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DECEMBER DECEMB DEC CEMB E ER R 201 2 2014 014 4

FASHION: NEW HUES FOR THE HOLIDAY WORKING MOTHERS: 5 STEPS FOR AVOIDING HOLIDAY MELTDOWNS HELP, I HAVE A TWEEN! YOUR GUIDE TO RAISING 9 TO 12 YEAR-OLDS

Winter Guide

OUR PICKS FOR INDOOR & OUTDOOR

FAMILY FUN

INSIDE BOSTON’S LEGO ART EXHIBIT FAMILY GAME NIGHT: AGEDEFYING FUN

Each month, Clinton Savings Bank honors students of distinction. We recognize the accomplishments of a new CSB Champion on clintonsavings.com, Facebook and Twitter, in ads in their hometown newspaper and baystateparent magazine - even spots on AMP 103.3 Radio!

If you know an individual or group of students who deserve recognition for their success in school, sports, the arts or community, honor them as a CSB Champion. Simply email marketing@clintonsavings.com to nominate them today.

Presented with:

888-744-4272(4CSB) • clintonsavings.com Berlin • Bolton • Boylston • Clinton • Sterling • W. Boylston

2 DECEMBER2014 3

Cornerstone Academy Educating all learners in grades K-6

An elementary preparatory school that celebrates the individual.

Happy Holidays!

Cornerstone doesn’t offer a cookie cutter curriculum!

Save the cookie cutters for making holiday cookies!

Our curriculum is personalized and individualized, no cookie cutters needed.

TOURS Dec. 9th, Jan. 13th and 27th at 9:00

• Offering Transitional Kindergarten and full day Kindergarten through Grade 6 curriculum.

• Small class sizes, personalized attention.

• Solid academic foundation complemented by art, Spanish, music and physical fitness.

• Highly qualified faculty trained to adapt curriculum to your child’s ability.

• Intellectually enriching environment.

• State of the art technology utilized in all classrooms.

5 Oak Avenue • Northboro, MA 01532 • 508-351-9976 www.cornerstoneacademy.org BAYSTATEPARENT 2 3

4 DECEMBER2014 5

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POTENTIAL B OT H S O C IA LLY AND ACADEMICAL LY?

Learn more by visiting NGCC and seeing our programs in action.

Next Generation Children’s Centers Celebrating Over 20 Years As A Leader In Early Childhood Education Learn how we help your child succeed

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11/13/14 12:16 PM

table of contents DECEMBER 2014 VOLUME 19

1.

3

NUMBER 8

things we learned

while making the december issue

Snowshoes don’t go in reverse. To turn around, you need to walk in a wide circle until you’re pointed in the right direction. Snowshoes often have a tapered point at the back that will catch in the snow if you try to walk backwards. Turn to page 34 to learn more about the basics of this fun, family activity.

The age range of tweens is 9-12, a physically, emotionally and socially challenging time for children — and their parents. Learn what tweens are experiencing and how parents can best help on page 52.

2.

Best-selling “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” author Jeff Kinney is building a new coffee shop/ bookstore in the town of Plainville, one he hopes will open next spring. What else is Kinney up to? Turn to our Take 8 interview on page 74 and find out.

15 16

DISHIN’ WITH THE DIETITIAN: Holiday Food Safety RIPE BITES: Host an Ugly Sweater Party

6 DECEMBER2014 7

WELCOME: A Letter from Our Editor

11 11

DECEMBER’S CHILDREN: Meet Josmary & Marybelis

20

LET’S GO: The Art of the Brick: Looking at Legos in a Whole New Way

23 43

OUT & ABOUT: December Calendar of Family Events

32 34 54 56 64

62 70 74

MEET OUR SPECIAL GUEST: Cover Model Ella MEET OUR CONTRIBUTORS bsp ONLINE FINALLY FOREVER: Greenfield Exhibition Celebrates Children in Foster Care, Artists

CIRCLE OF FRIENDS: Area Adoption Events

MOM MATTERS: Working Mother Tips to Avoid a Holiday Meltdown WOMEN’S HEALTH: Moms, Engineers, Experts Meet at MIT to Build a Better Breast Pump CAPTURED: Winter Fun! OUR DECEMBER FAVORITES: Facts, Finds and Freebies TAKE 8: Meet “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” author Jeff Kinney

features Fashion: New Hues for the Holiday

Geocaching: Year-Round Treasure Hunting Family Fun

37 42 44

Snowshoeing: Slow Down, Explore With Your Kids Outdoors

46

Game Night: Age-Defying Family Fun

Wearable Technology for Kids and Families: The Future Is Starting Now

52 60 66

Help, I Have a Tween! Your Guide to Raising 9- to 12-Year-Olds

Our Winter Guide Featured Articles

RIPE: Mission to End Childhood Obesity Results in Award-Winning Kids’ Cooking Magazine

8 8 9 9 10

50

3.

13

in every issue

Family Favorite Gamewright Turns 20 Discover Food, Friends, More at Western Mass Winter Farmers’ Markets

The Smart Mom’s Guide to Gifting Teen Books How to Survive the Holiday With Your Bickering Extended Family

Self-Talk: Parents’ Secret Weapon to Combat Anxiety Pioneer Valley Museums Offer Free Fun, Creative Thinking for Families, Youth

Child Development Network is Proud to Announce the

“CDN CARES PROGRAM”

Directed by Dr. Renee Folsom of Johns Hopkins-Kennedy Krieger Institute

CDN CARES

the Center for Autism Research Education Services

The goal of this center is to use state-of-the-art knowledge in the proper diagnosis of autism and to include evidence-based practice into targeted educational and related services.

• Current estimates indicate that 1 out of 88 children age 8 years will have an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

• Every day new therapies crop up that claim to “cure” autism, and this makes it difficult for parents to decipher scientifically proven therapies that address the symptoms of autism from simple quackery.

CDN is proud to welcome Renee Folsom, PhD. She brings a wealth of experience and expertise working with children, adolescents, and adults at Johns Hopkins-Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders and UCLA’s The Help Group.

She joins a team of dedicated professionals at CDN who will strive to help your child achieve his or her personal best.

ay

h y

e

The Child Development Network, LLC Lexington, MA • 781-861-6655 www.CDNKids.com

BAYSTATEPARENT 6 7

meet team

baystateparent

welcome to

baystateparent

publisher KIRK DAVIS

creative

The mention of winter seems to evoke one of two reactions: “I can’t wait to get outside!” or “I’m not going outside until April!” This month, we have great ideas and todos for both persuasions.

For the outdoor set, Michele Bennett Decoteau outlines the basics of the hottest winter sport around: snowshoeing. It’s easy, fun, inexpensive and a great way for families with children of all ages to enjoy the outdoors in a whole new way. Sure, you can hike during the other three seasons, but winter provides unique ways to get up close with a side of nature you can’t find any other time of the year. How so? Turn to page 34 and find out.

Michele also examines another fun hobby the whole family can enjoy: Geocaching. It’s an activity that’s a study in contrasts: families using billion-dollar satellites to find plastic boxes full of trinkets in the woods or on other public lands. But it’s much more than that, providing

the adventurous with an exclusive gateway into locations and areas you may never think to visit, even in your own hometown. Better yet, it’s free. Discover the whole new world that awaits on page 32.

For the indoors-by-the-fire crowd, nothing beats a good, old-fashioned family game night around the kitchen table. There’s no screen — assuaging that relentless screen-time guilt many of us harbor — and game nights offer laughs, critical thinking, creativity, memories and that precious face time for which we all strive. Games expert and Massachusetts father of two Joshua Glenn notes that game nights also fill the quality-time gap that can occur when children reach their teen years. There’s a lot teenagers may not want to do with their parents at that age, but pull out a good board game and even the coolest kid will take a seat. Read more about family gaming on page 54.

While December is all about celebration, getting there isn’t easy for many, especially mothers juggling the pressures of work and home. For those working in corporations, the

last three months of the year are a particularly brutal time, according to former Fortune 200 COO Teresa Taylor. Turn to page 42 and check out her Top 5 tips for surviving what she calls a “holiday meltdown.”

Even better, her advice is good year-round for any parent — corporate employee or not. On page 44, Joan Goodchild offers advice on how you can avoid a personal meltdown and survive get-togethers with bickering extended family.

Once the holiday is over, parents are facing a longer-thanusual winter break thanks to Christmas falling on a Thursday.

Kathy Sloan has just the idea for you: a day trip into Boston to see The Art of the Brick exhibit. If the appeal of an all-Lego art exhibit leaves you scratching your head, turn to page 20 and find out why it is so much more.

Happy Holidays from all of us here at baystateparent and see you in 2015!

M e li ss a Melissa Shaw, editor

Ella

What’s the best thing about being 5?

Going to school and playing with my friends.

What do you want for Christmas?

A bunny stuffed animal.

What is your favorite movie?

Tinker Bell Secret of the Wings 8 DECEMBER2014 9

senior graphic designer STEPHANIE MALLARD 508-865-7070 design@baystateparent.com

advertising director of sales REGINA STILLINGS 508-865-7070 ext. 210 regina@baystateparent.com account executive MARIE COREY 508-735-0503 marie@baystateparent.com account executive DEBORAH MEUNIER 508-450-9718 deb@baystateparent.com account executive KATHY PUFFER 508-865-7070 ext. 211 kathy@baystateparent.com

photographers CHRISSY COSTIGAN JOEL GRAY STEVEN KING SHAWNA SHENETTE

When you’re not in school, what do you like to do?

Have play dates with my friends, color, and play with my family and my puppy, Lucy.

copy editor BRYAN ETHIER

baystateparent

What is your favorite piece of clothing?

A dress What do you want to be when you grow up?

A Mommy & a Veterinarian.

creative director PAULA MONETTE ETHIER 508-865-7070 ext. 221 pethier@holdenlandmark.com

presidents KIRK and LAURIE DAVIS

meet our special guest Our cover model this month is 5-year-old Ella of North Grafton, who took time to talk with us and share some fun facts.

editor in chief MELISSA SHAW 508-865-7070 ext. 201 editor@baystateparent.com

is published monthly with a main office at 22 West Street, Millbury, MA 01527

www.baystateparent.com cover photo

BY

Shawna Shenette PHOTOGRAPHY

shawnashenettephotography.com

It is distributed free of charge throughout Massachusetts.

bsp east

Meet Our December Contributors Michele Bennett Decoteau is a Central Massachusetts-based writer and editor who keeps bees, knits, and loves to hike. She has been Geocaching since 2008 with her family, including her 90-year-old grandmother, and shares all you need to know to give the fun, family activity a try in Geocaching: YearRound Treasure Hunting Family Fun on page 32. Michele also offers you another option on page 34: Snowshoeing: Slow Down, Have Fun With Your Kids Outdoors. Read about the basics and get ready to head outside and have fun! You can find her online at micheledecoteau.com.

Jessica Day is a lifelong resident of Western Massachusetts who lives in Greenfield with her husband and two daughters. She credits her parents with instilling in her a love of all things New England, even the winter months, because what better excuse is there for settling in with a good book? Starting on page 64, Jessica takes a look at the area’s vibrant winter farmers’ market scene, which offers much more than food. On page 66, she reports on the family treasures to be found at the Smith College Museum of Art and Amherst College’s Beneski Museum of Natural History.

This month, Joan Goodchild examines two topics. The first, a tricky one for sure: How to Survive the Holiday With Your Bickering Extended Family.

Get expert advice on what to do — and not do — on page 44. And on a completely different note, Joan looks ahead at the new wave of wearable technology that may be heading for your household in the future. What’s in store? Find out on page 46.

online We love giveaways and we love games, which means this month is going to be so much fun online! Check out our family game night stories starting on page 54, then keep an eye on our Twitter (@baystateparent) and Facebook (facebook.com/baystateparent) accounts all month as we’ll be giving away a slew of new games for your family to enjoy. They’re a great way to enjoy winter break and beyond, as well as make all-new fun memories and find a new favorite!

And while you’re online, would you lend us a click? We are so close to 5,000 Likes in our Facebook community; we need your help to get us to that magic number! If you don’t already, Like us on Facebook and get the inside scoop on the latest tips, info, events, contests, giveaways and more. Thank you!

If your child is a fan of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, read our Take 8 interview with author Jeff Kinney on page 74, then head over to baystateparent. com for an extended interview. We had so much fun — and so many questions — we ran out of room in the magazine, so we put bonus content online! Read all about the new bookstore/coffee shop he’s opening in his hometown of Plainville; what it’s like being a movie producer in Hollywood, and much more.

Congrats to just some of our big winners last month!

If you’re trying to find a good book for the teen in your life this holiday, it might be harder than you think — especially if you’re searching online. You don’t want a title that’s too young or one that’s too mature. In The Smart Mom’s Guide to Gifting Teen Books on page 42, young adult author and mom Carla J. Hanna explains why a basic online search could lead to inappropriate suggestions and provides simple explanations on how to find age-appropriate titles.

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Amanda Roberge is a longtime freelance journalist and artist who lives in North Central Massachusetts. She and her husband have been raising their three daughters to be loving and kind, but also (and perhaps more importantly) to be excellent pranksters, karaoke singers and master rollerskaters. On page 50, Amanda talked to engineers, experts and mothers who recently banded together at MIT to build a better breast pump.

Four-pack of tickets to Laurie Berkner: Laura Clark of Barre All-sport rolling bag from Zuca: Amy Anderson of Lancaster Zen swaddle: Krista Puppolo of Springfield Tudor Games Electronic Football Game: Megan Barrieault of Fitchburg

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FINALLY FOREVER

Greenfield Exhibition Celebrates Children in Foster Care, Artists

BY MELISSA SHAW ARTLITSOL PHOTOGRAPHY “This is an experience; this is not a store. This is not just about buying a cup,” says Pam Kinsmith.

P

am Kinsmith values the worth of artists and that of children in foster care, and found a personal way to bridge those beliefs in a unique Greenfield exhibition to raise adoption awareness.

The adoptive mother and potter merged her professional and personal passions into a gallery exhibit: Finding Forever: Exquisite Cup Exhibition, Giving Voice to the Children of Foster Care.

Kinsmith adopted her children from foster care and is grateful to the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) for the assistance it provided. MARE is a 57-year-old private nonprofit that serves as the central link between families interested in adoption, the Department of Children and Families, and its contracted adoption agencies.

December’s Children

Josmary & Marybelis 10 DECEMBER2014 11

“It’s been rattling around the back of my head for a long time: ‘How can I thank MARE?’ ‘How can I raise awareness?’” she said.

Her idea was clear: Ask professional potters to contribute a cup that was sitting unsold on their shelf. Each cup would represent a child in foster care who is waiting for a forever home. Both of Kinsmith’s now 11and 12-year-old children spent much of their early lives in foster care.

“As a potter you make collections of things. Invariably you have a piece that isn’t exactly the same size as the other ones or has a slight imperfection or a glaze you don’t use anymore. It just sits and sits and nobody buys it,” she said.

Each mug sent would be exhibited and offered for sale, the proceeds split between the artist and MARE. Kinsmith, who is a full-time graphic

These two siblings of Hispanic descent are looking to grow up together. Josmary, 7 1/2, speaks English and Spanish. She loves being a girlie-girl, having her hair done and painting her nails. At school Josmary manages to keep up academically with the help of some behavioral supports. Josmary seeks attention and frequently needs reminders about routine and following directions.

Marybelis, age 5 1/2, is a sweet girl with a stubborn streak. She enjoys playing with dolls, swimming and dancing. She has an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) for speech delays as well as for social-emotional support.

The girls’ social worker is looking for a two-parent family who can give these girls a permanent home.

The worker would prefer that there be no other children in the home or significantly older children

designer and has been a potter for the past five years, had several rules for the project. First: Absolutely no artist could donate a cup free, each must be paid for their work if the mug sold.

“Artists are always asked to donate things and potters are probably at the top of that list,” she said.

