The Upside of Business Travel: “Me Time” on the road

I’m at 35,000 feet, coming home from a business trip.  It’s hard to leave the kids – there was a tearful call from Zach last night in which he replied to my “hello?” with “I don’t want you to go away any more.”  That call also happened to come in during my first unhurried trip to the mall in over 4 years.  And yes, I had to be out of state to do it.

The Upside of Business Travel:

* Staying relevant to my company:  As any working parent who needs a little (ok, a LOT) of flexibility from the company, I am always appreciative for the opportunity to demonstrate the value of my salary to the C-suite.

The good news:  I visited accounts that will generate 1/3 of my company’s revenue for the year and helped secure additional purchase orders and possibly even a pallet of product for Black Friday.

* Mike (my husband) and the boys had a great mommy-free time to bond.  I think it’s also good for the hubbies to see what we mommies do behind the scenes and in the wee hours of the morning.  The fact that Elijah’s babysitter called in sick and Mike got to experience the horrific experience of taking both boys to the doctor for Zach’s 4-year check up (which unfortunately included 3 shots and blood work) will lead to more appreciation for the next time I routinely do this.

* I got a little well-deserved “me time.”   Yes, it took place between 6 hour flights, account meetings, excessive emailing to keep up with the office from the road and while I was missing the kids.  I’m also able to laugh at the fact that I now classify some basic functions (such as a decent night’s sleep and being able to make 2 calls to my lovely family – who live out of state and I miss terribly) under “me time.” 

I stayed in the very serene Westin Bellevue outside of Seattle and slept a full 9 hours in my “heavenly bed.”   I read 2 books on my 2 cross country flights, went out for Chinese food with my colleague, had a fun time making girl talk at my first PF Chang’s experience, very nearly got to see a movie (!), considered a hotel spa procedure, and went to a mall to buy the summer work appropriate clothes I’ve been meaning to pick up for a month. 

The moral of this story is to try to find a little “me time” where we can, whether the on our terms or imposed on us by our work situations.  My memorable mall experience culminated in a trip to the Disney Store where I left with a Lightning McQueen gift for each boy.

Zach's 3rd Birthday at the Alley Pond Environmental Center

Ah, it’s birthday party planning time again.  We just booked Zach’s 4^th “movie” birthday party which will not only be fun for the birthday boy, but be a real crowd pleaser.  We loved Zach’s 3^rd birthday party at the Alley Pond Environmental Center. 

Alley Pond is an environmental conservation center in Queens, NY, and is a huge nature preserve in the middle of the city.  I loved this place!  The kids enter through a long hallway on the way to the back party room.  There are terrariums built into the walls filled with fish, turtles, and other animals all at 3-year old eye-level.  The back party room has a sitting area and tables set up for the art project (the birthday boy had a choice of 3-4 activities).  Before the party starts, the kids can look at the adjoining animal room filled with turtles, birds, lizards, rabbits, snakes, and other animals in low pens and tanks.  Zach got to choose 3 animals to be presented at his party.  The party leader – a nature and animal expert – did a great, brief lesson about each animal and showed the kids the right way to pet the animals so as not to scare them.   

Zach chose a bearded dragon lizard, bunny, and snake – and the naturalist walked each animal around to the circle of kids so they could pet and discover the interesting features of each.  The “lesson” was geared to 3-year-olds.  For example, our hostess explained that the bearded dragon looks really scary so other animals won’t bother it.  But, that its spiky beard is really not so scary, and soft to the touch.  She likened the spikes to a Halloween costume to scare off animals who might bother the lizard.

We did a fish art project that the kids were able to take home with their goody bags (which were filled with animal themed loot ordered from Oriental Trading).

We needed to bring our own party supplies, which was a little tough, as we needed to remember every last detail from a cake knife, to plates, table cloths, napkins, forks, cups, etc.  But, we had a definitive start and end time, and were able to leave the party behind us once we were done.   

I really liked that the kids got to do something off the beaten track and learned something.  I learned something!  I recommend looking to educational nature centers or museums for your kids parties for a wholly enriching experience.

Instant Birthday Party Planning - and a Cars 2 movie theater party at the Elwood Quad

I was lucky enough to have my husband fully research options for my son’s fourth birthday party.  He found some really cool venues in our neighborhood.  Here are some of the ideas he found, and I was pleasantly surprised by some.  If you’re outside of the Queens NY area, and one of the interesting ideas below inspires you, try doing an online search for your neighborhood. 

