I will be on vacation for the next two weeks, so blogging will be limited, if at all.

But continue to check in on Tuesdays and Thursdays for our regular guest posts.

See you when I return!

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Travel
        

Thank goodness for grandparents because without them, Eric and I would not be getting ready to head overseas for a toddler-free (and much needed) vacation.

Thanks grandma Kathy for volunteering to babysit Jake for 10 days!

We are thrilled that we are leaving Jake in good hands. There is even research to give us additional assurance. The reseachers at Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy conducted a study a few years ago that found grandparents are a safe source for childcare.

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics in 2008, found:

For working parents, having grandparents as caregivers can cut the risk of childhood injury roughly in half... Compared to organized daycare or care by the mother or other relatives, having a grandmother watch a child was associated with a decreased risk of injury for the child.

Grandparents are a great childcare source, especially if they live close by. And even if they don't.

I remember a New York Times story a few years back where a grandmother flew in almost every other week or so to take care of her grandkids. The headline was great: The Incredible Flying Granny Nanny.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Child Care, Travel
        

My husband and I had a talk the other day about how Jake will not only have to be bilingual but likely have to speak three different languages in order to be competitive in the working world 20 years from now.

The conversation had us both shaking our heads and realizing that kids today face a far more pressure-filled reality.

I'm not alone. Parents are taking steps to ensure that kids stay ahead of the curve. Spanish- and Mandarin-only immersion schools are cropping up all over the U.S., including in Maryland.

Some families are taken it up a notch by moving to China and other countries. Newsweek has a great story on parents who are leaving their lives in the U.S. to start new ones in foreign countries so that their kids could have a truly global education and upbringing.

Of course, not every family can take this route, as the article points out. You need money, other resources and the resolve to move to another country.

But the story highlights a continuing debate over globalization and how it's impacting our kids in particular:

It has become a convention of public discourse to regard rapid globalization—of economies and business; of politics and conflict; of fashion, technology, and music—as the great future threat to American prosperity. The burden of meeting that challenge rests explicitly on our kids. If they don’t learn—now—to achieve a comfort level with foreign people, foreign languages, and foreign lands, this argument goes, America’s competitive position in the world will continue to erode, and their future livelihood and that of subsequent generations will be in jeopardy. Rogers is hardly the only person who sees things this way. “In this global economy, the line between domestic and international issues is increasingly blurred, with the world’s economies, societies, and people interconnected as never before,” said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in remarks in the spring of 2010 at the Asia Society in New York. “I am worried that in this interconnected world, our country risks being disconnected from the contributions of other countries and cultures.”

Are parents adding too much pressure on our kids or is this one of the realities of a competitive marketplace?

Are U.S. schools behind on preparing our kids for the future? Should schools start foreign language instruction earlier as some countries are?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: School's In, Travel
        

My husband and I learned quickly that a vacation isn't really a vacation with a very active 16-month-old, who has been showing signs of the terrible twos already.

Don't get me wrong. We had a great time in Charleston, but I was ill-prepared for our first family vacation.

For starters, I under-packed -- by a lot. I didn't bring enough clothes for Jake, who had several accidents in the middle of the night that one time, I changed his pants three times.

Not only did I not bring enough clothes, I also didn't have the right stuff. Who knew you need swim diapers?

Sleep was far and few between. Jake decided that he was not going to sleep in the pack-and-play, so he ended up sleeping with us. That meant, neither one of us got much sleep since Jake moved around so much and we were both afraid of Jake falling off the bed.

Eating was also a problem. Eating out every day is not fun nor is it nutritionally ideal with a small child. Eric and I also haven't mastered how to keep Jake in the high seat and occupied. We also had to be strategic about picking restaurants to be mindful of other patrons but also comfortable enough if Jake erupted in a mini-tantrum or worst.

Any advice on family vacations?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Travel
        

Courtesy of Babble.com 

Every time I think of family road trips, I think of the movie National Lampoon's Vacation, where just about everything goes wrong. (It's also my husband's absolute favorite movie.)

Growing up, my family went on a lot of road trips to Niagara Falls, Cape Cod and other Northeast states. One road trip to Florida to visit Disney World never happened because the car broke down in Georgia. My sister and my cousins spent our time at a swimming pool at a random motel.

As an adult, I've avoided long car rides, but I've become more open to the idea now that I have a young child. So my family is heading to South Carolina next week to sightsee and catch a few minor league games along the way.

Please send in your best road trip memories -- the good and the bad. See you when I get back.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Travel
        

The spring break season is upon us now.

College students are getting ready to party in sunny destinations like Florida and Mexico, while many families are planning trips around their school-aged children's spring break in mid- to late April.

I am counting the days until my husband and I take Jake to Charleston next month but with the rising fuel prices, I am preparing myself for the sticker shock of driving to South Carolina.

I'm writing a story about spring break vacations getting more expensive and looking to interview people. If rising gas prices are interrupting your trip or putting a damper on your plans, email me at hcho@baltsun.com

Posted by Hanah Cho at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Travel
        

Hi all, I will be silent for a few days while I'm on mini-vacation with my girlfriends.