“People just assume you can afford to donate things, but you don’t go to the grocery store and say, ‘This is my favorite kind of bread, can I have it?’” she laughed. “I’ve had to explain to potters, ‘No, do not donate your pots to me! You need to get paid!’ It’s so funny, they just don’t get it. It’s really hard for people to wrap their head around: ‘Oh, I’m going to get paid and the charity’s going to get money.’

I’m constantly having to explain it to people.”

The second mandate: All cups would be priced at $50.

“All the cups had to be valued the same just like the kids are valued the same,” she added. “How could one cup be $80 and another cup be $20? That’s like saying , ‘This perfect, little, pink baby is $80, and this other little baby isn’t.’”

Of the $50, $20 is paid to the artist, $20 is donated to MARE and $10 is used to cover remaining costs stemming from this all-volunteer effort. Earlier this year, a friend asked how non-potters could help and convinced Kinsmith to launch a Kickstarter campaign to foot the bills of renting a professional exhibition space for the month-long run, insurance, Web site expenses and more. She reached her $2,000 goal in three weeks.

“I cried; I was just blown away, holy cow! People that I didn’t know, people that I work with, other people believe in this idea, too,” said Kinsmith, who documented the entire journey at findingforeverexhibition.org. “It was

only as these two sisters require a great deal of support and attention. They are legally free for adoption. There is an open adoption agreement in place for two visits a year with their birth mother.

For more information regarding Josmary and Marybelis, please call Department of Children and Families (DCF) Adoption Supervisor Rukaiyah Saforo at (508) 929-2095. DCF hosts monthly informational meetings about the adoption process in general at the Worcester Adoption Office now located at 13 Sudbury Street. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 17, from 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. For specific details and to register, please call (508) 929-2143. In case of inclement weather please call this number. The voice message will indicate if the meeting has been cancelled.

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really important to me that it be a gallery, that I show people what a professional gallery show is like.

These cups are precious; they’re representing a kid in foster care. It’s a special thing and I need it to look a certain way.”

After reaching out to her network of professional potters, word spread: “I invited everyone I could find. I was not discerning other than they needed to be professional work,” she said. “At the beginning I thought, ‘Maybe we’ll get 20 cups; 25 cups would be lovely.’ And then boxes started showing up on my door every day. It was mind-blowing.”

One adoptive mom in Vermont sent eight mugs; a friend and advisor in Chicago rallied his colleagues to the tune of 25 to 30 cups.

“It was unbelievable,” she said of the response. “These cups are so incredible, I have a hard time seeing any of them as potter seconds or flawed cups. They’re incredible.

These are people’s top-of-the-line work.”

The gallery opening was specifically held during National Adoption Month on Nov. 7, with 91 cups on display. This lead to Kinsmith’s final rule: “It’s not an auction, you can’t buy online. It’s really important to me that people come because half of the gallery space will be a display for MARE.” The agency used the space to display professional portraits of

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children waiting for forever homes, known as The Heart Gallery, as well as photo books of children in foster care waiting to be adopted.

“You have to come,” Kinsmith told those who wanted to buy a cup online or have her set one aside for later purchase. “You have to be in the room to see what these kids are like, to see their faces. You have to come and experience what MARE has done. I said ‘no’ to my own mother and my boss! This is an experience; this is not a store. This is not just about buying a cup.”

But people bought cups: 73 were sold on opening night, 7 more sold over the weekend. The exhibit will remain open through Dec. 5, ThursdaysSundays. If any cups remain unsold, they will be packed and saved for next year’s exhibit, which is already in the planning stages.

“They will make a strong statement about kids who are in foster care for over a year,” she noted.

The sales blew away any modest expectations Kinsmith had, but what awed her even more was those who visited on opening night, sharing their stories about their adoption connections, some of which Kinsmith knew, others that she didn’t.

Even better, two of Kinsmith’s friends told her they want to attend an adoption event and learn more about the process: “If one kid gets adopted because of this it’s all worth it, even if we didn’t sell one cup.”

Circle of Friends Monday, December 1 —Massachusetts Approach to Partnerships in Parenting (MAPP) Trainings. Bright Futures/RFK, Acton.

6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Call for address, 978-263-5400.

Wednesday, December 10 —Adoption Information Meeting, WHFC Main Office, 38 Edge Hill Road, Waltham.

6:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m. Preregistration required at whfc.org/events.

Monday, December 15 — Southern Region Adoption Info Meetings, Mass.

Department of Children and Families, Canton Police Station, 1492 Washington Street, Canton.

6 p.m.-8 p.m. RSVP to 508-894-3830.

Wednesday, December 17 — Boston Region Adoption Info Meetings, Mass.

Department of Children and Families, DCF Boston, 451 Blue Hill Avenue, Dorchester.

4 p.m.-5:30 p.m. RSVP to 508-894-3830.

Thursday, December 18 — Southern Region Adoption Info Meetings, Mass.

Department of Children and Families, Morton Hospital, Margaret Stone Conference Room, 88 Washington St., Taunton. 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m.

RSVP to 508-894-3830.

Thursday, December 18 — Online Adoption Information Meeting. 12 p.m. 12:45 p.m. Registration at whfc.org/events.

Ongoing — The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children offers an after-hours telephone hotline that provides emergency assistance to foster kinship and pre-adoptive families when the DCF offices are closed. The helpline is available 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. on weekdays and 24 hours on weekends and holidays. The number is (800) 486-3730.

If your group or organization is holding an adoption information or support group and would like to have information posted for readers of baystateparent, please email editor@baystateparent.com.

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Mission to End Childhood Obesity Results in Award-Winning Kids’ Cooking Magazine

BY MELISSA SHAW

Cookbook author, food writer and Massachusetts mom Sally Sampson set out to write a pamphlet about families cooking healthy food together, an idea that in just a handful of years has turned into an awardwinning, national magazine and a nonprofit organization with one goal: resolving childhood obesity.

The idea came from Sampson’s personal role as mother of a child living with chronic pancreatitis.

“As a result, she was on a very low-fat diet,” Sampson says. “In the course of feeding her I learned a lot about obesity. I got to a point where I was so involved in her health care I didn’t want to write cookbooks anymore. I wanted to figure out how to use my skills to do something meaningful.”

Sampson, who has authored or co-authored 23 cookbooks, asked

herself one question: “How can I use my skills as a cookbook writer to do something in health care?”

The answer came in the eventual formation of the nonprofit ChopChopKids and the launch of ChopChop: The Fun Cooking Magazine for Families, which was first published in 2010. The quarterly, full-color publication offers recipes, interviews, kitchen skill tutorials and games. It is non-profit and ad-free, relying on subscribers, newsstand sales, bulk and custom orders, and philanthropic donations. Issues can be purchased in deeply discounted “teacher packs” to distribute in a child’s classroom, and the magazine is also published in a Spanishlanguage edition.

“Obesity is a really big issue in the Hispanic community,” Sampson says. “We wanted to make sure

we’re reaching those who were disproportionally affected.”

In 2013, the magazine won the prestigious James Beard Foundation’s Publication of the Year Award. The same year, ChopChopKids published its first cookbook, ChopChop: The Kids’ Guide to Cooking Real Food with Your Family, which was awarded the 2014 IACP Award for outstanding cookbook in the Children, Youth & Family category by the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP).

Last month, Sampson and ChopChop made their third visit to The White House, this time for an interview with First Lady Michelle Obama, conducted by two children for an upcoming issue.

The organization and magazine’s mission centers around a simple idea: children learning to cook

unprocessed, healthy food with their families.

“I think people have gotten to this point where they think everything has to be complicated,” Sampson says. “ChopChop is simple recipes that a child can make.”

The key to quality family time in the kitchen, she says, is simplicity and small changes.

“We’re not: ‘Don’t eat junk food anymore’ or ‘Cook every meal from scratch,’” she notes. “Do what you can.”

And when adults get in the mindset, “what you can” isn’t that hard, she adds. For example, swap kids’ flavored yogurt for plain filled with fresh or frozen fruit.

“That’s not a lot of work,” she notes.

“Make really small changes.”

While Sampson, a mother of two children now in their early BAYSTATEPARENT 12 13

Apple Pie Smoothie This smoothie has protein-rich almonds and yogurt to give you lots of energy — and the cinnamon and vanilla gives it a rich sweetness that might remind you of a favorite dessert!

Kitchen Gear • Measuring cup • Measuring spoons • Cutting board

• Sharp knife (adult needed) • Blender (adult needed)

Ingredients • ¾ cup plain low-fat or whole milk yogurt • ½ cup low-fat or whole milk • 2 tablespoons raw almonds (if you’re allergic to nuts, skip the almonds and substitute 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats) • ½ apple, cored and diced • 1 overripe banana, sliced (frozen, if possible) • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract • 2 ice cubes Instructions

Think Ahead

1. Put all the ingredients in the blender in the order listed.

2. Put the top on tightly. Turn the blender to a medium setting and blend until the ice is chopped and the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute.

3. Serve right away, or store in a thermos or covered in the refrigerator, up to 4 hours. Makes 2 servings.

To help make any smoothie colder and thicker, it’s great to have slices of frozen banana ready to go. It’s easy: 1. Peel an overripe banana.

2. Use a butter knife to slice it into thin rounds.

Come Join the Christmas on the Hill Opens Nov 22nd!

Special Events December 5, 6, 19, 20 December 5,6,7,12, 13 Wreath Making Parties Tree Jubilee (reservations reccomended)

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December 7

Santa visits the Farm and free hayrides

(additional days maybe added)

Marini Farm has a variety of more than 2,000 pre cut trees, holiday greenery, ornaments and giftables.

For up to date information please check out our website marinifarm.com

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20s, acknowledges the demands of busy families and working parents, she dispels one popular misconception.

“It’s not true it takes more time to cook a meal from scratch and it’s not more expensive,” she says, adding she wrote a piece for The Washington Post in which she replicated fast-food meals down to the pickle slice to prove her point.

While the holidays are a hot time for families cooking together, Sampson says parents can keep that momentum going in the new year and beyond by having children make an integral part of the meal, for instance, a salad. A child could help pick out greens and make the dressing.

“Salad dressing is literally measuring stuff in a jar and shaking it,” she adds. “You serve the salad, say [the child] made the salad, and now the kid is thrilled and wants to eat salad. If you can get your kid to make something that’s an important part of the meal, they’re going to feel more pride and they’re going to want to keep doing it.”

The key concept: “The meal doesn’t have to be perfect!” she says. “I’ve been doing this my whole life, sometimes I make a meal and it’s not perfect. So what?

They’re going to love it because they made it. It’s not unlike hanging their art work on the fridge, they want to show it off.”

3. Put the slices in a resealable plastic bag and put it in the freezer.

Try this fun recipe courtesy of

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Dishin’ with the Dietitian

Holiday Food Safety

Simple Steps to a Happy, Healthy Holiday Season

BY CARRIE TAYLOR, RDN, LDN Whether you’re hosting for the first time or doing so as an annual tradition, it is imperative you ensure family and friends remain safe from a foodborne illness.

The chaos of holiday kitchens only begets opportunities for bacteria to contaminate the food you’re preparing. Taking steps to follow food safety precautions can mean the difference between a festive holiday season and being sick for days.

Taking the proper steps for thawing your holiday turkey is a must — refrigerate 24 hours for every 4 pounds of bird in its original packaging (sitting in a deep pan so juices do not leak). Also follow these tips from the Partnership for Food Safety Education:

read food thermometer — NOT by how it looks, feels or tastes. Follow current recommended internal cooking temperatures:

• Seafood — Fin Fish 145°F

• Leftovers & Casseroles — 165°F

• Hold hot foods at 140°F or higher while serving with heated chaffing dishes or slow cookers.

• Ground Meat & Meat Mixtures — Beef, Pork, Veal and Lamb 160°F

• Store food promptly in small, shallow food containers in a refrigerator at 40°F or below.

• Eat or freeze leftovers within 3 to 4 days.

Celebrate Throw Out Your Leftovers Day on Nov. 29.

• Wash hands properly — scrubbing with soap and water for 20 seconds before and after handling food.

HELP FOR HOME COOKS Need a food safety question answered right away?

Call the U.S. Department of Agriculture Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHOTLINE (1-888-6746854) or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s support line at 1-888-SAFEFOOD (1-888-723-3366).

Learn more at HolidayFoodSafety.org.

• Wash countertops before, during and after food preparation with a clean cloth.

• Use clean knives, cutting boards, pans, plates and food storage containers.

• Rinse fruits and vegetables — regardless of their rind — under running water prior to preparing.

Carrie Taylor is the lead registered dietitian nutritionist for the Living Well Eating Smart program at Big Y Foods. Have a nutrition question?

E-mail livingwell@bigy.com or write Living Well at 2145 Roosevelt Ave, PO Box 7840, Springfield, MA 01102.

SEPARATE • NEVER wash raw meat before preparing it.

Bacteria from the raw meat can splatter over your sink, faucet, countertops and on you!

Cooking meat properly will kill harmful bacteria.

• Place raw meat at the bottom of your shopping cart and refrigerator in case juices leak.

COOK • Verify food is properly cooked with an instant-

• Hold cold foods below 40°F or cooler while serving in ice baths or in frozen, insulated containers.

• Do not keep food out longer than 2 hours.

CLEAN

• Prepare raw meat, poultry, seafood and unpasteurized raw eggs on their own surfaces and cutting boards, and with their own utensils.

CHILL

• Turkey and Chicken — 165°F • Fresh Beef, Veal, Lamb —145°F with a 3-minute resting period • Poultry — Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose and Stuffing (alone or in bird) 165°F • Ham — Raw 160°F and Pre-cooked 140°F

Would you like to be featured in a future issue of baystateparent?

Send your question to editor@baystateparent.com and you might soon be Dishin’ with the Dietitian!

• Egg Dishes — 160°F BAYSTATEPARENT 14 15

Bites Deck the Halls with UGLY Sweaters Host an ugly holiday sweater party

T

he holiday season is all about making fun memories. Why not wear something no one will soon forget at your own ugly sweater party?

Hosting one is simple — have everyone show up in the tackiest holiday apparel they can find, whether from their closet, at a thrift store or something they “blinged” on their own.

With the party attire planned, try these easy and ugly dessert ideas: • Soft, sweet and so ugly cakes: If your guests’ apparel doesn’t grab attention, your cake sure will. Style the decorating after your own garment — use buttercream or fondant, holiday-shaped sprinkles and icing decorations to add some ugly to your cake.

• Cookie decorating fun: Bring the classic seasonal activity to your party by having guests

decorate their own sweater cookies. Set up a decorating station. Your friends can have a blast. Set up a photo station so guests can take pictures of their silly cookies to share online.

• Warm up with lattes: Who doesn’t love sipping hot beverages by a warm fire with friends? Brew delicious Spirit of the Season Mocha Lattes to toast a Merry Christmas. Offer assorted liqueurs for an adults-only party.

• It’s time to judge: At the end of the party, hold a contest for the ugliest sweater — both real and cookie. Award winners in different categories, such as All-Around Ugliest, Most Original, Funniest, Most Non-Ugly or Most Ridiculous. Get creative with the prizes, too.

Find an inexpensive and unique white elephant gift, or hand out little first-place ribbons.

Your party will be one to remember with these ideas.

Peppermint Hot Chocolate Ugly Sweater Cake Servings: 10–12 1 package (16.25 ounces) Devil’s Food cake mix 1/4 cup hot cocoa mix 3 eggs 2/3 cup water 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract Buttercream icing Red Rolled Fondant Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray sweater shaped cake pan with vegetable pan spray.

In large bowl, beat cake mix, hot cocoa mix, eggs, water, vegetable oil and peppermint extract with electric mixer at low speed 30 seconds. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl; beat at medium speed 2 minutes.

Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading to even thickness. Bake minutes 44–47 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on cooling grid 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on grid.

