This spring,get ready for an art adventure that covers a lot of territory—from under the sea to way out in deep space—during the Corcoran’s Family Day:Up, Up, and Away! on Saturday,March 3, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. FREE for the entire family, this celebration will include gravitydefying performances, organic art
workshops, out-of-this-world face painting, and eco trivia and prizes. Don’t miss the gallery-turned-space-capsule featured in the NOW at the Corcoran exhibition Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro: Are We There Yet?, a musical performance by award-winning Miss Amy & Her Big Kids Band, Joe Mangrum’s sand art, and special performances of Eric Energy’s “Go Green” Science Spectacular.

Many of our children have become walking billboards for certain name-brand clothing companies. I understand this. I grew up, and here I am going to date myself, in the tail end of the 80s and through the 90s. Th ere were certain things that I had to wear to fit in. I know that there was the most peer pressure on me to conform in middle school. Once I got to high school, I adopted my own attitude, my own way of dressing and became more carefree about whether I had the right purse or shoes or jeans. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still had my insecurities; they just weren’t as much about fashion anymore.

So, if you have middle schoolers, I get it. Keep up the good work of not losing your mind and if they need the latest name-brand item to make this most horrible time in their hormonal, whyis- this-all-happening-to-me-life a little more bearable, I completely understand. However, here are some things to consider about namebrand clothing:

Let’s face it, kids are mean, and, as parents, educators, relatives, we realize this and understand our duty to teach our children to not punch Susie Q in the head aft er she accidentally throws sand in our face, to not pull on the dog’s tail because it looks like fun, and to share one of our two cookies with Johnny, who is staring at our cookies with longing. But, what I have termed “mean” here is really just a lack of forethought. These are examples of children becoming aware of how to react to the world around them through guided practice.

When my friend Kristin was married in a quaint Falls Church ceremony a few years ago, the four-year-old flower girl, Emma, walked up to the newlyweds before the reception began, and attempting to clarify the familial relationship that had just formed, pointed to Kristin's new husband and frankly asked, “So, is he your dad now?”

“One of my students runs into my English class, drenched in sweat in a karate uniform with a trumpet in his hand, because he's just come from karate class to English school and has trumpet lessons right afterward.”

That was my friend's description of one of his students when he was teaching in Asia while I was teaching in a small island country in Micronesia. On a visit to Micronesia on their vacation, he and his two other friends and I traded stories about our first year teaching overseas, mostly the ways we'd blindly navigated our first teaching experience with little or no experience in an entirely new culture.

The school where my friends taught was an English school that existed apart from the regular school day, one where students' parents specially enrolled them. One of the most significant challenges of teaching at this school, my friends explained, was exhausted, overstrained students as a result of their parents enrolling them in activities that began after the regular school day ended and continued until nine or ten o'clock at night.

“Remember when you came out to the family during a Christmas gathering that year the folks lived in Fort Worth?” I recently asked my sister.

“No, not really,” she said, ever so nonchalantly.
“Of course not,” said I, ever so loudly. “That’s because I did it for you!”

Well, that’s not entirely true. My sister’s coming out episode began like a scene from a soap opera and ended in a rather anti-climactic fashion. It was Christmas day, 1982. I stood in front of the fireplace in my parents’ suburban ranch house in the strange state of Texas with my father, mother, brother, and sister-in-law patiently waiting for me to read the very important letter from my sister that was folded into a little square and shoved into my pocket while I sipped my second tumbler of scotch, and my sister paced the floor of her flat 1,700 miles away in San Francisco. (So cliché. Where else would she be?)

Parenting is tough enough with all the different stages of children. You think if I just get past the terrible twos, the horrible threes, etc.−well, now you have a brand new stage to consider. That is when your child becomes a Tween. The word tween is a relatively recent term that is associated with children ages 9−12, not old enough to be a teenager, but just growing out of being a little kid.

I wanted to introduce party ideas by toy brand Melissa & Doug for your next child’s Birthday. Still pondering fun, creative ideas to keep guests entertained? In need of party favors that leave a lasting impression? Can’t decide what to get your child who has everything? I have included below the latest from Melissa & Doug that will guarantee not only the most talked about party but will leave them feeling as if they learned something.

Decorate-your-own Party Favors - Pick a theme, any theme and select the perfect party favors to add fun and fancy to your next special event. For princesses and pirates, sports and horse enthusiasts, these kits provide a great party activity or take-home favor at an exceptionally high value and low price. $4.99 - $7.99