This will be the second trip that I will be away from now 14-month-old Jake. I missed him terribly on my first trip, which was a weeklong overseas trip, though Skype helped some.

We'll see how well I handle this separation. I will be back to blogging on Wednesday.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Travel
        

Liz Atwood discusses keeping kids occupied on car trips in this week's Tween Tuesday:

I took the kids to Virginia to see my family for Christmas and I thought we’d never get there. The drive is only about 2 1/2 hours, but the kids whined about being hungry and bored. A half-charged iPad kept them occupied for a while, but they eventually got tired of that. The return trip was even worse. They picked at each other constantly. The iPad ran out of power. They were tired of sitting. I kept trying to think of games to play like we did when they were small. We used to play the alphabet game—trying to pick out letters from the signs along the road, but they weren’t interested this time. We played a couple rounds of 20 Questions, but we all got bored after a while, mainly because the younger one cheats and halfway through changes his mind about what he’s thinking of.

But a couple days ago, I found this web site that features games to play in the car. While my trip is over, I thought if you’re traveling this week you might be able to get some ideas for how to keep your kids occupied. Do you have any other games you and your kids play?

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Teens, Travel
        

I've been hearing and reading about how babies will start experiencing separation anxiety at around six months or so.

But I'm the one with separation anxiety right now. I've been in Paris for the last week, and it's been incredible  -- but I miss baby J. terribly, more than I thought I could.

Luckily, I've been keeping up with J. via Skype.

I've been surprised at how profound my yearning for J. has been during this trip. Is it because J. is still very young, and this is the first time I've been away from him since giving birth?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 8:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Parenting in general, Travel
        

The final day of our D.C. cherry blossom tour was spent at the National Zoo. Here are some quick do's and don'ts for a first-time visit:

Do:

--Bring a camera with a good zoom lens. Those giant pandas are adorable, but they can perch far away. We had given our kids disposable cameras, but fortunately I had my zoom to capture the image on the right.

--Take the Metro to the Cleveland Park station on your way to the zoo. Though the Woodley Park station has "zoo" in its name, several guidebooks and the zoo's own Web site caution that it's an uphill climb north on Connecticut Avenue from that station. It's an easy, level walk from Cleveland Park of about three or four blocks.

--Get a pulled pork sandwich at the barbecue stand near the "Mane Restaurant." It beats the standard offerings.

--Go early and leave enough time for a good long visit. We arrived around the zoo's opening time and left at about 2:30 -- and we really could have stayed longer.

Now for a few don'ts...

Continue reading "Tips for the National Zoo" »

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Things to Do, Travel
        

Our family is just back from a couple of days of sightseeing in D.C. For us, Washington has been that close-but-oh-so-far place that we somehow never managed to take the kids before now.

Of course, now that we are back, the weather's beautiful. :)

Thought it would be helpful for you to hear what we did in our 2 1/2 day whirlwind cherry blossom tour in case you are doing the same soon:

Sunday afternoon:

--Checked into the Beacon Hotel near Scott Circle. This place was great -- a real deal considering what other hotels in the city were charging for our dates. Tip -- if you have an AAA card, you may be able to get free parking -- and they let you keep your car at the hotel until 5 p.m. on the day you check out.

Here's a picture of the suite we had:

Continue reading "Cherry blossoms with kids, days 1 and 2" »

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Travel
        

If you're taking advantage of the slight decline in gas prices and taking a family road trip this Labor Day weekend, here are some tips for surviving your time in the car:

--Momsminivan.com has lots of games and some interesting tips on how to relieve car-sickness. (And a good one in case you aren't able to relieve the sickness in time to prevent a mess; stow empty butter tubs and their lids in the car, so you can at least contain the mess until your next stop.)

--This site has more tips, including one we have used: leave in the pre-dawn, before-breakfast hours. If you get kids to sleep in their traveling clothes, you can "swoop" them into the car at the last minute, and with luck they'll sleep for a few more hours. Then you can stop for pancakes.

--This story from the Los Angeles Times suggests giving kids projects or games they can do as a team to cut down on back-seat bickering. For example, they can compose a song for Grandma together, or work together to count green cars, the story says.

--If you can plan ahead, have a grandparent record him or herself telling or reading long stories. Play the tapes or CDs on the long ride.

--And a couple of don'ts: You might be tempted to prop a portable DVD player between your kids' seats if you don't already have a system with two screens in your car, but beware: looking even a little to the side to watch the movie can cause vertigo (and car sickness) in some kids. It happened to us once on a trip to the Outer Banks. Reading can cause car-sickness even faster, so save the books for your destination.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Tip Sheet Thursdays, Travel
        

We went on our annual summer pilgrimage to Dutch Wonderland last weekend, and found a place to stay that was so peaceful and reasonably priced that I just have to share. Even if it means that Rayba Acres Farm becomes so popular that we can never get a reservation there again.