16 DECEMBER2014 17

White Rolled Fondant Primary Colored Fondant Piping Gel String licorice Sprinkles: Sugar Pearls, Trees, Yellow Colored Sugar

With spatula, lightly ice cooled cake. Roll out red fondant 1/8 inch thick; cover cake. Knead small amount of white fondant into remaining red fondant, white with small amount of yellow fondant, small amount of yellow fondant with green fondant. Roll out all colors of fondant separately, 1/16 inch thick. Using holiday cutters, patterns or cut free-form, to make collar, ornaments and sweater neckline, cuffs and bottom band.

Use piping gel to attach licorice ornament hangers, sprinkles and sugars.

Eggnog Ugly Sweater Cake Servings: 10 –12 1 2/3 1/3 3 1/8

package (16.5 ounces) yellow cake mix cup eggnog cup vegetable oil eggs teaspoon ground nutmeg Buttercream icing Icing Colors: Juniper Green, Christmas Red Holly Mix and Candy Cane Sprinkles Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray sweater shaped cake pan with vegetable pan spray.

In large bowl, beat cake mix, eggnog, oil, eggs and nutmeg with electric mixer at low speed 30 seconds. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl; beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading to even thickness.

Bake 39 – 42 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on cooling grid 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on grid.

With spatula, ice cooled cake. Using Tip 233 and green icing, pipe tree on cake. Using Tip 46 and red icing, pipe outline neckline, sleeve cuffs and bottom sweater band. Attach sprinkles.

i Orchards LannPresents

y Open House a d i l o H December 6th & 7th 10 am to 6 pm

Family Fun Memories Enjoy Winter Hayrides (Bring a blanket) Holiday Crafts Hot Chocolate Mulled Cider Make Your Own S’mores at the Lanni Fire Pit! Shop Local Products Pick Out Your Perfect Tree Lanni Orchards will contribute a portion of our sales for the weekend to Toys for Tots.

“YOU WANT FRESH YOU WANT LOCAL”

Bring an Unwrapped Toy, Get 10% Off Bring 2 or more Toys, Get 20% Off

294 Chase Rd Lunenburg • 978-582-6246 • www.lanniorchards.com Open daily 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.

Make Your Holidays

Sweeter

with homemade chocolates and candies

Spirit of the Season Mocha Latte Servings: 8 2 2 6 1/2

cups very hot strong brewed coffee cups dark cocoa candy melts candy cups milk cup chocolate syrup Assorted liqueurs and spirits (optional), such as: peppermint schnapps, Irish cream liqueur, creamy rum liqueur, chocolate-flavored liqueur, cinnamon schnapps, caramel-flavored vodka In large bowl, pour coffee over dark cocoa candy melts candy; let sit to melt.

In large microwave-safe bowl, heat milk and chocolate syrup until steaming, about 4 minutes. Whisk milk vigorously to froth. Whisk in candy mixture until combined.

Divide lattes evenly between eight mugs. If desired, add 1 ounce of your choice of liqueur to each drink.

Recipes courtesy of Family Features

The Candy Shoppe 19 Main St. Millbury, MA 01527 508-865-0085

BAYSTATEPARENT 16 17

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We’d like to take a moment to wish everyone a happy holiday season, thank our dedicated employees for their hard work and commitment and, extend a special THANK YOU to our members for recognizing our efforts!

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BAYSTATEPARENT 18 19

LET’S GO

The Art of the Brick: Looking at Legos in a Whole New Way

BY KATHY SLOAN

20 DECEMBER2014 21

A

rtist Nathan Sawaya got his first Lego set as a boy and quickly became obsessed; he even took Legos to college because they made him feel secure.

The colorful bricks meant more than just playtime; they were how he was able to express himself.

As an adult, Sawaya would come home from his job as a lawyer and play with Legos as a creative outlet.

One day, he had an idea to create a piece of art using Legos and, as they say, the rest is history. Today, his artwork — made entirely of Legos — travels the globe in The Art of the Brick museum tour. The exhibit opened at Boston’s Faneuil Hall Marketplace in October and I recently took my three kids to see it. Finding things for our family to do that will be fun for all is often challenging due to the age span between my older girls (15 & 13) and my son (6). However, The Art of the Brick was an event we all enjoyed.

Admittedly, I was a little hesitant about an art show featuring Legos; I suppose I was expecting toy helicopters and skyscrapers. Boy, was I wrong! The exhibit was truly awe-inspiring and all of us had a lot of fun. What I loved the most was that Sawaya took a common childhood toy and showed us that it can be something beautiful.

Using millions of Lego bricks he created replicas of famous artwork such as The Mona Lisa or artifacts like the statue of Buddha. Among many was an impressive 20-foot T-Rex skeleton made entirely of Legos. However, Sawaya didn’t just copy famous artwork, he also incorporated many original pieces into the show as well, such as Underneath, which depicts a human (made of Legos) pulling the skin off his face to reveal his skeleton. The artist’s explanation of this piece asked us to consider: If we peeled back our skin, would we be as scary as we thought?

His piece Swimmer was a favorite for many. Sawaya brought his adultsize Lego swimmer to life with lighting that shimmers like water.

Crowd depicts a group of people walking in New York City’s Times Square, but if you look closely you see that Sawaya created a human eye out of those people, visible only if you bend down just so. All of his original art have inspiring anecdotes from Sawaya explaining what he was thinking when he created it.

The exhibit is located upstairs in Faneuil Hall Marketplace and takes about 45 minutes to get through. I took my kids on a Sunday morning in November. We arrived at 11 a.m. and waited about 15 minutes to get in because they only allow

a certain number of people in the exhibit at one time. Once inside, we all gathered in a room and were shown a short video in which Sawaya explains how and why he choose to use Legos as his medium. Then the group is allowed to roam freely through the exhibit.

My 6-year-old had a great time looking at all the artwork. He was even able to make connections between some of the pieces on display and those he’d seen in movies, such as the Easter Island head statue that appeared in the movie Night at the Museum. He

was also fascinated by the original pieces, particularly Swimmer. My daughters were impressed with the exhibit, too, probably because they — like me — weren’t expecting to be.

The cost of the exhibit is on the more expensive side, but it really is worth it. We made a day of it by going to the show then having lunch in Faneuil Hall, followed by some window shopping in the marketplace. My son loved watching the street performers while we ate outside.

If you pair The Art of the Brick with

some of Faneuil Hall’s free holiday events, such as the nightly “Blink!” music and light show or the ice sculptures that will be on display for New Year’s, it can be a great family day.

The Art of the Brick exhibit runs until Jan. 11, 2015. Tickets are $15.50 (child 3-12, students, military); $23.50 (adult); and $17.50 (senior ages 62+). Special savings for groups of 10 or more are available with advanced reservation. More information can be found at bostonbricks.com.

November 30 – December 31, 2014

WORCESTER ART MUSEUM Live concerts Family activities Tours Shopping and More!

Sponsored by:

ber Decem s op Worksh

Choose from over 20, one or two session, creative classes for adults, children, and families from December 5 – 20.

Sign up today! Visit worcesterart.org/classes

worcesterart.org/holidays f l n BAYSTATEPARENT 20 21

22 DECEMBER2014

MUSE-

SPEC-

Photo courtesy Boston Ballet

OUT& ABOUT

Experience the world’s largest display of LEGO art at The Art of the Brick at Faneuil Hall Marketplace all month.

Photo courtesy Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum

Photo courtesy Edaville USA

Photo courtesy The Art of The Brick

Boston Ballet’s holiday classic runs through December 31 at The Boston Opera House.

The Polar Express is making trips to the North Pole throughout December at Edaville USA in Carver.

East India tea is heading back into Boston Harbor for the 241st time on December 16.

BAYSTATEPARENT 23

OUT&ABOUT

Photo courtesy The Shops at Prudential Center

MELTDOWN WARNING: Before you pack up the mini-van, please confirm your destination. Although we’ve done our best to ensure accuracy at press time, things can and do change…

pectac-

Polar Express Story Hour at The Shops at Prudential Center will feature cookies, coca and musical performances on December 6 and 13.

1 Monday Book Babies. Thayer Public Library, 798 Washington Street, Braintree. 9:15 a.m.9:35 a.m. Also Dec. 8. Ages 3-24 months.

Children will listen to short books and simple songs and have fun. Come meet other little ones and adults who live in the area, while improving the child’s early learning skills. Free. thayerpubliclibrary.org.

MFA Playdates. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston. 10:15 a.m.11:15 a.m. Story time and looking activities in the galleries, followed by art making.

Recommended for children ages 4 and younger with adults. Free with admission. Adults $25, children 6 and under free. mfa.org.

STEM Workshop Ages 3&4. Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton. 3 p.m.4 p.m. Four-part series will explore Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math through discoveryand play. Take home something from each session. Free. Online registration is required. Parent caregiver required at class. newtonfreelibrary.net.

Methuen Festival of Trees. Valley Office Park, 13 Branch Street, Methuen. 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Through Dec. 6. See more than 240 spectacularly decorated Christmas trees and wreaths. Children’s events include visits and photos with Santa, Polar Express reading, BJ Hickman Magic Shows, Mad Science Show and 24 DECEMBER2014 25

more. Adults $10, children under 12 free. methuenfestivaloftrees.com Poetry Writing Workshop Ages 12+.

Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton. 7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Free. Online registration is required. newtonfreelibrary.net.

2 Tuesday iToddlers. Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton. Watch and listen to a story, sing a song, play an instrument. Space is limited. Please pick up a ticket at the Children’s Desk starting a half-hour before the program begins. newtonfreelibrary.net.

Festival of Lights. La Salette Shrine, 947 Park St, Attleboro. 5 p.m.-9 p.m. daily. More than 300,000 lights illuminate over 10 acres.

Through Jan. 4. Free. lasalette-shrine.org.

3 Wednesday ASD Friendly Afternoons. The Discovery Museums 177 Main Street, Acton. A dedicated room will be available to welcome families with a child with an ASD to orient them to the campus and programs, and provide a quiet space for children needing a break from the stimulation of the museums. Pre-registration required, space limited. Adults $11.50, Seniors $10.50, children $11.50, under 1 free. discoverymuseums.org.

The Polar Express Train Ride. Edaville USA, 5 Pine St., Carver. Rides begin at 5:30 p.m.

Runs through Dec. 30. Set to the sounds of the motion picture soundtrack, families are sure to enjoy their trip to the North Pole. Reservations recommended. $38 per person, under 2 free. All park rides and attractions included. edaville.com.

Holiday Concert. First Congregational Church, 264 Main Street, Rutland. 7:30 p.m.

The concert will be followed by a Brownie Sundae Social. $5 suggested donation. rutlandhistoricalsociety.org.

The Art of the Brick. Faneuil Hall Marketplace. 1 Faneuil Hall Square, Boston.

The largest display of LEGO art ever assembled.

Daily through Jan. 11. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tickets are available for $15.50 (child 3-12, students, military), $23.50 (adult) and $17.50 (senior = 62+). bostonbricks.com.

Breakfast With Santa. Essex Elementary, 12 Story Street, Essex. Saturday, 8 a.m.-11 a.m.

Enjoy a pancake breakfast, take a photo with Santa and make a holiday craft. Cost: $5 per person or $25 for the family. visitessexma.com.

4 Thursday Essex Holiday Festival Tree Lighting.

Town Hall, Martin Street, Essex. 6:30 p.m. visitessexma.com.

Beginning Reader Book Club. Worcester Public Library, Goddard Branch, 14 Richards Street, Worcester. 3:30 p.m.-4 p.m. Grades K-1 take turns reading aloud with friends.

508-799-8330.

Blink! A Light & Sound Extravaganza.

Faneuil Hall Marketplace, 1 Faneuil Hall Square, Boston. Performances start at 4:30 p.m. Nightly through Jan. 5. Featuring the music of the Holiday Pops, Blink! is a state-ofthe-art light and sound extravaganza. Free. faneuilhallmarketplace.com.

5 Friday Sing Me a Song with Fran Friedman.

Morse Institute Library, 14 E. Central Street, Natick. 10:30 a.m.-11:15 a.m. Musical fun for children ages 2 and 3, and their caregivers.

Registration required. 508-647-6522.

First Friday Night Free. The Discovery Museums 177 Main Street Acton. 4:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Explore the museums for free on the first Friday night of every month. Food donations accepted for Open Table of Concord and Maynard and the Acton Food Pantry. discoverymuseums.org.

6 Saturday

Breakfast with Santa. Franklin Park Zoo, 1 Franklin Park Avenue, Boston. 8:30 a.m.-10 a.m. Guests will have Breakfast with Santa, take a photo (bring your own camera) and make holiday ornaments. Tickets: $29.99. zoonewengland.org.

Gifts from Nature. Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, 87 Perkins Row, Topsfield.

10 a.m.-noon. Using materials collected from nature, join us in our cozy barn to create nature crafts to give as gifts such as nature-print cards, milkweed pod ornaments, wreaths woven from vines, and more. Adults $10, children $8. For families with children ages 4-12.

Advance registration required; 978-887-9264. massaudubon.org/ipswichriver.

Holiday Fair. Waldorf School of Lexington, 739 Massachusetts Ave., Lexington. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Events and activities include a Mummers Play, a marionette show, crafts for young children, live music, and artisan vendors who sell unique items for holiday gift shopping.

Adults $5, children $3 or $15 per family. thewaldorfschool.org.

Karen K & the Jitterbugs. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline. 10:30 a.m. Called “The Kiddie Queen” by the Brooklyn Paper, the blend of imagination, music, humor and fun makes Karen K & the Jitterbugs a favorite among kids and adults. For ages 3+.

Tickets $8-$11. coolidge.org.

Polar Express. 1 Fitzgerald Drive, Hopedale.

Friday-Sundays, 4:30 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. Dec. 5-7, Dec. 12-14. Set to the sounds of the motion picture soundtrack, families are sure to enjoy their trip to the North Pole, complete with hot chocolate and cookies served on board the train.

Tickets start at $36. 508-866-8190.

Santa Saturdays. Franklin Park Zoo, 1 Franklin Park Avenue, Boston. 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Meet Santa inside the zoo’s Tropical Forest building, home to western lowland gorillas, ringtailed lemurs, a giant anteater and more. Other activities include winter-themed arts and crafts, holiday-themed enrichment for the animals, and more festive fun! Adults $17.95, children (ages 2-12) $11.95, seniors $14.95. Children under age 2 are free. zoonewengland.org.

Santa Arrives By Boat. Town Landing, Essex. 6 p.m. Friday evening Santa arrives on the Essex River by boat and walks up to the shipyard with a cast of Toyland characters. visitessexma.com.

Bari Koral Family Rock Band. The Center for Arts in Natick, 14 Summer Street, Natick.

Bari Koral is one of the most popular kids/ family recording artists on the scene today. 11 a.m. Adults $10, children $8. natickarts.org.

Yuletide Celebration. Ayer Town Hall, 1 Main Street, Ayer. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Snack, share, listen to music, buy gifts and stocking stuffers, and enjoy. artsnashoba.org.

Artisan Card Workshop. Brookline Arts Center, 86 Monmouth Street, Brookline. Noon4 p.m. Learn to make beautiful, one-of-a-kind artisan cards worthy of framing. Ages 12+. Fee $58.50. brooklineartscenter.com.

Polar Express Story Hour. The Shops at Prudential Center, 800 Boylston Street, Boston.

11 a.m. Featuring readings by The Conductor, hot chocolate, cookies and gifts for the children in attendance. Musical performance begins at 1:30 p.m. 800-746-7778.

IdeaStrike! Youth Entrepreneurship Workshop. Cambridge Innovation Center, 1 Broadway, Cambridge. 1 p.m.-5:30 p.m.

Styled after a reality TV show, teams of students will compete to develop the best business idea.

Free. cic.us.

