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Silver Spring Style & Suggestions
2008-02-02 01:09:00
Silver Spring folk have a lot of home and garden style. Amongst the political and parenting conversations at parties, the topics of renovations, design and landscaping always come up. Just say the phrases "three story addition" or "best azalea food" at the next get-together and note that all conversations stop like in an old E.F. Hutton commercial.Whether you are the type to have Americana quilts and authentic rag rugs in your converted Victorian, framed vintage campaign posters and Swedish furniture in your light-filled contemporary, or your pad is mainly decorated by Graco and Fisher-Price, I am sure you can appreciate the design styles in this fair town as diverse as its inhabitants.One exciting new style resource is Avery Noll Vintage Home Furnishings. Avery Noll offers vintage furniture, lighting, and accessories that are typically updated with new designer fabrics, paint and touches to suit modern tastes. The online shop's owner is Silver Spring stay-at-home-mom Delores G...
More About: Style , Silver

And the winner of the Real Simple magazine is...
2008-01-31 05:20:00
Mary Beth for her submission of the most original activity idea for parents and kids to enjoy in Silver Spring:The Rock N Romp DC Concerts that are held in Silver Spring typically twice a year. These concerts feature music from awesome bands like Lemonface and Bellman Barker that kids of all ages will enjoy. Translation - you will actually rock out with pleasure, while not sweating the parental advisory warning or having to pay for a sitter. Kids 12 and under are free, adults just $5. According to contact from their official MySpace page there is an event in the works for February. As soon as I get the scoop, aparentinsilverspring readers will be the first to know. And the first ones to shake their mama & papa booties.Thanks MB, and hope you enjoy cuddling up to organizational ideas and healthy recipes as the snow falls outside!Here are some other fantastic ideas submitted by the runners-up:The puppet shows and nature classes for kids at the Brookside Nature CenterGet some...
More About: Magazine , Real , Simple , Winner

Do you like my hat?
2008-01-31 05:19:00
Go, Dog. Go! at the Adventure Theatre in Glen Echo Park is wonderful! Please mark your calendars to attend a show on a Saturday or Sunday (or special Monday performance on Presidents' Day, February 18th) before it closes on February 24th. There are two shows each day at 11am and 1:30pm. Reservations for shows are going quickly, call 301.634.2270 to reserve your space now.My family had a fabulous time watching the six performers sing, dance and pantomime their way through P.D. Eastman's early-reader classic. Toddlers, preschoolers and elementary school big kids were all entranced by the colorful costumes and lively "dogs." My oldest was enthralled by the theatre's imagination, energy and representation of a larger, imaginative world using simple props.The Adventure Theatre is a great introduction to theater for a child. It is age appropriate, intimate and if your child melts down, no one cares. But there is no dumbing down or pandering to the children; the directors and acto...

Tech Savvy Mama: Free Workshops through MCPS Parent Academy
2008-01-30 20:41:00
As parents, we strive to be the best parents we can be. Reading a book on discipline, flipping through the latest issue of a parenting magazine, conducting hours of research on just the right preschool, or going to a workshop count as parent enrichment to better the lives of our little ones. I know I have no problem reading a parenting magazine but am always slow to commit to going to a parenting workshop. I have nothing against workshops. I just seem to come up with a long list of excuses including lack of child care and an unwillingness to travel that usually prevents me from attending. I may not be able to make excuses much longer. The Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Parent Academy has an extensive list of workshops being offered at different schools in Silver Spring. Launched just this fall, the free workshops are conducted by MCPS staff, community partners, and government organizations and help parents access school and community resources. Works...
More About: Tech , Free , Mama , Savvy

In this town, there IS such thing as a free meal
2008-01-29 23:57:00
OK, I saw Supersize Me. I read Fast Food Nation. I try to purchase and make the healthiest food that I am able for my children, organic when possible, high in nutrients and fiber and vegetable protein.But dude, at Chick-Fil-A in downtown Silver Spring, kids eat free on Tuesday night from 5-8pm.I am guessing that about half of you are horrified. You either never feed your kids fast food, or only do so in emergency situations like road trips and airport layovers. You are wise to the benefits and evils of things like chemicals, preservatives, artificial colors, dairy, soy, gluten, and your child's body is the beneficiary of your hard work to keep him healthy. Please stop reading here and know that I wish I were just like you.For those of you that succumb to the draw of a free meal of questionable nutritional value once in a while, here's the scoop: your child can choose a chicken nugget or chicken strip meal, with a fruit cup or waffle fries and a lowfat milk or fruit juice for...
More About: Free , Town , Thing , Meal

Woman of the Week: Corina DuBois
2008-01-29 19:40:00
Are you feeling the Sunday night time crunch? Packing lunches, hitting the grocery store, counting clean pairs of Jockey shorts, catching up on work e-mails, checking the account balance, wondering how in the world you are going to do it all this week?I have to admit, tonight I am not as overwhelmed as usual, because this week I had the great pleasure and very centering experience of interviewing Corina DuBois. Corina is a powerhouse both in the Silver Spring community and in the MamaPreneur (her word) movement nationwide. And not only is Corina literally doing it all, she is doing it all with a gorgeous smile and a glow that is inspiring to every woman around her.Corina is the founding mother of Celebrate Mama!, a network of nationwide events that exhibit businesses and resources that celebrate motherhood. Celebrate Mama! also provides a wealth of online resources to parents seeking personal and professional enrichment. A marketing whiz who took a half-second sabbatical after the...
More About: Woman , Week

