STL Free For All

One of the reasons I started this blog is that I habitually scan calendar listings — in newspapers, in magazines and particularly online — and we go to more than our fair share of the events I find there. Some of my favorite calendars are linked to this page (at right), and I’d like to point your attention to one in particular, where my comments from this blog are going to be featured: the parent resource site Kids in St. Louis. To find the link, scroll to the bottom of the calendar, then click on the yellow box that says “Review of Activities.”

It’s a very fun partnership, and I sincerely thank Terri and Renee for making it possible!

My book group met during last night’s Oscar ceremony, and a couple of us parents joked about our utter lack of pop-culture awareness in not recognizing any of the nominated stars, nor any of the movies, except possibly Ratatouille in the animated movie category. But I’m feeling pretty good now that it won that category — I saw it last summer when it opened … on a very hot day in a very cold theater with a 4-year-old who wouldn’t leave my lap from the scene where the little rat is washed away from his family until the credits began to roll.

But I saw it, darn it! And in a location outside my home, which makes me feel all the more cosmopolitan. If you have not yet had the pleasure, see Ratatouille this week at 4:30 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 2 at the Carondelet branch of the public library. Throughout the month the city libraries show a couple dozen movies, some geared at seniors, some at families. Also on the screen Thursday, across town at the Schlafly branch, is the perennial favorite Happy Feet at 7 p.m. The paper newsletter the library mails out makes it easy to find movies; online takes some digging. Family movies are found within the special kids section, under the pull-down Gateways menu. (Senior movies are listed separately.) Incidentally, the kids section is also where storytimes are listed.

The county library system doesn’t have as many public movie offerings (its screenings seem to focus on teenagers), but it does have a great series going on in the mornings this week: “Give Me Mo and Pigeon Too.” (Registration is required for the free sessions; log onto the homepage for times and branch phone numbers.) Based on works by author Mo Willems, sure to be a hit with any kid who loves Knuffle Bunny. And it’ll be a treat for kids who don’t yet know that book about a stuffed toy left in the laundromat, and the panic that ensues upon the discovery that it’s missing. I can so relate — that’s much closer to my life than the red carpet at the Oscars!

In honor of my recent birthday (which, to M.’s dismay, was celebrated without a party), I thought I’d list the 10 best kid birthday party ideas I’ve heard over the past year, with the caveat that I haven’t actually thrown any of them. My kids have early summer birthdays, when everyone’s still so excited about warm weather that the kids are ecstatic if I just toss out a sprinkler for them to run through and supply plenty of corn on the cob and grilled cheese sandwiches.

However, I empathize with parents of winter-born children around here. Up where I’m from in North Dakota, a February birthday meant a no-brainer for parents: a sledding party. In St. Louis in the winter, parents have to get a little more creative. And they do — these ideas are just ones I’ve heard of, and I’m sure there are gazillions more online. There are also a couple dozen local party-planning services and we-do-everything venues, but I’m only going to list two of those here. One of them starts off the list, and it’s unique in that the kids who attended the party there are still talking about it four months later.

10) Bounce U. The 5-year-old host vows that all of his parties will be at the South County exercise emporium. (There’s also a franchise location in Chesterfield.) The chaperoning parents seemed to get into the activities almost as much as the invitees. In keeping with the low-cost spirit of this blog, if I’m going to spend money on a party, the kids had darn well better think it’s the best party ever!

9) Geo-caching. Often described as scavenger hunting in the 21st century, it requires a hand-held GPS device (or several, if older kids will be divided into teams) and some advance planning to stash the goodies, usually in a park. It can be tailored to any age.

8 ) Murder mystery dinner. The mom who hosted this had her hands full with fourth-grade girls, but it would work for other age groups and for boys too. The stories can be purchased or downloaded online, or you can script your own.

7) Glow-in-the-dark theme. I happened across this idea while searching out glow-in-the-dark string to make a dreamcatcher for M., who was sure that was all it would take to prevent nightmares. Someone assumed I was hosting a birthday party and started sharing tips about craft projects (there are many) and locations (because not many of us have appropriately dark rooms other than closets). Of course, if you’re doing this one as a slumber party, it’s easier after sundown.

6) Wii-fest. This is probably what I’d do for a winter birthday — it’s a low-maintenance, high-satisfaction party (although not particularly creative, I’ll grant you.) Those of us who still don’t have the system will be happy, and those of us who do have it most likely aren’t totally sick of it yet.

5) Cooking class parties at Dierbergs. This is the other venue I mentioned, and while it’s available for bookings (an excellent idea if you’re not into having a dozen kids trash your kitchen!), if you’re trying to keep costs down by hosting your own cooking party, pay close attention to the kinds of dishes Dierbergs prepares for its age-appropriate classes.