Saltwater Etching. Brookline Arts Center, 86 Monmouth Street, Brookline. 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Students will be given copper to etch a pattern then will learn how to form these into a cuff bracelet. Ages 12-17. Fee $45.50. brooklineartscenter.com.

Santa’s Arrival and Tree Lighting. Bradley Wharf on Bearskin Neck and Dock Square, Rockport. 3:45 p.m. Santa will arrive following a lobster boat ride across Sandy Bay then proceed to the Tree Lighting. rockportusa.com.

Festival of Trees. Rutland Free Public Library, 280 Main Street, Rutland. 4 p.m.

OUT&ABOUT View decorated trees and wreaths, and visit with Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves at the back of the Library. Free. rutlandhistoricalsociety.org.

Friendship Supper. First Congregational Church, 264 Main Street, Rutland. 5 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Adults $6, children 6 and under free. rutlandhistoricalsociety.org.

Santa Arrives in Salem. Hawthorne Hotel, 18 Washington Square, Salem. 6 p.m. With help from the Salem Fire Department, Santa arrives on the hotel roof, followed by a short stop for cocoa and caroling at the gazebo on the Salem Common. The parade continues to Museum Place Mall for pictures with Santa. salemmainstreets.org.

Photo courtesy The Discovery Museums

Idea Hub: Hands-on Engineering and Design. MIT Museum, 265 Mass Ave., Cambridge. Saturdays in December. 11 a.m.Noon. Explore topics in design and engineering with artistic circuits, 3D design, and a variety of other topics with hands-on making and tinkering exercises. For ages 12+. Free with Museum admission. Adults: $10, youth under 18, students, seniors $5, children under 5 free. web.mit.edu/museum.

Annual Lighting of the Tree. First Congregational Church, 264 Main Street, Rutland. 6:30 p.m. Free. rutlandhistoricalsociety.org.

7 Sunday Everyday Engineering: Cup Towers. The Discovery Museums 177 Main Street Acton. 11 a.m.-2 p.m., drop in. Challenge yourself to build a one-of-a-kind tower made entirely out cups. Adults $11.50, Seniors $10.50, children $11.50, under 1 free. discoverymuseums.org.

Holiday Pops Kids Matinees. Symphony Hall, 301 Mass. Ave, Boston. 11 a.m. Other performances Dec. 13, 14 & 20. Family concerts include a children’s sing-along and post-concert photos with Santa. Tickets start at $37. bso.org.

Christmas on the Common. Bridgewater Town Common. 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Bring the family to meet Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus, pony rides, holiday music, craft fair, food and hot drinks.

Free. bridgewaterbiz.biz.

ChristmasTime. Robinson Theatre, 617 Lexington Street, Waltham. Noon and 4 p.m. A musical extravaganza that transports audiences to a Living Nativity, Santa’s Workshop, Teddy Bears’ Nutcracker, Parade of the Wooden Soldiers and Victorian Christmas via a cast of

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Challenge yourself to Everyday Engineering at The Discovery Museums in Acton on December 7, 23 and 26.

Festival of Trees and Santa. Rutland Free Public Library, 280 Main Street, Rutland. 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Also featuring magician Steve Charrette. rutlandhistoricalsociety.org.

Gingerbread Express Train Exhibit.

Wenham Museum, 132 Main Street, Wenham.

Through Dec. 14. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The holiday favorite Gingerbread Express model train layout brings spirit of the season to life in this winter wonderland of candy-covered cottages created by community members. Adults $10, children 1+ $6. wenhammuseum.org.

8 Monday

9 Tuesday

Zoo Lights. Stone Zoo, 149 Pond Street, Stoneham. Daily through Jan. 4. 5 p.m.-9 p.m.

Get into the holiday spirit by strolling along treelined paths lit by thousands of twinkling lights.

Visit with Santa in his castle and enter a magical holiday world filled with fairy tale characters and dancing plush animals. Adults $14.95, children (212) $10.95, children under 2 free. stonezoo.org.

Little Naturalists: Feeder Birds. North River Wildlife Sanctuary, 2000 Main Street, Marshfield. 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Discover feeder birds through nature walks, stories, songs, and crafts. For children ages 3-5 with adult. $7 per child (no charge for accompanying adults).

Preregistration is required, massaudubon.org/ southshore or 781-837-9400.

nearly 200 and a live orchestra. Tickets start at $35. Children under 5 not permitted in the theatre. reaglemusictheatre.com.

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OUT&ABOUT Family Singalong. Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton. 10:30 a.m.-11:15 a.m.

Join the children’s librarians for some fun songs and movement. Free. newtonfreelibrary.net.

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Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer The Musical. The Shubert Theatre, 270 Tremont Street, Boston. 7 p.m. Through Dec. 14. The original television classic comes to life onstage.

Tickets starts at $28. citicenter.org.

10 Wednesday Pirate Stories Ages 3-5. Thayer Public Library, 798 Washington Street, Braintree.

10 a.m.-11 a.m. Special Guest “Captain McNasty” reads his Pirate book at this special storytime today. Free. thayerpubliclibrary.org.

Painting. Worcester Public Library, Goddard Branch, 14 Richards Street, Worcester. 3:30 p.m.-4 p.m. Paint on really big paper! Ages 6-17. 508-799-8330.

11 Thursday The Velveteen Rabbit. Puppet Showplace Theater, 32 Station Street, Brookline. 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. Additional performances through Dec. 14. Margery Williams’ classic comes to life through puppetry, storytelling, song, and a magic trick (or two!). Tickets $12. puppetshowplace.org.

Create Your Own Light-Up Card. Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton.

3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Learn some elementary electronics, and how to create fun and flexible circuits on paper. We’ll make cards or pictures that light up, buzz or otherwise amaze. For kids in grades 2-5; parents of second and third graders are asked to stay and help. Free. Online registration required. newtonfreelibrary.net.

12 Friday LEGO Happenings. Morse Institute Library, 14 E. Central Street, Natick. 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. LEGO builders can design, construct, and display their own spectacular creations. For boys and girls in grades 1-4. Free. Registration required. 508-647-6522.

MetroWest Festival of Trees. Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center, 181 Boston Post Rd W, Marlborough. Through Dec. 14.

More than 100 decorated trees, Candyland, Santa’s Workshop, North Pole Playland, entertainment, artisans and crafters and much more. metrowestfot.org.

make holiday ornaments. Tickets: $29.99. zoonewengland.org.

Middle Street Walk. Middle Street, Main Street and surrounding area, Gloucester.

10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Open houses, concerts, special programs and traditional decorations will be featured throughout the afternoon, focused in and around historic Middle Street.

Locations include Cape Ann Museum, Sawyer Free Library, Trinity Church, Unitarian Universalist Church, Sargent House Museum, and more. gloucesterdowntownassociation.org.

Sense ‘n’ Story: Beach Habitats. North River Wildlife Sanctuary, 2000 Main Street, Marshfield. 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Discuss beach habitats and the species who call our sandy shores home. We will begin with an interactive story about beach plants and animals, and then use different senses to investigate touch tables with specimens found there. No need to preregister, just drop in.

For children ages 3-5. $7 per child (no charge for accompanying adults). Preregistration is required, massaudubon.org/southshore or 781-837-9400.

Ben Rudnick and Friends 13th Annual Holiday Extravaganza. Regent Theater, 7 Medford Street, Arlington. 10:30 a.m.

Unique spins on everyone’s favorite Christmas and Chanukah songs, holiday cheer will fill the air. Ben and Friends will also play selections from their multiple award-winning recordings. Adults $10, seniors and children $8. regenttheatre.com.

Magic by Scott Jameson. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline. 10:30 a.m. Umbrellas will be plucked from thin air, a drawing will come to life, basketballs will be spun and juggled, and a member of the audience will unlock telekinetic abilities. For ages 3+. Tickets $8-$11. coolidge.org.

Santa Saturdays. Franklin Park Zoo, 1 Franklin Park Avenue, Boston. 10:30 a.m.2 p.m. Meet Santa inside the zoo’s Tropical Forest building, home to western lowland gorillas, ring-tailed lemurs, a giant anteater and more. Other activities include winter-themed arts and crafts, holiday-themed enrichment for the animals, and more festive fun! Adults $17.95, children (ages 2-12) $11.95, seniors $14.95. Children under age 2 are free. zoonewengland.org.

13 Saturday

Polar Express Story Hour. The Shops at Prudential Center, 800 Boylston Street, Boston.

11a.m. Featuring readings by The Conductor, hot chocolate, cookies and gifts for the children in attendance. Musical performance begins at 1:30 p.m. 800-746-7778.

Breakfast with Santa. Franklin Park Zoo, 1 Franklin Park Avenue, Boston. 8:30 a.m.10 a.m. Guests will have Breakfast with Santa, take a photo (bring your own camera) and

Hollowed Egg Decorations Workshop.

Brookline Arts Center, 86 Monmouth Street, Brookline. 1 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Spend the afternoon with your child making decorative

OUT&ABOUT egg ornaments or centerpieces for the holidays.

Ages 7+. Fee $39.50. brooklineartscenter.com.

Free Drop-In Family Days at Emerson Umbrella. The Umbrella Community Arts Center, 40 Stow Street, Concord. 1 p.m.-4 p.m.

Families can enjoy art-making activities designed and taught by instructors using a variety of art materials, mediums and professional artists’ tools. Free. theumbrellaarts.org.

Holiday Pops Concert. Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, Memorial Hall, 83 Court Street, Plymouth. 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Also Dec. 14, 3 p.m. Tickets start at $20. plymouthphil.org.

Winter Solstice Lantern Walk. Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, 87 Perkins Row, Topsfield. 4 p.m.-6 p.m. For families with children 4+. Lantern-making begins at 4 p.m., followed by solstice stories and folklore. Then with lanterns in hand, stroll the sanctuary trails to light the night. Enjoy hot cider and cocoa at the bonfire upon your return. Adults $10, children $8. Advance registration required; 978-887-9264.

14 Sunday Model Train Weekend. National Heritage Museum, 33 Marrett Road, Lexington. 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Also runs Saturday, Dec. 13. The HUB Division of the National Model Railroad Association presents miles of track with trains running on multiple main lines as they chug up mountain climbs, past coal mines, through small villages and into tunnels. $7 per family. nationalheritagemuseum.org.

Fancy Nancy’s Fanciest Doll Party.

Wenham Museum, 132 Main Street, Wenham.

1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Bring your fanciest doll to a swanky tea party hosted by Nancy’s glamourous neighbor Mrs. Devine! Children will enjoy crafts, games and a lesson in manners.

Ages 4+. Tickets: $25. wenhammuseum.org.

Carols & Cookies Holiday Concert and Bake Sale. Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational Technical School, 100 Hemlock Road, Wakefield. 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Thrilling holiday music and free refreshments at the Middlesex Concert Band’s holiday concert. Adults $15, children under 12 free. 781-670-7662.

Playing with Clay Together. The Umbrella Community Arts Center, 40 Stow Street, Concord. 3 p.m.-5 p.m. Young people and their parents will work together on a hand-built ceramic project of their choosing during the first session and glaze the piece during the second class (on Dec. 21). For ages 5+. Two-class fee: $45. theumbrellaarts.org.

Stories, Sounds, and You: Explore Winter Stories through Music. New School of Music, 25 Lowell Street, Cambridge. 5:30 p.m.-6:30

p.m. Celebrate the winter season with live performance, musical story telling, creative movement and art hosted by faculty members.

Free.

15 Monday MFA Playdates. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston. 10:15 a.m.11:15 a.m. Story time and looking activities in the galleries, followed by art making.

Recommended for children ages 4 and younger with adults. Free with admission. Adults $25, children 6 and under free. mfa.org.

Silver Apple Bedtime Storyhour. Morse Institute Library, 14 E. Central Street, Natick.

6:30 p.m.-7:15 p.m. Forty-five-minute programs of stories, songs, and simple crafting or activity for families with children ages 3-9. Free. Drop-in. 508-647-6522.

16 Tuesday Babywearing International of Greater Boston. Thayer Public Library, 798 Washington Street, Braintree. 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Check out the lending library of baby carriers. Free. thayerpubliclibrary.org.

3D Printing for Kids. Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton. 2 p.m.-4 p.m.

Learn how 3D printers work by making things yourself! A fun, interactive activity for kids in Grades 2-5. Learn about the library’s Makerbot 3D printer, and walk away with your own threedimensional creation. Free. Online registration required. newtonfreelibrary.net.

Believe in the Magic of the Season

Share wishes with Santa Mon - Sat · 10am - 8pm Sunday · 12pm - 6pm

Paws & Claus Photo Night Monday, Dec 1 · 6pm - 8pm

Santa Story Time

PJ Library Chanukah Playtime and Story Hour, Watertown Free Public Library, 123 Main Street, Watertown. 4 p.m.-6 p.m. Enjoy stories, songs, activities, and a 1st night ‘candle lighting’ with other families. Geared for families with children aged birth-5. Free, but registration required. bostonjcc.org/mnchanukahplaytime.

Wednesday, Dec 3 & Dec 10 11am - 12pm

241st Boston Tea Party Anniversary & Reenactment. Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, 306 Congress St., Boston. 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Reenactors from across New England tell the story of the Boston Tea Party and theatrically recreate the evening of December 16, 1773, complete with the dumping of East India tea into the Harbor. Tickets $25. bostonteapartyship.com.

Sunday, Dec 14 · 10am - 12pm

17 Wednesday Boston Ballet’s The Nutcracker. The Boston Opera House, 539 Washington Street, Boston.

7:30 p.m. Through Dec. 31. Tickets start at $45. bostonballet.org.

Breakfast with Santa

Please visit our website for more information www.themallatwhitneyfield.com Burlington, JC Penney, Macy’s, Sears, Toys R Us & more than 60 specialty stores 100 Commercial Rd. Leominster, MA At the junction of Route 2 & I -190 978.537.7500

18 Thursday Level Up: Videogaming. Worcester Public Library, 3 Salem Street, Worcester. 3:30 BAYSTATEPARENT 26 27

OUT&ABOUT p.m.-4:30 p.m. Come play Wii and PS3 games with friends on our big screen! No registration required. Free. 508-799-1671.

19 Friday

Photo courtesy Reagle Theatre of Greater Boston

Worcester Common Oval. Behind City Hall, 455 Main Street, Worcester. 5 p.m.-8 p.m.

Runs Fridays-Sundays, public skating through February. Admission $2, children 6 and under skate free. worcestermass.org.

Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston presents its annual spectacular, ChristmasTime, December 5-14 in Waltham.

20 Saturday Breakfast with Santa. Franklin Park Zoo, 1 Franklin Park Avenue, Boston. 8:30 a.m.10 a.m. Guests will have Breakfast with Santa, take a photo (bring your own camera) and make holiday ornaments. Tickets: $29.99. zoonewengland.org.

Movie: The Muppet Christmas Carol.

Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline. 10:30 a.m. The classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge as told by everyone’s favorite band of Muppets! For ages 4+. Adults $7, children $5. coolidge.org.

Santa Saturdays. Franklin Park Zoo, 1 Franklin Park Avenue, Boston. 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Meet Santa inside the zoo’s Tropical Forest building, home to western lowland gorillas, ring-

tailed lemurs, a giant anteater and more. Other activities include winter-themed arts and crafts, holiday-themed enrichment for the animals, and more festive fun! Adults $17.95, children (ages 2-12) $11.95, seniors $14.95. Children under age 2 are free. zoonewengland.org.

21 Sunday Tumble, Twist and Flip Over Chanukah.

Tumble-N-Twist Gymnastics Center, 808 West Street, Stoughton. 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Celebrate the joy and lights of Chanukah at this interactive gymnastics party. $20 per family. Register at bostonjcc.org/ southchanukahgymnastics.

22 Monday Winter Kaleidoscopes! Worcester Public Library, Frances Perkins Branch, 470 W. Boylston Street, Worcester. Celebrate the winter by making winter-themed kaleidoscopes.

