I noticed the trend starting at Toy Fair last year: robots for kids. Booth after booth featured our future overlords, and I thought my six-year-old daughter would love most of them when she got her hands on them. About six months passed, and then the robots found their way to our house for us to […]
Continue ReadingAfter a long winter’s day, ever wish you could just cozy up in the Burrow and have Molly Weasley whip you up a little roast chicken with mashed potatoes? Or feast in the Great Hall on some lamb chops? Now you can… with a bit of Muggle work. When I was sent The Unofficial Harry […]
Continue ReadingFor New Year’s this year we rented a house in the Catskills with our good friends and their son. He and my daughter have been best friends since birth, and they’re now six years old. Our plans for the weekend were simple: eat delicious food, drink delicious drinks, and introduce our children to Star Wars. […]
Continue ReadingThe Toy Hall of Fame put out the call to nominate toys for the 2011 batch of inductees, and apparently that call was answered by geeks. Just look at the amazing list of finalists. Dollhouse – Well deserved, I’d say. And while I might once have wanted Barbie’s Dreamhouse with the functional elevator, now all […]
Continue ReadingMy kids love jazz. We can listen to John Coltrane albums on endless repeat thanks to a single animator, Michal Levy, who explores “the visualization of sound.” When my daughter was a few months old, my husband discovered Levy’s animation for Coltrane’s Giant Steps. She was riveted. We showed the animation to our 1-year-old and […]
Continue ReadingTake a convention center, fill it with books and the people who love them, and you’re bound to make a geek happy. Book Expo America is such an event, and it’s one of my favorites each year. Though it’s largely about publishers letting book buyers and librarians know what’s new in their catalogues, Book Expo […]
Continue ReadingHere it is, the definitive GeekMom Mother’s Day shopping guide. I surveyed my fellow GeekMoms to see what everyone most wanted for Mother’s Day, outside of the lovely pleasantries of nice meals cooked for us, time spent with our adorable children, and moments of solitude. This is our list, and chances are there’s something on […]
Continue ReadingAn article appeared recently in the New York Times with the headline “With Kids and Coffee Tables, It’s Trip, Fall, Ouch.” The article goes to great lengths to warn parents of the dangers of having a coffee table in the home. OK, yes. When we were little, my younger brother went to the emergency room because […]
Continue ReadingThe temperatures dipped below freezing and the frigid winds were gusting. A stomach flu threatened to take down my whole family. But did that stop me from taking a friend’s extra ticket to see The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway? Of course not! I had been debating about taking my 5-year-old daughter, but it was […]
Continue ReadingMy daughter just started Kindergarten at a New York City public school. The process of getting her there began when she was two years old and I started touring schools, fearing that if I didn’t like any of the possibilities we’d need time to move. The past year has felt like a part-time job, my […]
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