Are you ready for the summer?
2008-01-28 02:23:00
Check out the left-hand sidebar for links to summer day camps located in and near Silver Spring. Registration at many locations has already begun!Also, the Annual Montgomery County Summer Camps Expo continues tomorrow from noon - 6pm at White Flint Mall - details here - as over 80 different camps showcase their programs. Just be warned that if you take your toddler with you, the White Flint Mall train is not in operation due to the Expo.Thanks for reading aparentinsilverspring (APISS) via feed. You rock.
More About: Ready

Witching Hour Bulletin - Free For All Friday at the Round House Theatre
2008-01-26 04:12:00
No longer spending your Friday evenings shooting tequila at Tortilla Coast and flirting with inappropriate people? (OK, maybe that was just me.)Do the words "happy hour" now indicate a quiet period around 3am as you work or fold laundry?Does the end of the day with kids on a Friday make you want to weep with exhaustion?If you can relate, the Round House Theatre Education Center in Silver Spring is offering a free theatre class for ages pre-K to adult every Friday afternoon from 4-5pm until March 21st. Classes are taught by experienced Round House staff and professional actors. No registration is required. Just show up with the grumpy darlings.The free for alls are a blast, foster creativity and confidence, and transform the end-of-the-day-witching-hour into a happy hour for everyone. You can also look into their other great classes for all ages.Sorry, Round House staff will not follow you home and convince your kid to eat the dinner you cook. But by then it is 5pm, officially ha...
More About: Free , Bulletin

Getting the Crazies Out at Silver Stars
2008-01-25 19:09:00
During the spring, summer and fall months of the year, my children and I are Montgomery County park and playground groupies. We obsess over the best slides, ratio of bucket swings to babies, best trails for animal sightings, which trains are running, whether to bring the Razor or the Big Wheel. With ice currently covering most of our favorite haunts, we are feeling like Deadheads that just lost Jerry.Thank goodness for open gyms. The means for kids to run, crawl, jump and go bat-guano crazy on a frigid day is a blessing and a necessity. One of the best places in Silver Spring to let them loose is Silver Stars Gymnastics' Open Gym. Open Monday - Friday for one hour, 12 - 1pm, this magical place supplies limitless options for kids to get their cuckoos out.The gym is specially designed for children of toddler through kindergarten age. It is simultaneously adventuresome and safe. Adults are required to participate and monitor their children, so taking turns on equipment is nicely fa...

Don't Call Them Chick Flicks
2008-01-25 16:16:00
I don't like this term for romantic comedies with women in the lead roles. But it does seem pretty coincidental that the two films chosen for this week's Movie Moms Club are the exact two that my husband will probably want to drop like a stone to the bottom of our Netflix queue. At any rate, the movies that you are actually encouraged to bring your child to this week are... 27 DRESSES (PG-13) Running Time: 2:01Wednesday, January 23, 2008Show Time: 11:10 AM MAD MONEY (PG-13) Running Time: 1:54 Wednesday, January 23, 2008Show Time: 11:45 AMShows are scheduled every Wednesday at the Majestic 20 Theater in Downtown Silver Spring. Admission prices for adults remain the same, $8.25, children 2-12 are $7.25 and children 2 and under are always free.According to the Consolidated Movie Theaters' website, the Movie Moms Club "...welcomes crying, diaper c...
More About: Chick , Call

Feedback & forwarding to friends is appreciated, desired, the goal!
2008-01-23 18:10:00
Thanks so much to everyone that has written in with their comments and suggestions for aparentinsilverspring. This is exactly what I hoped for: a community of sharing and information for parents. Parents have written in and asked if it was OK if they forwarded the URL to their friends, playgroup, list serv and my answer is a resounding YES PLEASE. The more people we have reading and providing feedback, the better this site can become. As readership increases, I will be able to devote more cool bells and whistles of information and fun for parents in Silver Spring.If there is an upcoming event or resource for parents that you would like to see featured, please send me a line to jessica dot mcfadden at g mail dot com. All additions contribute to a site that is dynamic, diverse and packed full of options for our kids and ourselves. The bigger the calendar, the longer the resource lists and links, the better!If there is a mistake or change on the calendar, please please write me ...
More About: Friends , Goal , Feedback , The Goal , Forwarding

The Post's Guide to MLK, Jr. events & more
2008-01-22 05:35:00
For easy-peasy reference, here is The Washington Post's guide to events honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. and the impact he made on America. Additionally, check out the service project to help feed the hungry with Whole Foods in the left-hand side bar. Young children are welcome.If you are not able to venture out, WETA Channel 26's programming from 8am - 6pm focuses on the history of the civil rights movement. You can also show your children the full version of Dr. King's famous "I Have A Dream" speech right here on the old monitor.May you have a peaceful day with your family!Thanks for reading aparentinsilverspring (APISS) via feed. You rock.
More About: Events , Guide

Welcome Tech Savvy Mama!
2008-01-17 15:07:00
Tech Savvy Mama , aka Leticia, is an expert on education technology, as well as a driving force in the Silver Spring parenting community. She has wonderfully agreed to share her insights and musings on technology's impact on parenting in a regular column on aparentinsilverspring.*****************Li ttle Miss TechieIt was bound to happen sooner or later?our 4 year old daughter is about to get her own computer. Since Daddy's world revolves around technology and Mommy has a background in classroom technology integration, I guess it isn't surprising that our offspring is quite technology savvy. No, we didn't go out and by her something brand spankin' new from the Apple Store that she's been ogling for months. She?s inheriting grandma's old computer. The thought of our daughter having her own computer has made two technically inclined parents think about the difference between technology for adults and children as well as whether computers are for education or entertainment....
More About: Tech