For children 6-12. Free. 508-799-1687.

23 Tuesday Everyday Engineering: Cup Towers. The Discovery Museums 177 Main Street Acton. 11 a.m.-2 p.m., drop in. Challenge yourself to build a one-of-a-kind tower made

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Justice Resource Institute Educational Advocacy program provides a service to parents and guardians of children with disabilities that assists in securing the appropriate individualized education program and setting. Our Educational Advocates work collaboratively with the youth, families, school districts and other collaterals to identify the educational strengths and needs of students who are experiencing difficulties in the educational setting.

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OUT&ABOUT entirely out cups. Adults $11.50, Seniors $10.50, children $11.50, under 1 free. discoverymuseums.org.

autobiographical artwork for you to keep, and forever cherish the best moments of life. Space is limited. For ages 6-10. Pick up a ticket at the Children’s Desk starting a half-hour before the program begins. Free. newtonfreelibrary.net.

and get crafty making New Year’s noise makers.

Each day wraps up with hot cocoa by the fire. For children in grades 1-5. $65 per child, per day.

Preregistration is required for one or both days, massaudubon.org/southshore or 781-837-9400.

Everyday Engineering: Cup Towers. The Discovery Museums 177 Main Street Acton. 11 a.m.-2 p.m., drop in. Challenge yourself to build a one-of-a-kind tower made entirely out cups. Adults $11.50, Seniors $10.50, children $11.50, under 1 free. discoverymuseums.org.

Level Up: Videogaming. Worcester Public Library, 3 Salem Street, Worcester. 9:30 a.m.-11 a.m. We provide the LEGOs; you bring the skills. Ages 12 and under. No registration required. Free. 508-799-1671.

Midwinter Magic Puppet Show. Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton. 2 p.m.2:45 p.m. Gerwick Puppets presents a winter magic puppet show for ages 4+. Midwinter Magic is about a boy and a girl who decide to stay up all night for the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, to witness all the magical happenings. Free. newtonfreelibrary.net.

27 Saturday

Parent/Child Build a Bird Feeder. Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, 87 Perkins Row, Topsfield. 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. All materials and instruction provided; just bring a hammer.

Afterwards, observe the sanctuary feeders to see what birds are coming to them. $20 per family. The fee includes one kit; extra kits can be purchased for $12 each and must be ordered by Dec. 10. For families with children 4+. Advance registration is required; call 978-887-9264.

26 Friday

Survivor. Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, 87 Perkins Row, Topsfield. 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m.

Through teamwork and problem solving, explore the woodlands of the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary imagining you’re an explorer stranded in the wilderness. In order to survive, you will need to build shelters, collect firewood, and find food and water. Dress for the weather and wear warm waterproof boots. For families with children 4+. Adults $9, children $7. Advance registration is required; call 978-887-9264.

2014 Time Capsule Craft. Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton. 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Using sculpy, lots of recycled materials and miniature objects, you will be making an

NEW !

28 Sunday

29 Monday North River Winter Adventures. North River Wildlife Sanctuary, 2000 Main Street, Marshfield. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. We will investigate the trails looking for tracks, scat, and other evidence of wildlife; learn about the winter stars;

Water Ways, an imaginative all-new water environment is NOW OPEN!!

30 Tuesday Predator Party. Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, 87 Perkins Row, Topsfield.

1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Take a walk with staff and look for fishers, river otters, foxes, hawks, and owls on the sanctuary. Tracks, chews, scat, pellets, and bones will show where predators have partied. Adults $9, children $7. For families with children 4+. Advance registration is required; call 978-887-9264.

Tanglewood Marionettes Present: Hansel & Gretel. Worcester Public Library, 3 Salem Street, Worcester. 3 p.m.-4 p.m. FREE tickets are required, limited, and available starting Dec. 15, at the Children’s Room Desk. Recommended for ages 5-12. 508-799-1671.

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Splash, play, explore ice and mist, and discover the swirling, whirling ways of water: • • • • • •

Transform billowing mist and water domes Send objects swirling through vortexes Investigate and sculpt ice using a variety of tools Form fountains that funnel the flow of mist “Paint” watery designs on a large slate wall Explore an expanded toddler play area with balls, ramps and spigots

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Movie: When the Game Stands Tall. Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton. 3 p.m.-5 p.m. See how the De La Salle High School Spartans go from being a team no one’s heard of to breaking all records in all American sports with a 151-game winning streak. Rated PG. Running time 115 minutes. Free. newtonfreelibrary.net.

31 Wednesday First Night Boston. 1 p.m.-midnight. Updated time and events at firstnightboston.org.

Visit baystateparent.com to post your family event. Email listings to editor@baystateparent.com.

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WINTER GUIDE

Geocaching: Year-Round Treasure Hunting Family Fun

BY MICHELE BENNETT DECOTEAU

Geocachers — high-tech treasure hunters — use billion-dollar satellites to find plastic containers in the woods! Geocaching is a growing outdoor hobby in which caches, or treasures, are hidden and their coordinates are available online.

To find treasure, seekers are armed with handheld GPS devices or smart phones, a pen, and trinkets. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But rarely is the path to the treasure merely a straight line and X seldom marks the spot.

There are nearly 2.5 million caches hidden on public lands around the world. This is a growing hobby that provides a fun way to share the outdoors with your family in the winter.

“I enjoy Geocaching with my kids because it opens up really interesting places to us that we never would have known about or thought to try,” says Amy Marr of Grafton. She and her daughters, Ainsley, 11, and Caitlin, 7, have been Geocaching for four years.

Geocaching has its own language and terms, but with a little knowledge, this hobby can enrich family vacations, help you explore new places within your area, and get the entire family active and having fun together.

When hiding a cache, people include information about the area where the treasure is hidden, providing a wonderful insider’s guide to local history, culture, and open spaces.

Most of the treasures are small trinkets, but some are trackable items that travel the globe (more on trackables to come).

Although there are a handful of Geocaching treasure-hunting organizations, Geocaching.com is the most popular. The site is easy to

navigate. Enter your postal address in the Search for Nearby Geocaches box and up will pop an array of hidden treasure within a few miles of your house.

To find your treasure or cache, you can load coordinates into a handheld GPS or use a Geocaching app on your smart phone. Geocaching.com offers a mobile option for a fee; Android’s Google Play Store has a free app, as does iPhone’s App Store.

“The GPS on the phone is no longer acceptable, now my Boy Scout uses a real GPS system to find the coordinates,” laughs Brenda Synan of Worcester. Her Boy Scout and oldest child, Connor, is now 12, but they started Geocaching when he was just 8 and her youngest was only 18 months old.

There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing your first few Geocaching adventures. Plan well.

Start small with just one or two caches in a day. Choose caches that are Traditional – this means you are searching for a container big enough for good treasures. Caches range in size from “nano” — so small there is no room for a pencil and the log is merely a half-inch strip of rolled-up paper — to much larger containers that can hold DVDs. Most caches are somewhere in between and hold a handful of trinkets such as key chains, toy cars, balls, and plastic dinosaurs.

“We love it because it’s an easy way to get the kids outside — get some exercise and have some quality family time. With young kids, it was important that they be quick, easy caches to hold their interest,” Synan says.

Choose caches that aren’t terribly

“We love it because it’s an easy way to get the kids outside — get some exercise and have some quality family time.”

32 DECEMBER2014 33

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a description; the description may help more or less with actually finding the cache. Usually the descriptions hold information about the general location, which could be a public park, hiking trail, parking lot, historical marker, or other interesting spot. Take the time to decrypt the hint before you leave. This is where a useful tip is given to actually find the treasure.

“Our favorite cache is in New Hampshire — it’s deep in the woods near Barnstead. The clue is fantastic, Hang ’em High, but it brings you into an old cemetery, and it’s a tiny, tiny cache. I won’t say where! The kids love to bring new people there and watch them try to figure it out,” Synan says.

Using the coordinates provided to find the cache sounds so simple, but most phones or GPS units only get you close – usually within 4 or 5 feet.

You have to use the hint and some keen observation skills at the last.

Once you have uncovered the cache, rehide it in the same place where you found it.

Geocaching is a fun and educational hobby. There are Geocaches all over the world, and you can include Geocaching on your next vacation or explore the nooks and crannies of your neighborhood.

Geo Speak Here are some special terms that Geocachers use: Cache: short for Geocaching.

GPS: short for Global Positioning System. This is a group of satellites that are used to determine location.

Waypoint: a specific location FTF: short for First To Find CITO: short for Cache In and Trash Out. TFTC: short for Thanks For The Cache Muggle: a non-Geocacher

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online at Geocaching.com.

Good treasures to trade are items such as small plastic toys, toy cars, foreign coins, and glass stones. Avoid paper or items with stickers and food; anything that smells like food is not allowed in caches because it attracts animals.

“Our kids love to trade toys. We carry a backpack full of little toys and trade for other little toys. Bracelets and other jewelry appeal to my daughter, while cars and dinosaurs appeal to my boy,” Garrand says.

“The trades are the fun part,” Synan adds. “I keep a bag of things in our car, in case we have time for a quick cache. Little things, like erasers and pins, and big things like pencils from my Dad’s company. The problem with Geocaching with three kids is that everyone wants to take a prize, so I try to leave more than we take.”

Some caches contain trackable treasures. Trackables are small coins or tags that have a code on them.

These codes are entered online where you find out their mission.

Don’t keep them long! Etiquette is to pass a trackable on within a couple of weeks. If you cannot move it along, write down the number and “discover” it, but leave it in place.

Be sure to print out a cache’s information or use a smart phone to call up information on the cache. Each cache is unique with

WAC

ss es of of

difficult to find and pay attention to the star rating accompanying it on Geocaching.com. This tells you not only how challenging the cache is to find, but also how difficult the terrain is to reach it.

Be sure to check the attributes of a cache to see if it is appropriate for your family. Attributes are simply graphics that tell you a bit more about the cache and list a series of icons that describe it. For example, they could state whether a cache can be accessed by bike, in the winter, has food nearby or picnic tables, has gas nearby, free parking, is stroller friendly, dog friendly and more.

“Our first cache was actually in a cemetery – Pelham Murder??

Headstone [sic]. It was intriguing for us because of the controversial headstone, but my daughter was a little over a year old, so she just played in the leaves,” says Scott Garrand, father to Alexandra, now 10, and Scott, 5. He and his West Brookfield family have been Geocaching since 2005 and have found more than 500 caches hidden in New England and a few other states.

Once you find your cache, you need to keep the simple rules of Geocaching. First, if you take something, leave something. Second, sign the log inside the cache. Bring your own pencil just in case. Finally, this is a social hobby so log your find

BAYSTATEPARENT 32 33

muscles,” says Martha Gach, Conservation Coordinator at Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Worcester. If you fall, a soft landing is virtually guaranteed.”

While there is no secret to snowshoeing –— kids can start as soon as they can walk — there are a few things to keep in mind to make that first time the best time.

1. Dress for the weather. Layering is very important, especially if you or your kids aren’t used to winter sports. Wear clothes you can move in and take off when you start to get hot. If you don’t wear snowpants, wearing gaiters over pants and boots keeps you or your kids dry and warm. Regular snow boots work just fine for snowshoeing.

Kids’ snowshoes are based more on weight than size, so most snowshoes accommodate a range of shoe sizes.

For adults, snowshoes are based on weight and height.

2. Snowshoes don’t go in reverse. If you want to turn around, you need to walk in a wide circle until you get the hang of the turnaround dance.

Snowshoes often have a tapered point at the back that will catch in the snow if you go backwards.

3. Poles are optional. Having poles can be really helpful if you are on particularly steep or uneven terrain, but for a first time trip, go flat. Choose a hike that is flat until everyone gets the hang of walking in snowshoes. If you do use poles, any sort of ski or trekker pole will work as long as when it is on the ground and you are holding the handle, your elbow is at a 90° angle.

Snowshoeing: Slow Down, Have Fun With Your Kids Outdoors

BY MICHELE BENNETT DECOTEAU Snowshoeing is an excellent way to keep kids active in the winter and gives the whole family a chance to enjoy nature together. It’s a fast-growing activity because it is inexpensive — especially compared with other winter sports, gives families a way to explore the outdoors, and provides a great way to burn energy.

34 DECEMBER2014 35

“The first time must be the best time,” says Rene Wendell, Conservation Ranger with the Trustees of Reservation at Bartholomew's Cobble in Sheffield.

“If kids don’t have a great time snowshoeing the very first time, they probably won’t want to do it again.”

“It's a great aerobic workout and good for leg

4. Plan a good snack. Having hot chocolate or some other snack for energy will improve everyone’s mood. Even though you will be out in the cold, you will dehydrate quickly, so bring water for everyone and stop to drink it.

Kids’ snowshoes aren’t particularly expensive, but it is still a great idea to rent or borrow them the first time to see if this is something they want to do again. Adult snowshoes can cost between $100-$300. Kids’ snowshoes usually cost much less, $30-$80, and will last many years. While not an overly expensive hobby, it is costly if the shoes are never used.

Retailers such as EMS and REI rent snowshoes, and many ski resorts rent them as well. Ski resorts are an excellent place to try out snowshoeing as they often have well-groomed trails and knowledgeable guides. Also, consider asking Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuaries and Trustees of Reservations locations about

snowshoes, many offer low-cost rentals and programs. Programs offered include homeschool trail walks, tracking for families, and guided walks.

“Snowshoes can get you out in deep snow to see things you'd otherwise miss.

Deer tracks, mink trails, places where owls have left feather prints in the snow,” notes Broad Meadow Brook’s Gach.

“We have hot chocolate Saturdays at Bartholomew’s Cobble and that is a great way to get started snowshoeing,” Wendell says. “I usually take the group on a trail by the [Housatonic] River. We see birds …and lots of tracks in the snow.

Snowshoeing is a great way to see lots of different animal tracks. I’ve even seen otter and mink tracks in the snow while snowshoeing.”

“We have several snowshoe programs offered during snow season, so you can try it in a supportive and fun atmosphere. Or, if people are a little more shy, they're welcome to rent snowshoes to use at the sanctuary,” Gach adds.

Tracking is fun on snowshoes and gives even the youngest child a chance to get up close to animal signs. Squirrel tracks can be seen going from tree to tree and mouse tail tracks can be seen between tiny footprints crossing under bushes.

If you or your kids really enjoy snowshoeing, you can take this hobby to the next level and race.

Snowshoe racing is basically running a 5K or a 10K in the snow.

Racing snowshoes are smaller and lighter than regular snowshoes.

For a more gentle challenge, you can play games by following different animal tracks, pretending to be different animals, scavenger hunts, or classic outdoor games like Simon Says or Red Light, Green Light. If you purchase your own snowshoes and are ready for more of a challenge, turn your backyard into a snowshoe obstacle course with hula hoops, slopes, tunnels, and cones.

Snowshoeing can open up worlds, too. Once ponds have frozen enough for ice fishing, you can snowshoe across. You can see nests, tracks, and views not available when the water is liquid. Night time snowshoeing is spectacular. With older kids you can listen for owls when they are calling for mates in December and January.

Snowshoeing offers you an opportunity to slow down with your kids. There is no line, expensive equipment, or pressure to go fast.

So enjoy and dawdle while on snowshoes.

Places to Snowshoe Many ski resorts in the state offer

snowshoe rentals and groomed trails. Some offer guided programs, as well. Also, check out these retailers and organizations that rent snowshoes and offer programs to get you started.

