaining and feel good, and I can't rave enough about it.

The movie finds our heroes trapped somewhere in Africa (we're assuming Algeria or Tunisia, otherwise what happens next doesn't make a lot of sense). The Penguins--those dear flightless birds--have flown away in their plane to Monte Carlo, with the plan of making some money gambling. The penguins are supposed to return with untold riches and fly our motley crew (Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo) to New York City.

Well, Alex fears the penguins aren't coming back and convinces the crew to swim--yes swim-- to Monte Carlo to find them (again, let's hope they swam from Northern Africa). That's where our fun begins. Our heroes and their penguin friends get caught in the crosshairs of an animal policewoman named Capt. Chantel DuBois. For some reason, Mme. DuBois is given free reign to hunt animals. In order to escape DuBois, Alex and the gang hide in a circus car.

The circus animals can't perform worth a hoot, but they have a chance to go to New York city if they can impress some bigwig when they perform their London show--just two stops away. So, as one would expect, Alex, Marty and the gang endeavor to help them get better, and succeed.

The movie is really funny and heartwarming. There's a hilarious side plot involving King Julien (voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen) falling in love with the circus bear. And there's a great scary movie spoof in there that adults will totally adore, though it might sail over the kids' heads.  

Overall, this is a great flick. Nothing was particularly scary or frightening, so feel free to take the whole fam.

That's it for today. Have a great weekend!

-Hyattsville Mom

So, you forgot about camp til now!

It's summer time, which for a lot of kids means camp.  But, what happens when you forget about camp until May, or Heaven forbid, June? There's no room left. That's what happens.

Well, don't despair. It happened to me the first year I put my son in camp at 3 years old. It was especially important to me back then because I wanted camp to be preparation for pre-school, which he was going to start in the fall. Only, I waited until early May to look, and was shocked to find everything was full. At least everything people recommended or was cheap, was full.

However, I got lucky and found one spot in a camp I ended up liking. So, I'm just here to say, don't despair if you've waited til the last minute. There are some camps out there. You just need to find them. So, I thought I'd offer a few last minute camp tips.

1. Check out Deal sites. Living Social, Groupon, Plum District and Certifikid have deals for camps sometimes. So, check them out. First, go to the site to see active deals. Then, Google the site + "camp" and see about past deals.  Why check out deals that are over? Well, if a camp was struggling in the past, maybe it's the kind of camp that might still have some openings this summer (but not so many they want to offer a half off deal). We contemplated this cool Tennis Camp deal Living Social is offering, but since I'm not working, I'm not interested in sending the kids to camp from 8:30 am to 4 in the afternoon. It's too long of a day, in my opinion. But, it sounds like a great camp.
2. Check Out Area Parks and Recs Departments.  Lots of localities in the area have summer camp through parks and rec departments. PG County offers lots of camps, of course. But, so do the cities of Greenbelt, Hyattsville and Laurel.  Don't forget we're near a lot of jurisdictions. If you live near Montgomery County or Anne Arundel County, check out their camp offerings. (Don't forget that PG & Montgomery County have reciprocity for certain MNCPPC events/camps, meaning you get the in-county rates if you live in either county for those events/camps.)
3. Private Schools and Churches are another great place to check for camps.  While schools tend to give their students' families first shot at camps, they're more than happy to accept outsiders the closer you get to the start of the school year. So, any local private schools you know of, check them out. The camp my son first went to was Paint Branch Montessori (half day) because they had space available for non students (and they were in Adelphi back then; they've since moved to Silver Spring). 
4. Go thematic. There are a lot of theme-based camps out there, so check them out. Think soccer, basketball and even foreign languages. Lango of Prince George's County can immerse your kids in Spanish or Mandarin Chinese!  The town of Cheverly offers a basketball camp; Bowie Sportfit and College Park Tennis Center offer tennis camps; and the Washington Wizards offer weeklong basketball camps at various locations in the metro area, including weeks in Bowie, Largo and Annapolis.

And that is it for today. Good luck if you're in the hunt for a camp. Tomorrow, I'll post my review of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted.

-Hyattsville Mom

Shopping Etiquette

I was at the store the other day waiting in line with a cart full of groceries. The man behind me in line had one item and he says to me, "I just have one thing; Can I go in front?"

Now, I totally agree with the saying that you can't get it if you don't ask for it, so I can't fault the guy for asking, per se, but his demeanor (which was one of entitlement) should have told me to say no. However, I figured, I don't have anywhere to go and he must if he's asking, so I said, OK.

The guy doesn't even say thanks. Then, when the woman who is in front of me finishes, he proceeds to do a lengthy return. The cashier had to call someone from customer service over to do it. Excuse me! While he technically just had one item, it was a long and complicated thing.  Why didn't he just go to the customer service desk to begin with? This was Trader Joe's and they tend to be pretty friendly, so I'm sure they would have helped him.

I regretted saying yes, as I thought it was a jerk move to pretend like you'd be quick when you knew you had something complicated to do. Was I just in foul humor or am I right, here? What is the line etiquette? I'll say this much, I think I'm going to require more of an explanation than, I've just got one thing. Tell me you're late to pick up your kids. Tell me you're going to miss an important meeting. Then, maybe. And of course, say those magic words your mama taught you years ago. Or the words she shoulda taught you (Thank you!).