* THE WINNER:  A morning movie showing! We’ll be seeing Cars 2 in a real movie theater the day after it opens – a much anticipated event for the pre-K crowd.  Our party includes free popcorn and soda for the kids and adults.  We learned that most movie theaters offer a pre-show option at 10 am before the first scheduled weekend showing.  Zach’s party will be at the Elwood Cinemas where the part fee includes 30 kids (no limit on the adults).  We’ll bring in some coffee and bagels from a local shop, grab a cake from BJs, and will be set for far less than any of the other venues we priced out.  This is quite a machine – we went to a friend’s party (where the birthday boy played his favorite DVD in lieu of watching a currently playing movie) and every theater in the entire cinema hosted a birthday party.  

The price per kid was really reasonable (note, we’re jaded by the exorbitant cost of kids party places, so bear in mind that “reasonable” is relative)

* Pottery Painting:  these parties are great, and the kids paint their own party favors.

* Bowling: most alleys offer bumpers for the kids and arcade tokens.

* Chuck E Cheese

* Cookies by Design: many of the Cookie by Design outlets offer tours and cookie decorating for the kids

* Museum party rooms (our local Hall of Science has a great Preschool Place as well)

* Zoo party

* Parties in the Park: you’re on your own for bringing everything, but you can often reserve a gazebo or picnic area.  Note, you often need to apply for a permit.

* Inflatables party – giant bounce-house esque mayhem with inflatable slides, American Gladiator arenas, basket ball courts and more.  Some chains are Bounce U, Pump It Up

*Horseback riding.  In Forest Park on the Forest Hills border, we have stables with pony rides and tours.  There are a number of places in Long Island with horses and horsemanship parties.

* California Pizza Kitchen: Zach’s Aunt Tali discovered this party option. Many CPKs offer a tour and pizza cooking class for the kids where they make the pizza they’ll eat for lunch.  

Fire Island family getaway

We took a trip to Fire Island.  This is one of the beach communities on the East Coast that is a great place for a family getaway.  Even in just a single day, we’ve been able to squeeze in many memorable moments with the kids.  And somehow, the days seem longer here (in a good way) so in just a couple of days, we are able to soak up a week’s worth of relaxation.

The island is a quarter of a mile wide, so the ocean is never far away.  There are no cars on Fire Island, and we’ve been making our way around via a little red wagon that my 2 year old, Elijah, has fallen in love with.  We also have a large green wagon which we deck out with pillows and blankets for nap time on the go.

Today, the kids slept in (to 7 am!) and after a pancake breakfast (my weekly pancake breakfast tradition–in-the-making isn’t affected by the fact that we had to take a ferry to get here) we made our way to the playground.  The kiddie pool isn’t yet open, and we had the entire playground to ourselves.   The kids sloshed around in the sand, played on the swings, tire swing, and various jungle gyms, before a water break brought us back to the wagon.  We then made our way to the ball field one block away (passing the always fascinating tennis courts) where the weekly 6 – 12 year old kids baseball game was already underway.  The boys climbed in, around, and through the bleachers and then Elijah pulled his big brother Zach in the wagon to the beach.  The beach is wide and flat and we let the ocean tickle our toes for a while, before heading back home for breakfast (breakfast part 2 for the boys), curious to see if the rest of the family (Dad and the boys’ grandparents were up).

At the house, the boys spent half an hour filling the wading pool with water, and helping in the garden.

The afternoon brought another wagon ride for a visit into the cute, small town in Ocean Beach, where we had ice cream, ran around for fantastic people watching, hit the basket ball courts (where there are always free balls hanging out waiting to be played with), watched the boats, played nok hockey in the kids center, and took a million pictures of our long shadows stretching out ahead of us on the walk back home for a BBQ dinner.  We lazily crammed (if one can even accomplish this concept) a few days’ worth of activities into normal waking hours.  The extra beautiful thing is that the boys are so tuckered out from all the running around, and nap time and bed time is a breeze.

Beach inspired arts and crafts

Prep time: 20 minutes 

Activity time: 30-90 mins.

I just got back from Fire Island, NY and was totally inspired by the shells and rocks my kids collected on our short beach vacation.  

Painted shells are a cottage kids industry in Fire Island, (ranked with lemonade stand wagons) and I saw some shells that made me look twice.  Some enterprising young ladies added giant googly eyes to their shells to an amazing effect.  My kids will love this!  We can also transfer their love of drawing and sketching on paper at home to painting and decorating rocks and shells during our next beach visit. Pick an artistic color palette for a canvas of assorted shells, rocks and twigs, and your budding artist will be ready to go.