This is one of several farms in the Lancaster, Pa., area that offer guest lodgings, and it was the first time we had tried one. (My husband found it; kudos to him.)

It was really great to get away from the bustle and commercialism of Route 30, where you'll find most of the standard lodgings. This farm was in Paradise, a bit off the main road but still close to everything, including the Strasburg Railroad, where we rode the train on Sunday.

We had read that the place had "cats that follow you around," which we knew our children would love. And we weren't disappointed...

Continue reading "A great place to stay in Amish country" »

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Travel
        

Break out the booster seats, if you haven't already, for kids 4-7. Starting Monday, Maryland's new booster seat law takes effect. According to our primer on the new law, it's one of the strictest in the nation.

Now kids must use a child-safety seat until they turn 8, unless they are at least 4 feet 9 inches tall or weigh 65 pounds. Here's a helpful graphic on how kids should be riding.

In our story, a few kids and parents were quoted saying it might be tough to get an older child who had been riding with just a seat belt back into a booster seat. Do you anticipate resistance from your kids? How will you handle it?

 (Photo by Paul Sancya, Associated Press)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Travel
        

Today's site should be inspiring for kids who love to ride their bikes and parents who want to see the world. Family on Bikes is chronicling a family's planned bike journey from Alaska to Argentina, which is to start in June. The family? Mom, Dad, and 10-year-old twin boys. The bikes? Two singles and a tandem. The length of the journey? 20,000 miles, in about 2 1/2 years.

The kids are going for a Guinness World Record as young cyclists to complete the Pan-American Highway. The parents, both teachers, will school their children on the road and blog about their odyssey, and hope to be hooked up with classrooms where students can follow what they're doing.

Tell us about your bike trips with kids. And try not to feel intimidated by this family's plans. If it makes you feel better, I can barely bike down the block.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: On the Web, Things to Do, Travel
        

One number you didn't see in my post on Disneyland math the other day was how many costumed characters we saw in the park (outside of the parade, which is full of them). That's because, for some reason, there weren't many around. Either we were at the wrong places at the wrong times, or they were hiding from the crowds.

So we opted the next morning for a character breakfast, which is a nice, though pricey, way for your children to get up close and personal with favorite Disney friends. Characters stroll through the dining room and come to each table for autographs and photo ops, so you skip the long lines to greet them in the park. For young children, this might be the main attraction.

You'll need reservations ahead of time; the concierge at our hotel got us into the Chip n' Dale Critter Breakfast at the Grand Californian. During about an hour there the kids got to meet six characters: Chip and Dale the chipmunks, a raccoon, two bears and Pluto, whom we unfortunately called Goofy at first.

He shrugged his shoulders as if to say this happens all the time. Poor Pluto.

Thank goodness he showed up, because the other creatures weren't quite as familiar to my kids. (It might help, if you're planning ahead, to ask about which characters will appear.) But they loved the attention from them just the same. And all of us liked the breakfast buffet, which -- just so you're prepared -- came to $91 including tip for the four of us.

Have you been to character meals at Disneyland or Disney World? Tell us which ones you'd recommend, and whether there are any you'd avoid.

(Photo by me)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

We long planned to visit Disneyland on this California trip, but did we actually plan the visit, as all the guidebooks say you're supposed to?

Well, we planned to plan....but we ran out of time. (I'm blaming it on my devotion to getting you blog readers more posts.)

So without the benefit of strategizing, advance ride selection, etc., here's some of the math on our day in Anaheim:

Cost of four tickets (purchased at a slight discount through a relative's employer): $232

Hours at the park: 9

Rides completed: 6 for daughter, 7 for son

Approximate total hours of waiting (for rides, staking out a parade spot, etc.): 4.5

Wait for the Nemo submarine ride every time we checked: 90 minutes. (We passed.)

Souvenirs: $34

Lunch, dinner and snacks for 4: $90

(Click below to read more ...)

Continue reading "Disneyland by the numbers" »

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Things to Do, Travel
        

My family just got back from a spring break trip to Los Angeles to visit my in-laws. We'd been looking forward to it for months, and not just because we rarely get to see our California relatives. This time, I promised my daughter a visit to American Girl Place.

You probably already know that American Girl dolls are an expensive obsession for girls from, say, 5 up to 12 years old. There are historical characters with inspiring stories, dolls that look "just like me," matching girl-and-doll clothes, dolls for the dolls, and on and on.

They're mostly purchased online, but there are three stores, in New York, Chicago and now at The Grove in L.A., where you can experience full American Girl overload. Since my daughter's birthday is almost here, I told her we could go there and pick out her big present. After months of deliberation, she settled on Samantha, a well-to-do orphan from 1904 that we were told is American Girl's most popular doll.

I was prepared to pay for Samantha -- $90 including paperback book. But I was bracing myself for all the American Girl Place extras. ...

(Photos by me)

Continue reading "L.A. travelogue: A pilgrimage to American Girl Place" »

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Travel