Archive for January, 2009

I feel weird writing about the new baby giraffe at the San Francisco Zoo, because I just wrote about the Zoo’s poor abandoned baby gorilla (doing well with his foster mommy, if you want to see his pictures). But when I clicked through to the zoo pages and saw the pictures of the sweet precious baby giraffe with his long eyelashes and even longer neck, I knew I had to share. Look at this. Just look. Squee!

As you can clearly see, Baby Giraffe clearly exhibits at least two of the official cute characteristics, as laid out by canonical cute site Cute Overload. To wit: Rule #23, “Knobby knees are cute,” and #7, “A thing, accompanied by a smaller version of that thing, is always cute.” The as-yet-unnamed lil giraffe and his mom, Bititi, will be in a special area of the zoo’s African savannah for a time as the herd gets used to its new member. If you are lucky, the tiniest giraffe may be out when you visit, and will peek shyly at you from underneath her beautiful eyelashes.

The San Francisco Zoo is located on the Great Highway (between Sloat and Skyline), San Francisco. Call 415-753-8124 or visit sfzoo.org for updates and pictures.

Scintillating ways to keep yourself out of trouble this weekend.

Fears Of Your Life

The teen thespians of the Marsh Youth Theater grapple with the nature of fear, expressing what frightens them and how they handle it through poetry, dance, video, painting, and song. Hey, it beats shutting yourself in your room, right?

When: Fri.-Sun. 1/30-2/1; Fri.-Sat. 2/6-7, 8pm Fridays, 2pm and 8pm Saturdays, 2pm Sunday; Age 12+ $6-25.

Where: The Marsh, 1062 Valencia Street (at 22nd Street), San Francisco, 415-826-5750, themarsh.org.

Monster Energy Supercross

Bring your automotive maniacs here, to watch AMA Supercross dirt bike riders daringly battle for gearhead supremacy.

When: Sat., 1/31, 12:30pm; Age 5+, $10-75.

Where: AT&T Park, 24 Willie Mays Plaza (at King Street), San Francisco, 800-225-2277.

Let it Snow Day

Who cares if the almond trees are budding already? Just for the day, Habitot is transformed into a winter paradise. Make igloos out of snow blocks, sprinkle ice with color and salt, and make your own snow. Winter stories are read at 11am, 12:30pm, and 3pm.

When: Fri., 1/30, 9:30am-4:30pm; All ages; Free with museum admission, Free-$8.

Where: Habitot Children’s Discovery Museum, 2065 Kittredge Street, Berkeley, 510-647-1111, habitot.org.

If you’re in need of a date-night activity–or have an older child with a suitably macabre sense of humor–consider artist Alex Pardee’s exhibit, “Letters From Digested Children.” The conceit linking the paintings, drawings, and letters on display is that some of the children who turn up missing each year are eaten by monsters with slow-moving digestive systems. As they wait to be digested, they write creepy letters to Mom and Dad (”Please tell my mom to come get me I’m tired and cold. From David”) and pose for vivid, frightening paintings. This is art that parents can’t help being affected by, though most of the images are silly/cartoonish to the point where mature kids will probably think it’s amusing. And hey, if all else fails, you can get yourself a really cool hoodie in the front of the store.

One more fact that might either motivate you to get to the show before it closes, or keep your distance altogether: San Francisco designer/artist Alex Pardee is well-known in local/hipster circles for his stuffed-toy line sold at KidRobot, including the cheerful Captain Singer, a penguin-like creature with blood dripping down his front and a sideways yawning mouth in the back with tentacles coming out of it. Yeah.

“Letters From Digested Children” runs through January 29 at 7pm at Fifty24SF (inside the Upper Playground store), 248 Fillmore Street (at Haight Street) in San Francisco. Call 415-252-0144 or visit upperplayground.com.

If you’re looking for a preschool or daycare option for your young child, Savvy Source is a good starting point. The website, started by two moms who realized there was no comprehensive list of San Francisco preschools, provides basic information about scores of Bay Area schools, with a load of great basic information: the teacher-student ratio, educational philosophy, enrollment process, and the like. One particularly useful feature describes a day in the life of each school, which makes it easy to envision how your own child would fit in, or not.

