Chicago Moms Blog

Harry Potter in Chicago

After my mini-bash of Chicago events in my last Chicago Moms Blog Post, I'm happy to do a little Windy City ass kissing boostering for the Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. We recently reupped our membership for the sole purpose of seeing it. I wasn't that excited, even though the Stars Wars exhibit a few years ago was a lot of fun, but my kids could could hardly wait for the Hogwarts Express to come rumbling into town. 

Moms everywhere should be Harry Potter fans. First, the books got kids reading. Then the movies came along to keep them entertained. Now, there's an exhibit to lure them to the museum — a place where actual learning may occur. So, some of the marketing and product pimping has gone a little overboard — OK, a lot overboard. What mom among us wouldn't love to use a few of the spells found in the pages of Harry Potter? 

How about Accio binky — when the baby is screaming and you don't have a free hand to pick up the pacifier; or Episky leg, to heal that skinned knee after a bike-riding mishap; or maybe Geminio, the duplication charm, for those times when two kids want to play with the same toy at the same time. 

I am a Bad Chicagoan

I've lived in Chicago or its immediate surrounds since I graduated from college, more than 20 years ago. Chicago is, by far, the best big city in the world (with no apologies to the Big Apple). We have a vibrant arts community, from richly endowed museums, to wonderful public art to a whole panoply of street artists. The city is clean, welcoming and accessible by public transportation. And, we're nice.

Chicago proffers a steady flow of activities, from pricey season tickets for the Lyric or the Cubs, to the graciously free beaches, parks and gardens of our unsullied, unparalleled lake front. The architecture alone stimulates peace, wonder and lively debate (hate the spaceship on top of Soldier Field; the Sears Tower will always be the Sears Tower; and there's still no consensus, at least in my family, as to whether Trump belongs here). We have celebrations every 10 minutes and the melodrama of Chicago politics provides daily (pardon the pun) entertainment. 

Even though we live in Evanston, the first suburb north of Chicago, I consider us a part of the City of Big Shoulders, more like the sleeve than one of the collar counties. I admit I've lost some of my urban edge since drifting north. It takes me a while to pick up the rhythms of both foot and car traffic when I venture downtown, but the muscle memory kicks in pretty quickly. I love taking the Metra — it's fast and efficient, a sophisticated mode of transportation. I love taking the El — it's young and alive, a little gritty, a little sweaty, a little slower, but you get to see the city from the inside out. I love the museums and concerts, the restaurants and street scenes. And though I'm happy with our chosen community, I'm occasionally rueful that I was too practical (or too chicken) to raise my family right in the city.

Here comes the confession:

What the World Needs Now

The Modern Wing of the Art Institute

Art lifts us. Gives us hope. Makes sense of our past and instills a belief that there is something beautiful for all of us to create here.

Overjoyed to attend the sneak preview for the media yesterday at the Modern Wing of the Art Institute, I had some beautifully landscaped quiet moments to reflect on my life long love of art. It all started with my mother's narrative as we walked down the hushed halls of the Art Institute when I was a small child.

Holding my hand tight she told passionate stories about when she first fell in love with Degas and his ballet dancers or how she feels when she sees the brushstrokes of a Renoir. She begged for my opinion encouraging me to open up and share my interpretation of what I saw (even when it conflicted with her own). This bubbling excitement spilled over on me like a flood of possibility and again and again I was swept away when I entered the museum. The truth is, I still feel it every time I walk in. 

Now with my own children, I find myself reflecting on the genius of my parent's philosophy. Despite living meagerly as small business owners, they never forgot to engage in the beauty of this world. They made it a point to take us to the ballet, to the opera, to the museums and to more simple places like state parks and historical destinations. Almost like a ritual or better yet, an escape so that my sister and I knew that there was more to living.

Pregnancy could've saved the day

A major wardrobe dilemma happened last weekend when the family and I had to attend a Chinese New Year Benefit. This has been a 2 month planning process for us in the committee and the night before the event some of the women started talking about their cheongsams. My brain froze! My mind started running.

“How did I even forget about what to wear?”

And if that wasn’t alarming enough, my second thought was even more concerning.

“There is no way that I will wear a cheongsam looking like this!”

A cheongsam is a traditional Chinese form-fitting dress that will show even the tiniest of bumps. My hump and lovely lady lumps are just not suited for this kind of dressing. And besides, who wants a giant stuffed egg roll walking around anyway! So you can just imagine how horrified I was. But I had to wear something appropriate for the cultural occasion and I needed it quick.

Little Kids, Big Problems

Until just a week ago, all my parenting experience as a mom and stepmom of six children (ranging in age from 29 to 10) has borne out the underlying truth of the old adage: "Little kids, little problems; big kids, big problems." Now I know that the problems of our little kids are big and getting bigger every day.

This week, our community was rocked by the news of the tragic loss of a fifth grade boy, who was found unresponsive in the bathroom at his public school and who later died, apparently of self-inflicted injuries. I cannot begin to comprehend the devastation the family* of this child is feeling and my heart breaks as they struggle with their pain and dispute even the possibility that he could have taken his own life.