Be sure to add drift wood to your collection.  You may find beautiful found art worth adding to your walls as-is.  Even if you're less interested in adding rustic art to your home, chunky driftwood will provide a nice base for gluing the rocks, twigs, and shells (decorated or au naturale).

You can make great gifts and home decor with this project as well.  Here are some initial ideas:

* Put your treasures into:

     Hurricane candle stands

     Small or interesting fish tanks

     Glass tumblers

     Vases

* Paste around an inexpensive plain, wooden picture frame (or many picture frames to create a vignette on the wall)

* Driftwood!

Note that it may help to visit a craft store for googly eyes, glitter paints, and other ad ons (in addition to the glue and markers I assume you already have at home), as well as giftable items to put them on such as photo frames, cardboard or small wood memory boxes, glass hurricane lamps, etc.

Rainbow Eggs art project

Prep time: 2-10 mins
Activity time: 30 mins
Follow up activity: 30 mins to hours of fun

Tonight we are making Rainbow Eggs.

I'm also going to turn this into a cooking project and either hard boil the eggs or hollow out the eggs and scramble the insides.  Either way, this efficient Mama is making dinner at the same time!

Hard boil or hollow the eggs.  To hollow the eggs, use a sharp cooking took like a skewer, base of a meat thermometer, or sharp knife (very carefully please!) and poke a small hole at either end of the egg.  Then empty the yolk and white into a bowl by blowing into one of the holes so the force of your breath pushes the egg through the bottom hole and into the container.

I recommend going with the hollowed out eggs because you can turn this into a craft project for later in the day or the following day.  Besides, it is oddly satisfying to blow the eggy insides out :)

I purchased an Easter egg dyeing kit on sale the day after Easter and it's been in my craft closet ever since.  We'll use this kit and follow the directions.  Our kit includes a wax pencil so we can create negative space where the dye won't adhere, stickers and more fun add-ons.  If you are using food coloring or a smaller kit, your own glitter, puffy paint, or stickers will also do the trick nicely.

Once you dye and dry your eggs, you can create additional projects.  Here are some ideas for the next day:
*turn your egg carton upside down and insert 1/4 the length of the toothpick into each inverted bump.  Now, stand your hollow egg on the remainder of the toothpick as a stand.  This can be a pretty Spring centerpiece.
* create a crowd scene by following the above stand instructions and add googly eyes; felt or paper clothes, yarn for hair, etc. to make your eggs into people (or animals or aliens).
* purchase foam balls and tooth picks to create an egg tree.  Glue the foam together in odd ways, securing the base to your egg carton, balance in a mini flower pot, etc.  Then stick the toothpicks 1/2 of the length in and attach your eggs through one of their holes.  You an also try stacking eggs on top of each other using toothpicks to connect them to one another (with 1/2 of the toothpick inside each adjoining egg).
*create egg snowmen using the above connection device (one toothpick inserted 1/2 way inside each egg) and then decorate your man.
*break up your eggshells into a little colorful people and make a mosaic design.  You can even glue them to pictures in a coloring book for alternative ways to color.
This works with either hollowed eggs or hardboiled. Just save your shells after you eat your eggs.

The list goes on and on - let your kids' creativity loose!  Have an egg-selent adventure!

Weekly Crepe or Pancake Breakfast cooking project

Prep time: Minimal

Activity time: 30 mins

I wanted to institute a tradition... And decided on a weekly Sunday pancake breakfast.  Only we did crepes because I like them better and it's fun to roll stuff up in them.  My 3 year old was always up early with me (I say that as if he weren't the reason I was up early to begin with ;) and would help me cook.

Crepes are easy – there are very few ingredients and you don't need a mixer.  We'd practice counting as we measured out flour, vanilla, baking soda, sugar and salt. It is also a good opportunity to see the different amounts (1/4 teaspoons, tablespoons, cups) we needed for different ingredients.  Crepes have the added fun of using the sifter – which is epic for a 3 year old.

We'd make the crepes (pronounced crueps - to help Zach differentiate them from another favorite food ... Grapes) and then use a butter knife to cut up berries and bananas to go inside.  Drizzle with yogurt and powdered sugar, and you have an instant gourmet breakfast.

The “weekly” aspect of my tradition lasted about a month, but we still make crepes every now and again

A fun related craft project is to decorate aprons for the kids.  You can order these online (oriental trading has a nice selection and good prices) and then decorate with anything permanent, from sharpies to puffy paints, to sew on letters and graphics.  The true domestic goddesses may even embroider.

Apron craft time: 10 mins +