Savvy Source’s star system of ratings is a bit less useful; since parents have to decide to review a school, there are plenty of schools that have no or few reviews at all. But the background detail is invaluable for parents trying to winnow out a few choices from hundreds. If nothing else, Savvy Source has contact information for all the schools on your list, information that you’d have to spent a lot of time Googling for.

The site also offers information on camps and classes, as well as coverage of other cities (New York, Dallas, Boston), but it’s the Bay Area part of the site that’s second to none, a resource to bookmark.

If you have a little train nut in your house, riding the public transportation light rail will only go so far. Roaring Camp Railroads, with terminals in Felton and nearby Santa Cruz, California, are worth the road trip. They have two routes: one which winds through towering redwoods over a narrow-gauge track in the Santa Cruz mountains, another which wends through Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and over the San Lorenzo River Gorge before delivering riders at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Either route is delicious; you just have to decide if you want a quick ride or a long day. If the former, take the steam train around the mountain, at just over an hour it’s an easy day out for small kids. If you’re up for more, take the morning train to the beach, get off, ride the Big Dipper, have a soft serve, put your toes in the water and then take the afternoon train back to your car in the redwoods. Or wait for one of Roaring Camp’s special event days: three- and four-year-olds go absolutely nuts during the summertime Thomas days, when they can go for a ride on a real, live (well, not alive) Thomas the Train Engine, or try the popular Halloween ghost train or Christmas ride, complete with a singing Santa.

Roaring Camp is located at Graham Hill Road (at Mount Hermon Road), Felton. Trains leave every Saturday, Sunday and some Mondays and Thursdays through April 7 (daily in the summertime); Fares are $13.50-19.50, parking is $7. Call 831-335-4484 or visit roaringcamp.com.

Those baby discos are fun and all, but they feature the same dance-in-your-own-space-and-don’t-make-eye-contact that the grown ups’ clubs do. The whole thrill of dancing with little kids is the way their lack of self-consciousness sets you free to dance like a total idiot, judgment-free. Why not dance with a crowd that won’t just tolerate your wild abandon, but will look you in the eyes and smile and egg you on?

Every fourth Friday is Family Folk Dancing Night, hosted by Changs International Folk Dancers, a hale and hearty group of people from all over the world who soldier through a bewildering variety of simple folk dances: Japanese soft shoe, East Coast swing, samba, dances from Greece, China, Russia, sometimes with babes in arms, sometimes leading enthusiastic children by the hand. Dance instruction runs from about 7 to 7:30, then there’s family dancing until 8:30. If you just can’t get enough, there’s a regular grownup-focused-but-kids-encouraged dance after the family event. Be sure to wear closed-toe shoes–you may get squished.

Family Folk Dance Night begins at 7pm every fourth Friday at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, 417 31st Avenue (at Geary Street), San Francisco. All ages are welcome. A $5-10 donation per family is requested. Call 415-751-1140 or visit sflppchurch.org.

Looks like our heatwave is over, so here’s plenty of indoor fun for all.

Bay Area International Children’s Film Festival

A smorgasboard of animated and live action shorts and educational documentaries at this cheery film event for kids. Most intriguing: A screening of classic French film The Red Balloon, a sneak peek clip from Leonardo, a film developed by one of the makers of Pixar’s Ratatouille, and Cirkstur (pictured), a stop-motion Danish film starring mechanical dolls.

When: Sat., 1/24, 10:30am-6pm; 3+; $10 for an all-day pass (3 and under free).

Where: Auctions by the Bay, 2700 Saratoga Street (on the Alameda Naval Air Station), Alameda, baicff.com.

Orlando Thunder vs. San Francisco Bay Bombers

The stomping, slamming, powerful rollerbabes of the San Francisco Bay Bombers take on rivals from Florida in a rousing, semi-brutal roller derby spectacle that’s not a great idea for young kids, but is hilarious for older ones.

When: Sat., 1/24, 8pm; Age 6+; $9-20.