While we do not know this family personally, the loss has had a profound effect on our family, particularly my own fifth grader, as it comes on the heels of a traumatic week for him. A week ago, he experienced his first encounter with verbal and physical bullying. The details are unimportant, but a few facts are worth mentioning. Though he felt threatened for several hours during the school day, my son never went to an adult for help. Though a number of other students in the fifth grade knew of the threats, they never went to an adult for help, either. When I asked my son why he didn't go to an adult, he said he was just scared. He was so scared, in fact, that he ran into the street without looking and was almost hit by a car.

Snow day...for SOME of us....

We got hit with a dickens of a storm here in Chicago, the second this week. 300 flights canceled at O'Hare, 30 (including my sitter's) flights at Midway. For the most part, the city went on lockdown last night before rush hour with schools and corporate entities alike planning for the worst. I stopped by my son's school to drop off gifts for the teachers and administration yesterday afternoon, assuming that today, the last day of school before break would be a snow day.  My husband works in commercial landscaping and snow is his winter specialty. We were making bets, despite the fact the storm kept getting moved from 3pm to 5pm to 7:40pm to 9pm on whether today would be a snow day or not.

Now, for the non-Chicagoland readers, one must understand that snow is an intricate dance between the City, unions, contractors, sub-contractors and the like. Daily commutes can range from those who live in the city and spend 20 minutes on an EL train to those driving in from Wisconsin or Indiana at the early hours of dawn, spending up to an hour in traffic. Add snow to the mix and a comfortable commute turns into 4 hours slugging through snow and slush.

Oh Rod, Why Did You Have To Do This?

Nothing kills new-found optimism and faith in politics like waking up to the news that your Governor has been dragged out of his house in handcuffs by the feds.

For the past month, I have been riding high on Obama's victory and all of the promise that it holds.  I'll admit it -- I really believed in "Yes we can."  I watched with pride as Obama delivered his election night speech to the hometown masses assembled in Grant Park.  I felt giddy excitement over his competent and efficient transition team.  I have been following the speculation over which local power players will be moving to D.C. as part of Obama's administration.  It seemed to me that promises of change were in the process of becoming, well, actual change.  And I felt proud that this was all taking place right here in Chicago.

LeapFrog shows Chicago Mom Bloggers a hoppin' good time

Chicago Moms Bloggers and their families made some noise at a recent party sponsored by LeapFrog. The noise wasn’t all from the company's educational electronic toys, though. Hosted at the South Loop KinderCare, there was plenty for the little ones to do. Only one child, an eight-year-old boy, was glued to his new Didj the entire time. Yes, that was my son.

The mostly under-five crowd kept busy with other LeapFrog products as well as the playscapes, the trains that passed by at eye level, the amazing face painter, and the talented caricaturist.

Meanwhile, the adults (and a few little hangers-on) had a discussion with LeapFrog Educational Advisors, Elliot and Cathie. We discussed the role of electronic toys, how to select ones that are right for our children, and how LeapFrog’s new Learning Path can help us track their child’s progress. 
Some moms, especially those with children age four and under, expressed concern about their children playing with too many electronic toys, preferring to stick with wooden toys that are well-suited for imaginative play.  Elizabeth did think it will be good to have such a highly regarded educational option to consider when her kids get to that stage. Marketing Mommy admitted that she was reluctant for her kids to go high tech, too, until she tried the LeapFrog Tag a few months ago. Now she sees how the technology can be fun, useful and instructive, and no, just because some books “talk,” with the Tag, her preschool-aged daughter doesn't find traditional books less appealing.

Oh, the October Drama!

Don't start hibernating yet - October is just around the corner, and there's lots of drama to keep us going. Normally by the end of September in Chicago the grass is brown and the leaves are turning and baseball is over.

But this year, summer-fun is spilling over into autumn. At least one Chicago team (my Chicago team) has clinched the playoffs, and one Chicago Senator is running for President of the United States. The first playoff game is October 1st, and the last World Series Game is October 30th - that's one whole month of post-season baseball that Chicago will play at least a little bit of; and maybe, just maybe...all month long?

Meanwhile, the Vice President debate is October 2nd, and the election is the first week of November. So that means political drama all month long. With an October chuck full of Baseball-drama and Political-drama, its bound to be an exciting month.

The Luck Of The Ivy

When choosing baby names in the past we could never ever come up with a girl name. Which really worked out since we always had boys. But this time around, we could only come up with one name that we loved, and it happened to be a girl's name.

Ivy.

Both hubby and I loved it separately. I loved the nature and timelessness, and my husband- even though he said this didn't have that much to do with it- liked the tribute it would be to historic Wrigley Field's ivy covered walls.

And maybe I kinda liked that, too. A name with meaning. It was special. And it seemed so right.

The morning of our ultrasound, I stood in the shower and rubbed my belly. This baby's name was Ivy, I just knew it. So what if it is a boy?!