Archive for May, 2008

School’s almost over, and if you don’t want your kid cluttering up the couch all day you’d better schedule him up. A fertile source of activities: the vast slate of classes and day camps offered by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks system. There are so many selections that you’ll probably find classes you’ve paid hundreds of dollars for offered free, or for a nominal fee.

Now, you can sign up for classes using SF Rec’s online portal, but the catch is that first you must have a “family account,” an enormous pain to get since you generally must take a raft of paperwork, in person, to McClaren Lodge in Golden Gate Park during business hours (read: the hours you work somewhere else). But for the next two weeks during open registration, you can instead visit SF Rec’s satellite offices (here are a list of those; call the location to confirm hours). You still must bring the same pile of paperwork, but at least now you don’t have to drive across town if you live far from GGP.

Once you have the account, signing up for classes is a cinch– and since getting the account is so difficult, most classes are wide open. Is your child interested in swimming? Ceramics? Yoga? Baking? Well, she might be, after this summer.

Get your art on with a culture-vulture weekend, or brave BART for a Berkeley fest.

Lines Ballet Family Day

In celebration of Long River High Sky, the dance collaboration between Lines Ballet and Chinese Shaolin Monks, this free outdoor festival plays host to ballet lessons, kung fu demos, and arts/crafts activities. Snacks and drinks are also provided free.

When: Sat., 5/31, 2pm (a matinee performance of the show follows at 3pm); Age 8+; Free (Ballet performance is $15-65).

Where: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. (at Fourth St.), San Francisco, 415-978-2787, linesballet.org.

Wild in the City

Nature isn’t just found in the wilderness–and this new Randall Museum exhibit explores the wild animals who make their homes right here in San Francisco. Kids will find out how to identify animal tracks, how animals hunt, and where to look for natural ecosystems.

When: Ongoing, opening Sat., 5/31 and continuing through 11/1; 10am-5pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Randall Museum, 199 Museum Way (at Roosevelt), San Francisco, 415-554-9600, randallmuseum.org.

Chocolate & Chalk Art Festival

Instill in your child the joy of (legally) defacing city surfaces with this powdery romp over the sidewalks of Berkeley. Participants are assigned a square of sidewalk; onlookers chow down on chocolate samples or check out the arts and crafts booths. The best drawing wins $250; runners-up get $50 gift certificates from the Elephant Pharmacy. Bring your own chalk or buy it at the festival.

When: Sat, 5/31, 10am-6pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto (North Shattuck Ave. around Rose St.), Berkeley, 510-548-5335, northshattuck.org.

Animal Extravaganza

The seriously knowledgeable (and approachably fun) naturalists of Tree Frog Treks haul out their reptile and amphibian friends for kids to marvel over and touch. Activities teach kids about biology and nature.

When: Fri., 5/30, 4pm; Age 5+; Free.

Where: Glen Park Branch Library, 2825 Diamond St. (at Bosworth St.), San Francisco, sfpl.org.

Most baby hats look so adorable the first time you put them on that you run for the camera. But after only a few wears, inquisitive fingers have plucked a constellation of puckers into the knit.

The sister team behind San Francisco-based Zooni created their children’s hats with just such hard wear in mind. Each one is crafted from a combination of cotton and polyester, custom-spun and hand-knit to stand up to tugging little digits. And certainly the kids won’t be able to resist worrying the squiggly strands of the Firecracker hat, a garment that doubles as an interesting textural toy. Just look at the cuteness! You can’t beat that cuteness. Even better, the hat covers baby’s ears. Nothing drives pushy grandmas on the street crazier than exposed baby ears. Don’t be ticketed by the Baby Hat Patrol: cover that head!

Available at zooniwear.com.

A small-but-interesting study suggests that babies delivered by C-section are more likely to develop asthma and allergies. Researchers analyzed the umbilical cord blood of 50 babies born by Caesarean and 68 babies delivered vaginally, with at least one of the baby’s parents afflicted with asthma or allergies.