Where: Kezar Pavilion, 755 Stanyan Street (at Waller Street), $9-20, 415-753-7032, baycitybombers.com.

Chinese New Year Flower Fair

This traditional carnival takes place the week before Chinese New Year celebrations so that families can come and buy traditional celebratory flowers and fruits (tangerines, peach blossoms), while enjoying onstage performances from Chinese dancers and musicians. There’s a petting zoo and photo area for kids too.

When: Sat., 1/24, 10am-8pm; Sun., 1/25, 9am-6pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Grant Avenue from Clay to Broadway and Pacific Avenue from Kearny to Stockton in San Francisco’s Chinatown, sanfranciscochinatown.com.

New Pickle Circus

Wonder at everything the human body can do at this annual circus extravaganza featuring acrobats, contortionists, gymnasts, clowns, and acrobats.

When: Sat., 1/24 5pm, Sun., 1/25, 11am, 2pm, Age 3+; $16-22.

Where: Jewish Community Center, 3200 California St. (at Presidio Avenue), San Francisco, 415-292-1283, jccsf.org.

The reversal of my cat’s fortunes is made crystal clear for those that take a peek into my digital photo album: page after page of Bobo sleeping. Bobo eating. Bobo stretching and showing his belly. Bobo sniffing my infant daughter’s head…and then no more pictures of Bobo. But he’s lucky: at least I still love him. According to SF Gate “Your Whole Pet” columnist Christie Keith, it’s not uncommon for parents to actually start hating their pets once they’ve spawned. The dog who used to get Christmas cards is now  viewed with fear and loathing.

The problem, says Christie, is that childless folks turn pets into “practice babies” instead of dogs. They sleep in bed, they eat at the table, they ride in the front seat, and they’re generally used to being treated like little humans. And when their owners have a kid and start directing all that energy at a real little human, they get furious at the animal who continues to expect sibling status.

Christie says the solution is to know what to expect of animals and treat them accordingly (hint: animals are not inclined to have birthday parties, with hats and dog-food cakes); but I’m thinking the solution is “wait a little while.” When the kids are blowing you off to hang out with their buddies instead, those puppy dog eyes are going to start looking mighty good again.

There are so many grassy hills in San Francisco parks, but most of them are so speckled with dog poo that you’re risking a crying ride home should you choose to walk on them. But people actually heed the signs demanding they curb their dogs in ritzy Alta Plaza Park. Any waste is swiftly descended upon with a special odor-proofed blue bag. So go ahead, run down the hills, laughing like a maniac. Stand at the top and twirl around and sing “The Sound of Music.” You wouldn’t want to roll down them, though. That’s just risking it.

Alta Plaza also features a gigantic, renovated playground, with separate sides for big and little kids. The big kids’ side has cracking swings and a great, cushioned seesaw. The little kids’ side has bouncy motorcycles, a zippy slide, and a gigantic sandpit that encourages a friendly social hour between toddlers and their caregivers. On the plus side, there are sparkling clean picnic tables and a bathroom that’s even cleaner. There’s practically no shade, however, a bummer on hot days. No matter. Just wander up onto one of those hills and under a tree, admiring the all-the-way-to-the-ocean view.

Alta Plaza Park is located at Pierce Street (at Jackson Street) in San Francisco; visit sfpt.org.

Yojo Mobile, makers of the incredible mobile-device-accessible bathroom finder MizPee, now has a mobile site for San Francisco parents: Yojo Mama. I spent some time playing with it today, and it’s pretty cool. You put in your address, or the neighborhood you’re heading to, and find nearby bathrooms (crucial!), food, or kid-friendly spots like playgrounds, libraries, ice cream stores, and diners. They obviously hired someone familiar with San Francisco to fill the database, someone with decent taste who rates local places honestly: See’s Candy got four apples, while the gritty Margaret S. Hayward Playground in Hayes Valley rated only three.

You can look at Yojo Mama from your computer, or from a phone or other mobile device. If you sign up, you can even save reviews of various places, to access while you’re out: what was that great park right by the place with the killer fried chicken? Now you’ll remember!

Visit yojomama.com.