Family Movie Day, with hand sanitizer (Nov. 7)

Is anyone else out there avoiding kiddie attractions lately? Much as we love them, we are. I just can’t bring myself to risk the contagions. There’s only been one confirmed case of H1N1 affecting a child we know, but she got really sick … so we’re staying home more than usual. It’s a good excuse to bake Christmas cookies. And to jump in leaves.

And when we do go out, it’s to places where there aren’t a lot of interactions or shared toys. So today’s recommendation is for the Family Movie Day at the Missouri History Museum. At 2:30 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 7), you’ll be able to see Aladin for free in Lee Auditorium. Beforehand, from noon on, there’s a craft-and-storytelling workshop (the story is at 1 p.m.), and of course you can break out the hand sanitizer and venture into the special exhibit, Treasure!, which the museum’s hosting until Jan. 3, 2010. For details about the day’s events, visit this link.

And stay healthy, everyone!

City magnet schools’ open house (Nov. 5)

We were childless when we first moved to St. Louis, so the dismal state of the local public education system was an abstract concept for a long time. Now, eight years later, M. is in first grade and I’m no longer finding it quite so abstract! I don’t have the instinctive knee-jerk “no” reaction when someone asks why we don’t send him to a public city school — I’ve been around long enough to know there are options within the system, and to have friends who’re choosing those options. But I’m still mostly a critic.

For example, the open houses at the magnet schools on Thursday (Nov. 5) have pros and cons. I’m all for open houses in a realistic setting, but this one is during school hours, and it’s not realistic for me to take off school and drive my kid to all the schools that we might be interested in viewing. Yes, the district does host weekend open houses for its magnet schools — as I discovered belatedly when I looked into the one tomorrow. If you’re thinking of enrolling your child in a magnet school, you’ll need to be more on the ball than I am: The application deadline for some of the schools is Nov. 13, among them Kennard, which is the creme de la creme for city parents even remotely considering a public education for their kids.

I have nothing personally against the schools’ marketing department — indeed, I have worked with them in the past and no doubt will again on various freelance pieces. But I wish they had the capability to do a full-force push. For instance, when I looked back at publicity about the weekend open house in October, the one I missed, it doesn’t mention that there will be another open house this month — and it also lacks any context to help parents sort through the schools based on quality, demand, discipline issues, etc. The newspaper ran essentially the same info as the press release.

Yes, I realize that the communications department needs to support all its schools. But that democratic approach stifles them a little too, because we parents are left with the idea that all the schools are roughly equal, which they’re not, and that beige image is not enough to get us to consider enrolling our kids.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Thursday’s open houses, call 314-633-5200.

Live music and Day of the Dead festival (Nov. 1)

If you happen to be hitting the Justin Roberts concert at Off Broadway today at 3 p.m. — not free, but at $10 per person it’s worth it for hard-core Yellow Bus fans like my boys! — consider coming over to Cherokee Street before or afterward. From 1 to 7 p.m., the annual Dia de los Muertos festival will be taking place, centered around the Cherokee-California corner. This year the organizers have set up a cemetery so we anglos can see how a traditional commemoration of the dead might look. You can learn more on the Riverfront Times blog post here. Even if you can’t stay long, it’s worth stopping by the many bakeries on the street for the sweet and delicious pan de muertos.

Spirits and Boos (Oct. 31)

Here’s the most clever promotion I’ve seen this Halloween season: The Fountain on Locust is promoting its Spirits and Boos (yes, as in alcohol – gotta love a good pun!) with a special creepy cocktail menu and “appendage appetizers” all day on Saturday (Oct. 31), 11 a.m. to midnight. The staff will be in costume, so I think it’s only appropriate that the customers be in costume too, right? And although the Fountain has great drinks, it’s a very kid-friendly joint in an old-fashioned soda fountain sort of way. Also, let me note that if you’re concerned about your kid getting too much sugar on Saturday, the servers are so well trained that they know better than to upsell you on dessert without first whispering to ask permission to mention the I-word.

Be sure to visit the homepage for various coupons and special offers, including a free soup with the purchase of a meal.  (I vote for the dill pickle-potato. Mmmm.)

Find Treasure! at the Pirate Scarefest (Oct. 27)

Such a bummer of a week — not only is it raining (again), but it’s the final week of the year for the Children’s Garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden, for the rooftop at City Museum, and for the corn mazes and other assorted Halloween activities we’ve been indulging in recently.

It’s a good time to introduce the kids to something fun that’ll last into the new year … like the Treasure! exhibit at the Missouri History Museum, now through Jan. 3, 2010. Tomorrow (Oct. 27) residents of St. Louis City and County receive free admission to the exhibit as part of the museum’s  Halloween Pirate Scarefest, a free evening of storytelling, activities, costumes and, yes, candy for the younger set. Party like a pirate from 6 to 8 p.m. — and learn about every form of treasure, from sunken ships to attic stashes.