Throughout Massachusetts EMS Rents snowshoes and poles at most of its 14 stores from Cape Cod to the Berkshires. ems.com Central Mass Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Worcester Inexpensive rental fees, all sizes. Guided hikes and trails. massaudubon.org (508) 753-6087 Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Princeton Inexpensive rental fees, all sizes. Guided hikes and trails. massaudubon.org (978) 464-2712 New England Backpacker, Worcester Shoes and poles are $20/day or $35/ weekend. If you decide to purchase, rental fee is subtracted from price. newenglandbackpacker.com (508) 853-9407 Eastern Mass Trustees of Reservations Cape Ann Discovery Park in Ravenswood Park, Gloucester Guided hikes and trails. $15 for nonmembers and family packages available. thetrustees.org (978) 281-8400 Boston Nature Center, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Mattapan Inexpensive rental fees, all sizes. Guided hikes and trails. massaudubon.org (617) 983-8500 Oak Knoll, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Attleboro Inexpensive rental fees, all sizes. Guided hikes and trails. massaudubon.org (508) 223-3060 Western Mass Trustees of Reservations, Ashley House, Bartholomew’s Cobble, Sheffield Inexpensive rental fees, all sizes. Guided hikes and trails. thetrustees.org (413) 229-8600

If you’ve got kids, we’ve got you covered for your Winter vacation at Smugglers’ Notch Vermont! On and off the slopes we’ve got programs and activities to make every member of your family happy!

Remember, a great family vacation is only as successful as the least happy person! At Smugglers’, we guarantee family fun!

Pleasant Valley, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Lennox Inexpensive rental fees, all sizes. Guided hikes and trails. massaudubon.org (413) 637-0320 Hilltop Orchards, Richmond $20 per person for shoes, additional $5 trail fee and instruction available for additional fee.

Offers only new equipment, lodge with hot cider and mulled wine available during the day.

Moonlight treks with wine tastings for adults only. furnacebrookwinery.com (800) 833-6274 BAYSTATEPARENT 34 35

“Bring your kids...and start a new kind of holiday tradition” CHICAGO DAILY HERALD

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New Hues for the

Holiday

T

he holidays are all about tradition, but some traditions are made to be modified. Take a break from conventional red and green this season and have your children make a stunning statement — in classic or funky fashion — by exploring new directions with a color palette that departs from the typical yuletide fare.

Olive, Ella and Jack boast a classic holiday look but in the warm combination of gold and black. There’s plenty of patent leather, bows, ruffles and style to be found, but nary a color cliché in sight.

Left: Persnickety Olivia Jumper (sizes 12 months -4); Persnickety Swiss Dot Shirt (sizes 2-12); Persnickety Cuffs; Persnickety Black Triple Ruffle Leggings (sizes 2-10); Persnickety Pearl Necklace; Joyfolie Elery Black Patent Boots (sizes 9-13); Wee Ones Gold Bow. Middle: Persnickety Josephine Dress (sizes 4-6);

Country Kids Black Tights (Baby-Big Girl); Livie & Luca Black Petals (sizes 4-10); Persnickety Jo Headband.

Right: Frenchie Black Sweater (sizes 2T-5T); Andy & Evan Shirt (sizes 12 months-4); Jack Thomas Pants (sizes 12 months-6); Livie & Luca Black Shoes (sizes 8 to 13).

BAYSTATEPARENT 36 37

Here Olive, Ella and Sophia depart from traditional yuletide fare, branching out into a mix of casual, eye-catching chic, thanks to Persnickety’s Pretty In Pink collection.

Top: Joyfolie Lacey Boots (13-1); Persnickety Lily Skirt With Waist Ruffle; Persnickety Charlie Top (sizes 2-8); Persnickety Natalie Sweater (sizes 4-6); Persnickety Brooke Headband.

Top Right: Persnickety Ruffle Sleeve Tee (sizes 2-6); Persnickety Olive Top (4-10); Persnickety Red Skinny Jean (size 4-10); Persnickety Pearl Necklace; Persnickety Camilla Headband; Joyfolie Lexi Fur Boots (sizes 11-13).

Persnickety Emma Dress (sizes 4-10); Joyfolie Rosie Sequin Shoes (sizes 9-13); Little V Designs Headband.

Bottom Right: Persnickety Alice Vest (sizes 6-10); Ivy Button Up Top (sizes 3-12); Persnickety Skinny Jeans (sizes 6-10); Joyfolie Lexi Fur Boots (sizes 11-13); Persnickety Camilla Headband.

Persnickety Ruffle Sleeve Tee (sizes 2-6); Persnickety Paige Skirt (sizes 4-8); White Country Kids Tights (Baby to Big Girl); Joyfolie Sasha Boots in Brown (sizes 8-1); Persnickety Camilla Headband.

38 DECEMBER2014 39

BAYSTATEPARENT 38 39

The children are a study in cool contrast, crisp greys, blacks and whites subtlety evoke the season with unique flair all while adding a playful twist.

40 DECEMBER2014 41

OUR MODELS

Trey, 2

Sophia, 4

Olive, 5

Cason, 5

Ella, 5

Dante, 6

Photography by Shawna Shenette, Millbury Left: Frenchie Black Sweater (sizes 2T-5T); Frugi Jeans (2-5) Center, left to right: Girl and a Mouse Dress (sizes 4-10); Servane Barrau Boot Socks; Joyfolie Elery Black Patent Boots (sizes 10-13); Persnickety Jo Headband.

Creamie Vest (sizes M&L); Creamie Grey Jeans (sizes 4-10); Joyfolie Nella in Black (sizes 9-13); Couture Clips Bow Headband.

Wes & Willy (sizes 2-6); Frugi Jeans (2-5); Livie & Luca Pike Black Shoes (sizes 9-13) Elaine et Lena Shirt (sizes 4-6); Elaine et Lena Skirt (sizes 4-6); Country Kids Black Tights; Joyfolie Sawyer in Grey; Persnickety Jo Headband.

Clothing and styling provided by Little V Designs, Westborough Hair & Makeup by Toni & Guy Hairdressing Academy, Worcester Art Direction by Paula Monette Ethier Editorial by Melissa Shaw

Frenchie Grey Sweater (sizes 2T-5T); Frugi Jeans (sizes 2-5).

BAYSTATEPARENT 40 41

MOM MATTERS

Expert Working Mother Tips to Avoid a

HOLIDAY MELTDOWN

BY MELISSA SHAW

For working mothers, major holidays are not the only stressors that appear in the last three months of a calendar year.

October through December often represent the urgent fourth quarter of a company’s fiscal year, which for many means a mad rush to cut expenses and make plan. For Teresa Taylor, former COO of $12 billion telecom and media company Qwest, the time meant trying to balance her responsibilities to the 30,000 people who worked under her with the three she loved most in her personal life – her two sons and husband.

You can guess which side won more often than not.

“I dreaded it when it was coming,” she says of the months-long stretch she termed the “Holiday Meltdown.”

“In the industry I was in, there was always something that wasn’t right.

In the fourth quarter we’re trying to shore it up, which meant budget cuts, reorganizing, do we have the right strategy?”

The final three months of the year meant reorganizing departments, possible layoffs — “which were always horrible” — and then trying to plan for the year ahead.

“It was a double whammy, besides the holidays, besides the kids, it was just the worst time at work,” she says.

After working her way into a corner

office at Qwest, Taylor says she reached a turning point when her boys were in elementary school.

She tried to balance it all but kept missing personal and professional commitments. The dual demands led her to a crossroads many working mothers face: Should I quit my job?

Yet Taylor wanted another option and crafted it.

“I did not want to quit working, and I was determined to find a way I could have my career and a family life,” she says. “I just didn’t believe all this stuff everybody was saying, ‘You can’t have both. You have to choose. Something’s going to suffer.’ I just didn’t buy it. I really focused on ‘How can I make this work?’”

To do that, she realized she had to stop measuring herself against that mythical perfect mother image and define her own.

“The core of it all was really not being so hard on myself,” she says.

“Saying ‘This does not have to be perfect, I can’t be the perfect mom in the way society defined it.’ Part of it was just letting this go and defining it for me.”

Over a couple of years and a lot of trial and error, Taylor developed five tips she says heavily resonate at the holidays but are valid for working mothers year-round.

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1. Wear the game face. “It is not necessary to let everyone know how miserable you are.

It is not productive and only creates more chaos. It is OK to cry, but find a place that you can cry alone – mine was the women’s bathroom in my office.”

2. Third grade only comes once. “Each school grade comes with unique characteristics that shape your children. Try to rise above the details and look at the bigger picture. Treasure — don’t dread — this busy holiday-at-school time.”

3. Manage your time more efficiently. “Be present in what you’re doing, finish it and move on. I have my list of things to do, and I’ll assign time slots to it. If I have one hour to work on a presentation at work or one hour to wrap presents, I do the best I can for that one hour.”

4. Combine your work and family schedules. “I used to keep two different calendars – one for home and one for work; but I was missing work deadlines, my kids’ activities and other events.

So I combined the calendars, which caused me to start talking about my family at work and integrating my two lives. It’s one life and one calendar! And now I don’t miss a thing. More than ever, the holidays are the right time for combining.”

5. Stay in the moment. “When you’re at work or in a meeting, be there. When you’re at

home, be there. If you’re in a business meeting, don’t be wishing you were somewhere else. Be present where you are, and don’t feel guilty about where you’re not.”

Taylor says Tip 4 — blending her personal and professional schedules — was a game-changer.

“For me the point was: I’m going to define this the way it works for me and not listen to all these messages that are out there about how to be a mom. For me it was blending. I just pushed it all together and said, ‘This is just me. I’m one person, this is what I do.’ It worked much better,” she notes. “When I started blending them things went much better for me. My performance at work got much better, too.”

The most difficult tip for Taylor to follow? Number 5.

“Staying in the moment. It still is, right now,” she says. “That constant talking to yourself in your head, or you’re sitting in the meeting and think, ‘I forgot to call the doctor.’

Your brain is just working and it’s hard to turn that off. In a meeting to look at the people who are talking and listen to them and not think, ‘Oh, I forgot the cupcakes.’ Or the other way around, when you get home at night and focus on the kids and not think about the whole day at work. I still struggle with that one.

It’s a discipline, it’s really hard to do.”

Currently Taylor is still very busy — sitting on the boards of three public companies, including T-Mobile USA and a Fortune 500 energy holding company — and authoring a book, The Balance Myth: Rethinking WorkLife Success.

The key to handling it all? “Give yourself a break,” she advises.

“Define what works for you. Set your own expectations; don’t let it be defined by someone else.”

The Smart Mom’s Guide to Gifting Teen Books

BY CARLA J. HANNA

At the bookstore we can easily find gifts for our teenage reader on the shelves in the teen or young adult section. We skim through a book looking for obvious red flags: profanity, steamy scenes, character voice, themes. If we want a targeted recommendation, we ask the helpful staff.

But many of our teens want to read ebooks on their Kindles, iPads or phones. We want to give them the ebooks they want to read where they want to read them.

For those of us who don’t want to give a gift card to their favorite online store or for the parents who want to keep an eye on what their teens are reading, online gift book selection proves much harder. Reviews often contradict each other, the "Look Inside" shares only a glimpse, and categories confound.

The “So-Yesterday” online search When searching online, avoid using your browser’s search, often powered by Google or Bing.

Results from searching through the metadata of the entire Internet will often provide inappropriate popular titles. Even at the online bookstore, using the search window will provide confusing results. For example, a “young adult romance” search resulted in erotica results.

to Teen & Young Adult. You have one more step: Click the type of book you want to buy, for example, click a category such as Social Issues or Romance. Now you are closer to finding a book.

Understanding genres within the Teen & Young Adult category You will notice that the book covers shown on the Teen & Young Adult section contain images ranging from cartoon characters to sexy men. This reflects the content available within the genre. Unfortunately, the genre encompasses all teenage groups.

Confused yet? Understanding age groups is essential in choosing the right book.

Young Adult (ages 13-18) Usually located outside of the children’s book section at your local bookstore, romance often plays a role in young adult books, with a mild sex scene somewhere within the pages. Topics can vary from the popular dystopia and horror to coming-of-age. With the exception of books labeled “clean romances,” a typical movie rating would be PG-13, as in “Divergent” (violence) or “The Fault in Our Stars” (sex scene).

New Adult (ages 18-25) Usually mixed in with Young Adult, more than half of the New Adult books would have an R-rating for

sexual content, violence, and crime.

With a protagonist who just got out of college, “The Fifty Shades of Grey” series fits into both the erotica and New Adult genres. But not all New Adult books are erotic.

Getting results Once you have narrowed your search through categories, use the search tool to enter the keywords of the type of books in which your teen shows interest. From the search results, read the comments and get a feel for the book from the “Look Inside.” Buy the ebook as a gift, email the code, and give the teen in your life the joy of reading.

Middle grade (ages 10-14) Usually found in the shelves within the cute children’s section at your local bookstore, middle grade targets tweens and teens. Online sellers usually put middle grade books into the children’s category. Titles in the PG-13 range — with violence, social issues, and romance — often appear in the Teen and Young Adult section, with “The Hunger Games” a prime example of a typical middle grade dystopia.

Where to start: search by category All online stores are going to the click-search method, which will provide a more targeted search for teen books. It is a search-bycategory, found on most sites on the left-hand side of the page. On Amazon, for example, click Amazon Kindle>Kindle eBooks on the left column. Within that left column, scroll down the ebook categories

BAYSTATEPARENT 42 43

How to

SURVIVE

the Holiday With Your Bickering Extended Family

BY JOAN GOODCHILD

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house can bring a host of worries and anxiety for some families.

For most of us, the holiday season means presents to buy, cards to address, goodies to bake, parties to plan or attend, and family gatherings to look forward to each year.

While family time might be one of the biggest highlights of the month for some folks, for

others it can be a stress-filled, anxiety-laden experience.

Jennifer Spencer* of Dedham said her blood pressure begins to rise days before her family’s annual holiday gathering because she knows she will inevitably be in for some arguments within minutes of getting together.

“My mother usually starts in on my sister, who is married but has decided not to have children,”

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she said. “Once that is over, there is always some other kind of fight with one of Mom’s own siblings — my aunts and uncle — about taking care of their elderly mother. By the time the day is over, I am exhausted and emotionally spent.”

Spencer noted that she doesn’t avoid her mother throughout the year and actually enjoys spending time with her one-on-one or with her children. But when her family gathers in a group setting, the trouble begins.

“She is really a very pleasant person and a wonderful mom, but something about getting us all together on the holidays just seems to stir up a lot of negativity,” she said. “Sometimes I wish we could just cancel the large family get together and find something else to do.”

Dr. Karen Ruskin, a marriage and family therapist with a private mental health counseling practice in Sharon, has advice for those who face challenging holiday gettogethers.

First, remember this mental mantra: “What someone else says or does says everything about them and nothing about me. I know who and what I am.”

Next, she advised, avoid common triggers that you know will lead to angry words: “anything that is a hot topic for you or negative in commentary,” she said.

“For example, if it is a hot topic for you that you don't have children yet, and your mother-in-law asks when are you having children, you are going to feel triggered,” she noted.

“To avoid conflict, decide in advance that when you are invited to play ball, you are going to choose not to play. Just because someone hits the ball to your side of the court does not mean you have to hit it back.

Remember: you cannot control what another says or does, what you can control is how your respond.”

Linnea Maselli, a therapist in practice at Shrewsbury Counseling and Mediation, advises avoidance if you think you might get drawn into social family drama.

“If it is a large gathering, you can try your best to spend time socializing with other family members at the event to try and avoid any confrontation with ‘the’ member who you fear may stir the pot,” she said.

Your next step: consider your own limits. How long can you stand to stay? Ruskin believes 2.5 to 3 hours of get-together time max is the best bet for families prone to arguing and drama. Any longer than that and people have a hard time holding themselves together, she added.

Ruskin’s other recommendation is sobriety.

“Stay sober,” she said. “People think alcohol relaxes them, but what it does in families prone to drama is

make it easier to engage, because the brain controls one's speech less, and one is more open to engage and attack when feeling attacked.”

And for those like Spencer, who feels her health start to deteriorate under the anticipation of unpleasant encounters, is there ever a time when it is OK to say no to the family party?