4) Party tailored to a sporting event. Over the summer, a teenage girl whose birthday happened to fall during the week of a big boxing match had her parents sign up for a pay-per-view screening of it. They treated it as any other big game party (Super Bowl, World Series, etc.) but without the adult beverages. And as a bonus to the young hostess, the boys thought it was a very cool idea.

3) An Olympic theme. This one is especially timely since the games are coming up this year. Instead of “real” sports, participants play somewhat silly games: running a homemade obstacle course, doing a standing high or long jump, balloon volleyball, and any of those crowd-pleasing team games like pass the lifesaver on a toothpick. With requisite “medals,” of course.

2) Immediate family only. A friend doesn’t throw any birthday parties — she celebrates the day as a family-centric event, with the birthday boy or girl (or mom or dad) calling the shots. So the males might have to do tea at a doily-infested shop, and mom might have to swallow her prejudices and spend a mealtime at Chuck E. Cheese. And the kids had to put up with their father’s pick in July: an evening at the horse track on his lucky date, 7-7-07. Well, not so lucky, as it turned out … but it was a memorable choice on many levels!

1) A Richard Nixon theme. I had to save this one for the grand finale because there’s video proof of the mom’s excellent follow-through on her 4-year-old daughter’s request. It’s a nice reminder that anything can make a great party, as long as you’re not daunted by conventional thinking!

It’s rare that a charity benefit event promises to be fun for the whole family, but there’s one coming up on Sunday, Jan. 6, that does just that.  The cause is ALS, a motor neuron disease (it attacks nerves in the brain and spinal cord and causes muscles to lose strength and eventually become unusable).  The reason is a well-known local pastry chef, Marla Scissors (you may have taken one of her classes at Kitchen Conservatory, and you’ve definitely eaten one of her Companion pastries or desserts).  Her recent diagnosis prompted the “You Take The Cake” event from 3 to 5 p.m. at Congregation Shaare Emeth, 11645 Ladue Road.  Admission ranges from $10 per adult (flour) to $500 per family (icing).  Children can enter free with adults.  The money goes to the local Muscular Distrophy Association, which contributes to ALS patients and their families as well as  research into the disease (for which there is no cure and only a few recently developed therapies) at Wash. U. and Saint Louis University.

The usual fund-raising silent auction features desserts from St. Louis bakers and pastry chefs, but there’s also entertainment by Ha-Shemesh, a contemporary music group, and Shir Ami, a female quartet (both of them might be familiar from family-friendly Chanukah events around St. Louis).  And, best of all from the kids’ perspective, there will be plenty of cookies to decorate and eat.  Information about ALS will be a big part of the afternoon too, and I’ll admit I had to google it to refresh my memory of its alias as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and the toll it has taken on local luminaries like Hans Vonk, formerly the Saint Louis Symphony’s music director.

I have info about registration by mail — too late for that, whoops! — and also a couple of phone numbers to call for more information:  organizers Karen Becker Sher at 314.726.5077 and Cathy Sulivan at 314.503.8140.

Over the long, lazy Thanksgiving weekend we spent at my parents’ house, one of the most enjoyable hours came when my brother and I went through our old children’s books. Our mom was determined to get rid of as many as possible (meaning I was to take them home for M. and S. — my bachelor brother’s in a trendy one-bedroom loft condo that doesn’t have a lick of storage space). We both started the project without terribly much enthusiasm, but within about two minutes, we were hooked. The memories!! Books whose titles didn’t sound faintly familiar were revealed to be old friends once we opened the covers and saw the images. Some of the most beloved were disintigrating beyond repair, and others had been taped repeatedly. To be fair about the process, we checked each flyleaf for inscriptions (our family is big on gifts of literature) — and we laughed at how often a favorite book that was originally mine had my sister’s and brother’s names handwritten in it by them.

We eventually came up with several piles — one for me, one for him, one for our sister, one for the grandparents to keep, and one to donate. I packed up my pile and mailed it home, where it arrived yesterday. M. has already realized that any package arriving in the next few weeks is probably a present, so he pounced on the box as soon as he saw it. When we opened it, he seemed more delighted by the contents than if they had been wrapped. He loved the idea that he was inheriting a piece of my childhood, so we sat down right there on the kitchen floor and went through the box, patching the books that needed it and sorting out the ones he wanted to read first. His favorites so far are from the Sweet Pickles series, a Weekly Reader product from the ’70s, but there are really a lot of miscellaneous titles (long out of print, I’m sure) that are capturing his imagination just as they captured mine.

I’m pretty sure Mom’s intentions were simply to clear out some storage space, but she wound up giving us a lovely gift that we’ll be enjoying for many bedtimes to come.

In every group of friends there’s a social secretary who always knows the best places to go, where to park, what to wear, whether waiting in the queue is worth it, etc. In this case, she also knows approximately how many diapers to pack, how well strollers fare, whether there’s grub for the kids and, if not, how many gazillion Goldfish will be required!