Schoolwide yard sale (Oct. 24)

This year I’ve been on a yard sale rampage — not shopping them, but donating to them. For S.’s school this coming weekend, I’m cleaning out the garage: from kiddie sleds to the human-powered lawnmower that my husband despises, I’m putting together quite the carload. And there’s a bake sale too, which means I’m lightening the freezer’s load to the tune of a few dozen cookies.

Though I haven’t seen the stash yet, my guess is that this will be a great sale, since 75 families are contributing clothing, electronics, household items and toys to it. So come on over to the corner of Victor and 11th on Saturday (Oct. 24) and shop the Soulard School’s first community-wide rummage sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Blues and symphony (Oct. 21 and 22)

Our Sunday afternoon was a bit incongruous: We went directly from M.’s first concert with the St. Louis Children’s Choirs to his first hockey team photo with the St. Louis Rockets. Due to time constraints, he wore his tux shirt and black slacks under the hockey pads for the photo.

I should clarify that it was a strange combination to me — M. though nothing of it. He likes to sing, he likes to skate. It was a good reminder that we parents sometimes pigeonhole our kids unintentionally. What’s wrong with liking classical music, anyway? Or, for that matter, what’s wrong with liking hockey?

For hockey lovers, as I’ve mentioned before on this blog, the Blues’ practice sessions are free and open to the public. You just have to call ahead to make sure they’re on as scheduled at the Mills mall (314.227.5288). The next one is scheduled for Wednesday (Oct. 21) at 11 a.m.

For symphony lovers, this Thursday (Oct. 22) there’s an opportunity for high school and college students to see a SoundCheck sneak preview concert of Barber’s Adagio for Strings and Tippett’s A Child of Our Time for free — all that’s required for admission is a current student ID. The Friday (Oct. 23) performance of the same works can be seen by students for only $10 per ticket — and the same offer holds true for many other SoundCheck concerts. See the homepage for details on dates and how to go about getting the tickets.

Everything boo-tiful (now until Oct. 31)

Hey, we can see the sun today!  Woohoo!  And here I am at the computer … but I’m getting outside to work in the yard as soon as I remind you that Boo at the Zoo is on from now until Oct. 30. It’s a very non-scary, low-sugar-content nighttime option for little kids.  And yes, I know some boys M.’s age are going to The Darkness, and you can call me a mean mom all you want, but he’s not heading for any haunted houses this year.  Plenty of time for that when he’s a teenager — and can go without me!

I’m going to have to wrestle S. into a costume for the $1 discount off the $5 non-member admission (ages 2 to 12 only; kids under 2 are free).  Parking in the south lot is free, and the entrance is on the east end of the turnstiles nearest that lot.  Hours are 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. nightly.

Another little-kid-oriented Halloween event that started Friday night is Purina Farms’ Haunted Hayloft. It’s free (parking is $5 per car) on this weekend and next (Oct. 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25) at the Gray Summit exit of Interstate 44 West. There’ll be dog shows, hayrides, milking demos and magic shows by the International Brotherhood of Magicians. Hours are 4:30-8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3:30-7 p.m. Sunday.

If your kids are older and you’re looking for alternatives to The Darkness, check out one of these online Halloween event aggregators:

Kids in St. Louis

Parents Connect

Stltoday.com

Fox 2 News

Or if you’re the one looking for Halloween events:

Metromix

Riverfront Times

Free compost from Starbucks (anytime)

You know, it amazes me each the amount of money Americans will spend to speed up the course of nature. There’s a great Wall Street Journal article online about a new generation of compost bins that takes the time and work out of biodegrading food scraps. And I’m in total agreement that turning a compost pile is a big pain in the hiney. Which is why for several years we’ve been vermicomposting (that is, composting with worms) in the back yard, in a repurposed plastic storage tub with air holes (price: free) supplied with shredded newspapers and red wigglers from Paul’s Bait and Tackle in South City, where we’re proud members of the Worm Club (buy 10 containers, get the 11th free).

Back on the farm where I grew up, my mom would simply bury the fruit and veggie scraps in the garden and let the worms have at it. While I disliked the chore of digging holes for it, especially when the ground got cold and hard, it was an absolutely free way to generate compost with no follow-on work needed.

One trend the article mentions is certain cities’ mandating that residents separate their “bio,” as we call compostable material in my house, as they do their recycling and place it in separate curbside bins. This sounds like rocket science on a municipal level, but when we moved to a German apartment in 1998, the system was well in place, and though it was voluntary, it was socially taboo to use up communal general refuse space with your “bio.”

So while I’m happy about anything that encourages people to compost their own waste — or at least separate it for the city to haul away — I’m a little bemused that some of these units use electricity to make compost. Doesn’t that sort of defeat the “green” purpose?

And now for the moment you’ve all been reading for … yes, Starbucks does indeed offer 5-pound bags of used coffee grounds for free under the tagline “Grounds for Your Garden.”

The Magic of FREEdom (Oct. 16-18)

It’s gonna be crazy at the Magic House this weekend: FREE admission all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday in honor of its 30th anniversary. Donations at the 1979 admission rate ($2 for adults, $1.50 for children) will be accepted, toward the museum’s programs for kids from disadvantaged areas.

For more info, visit the museum’s homepage.