“Yes!” Maselli said. “There is nothing wrong with creating new traditions either because you'd prefer to take a different approach to celebrating the holiday with your nuclear family, or because you're feeling as though the large family gathering has lost sight of what is supposed to be celebrated or if it is negative or confrontational in tone.

“Perhaps you'd rather stay home on Christmas Day with your children and allow them to play with their new gifts in their pajamas vs. packing everyone up and heading to a family member's house for a large gathering that is bound to end up in bickering, kids fighting, and adults getting into confrontations.

That's OK. Offer to schedule a small gathering with some family on a different day around the holiday.

This way you are still making time to celebrate with the people you love, but you're also creating new, positive traditions for yourself at the same time.” * Name changed upon request.

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Wearable Technology for Kids and Families:

The Future Is Starting Now

From child-tracking smart watches to a dress shirt designed with NASA technology, here’s what wearable tech is in your future.

BY JOAN GOODCHILD

If

your kids are anything like mine, they spend some time almost daily with their face planted in a device or watching a screen. And if you parent at all like I do, you probably spend quite a fair share of minutes debating just how good it is for them to be so involved with technology.

Tech analysts say: Get used to it.

Technology is now not just a part of life, it is how life runs. And wearable technology — technology that is on your body and can do anything from chart your activity level to make a phone call for you — is the newest wave of this revolution.

Every day, new products are being introduced to the wearables market, targeting everyone from the urban professional to the suburban mom.

For example, there’s FiLIP 2, a watch that serves as both a smartphone and a child locator for parents. The watch, which was recently released, allows a child to make phone calls to five pre-programmed numbers.

And parents can quickly find their child with a location beacon feature, according to the company.

46 DECEMBER2014 47

“Wearable technology for kids gives parents a little more peace of mind,” said company founder Sten Kirkba. “Not only will it allow parents and kids to stay in touch, but it also gives kids the incentive to stay active and discover new places with their newfound independence, like walk to a friend’s house by themselves or spend more time outdoors exploring.”

While the market is expanding all the time, the technology most synonymous with the term “wearable” to date is Google Glass – an optical head-mounted display that offers many of the functionalities of a smartphone. Wearing Google Glass offers users a myriad of features, such as taking pictures, dictating texts, getting directions, receiving real-time weather alerts and more.

Burc Oral, owner of Dev Atman Technologies, an information and technology services consultancy in Melrose, is the organizer of a regular Massachusetts meetup of Google Glass enthusiasts seeking to learn more about harnessing the potential of the tool and developing new ways to use it. Oral said Google has set

the foundation for wearables, and the industry is just getting off the ground.

“Google Glass turns on and off with head gestures, takes pictures with a wink,” he said. “Gesture control is the next step.”

Oral thinks products like Myo, an armband produced by Canadian company Thalmic Labs that allows users to control just about anything with gestures, will optimize the smart glass experience. He’s also excited about a wearable called e-textiles, which is intelligent clothing designed with technology that make the clothing useful for certain situations or that is made to wear with technological components in mind.

Boston company Ministry of Supply is also banking on e-textiles as the wave of the fashion future.

Gihan Amarasiriwardena, CEO and cofounder, said his executive team started together in the labs at MIT before branching out into an independent firm. Their product is a line of clothing that is more than just fashion and it isn’t just designed – it’s technology engineered to fit

specific criteria.

“We’ve seen changes in lifestyle in recent years and people no longer look at their professional life as 9 to 5,” he noted. “They constantly go between activities that are personal and professional. We want people to think about clothing as something that no is longer holding you back as you transition between these things.”

One of their products, the Apollo dress shirt, includes technology called Phase Change Materials, which is the tech used in NASA’s space suits. PCMs absorb heat away from skin when the wearer is overheated, then releases the heat when cold, making the New England commute from warm house, to cold walk to the T stop, to hot, crowded subway, to chilly walk into the building much more comfortable, he said.

“Our design takes into consideration how your skin stretches,” Amarasiriwardena added.

“We look at thermal body imaging and pressure mapping to really try to have deep understanding of the mechanics of the body.”

Photo courtesy SunSprite

Photo courtesy FiLIP 2 and SunSprite

Another Massachusetts-based company, SunSprite, has designed a small, wearable device that measures sunlight intake, which is crucial for mental health and well-being. Many health care professionals, including the two Harvard Medical School doctors that founded the firm, point to a lack of sunlight exposure as a chief factor for depression, said SunSprite CEO Ed Likovich.

“Middle-aged women are the highest at risk for depression,” he said. “And in children, getting the right amount of bright light has been linked with lower rates of ADHD and better eyesight.”

Likovich believes wearable tech has the potential to change many facets of our lives in the future and he’s excited about the potential.

“In our case specifically we had a great opportunity to improve people’s health,” he said. “People are going to become empowered to control their health much better with wearable technology because they are going to have access to track things that they previously couldn’t track.”

But this technological progress isn’t without some caveats, according to Google Glass enthusiast Oral.

As with all technology, there are privacy and security implications to consider. While it’s still too early to know for sure, Oral is concerned that tracking health and vitals may

open us up to scrutiny from certain parties.

“Personal data, especially health and fitness data, is out in the open,” he said. “It will be interesting when the insurers get the activity levels of their customers and adjust premiums and impose penalties for being a couch potato!”

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Celebrate the Season

Dec

with

3 The Fresh Beat Band Greatest Hits Live Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Something for Everyone

5 Boston Pops Holiday Concert Friday, December 5, 2014 Generously sponsored by The Hanover Insurance Group Foundation, Inc.

7 Diane Kelley presents Holiday Spectacular 2014

Dec

Sunday, December 7, 2014

17 WGBH presents A Christmas Celtic Sojourn with Brian O’Donovan

5

Diane Kelley presents

Wednesday, December 17, 2014 Generously sponsored by United Bank

Holiday Spectacular 2014

19 A Christmas Carol December 19 - December 28, 2014 Generously sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Bay State Savings Bank CHECK OUT THESE SPECIAL PERFORMANCES Talk-Back with cast members after the 12/26 performance.

Home Town Heroes Night for the 12/27 evening performance, where the 50% student discount extends to all public service, first responders, and military personnel.

Enhanced Audio Description for the visually impaired generously provided by Audio Journal during the 12/27 evening and 12/28 matinee performances.

Dec

Jan 11 Million Dollar Quartet

7

January 9 - January 11, 2015

16 Sesame Street Live: Make a New Friend January 16 - January 18, 2015

Feb 4 The Australian Bee Gees Show: A Multimedia Tribute Concert

Dec

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

5 50 Shades! The Musical Parody

17

Thursday, February 5, 2015

7 Live And Let Die: A Symphonic Tribute to Paul McCartney and The Beatles Saturday, February 7, 2015

13 Flashdance: The Musical February 13 - February 15, 2015 Generously sponsored by UniBank

25 Peter and the Wolf along with Hansel and Gretel: Classic Tales Told Through Music and Dance Wednesday, February 25, 2015

28 Wild Kratts Live!

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Dec

19-28

For packages, performances, and tickets visit

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48 DECEMBER2014 49

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Please carefully consider the Plan’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. For this and other information on any 529 college savings plan managed by Fidelity, contact Fidelity for a free Fact Kit, or view one online.

Read it carefully before you invest or send money.

MEFA is a not-for-profit self-financing state authority that works to make higher education more accessible and affordable for students and families in Massachusetts through community education programs, college savings plans, and low-cost financing options.

The U.Fund® College Investing Plan is offered by MEFA and managed by Fidelity Investments. If you or the designated beneficiary is not a Massachusetts resident, you may want to consider, before investing, whether your state or the beneficiary’s home state offers its residents a plan with alternate state tax advantages or other benefits.

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Photo courtesy Mason Marino

WOMEN’S HEALTH

Moms, Engineers, Experts Meet at MIT to Build a Better Breast Pump

BY AMANDA ROBERGE

N

ursing mothers everywhere can agree on one thing: Breast pumps suck. And not in a good way.

Sure, you will find a few women who have the time and energy to clean all the parts, whose bodies respond willingly to the sensation, and who don’t mind the mechanical sounds that emanate from the traditional electric breast pump — an apparatus, incidentally, that has seen only minor updates in the halfcentury since its creation.

Why hasn’t anyone taken a look at how to improve the almighty

breast pump, particularly given the shift in our culture in which an increasing number of moms return to the workforce — early in their babies’ lives to boot — and where it is widely acknowledged and agreed upon that “Breast Is Best”?

Here is a piece of phenomenal news for you: A new day is dawning on the breast pump front.

This past September, more than 150 scientists, engineers, lactation consultants and average citizens with a passion for pumping met for the weekend at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for a Hackathon (that’s a hands-on

intensive think-tank, for those who have never heard of such a thing) devoted exclusively to “Making the Breast Pump Not Suck.”

“The issue of pumping is largely ignored by the health community,” said Alexis Hope, one of the Hackathon’s organizers. But another community – a community of mothers devoted to the benefits of breast milk – is all ears. After the Hackathon in September, a blog post on the MIT Media Lab website went viral and elicited responses from all over the country.

The weekend offered hackers, tinkerers and inventors a chance

to improve upon the archaic model that has been used well into the new millennium and offer a new kind of experience to pumping mothers, a few of whom were on hand to offer advice, criticism and plain old information about what it means to pump.

“Some people came in knowing exactly where they wanted to go with their ideas, and others evolved as they learned more about the process,” said Alexa Kahn, Press Liaison at the Media Lab. Hackers tinkered with old pumps and materials, consulted with volunteer experts and low-income

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working moms, and came up with prototypes for what they hope will be the next generation of breast pumps.

“Nobody invested in this Hackathon had had a pleasant experience pumping,” explained Kristy Johnson, whose team Second Nature worked to create a pump that mimicked the tongue movements of a nursing baby.

Johnson, who has a background in physics and works by day as a research associate at Northeastern University and also as a science editor, experienced significant challenges in nursing her son and had to resort to exclusive pumping.

When she heard that a Hackathon would be held, nothing would stop her from attending. “[Designing a better breast pump] is something I have thought about again and again,” she explained. “I am passionate – like so many of us that day – about making the breast pumping experience better for women.”

While her team received accolades and acknowledgement for the work they did during the two-day event, she and one fellow team member have joined up with another team known as Helping Hands, which is actively pursuing the creation of a prototype for a hands-free nursing bra. They are currently exploring the idea of using vibrating discs

throughout the bra’s surface to stimulate milk flow, while the milk will be quietly and inconspicuously collected into a concealed container.

Helping Hands, as it turns out, is the team that had the idea with stronger legs. The current prototype is still very much in its developmental phase, and while team members have not lost a single ounce of the passion they felt during the Hackathon, the real-life challenges of invention and innovation have become increasingly clear.

The rhythmic hum of the electric

breast pump, she said, was not something that bothered everyone – it was an element of the highest concern for women who had to use part of their workday to pump and the noise made them conspicuous to co-workers. The real point was that this “natural” act became something so unnatural and robotic that it interfered with the actual point – the production of breast milk.

“Even in the best of circumstances, if you didn’t even have any problems, you still feel like a cow,” Johnson said. “It’s obtrusive.”

The only way to proceed in earnest would be to have one or two – or preferably more – people devoted to the project full-time, she said, with a funding source as the base.

“We have so many people who want to see this happen as much as we do,” she said. “Getting that working prototype is a challenge – and we’re up for it. The response from the Hackathon has shown us how many people care about what we’re doing.”

For the latest news on the Helping Hands prototype, visit helpinghandsbra.wordpress.com.

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HELP,

I Have a TWEEN!

Your Guide to Raising

9 to 12-Year-Olds

BY KATHY SLOAN

Just when you think you have this parenting thing down, your onceagreeable, pleasant 10-year-old suddenly starts having tantrums, mood swings, and an attitude that leaves your head spinning. When you seek out advice from other parents you’re told, “Just wait, it gets worse,” which is not at all helpful. I spoke with Dr. Danielle Wahba, a Licensed Psychologist at Family Works PAS, LLC in West Boylston, to help demystify those unpredictable years known as the tweens.

What is a Tween?

Children between the ages of 9 and 12, known as tweens, are caught between being too old for toys and too young for all things teen. Their bodies are beginning to change and hormones are starting to surge. At school, they’re experiencing increased expectations of independent functioning, 52 DECEMBER2014 53

while socially they’re facing new pressures and insecurities. The need to fit in becomes intense as the child begins to become self-aware and starts to notice differences, or maybe even experience feelings of being less than. The tween years are also when friends become the biggest influence in the child’s life.

Appearances, fitting in, and acting cool are extremely important to all tweens, which can sometimes upset the status quo at home.

“Everything that you’ve done up until this age is terrific,” Wahba advises parents. “Now, throw those skills out the window and begin to adapt to a different parenting philosophy.”

The tween years — and beyond — are about helping children become independent and ready for the world by the age of 18, which, Wahba says, means that parents must slide over to the passenger seat while their kids take the wheel.

Backtalk You ask your tween to put her shoes away and she stomps through the house yelling, “Why do I have to do everything!” Then she stomps all the way back to her room, slamming the door shut.

“Don’t ‘take the bait;’ try to ignore some of the sass and backtalk if your child is actually being compliant,” Wahba says. A little sassiness is to be expected and you shouldn’t read into it too much. However, you can let your child know that you don’t like being disrespected and open the dialogue about empathy and about treating others the way you want to be treated.

If a child is being defiant and non-complainant, remember that parents still hold leverage: rides, money and access to privileges.

However, if you feel things are out of control, a therapist can help

facilitate communication and help a child develop her voice with her parents.

Self-loathing Hearing your child say that they think they are ugly or dumb can be shocking. Not to mention how frustrating it is when the clothes you just purchased are suddenly uncool and your tween refuses to wear them. You might think that your child is being bullied or teased, but the fact is that tweens are their own worst critics, just like you. They are feeling pressure from all areas (school, social media, society) to look and act certain ways, and they are figuring out where they fit in.

“This is a time of tremendous insecurity, and your child needs reassurance and validation above all else,” Wahba notes. Reassure, but don’t force it. Sometimes no matter how much you tell her she looks good

in that dress she’s just not feeling it, and that’s OK. As our children grow up, we can’t always make everything better and that’s the hardest thing.

However, both parents should reinforce the positives to help a child build confidence.

Oh, those mood swings!

Happy one minute, crying the next, laughing again, and then yelling in rage. Parents often struggle with being treated disrespectfully one minute and the next the tween is asking for something. Living with a tween can be an emotional rollercoaster leaving parents frustrated. You can’t spend the next few years ignoring the behavior, but don’t take mood swings personally and definitely don’t overreact.

During these years, your tween will question you, have opinions about what they want to do or not do, and will be embarrassed by their entire family. Even though your tween’s reactions may be exaggerated and sometimes hurtful, your child is only doing what is developmentally normal, which is beginning to think for themselves and trying to find their own center and point of view.

Help your child develop her voice by teaching her how to be assertive and how to stick up for themselves without putting others down. Wahba says the key for parents is not to be too permissive or authoritarian, and don’t unwittingly reinforce passiveaggressive behavior.

She advises that parents avoid getting into power struggles with their child. All of us, including tweens, just want to be heard. We want to know that our thoughts and feelings matter. If your child is reacting — or overreacting — to something, let them.

“Less talking and more listening can go a long way,” Wahba says.

Independence Your son decides he wants to quit baseball or your daughter suddenly wants to be a vegetarian. Maybe your

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tween just wants to spend all of her time in her room, alone. We think we know what’s best for our children, but as your child grows they will need to learn to make decisions despite what we want. Allowing your tween some control of their own lives and giving responsibilities will empower them and give them the confidence they need to make good decisions in the future.

“Choose your battles. Be willing to negotiate and listen above all else,” Wahba says. Focus on your child’s strengths and tell them often what they are. Let your child discover who she is and who she wants to be.

Then help your child decide what the next steps should be rather than dictate who you want or need him to be.