That's it for today.

--Hyattsville Mom

Book Tuesday: Bob Books

I was trying to think of a great book to talk about for today's post, so I was looking through some of the library books my daughter checked out to read. As I did this, it occurred to me that my daughter is reading pretty well for 5, and one of the reasons for that is a great series of early readers called Bob Books.

So, for my book of the day, I'm going to introduce you to (or reacquaint you with) the Bob Books. These are the earliest of early readers and are perfect for kick-starting your kids' early reading.

Written by Bobby Lynn Maslen, the books are simple easy readers that have words kids can entirely sound out. No sight words are necessary to master the most basic books. So, they give your kids a real since of accomplishment in having read a book.

For example, book one is called Mat. Page one says "Mat." Page two says, "Mat sat." Sam is in the book and at some point Mat or Sam sits on the other.

If you've never heard of the Bob books and think your child might be interested/ready for reading, definitely check them out. I will offer one tip though. DON'T BUY THEM AT THE BOOKSTORE. They're generally more expensive there. I've found you can get pretty good discounts at Amazon.com (the set is $10 instead of $16.99).  There are 5 boxed sets of Bob Books (designed for beginning readers), so if you can save $7 per set, do it.

If you're really lucky, you'll be able to find Bob books at Costco. The store and the publisher struck some deal and they occasionally do a large version of them for exclusive sale at Costco. What's even better is the Costco version breaks up the books into 3 sets.  When my son was first reading, I ended up buying the third set at Costco for $10. So, it's a real deal. Unfortunately, Costco only sells them once a year, and if it's not that time of year, you're just outta luck.

You can find more about Bob Books here: http://www.bobbooks.com.


-Hyattsville Mom

Give that bill 'Da Boot: My short healthcare rant!

We were billed for this boot AND the room!

Good morning!

Hope you all had a good weekend. Mine was pretty pleasant.

However, one thing did raise my hackles, just a bit.  A few weeks back, my son injured his ankle (most would refer to it as a sprain; though the doctor informed us that while the injury is treated the same way as a sprain, my son actually fractured the growth plate in his ankle--an apparently common injury that is nowhere near as severe as it sounds. And I'm digressing, as I tend to do. Unfortunately, that is my curse. Call me the digresser--oh snap, just Googled it; it's taken! Sigh. The Digressor is taken, too. Double sigh.).

Anyway, my son's ankle is now fine, but he had to get x-rays and wear an orthotic boot.  We recently received the bills for these. We have seen hospital bills before and knew they would be complicated. We got a bill from the doctor, a bill from the x-ray technician, a bill from the hospital. OK. I get that these people work in this weird "independent contractor" world that requires this.

What raised our hackles, though was the $128 bill we received for the fitting room. Yes, you read that right. But, you can read it again if you like. We were charged $128 for sitting in a room.  The room where the doctor fitted the orthotic boot. Not for the doctor's time in fitting the boot. That was a separate bill.  This bill was for the room. A tiny room. For fewer than 10 minutes. $128. I. KID. YOU.NOT.

My husband put in a call and the insurance company said we shouldn't have to pay it, but SERIOUSLY, how is that even a billable thing? It was separate from all the other billed items. Just this room.

I don't want to have discussions on the healthcare system or anything like that (though feel free to discuss with some interested party if you choose; health care reform just seems a bit heavy for this blog. I know, I'm digressing again.  Call me the person who digresses--though I'm not even going to try to Google it to see if it's taken). Anyway, I just wanted a moment to rant about that bill. I feel better now.

Now, go on and enjoy your day! Especially since you haven't been billed $128 for the use of a room for fewer than 10 minutes. (Though, if you have been billed as such, I share in your pain). Catch you later.

-Hyattsville Mom

Summer Reading Fun!

Library's summer poster.

Yesterday, we talked summer plans.

Today, I thought I'd add talk about one of my favorite things to do--and a very exciting one.  It's the PG County Library System's Summer Reading Program. 

Now some people may not equate the library with exciting, but I tell you this program really is. It's for the entire family, with reading programs for the youngest children all the way up to adults. In the children's programs, kids complete activities or read books, their parents sign off on it and they get prizes. The teen program works similarly. Adults read books and get to feel proud they've spent some time reading.

That part of the program may or may not be exciting (especially if you pick a dud of a book--though, really, how likely is that? Books are usually pretty good). The exciting part is the programs they have. The library tends to go all out for it's summer reading program with entertaining shows and events. They bring in magicians, men taming crocodiles, scientists,  ice cream socials, puppet shows and more. Last year, my kids loved Reptile Man, who showed off crocs and anacondas. We had a ball at the magic shows, and we even did Legos. Lots and lots of fun and excitement. 

The summer reading program kicks off today. There's information about it here: http://www.pgcmls.info/srpwelcome12. The complete list of events associated with the summer programs are here: http://www.pgcmls.info/SRP2012A.  

That's all for today. Next week, I'll have a list of some fun upcoming family movies, along with my review of the first kid-friendly flick to hit this summer: Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted.

-Hyattsville Mom