Says Dr. Ngoc Ly, one of the study’s authors and an assistant professor of pediatrics at UCSF, “We found a dysfunctional cellular response in the normally protective immune system among C-section babies. And although more work needs to be done to follow how long this response might endure, we think this disrupted immune pathway may influence the development of asthma later on.”

The researchers also theorized that vaginal delivery could expose infants to immune-building microbes.

This seem particularly rich to me given that the U.S. has the highest rate of C-sections in the world. And despite UCSF’s pride at their C-section rate of 22.8%, lower than the national rate of about a third, and also lower than the going San Francisco rate of about a quarter, that’s still almost 1 in 5 women going home with a big slice across their bellies, and an infant who may be affected for life, in ways we don’t even really yet understand.

Interestingly, another of the study’s lead authors, Dr. Wilfried Karmaus, is involved in other crunchy-compliant projects, such as a study to determine the best diet for breastfeeders and a long-term project linking exposure to environmental toxins to immune system damage. Could be a good idea to keep an eye on that guy.

If you haven’t found an excuse to visit the sparkling, magical Golden Gate Park children’s playground yet (and you should find one ASAP because this is the cutest playground in S.F.), here it is: starting today, the vintage Herschel-Spillman carousel is open every day until Labor Day.

Whirling around under the round ceiling on a gorgeously painted horse, pig, or chicken while the creaky band organ plays and the bored attendee plays with his Game Boy…this is what childhood memories are made of. And at just $1.50 a ride for adults, 50 cents for kids aged 6-12, and kids under aged five riding free, it’s a shockingly affordable sweet memory.

The carousel is open 10am-4:30pm every day and is located right beside the children’s playground, MLK at Bowling Green Drive in Golden Gate Park. Don’t forget to bring extra clothes for little kids as the playground’s water feature is a guaranteed soaker. You may also want to carry along porta-potties for the newly potty-trained, as the nearest restrooms are a bit of a hike. Questions? Call (415) 831-2700.

Dancing, camping, making art or watching it: it’s a busy weekend out there.

Wild Nights Family Overnight

Take a tour through the zoo at night, when nocturnal animals are awake and prowling. Attendees will meet with a zookeeper, go on a guided ramble through the park, and then camp indoors (in a heated building, thank God. It’s foggy out there). In the morning, warm drinks and a continental breakfast is available before early-morning tours of the zoo. Those who prefer to sleep in their own beds can take the evening tour and then bug out, for a reduced fee.

When: Sat., 5/24, 6pm-10am (5/25); All ages; $65-85 (pre-registration required).

Where: San Francisco Zoo, Great Highway (between Sloat and Skyline), San Francisco, 415-753-8124 sfzoo.org.

Break Out Dance Project

The Center’s noted KidSpace classes make a return with this free six-week series of dance classes for kids aged 5-6. Kids will dance to world music and incorporate movements from a variety of cultures; the class ends with a performance.

When: Saturdays, 5/24-6/29 (no class May 31), 10-11am; Age 5-6; Free.

Where: The Center, 1800 Market St. (at Octavia), San Francisco, 415-865-5553, sfcenter.org.

Photo Workshop

Learn how to coax natural expressions and poses from your infants or young ones in this free photo class for parents. Our tip: set your camera on the fast-capture “sports” setting to freeze that perpetual motion. Free snacks and beverages are provides, and kids are welcome to attend with parents.

When: Fri., 5/23, 11am; All ages; Free.

Where: Fima Photography, 1414 Castro (at 25th St.), San Francisco, 415-641-1010, fimaphotography.com.

And If We Shadows

Performers as young as 14 enliven the thrilling urban-themed “hip hop circus,” which features breakdancers, aerialists, contortionists and other folks who can do crazy things with their bodies. This is the show’s final weekend.

When: Fri.-Sun., 5/23-25, 8pm (Fri.), 3pm and 8pm (Sat.) and 3pm (Sun.), Age 4+; $12.50-$25.

Where: Brava Theater Center, 2780 24th St. (at Portrero St.), San Francisco, 415-665-2276, citycircus.org.

Red Poppy Art House Family Art

Wander past the Outer Mission classroom and studio any Saturday afternoon to find that the art has taken over the sidewalk, and passers-by are free to take part in projects utilizing glitter, glue, paper, paint, clay and all other manner of supplies.

When: Saturdays, 1-4pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Red Poppy Art House Family Art 2698 Folsom St. (at 22nd St.), San Francisco, 415-826-2402, redpoppyarthouse.org.

Kids — they’ll drive you to drink! But where? Even a hotel bar will toss you out for bringing in your child. Here’s the local rule of thumb: if the joint serves hot food, they let kids in. Even better, find a bunch of friendly faces at VinoRosso’s Wine and Whiners. Parents and their tots are specially invited to the weekly party, and since Bernal Hill is the Land of the Breeders, it usually fills up with parents drinking much-needed glasses while the kids raise hell on the floor.

And what will you be drinking? Fine, rare Italian wines, served with seasonal salads and antipasti. At Wine and Whiners special treats for the kids are also on the menu. Don’t miss the house-made lasagna or the desserts, made by the owner’s Italian mama. The space is small, intimate, charming, and directly on Bernal Hill’s main drag.

When: Weekly on Wednesdays, 4-7pm; All ages; Free.

Where: VinoRosso, 629 Cortland Ave. (at Anderson St.), San Francisco, 415-647-1268, vinorossosf.com.

Remember that scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the ’70s one, not the wretched remake) where a candy-store operator sang The Candy Man and started showering chocolates and candy on the hungry young customers in his store? And you were watching with your mom and dad, and you had maybe a container of lousy Junior Mints if anything, and you drooled so much your popcorn got wet?

If you remember it, that’ll approximate the feeling you get when you enter Miette, the exquisite Hayes Valley candy store. A sister store to the Miette cake store at the Ferry Building, this airy, Parisian little niche is papered in vintage wallpaper and lined with sparkling candy jars filled with candies fine enough to make even adults get weak at the knees, and will strike children positively dumb with delight. Glossy caramels? Top-notch licorice? Handmade cotton candy? Point to what you want and the counterpeople will weigh it out into little crackling bags; to hurry home with one clutched in your hot little hand is sheer bliss.

Miette is located at 449 Octavia Blvd. (at Linden Alley in Hayes Valley), San Francisco. 415-626-6221, miettcakes.com.

You may have wondered over them at grocery stores: Reddi-Whip sized cans colored snack-tastic gold and red, and inside…what is this? Organic pancake and waffle batter? Well, it is a pain to get up and make pancakes who are barking for their breakfasts, but this is just too weird, right?

No! It’s delicious! Chowhounds like it! YumSugar likes it! And since they would happily eat a cardboard circle for breakfast if it were covered with syrup, you’re darn tootin’ that kids like it.

The inventor of the product, Sean O’Connor, is a local boy. He used to be a co-owner of Thee Parkside in the early 2000s before he quit to pimp waffle batter, and the company’s main office is still in S.F. So when you plunk down your $5.99 (ouch) for a can of Batter Blaster, you can feel good about supporting a weird local inventor.

Batter Blaster is available at Whole Foods and many other stores in the Bay Area. Find a retailer near you at the Batter Blaster website.

If you have an indifferent nurser or a bad latcher, you may find yourself getting a little paranoid that your newborn isn’t getting enough milk. Is she getting anything at all? How much? Why aren’t there ounces marked on your breasts, anyway?

A call to the pediatrician will net you the following sage advice: if the baby is breastfeeding and gaining weight, he’s getting enough. But who knows if the kid’s gaining weight when she only weighs as much as a economy-size bottle of detergent? How can you tell the difference between 7 pounds and 7 pounds, 1 ounce? Are you supposed to whip out the postal scale or what?

Here’s a better option: soothing retail outlet DayOne (locations in San Francisco’s Laurel Village and Palo Alto) offers gliders and nursing pillows aside precision baby scales. You bring in your baby, strip him down and weigh him, then breastfeed and weigh again. There, you see! You’re doing just fine. Stick around DayOne to browse the parenting library, attend a support group, or just sit with other mamas nursing their babies; the store’s a vital resource for parents of infants and young kids.