Taking small steps towards independence will go a long way in establishing a great relationship with your tween. Let them stay home alone while you pick up your other child at practice. Or allow them to earn money by doing chores or helping with the family pet. Decide what choices you are comfortable with them making, discuss those with your child and be supportive.

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Coach Hat The tween years aren’t just a period of adjustment for your child. The role of parent is changing during this time, too. In order to make the transition smooth for everyone, your parenting job description will need to evolve from autocrat to coach, guiding your child to make good decisions. After all, you want them to become independent thinkers and responsible adults.

Remember, though, that even good kids will do bad things. Your job will be there to help them through it, not judge them when they do.

For those who want to read up on the subject, Wahba recommends Get Out of My Life, But First Could You Drive Me & Cheryl to the Mall: A Parent’s Guide to the New Teenager

by Dr. Anthony Wolf.

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Holiday Shopping Extravaganza

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Saturday, December 6

On-Site Holiday Photos by Autumn Edwards

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BAYSTATEPARENT 52 53

r

t

e fa

Game Night:

Age-Defying Family Fun

BY MELISSA SHAW, STEVEN KING PHOTOGRAPHY

As

children get older, it’s common for them to want two things: space and independence. Many activities they used to enjoy with their families — especially their parents — may no longer hold the same appeal.

Except one.

“Gaming is something they want to do with me,” says Boston-area author and father of teens Joshua Glenn. “No matter how old kids get there’s a lot of things they don’t want to do with you anymore, or you can’t keep up with them, but Family Game Night is something they want to do.”

Family gaming is a pastime that defies the too-cool rule, which makes it a perfect way to pass

54 DECEMBER2014 55

dark winter nights, as well as bridge a gap and strengthen a bond between parents and children from preschool through college and beyond.

And Glenn should know, given he co-authored the recently released Unbored Games: Serious Fun For Everyone, a compendium of indoor and outdoor, online and offline games.

“When we were kids in the ’70s, there were a lot of family activity books, things everybody could do together,” he said. “That idea is kinda going away, at least in the world of books. All the books [today] were either parenting guides or they were kids-only activities, like ‘adults not invited’ activity books for kids. It’s a weird

divide that’s happened in the culture between parents and kids.”

And since there was no book in existence covering gaming ways for parents and children to have fun together, Glenn and co-author Elizabeth Foy Larsen had an idea: “Let’s make one.”

He cited the Dangerous Book for Boys/Daring Book for Girls phenomenon of the past few years, a wave that landed several copies in his home and Larsen’s.

“All the grandparents were buying the books,” he noted. “And those books tapped into that fear that parents and grandparents have — that kids are very screen-oriented and they’re not allowed to go out and do fun things, roam around and explore the world on their

own. What we didn’t like about the Dangerous books is they’re strictly nostalgic, very backwardlooking and fearful of the present; there’s no mention of screens or apps or iPhones. That was a big part of their appeal, especially to grandparents.”

But there was one problem: “Our own kids weren’t that interested in them,” Glenn said. “They wanted to do some of the things in them, but it wasn’t a lifestyle they could really do.”

He felt the need for a gaming compendium that reflected the reality of today, as well as one that was inclusive of parents, kids, technology and all genders.

“We don’t want to be hypocrites, we let our kids have some screen

"There’s no reason we have to play a game together, we just want to be together. And that’s the way of us telling each other we love each other as a family, and that’s really neat." time and play with fun apps,” he said. “We’re not anti-screen. We wanted to do a book for everybody that was about screen as well as screen-free activities: indoors and outdoors, online and offline, trying to really bring kids and parents together in the current world we live in, not in a magical fantasy world of the past.”

That desire led to Unbored Games, which covers indoor games, parlor games, outdoor games, card and dice games, games you have to construct yourself, board games, reviews of video games and apps, interviews with tabletop game developers and more.

Glenn enjoyed the research, especially discovering how new generations of children continue to modify classic games with new rules and challenges.

“I loved finding new versions of Hide and Go Seek and Hopscotch that had been hacked with new rules,” he said. “Kids still play them but there’s these new versions that nobody has written down yet, classic games [that] are still out there for kids, and kid culture does it own thing and has invented its own way of doing it since I was a kid.”

Gaming is a continual evolution of creative thinking generation after generation, allowing classic games on the playground or at the dining room table to thrive.

“When you’re paying money for Community Chest, [the practice that] you should throw it all in the middle and whoever lands on Free Parking should get that money — that’s not an official rule of Monopoly, but people have hacked the rule to do that because

it’s more fun,” he noted. “You learn the rules so you can have fun, but you can modify them. Every kids feels comfortable as they play on the playground modifying the rules to make things more fair or more interesting, more challenging or new.”

One of Glenn’s favorite discoveries in researching the book was the card game Anomia, which itself was a new take on a folk card game called Store.

“It’s so addictively fun,” said Glenn, who interviewed Anomia’s developer for the book. “People

laugh hysterically when they play it.”

And the title is also a favorite game for Glenn to play with his sons.

“There’s a lot of things, like tag, I can’t play with them anymore because they’re big and huge and strong,” he said. “There’s all kinds of activities they don’t want to do anymore, but because games are so sophisticated these days after the big board game revolution in the past 15 to 20 years, they’re still crazy about games. It’s not hard to get them to play.”

Regardless of the game you play

or the age of the players, the core of Family Game Night is timeless.

“It’s something we don’t have to do,” Glenn noted. “It’s not an errand, it’s not a chore, it’s not an obligation. There’s no reason we have to play a game together, we just want to be together. And that’s the way of us telling each other we love each other as a family, and that’s really neat. There’s not that many ways you can do that anymore once you get past a certain age.”

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BAYSTATEPARENT 54 55

Family Favorite Gamewright Turns 20 Two decades of Slamwiches, Scrambled States, Stories (From Rory) and More

BY MELISSA SHAW, www.JGrayCreative.com

“The moment I saw the iPad was the first time I literally shook in my boots.”

So recalls Jason Schneider, and with good reason: He’s the Director of Product Development at Newtonbased Gamewright. In a time when all-things-digital have enjoyed a rocket ride of unprecedented success and adoption, you might think a company that makes board, dice, party and card games for preschoolers to adults would be left in the dust. If that’s the case, well, you never played Slamwich. Or Rory’s Story Cubes, Rat-a-Tat Cat, or any of the 50 other games the company has produced since 1994.

“It’s a great accomplishment not only for a company to hit 20 years but for a game company,” Schneider says.

“The toy business is so incredibly competitive and the success rate is so small that I think it’s a great feat that we made it this far. We are eternally grateful to families who have discovered our games and shared them with other families because our success hinges on families playing a Gamewright game, having a great time and sharing it with another family.”

The company was founded in 1994 by two sets of parents who wanted better games for their children. They began with a catalog of two: Slamwich and Eagle Kingdom.

Slamwich went on to become the company’s top-selling game with more than 1 million copies sold; a 20th anniversary, jumbo-sized 56 DECEMBER2014 57

edition, Super Slamwich, was released this year.

“At the time the idea of a card game costing $10 was considered pretty radical,” Schneider says. “Its success is largely due to the fact that families really enjoyed playing the game and spread the word. At the time, 20 years ago, having a game that was a card game was really unusual. There were really very few other card games doing what it did. And today the market is glutted with card games for families, but at the time it was pretty revolutionary that we created this simple variation on a slapping game.”

With its colorful graphics, nontraditional packaging and word of mouth, the company went on to produce more card, dice and boardgame hits well-known among families and gaming fans throughout the country: from preschool titles like Hiss and Feed the Kitty, to games for older children through adults, including Rat-A-Tat Cat, Scrambled States of America, Sleeping Queens, Rory’s Story Cubes, Forbidden Island and dozens more. It has received more than 150 awards from gaming organizations, parent councils, Mensa and others.

While Gamewright games span the age range from 3 to adult, Schneider says all titles share the same concept: “It all hinges back to this sense of creating a great game that will bring a family together.”

And rather than viewing the rise of digital apps as a death sentence for

tabletop gaming companies, he sees it from another angle.

“I take it as a challenge to make games that are even stronger or better, that will give people a reason to put down their device and turn off their screen to play one of our games,” he says. “In 20 years we’ve yet to create a game that requires batteries, a plug or a screen because we so value this idea of families spending time with each other.”

Along with word of mouth, Schneider attributes Gamewright’s success to its relatively low price point, making it a year-round purchase and a popular go-to gift for parents with children on the never-ending birthday party invite circuit.

“We’ve also put out a breadth of games where we can grow with a family,” he adds. “They discover our games with preschool games like Hiss or Feed the Kitty, and then they can move up to a different-level game that requires strategic thinking, like Rat-a-Tat Cat or strategic hand-eye coordination like Slamwich, or games that sometimes even require some sense of arithmetic

like Frog Juice. The fact we’ve been able to scale and grow with a family is part of our success.”

Schneider left a career in children’s programming at WGBH and Sesame Workshop to join Gamewright nearly 15 years ago.

“One of my takeaways from [Sesame] was ‘kids learn the best when they’re learning with their parents.’ I find that’s really key to a lot of the games I find and make,” he says. “When a parent is sitting down at a table with their child the last thing I want [adults] to have to do is ‘cheat to lose’ to get the game over with. There’s gotta be some sort of caloric intake for them, too, it’s not just empty.”

He says it’s the sheer fun of the games – even those labeled for young children – that keep gamers of all ages playing hand after hand.

“To say Rat-a-Tat Cat is just a kids’ game is to miss the core of what’s there,” he notes. “I will break out Rata-Tat Cat, which is ages 6+, and play that with my adult friends at a game night. Rat-a-Tat Cat is a really fun game, thematically maybe it skews

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younger, but there’s enough in there.”

While many of its titles are developed in-house, some of its most popular releases have been those created in partnership with creative minds outside the company, such as Sleeping Queens, a card game that was invented by a 6-year-old girl.

“I looked at the email the mom sent in and read through the rules and a couple things just kinda grabbed me from the get-go,” Schneider says, noting the game will be celebrating its 10th anniversary next year. “For a game to make it past three years is a miracle. To make it to 10, it means time after time people are buying this game after the buzz has worn off.”

The company, which releases 8 to 10 new titles a year, has a “quiet opendoor policy” for amateur developers.

He won’t solicit ideas, but Schneider says he will review those sent: “You never know when you’re going to find the next Sleeping Queens.”

But Schneider knew he did just that — and more — the moment he came across Rory’s Story Cubes, a storytelling dice game even

young children can play, which was developed by a creativity expert in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

“I first met Rory through social media, he posted something on our Facebook page,” Schneider says. “The moment he landed a set of Rory’s Story Cubes in my office, I started playing it and thought, ‘This is brilliant.’ From the moment I met that product it had me at hello. I said, ‘This is gonna be huge’ and it was huge.”

Released in 2010, Rory’s Story Cubes was the No. 1 selling toy — not just game, but toy — on Amazon that Christmas.

“It was one of those magical moments you won’t forget,” Schneider says.

“Those are the moments that give me faith that we’re doing the right thing to promote family play, family interaction. That’s what drives me every day — ways to continually bring families together, bring people to spend more time with each other.

We’re a better humanity when we talk with each other, when we collaborate, when we interact.”

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SELF-TALK:

Parents’ Secret Weapon to Combat Anxiety

BY MELISSA SHAW Usually, a snappy child is just a snappy child, but sometimes that behavior can set off an unconscious downward spiral in a parent’s head.

My child is fresh. He has no manners. I am a terrible parent.

Why can’t I do anything right?

“We get this running commentary that goes on and it’s self-defeating,”

says Beverly Flaxington, behavioral expert, Massachusetts mother of three and author of Self-Talk for a Calmer You. “Oftentimes it’s depleting our emotional energy, our physical energy, our mental energy, and we don’t even realize we’re doing it.”

This negative self-talk can run in a person’s mind without ever being noticed, started perhaps

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decades earlier with comments or criticisms from childhood or by holding oneself to an unrealistic standard in the present day. The ongoing self-criticism is so stark, Flaxington says she often hears the following from clients: “The things I say to myself I would never voice to another human being.”

“Especially with parents, there’s so much going on outside of us: the kids have demands, our spouse may have demands, our mother and mother-in-law, or schools.

There’s so many things that are going on outside of us that we often lose sight of the conversations that are actually going on inside of our heads,” she notes.

The result can be an unrelenting commentary that flares when anxiety is high, exactly the time when a person needs the most energy and confidence — in everyday life or busy times such as the holidays. Combating this unconscious energy drain is, in theory, as simple as catching oneself in the act and reframing those negative thoughts.

“The fascinating thing about this is if you can just catch yourself a couple times during the day, stop and see this in action, you start to get some energy back,” says Flaxington, who lives in Walpole with her husband and children ages 18, 15 and 11. “If you could even do it once or twice, it does make that difference. The other 99 times you might not catch it, but that’s OK because you start to be more aware of it.”

When feeling down on oneself, she advises looking at negative thoughts in a clinical, neutral way.

“It really is storytelling, it’s not about pretending everything is great,” she notes.

For example, if your child — toddler to teen — is throwing a fit,

Flaxington recommends viewing the situation through a clinic eye.

Instead of getting down on yourself for the issue at hand, think: “You know what? The truth is parenting isn’t the easiest job and sometimes it is tough to make the right choices, but I’m a smart person.

I’m gonna figure it out and I’m gonna do my best in this moment,” Flaxington says.

“If you can just catch yourself there is a shift that takes place that is so powerful,” she adds. “An hour later, might you be back to beating up on yourself? Yes, you might. But if you can just start to get those glimpses, you do then start to develop a new habit. It does get easier. [Self-talk] is just about getting back to some neutral point so we have the strength that we need to deal with everything.”

Flaxington says curbing negative self-talk provides a mental and emotional boost in the moment, one that also provides a sharper focus to assess the situation at hand.

“My teenager is mouthing off. I may immediately think, This child is rude. I am a terrible parent. I’ve done everything wrong. My reaction is probably going to be yelling at this child, speaking sharply,” she notes. “[Self-talk] gives me the chance to say, ‘What do I really want to do in this moment?’

“It’s very hard for us to take care of others if we aren’t taking care of ourselves,” she adds. “This is something you can do for yourself right there in the moment, several times throughout the day, that gives you that clarity of focus, the energy to be able to deal with the things that are coming your way.

The ability to be the caretaker can only go as long as you are taking care of yourself.”

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Families Discover Food, Friends and More at Western Mass Winter Farmers’ Markets

BY JESSICA DAY, PHOTOS BY DARRY MADDEN

The hills of Western Mass might be dusted with snow and the ground may be frozen, but at winter farmers’ markets from county to county, there are vibrant pockets of green to be found all year round.

Yes, you might be able to find similar produce at a traditional grocery store, but would there also be music, activities for your kids, and a lively sense of community? What about locally raised lamb, goat, beef, and chicken? Or wool rugs and blankets, handmade soap, paintings, and jewelry? And when Old Man Winter finally does begin to loosen his grip, vegetable starts and flowering branches will help to remind you that spring really is “just around the corner.”

In Franklin County, the first 64 DECEMBER2014 65

Greenfield Winter Market was held in 2008. A community-based volunteer group pulled the event together, and although it was a one-time event that year, three additional dates were soon added, causing the towns of Northampton and Amherst in neighboring Hampshire County to sit up and take notice.

“The Greenfield Winter Market was something of a test for local farmers to see if it was economically viable to come up with storage systems for vegetables and also invest in systems for things like growing greens during the winter months,” explains Claire Morenon, who coordinates several programs for the nonprofit CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture).

Two years later, both Amherst and

Northampton opened weekly winter markets — from December through March in Amherst, and November through April in Northampton.

“Farmers took the plunge,” says Morenon, “and the winter markets have become really good at offering the ‘whole package,’ with workshops and entertainment, and a huge variety of local offerings!”

Tamsin Flanders, market manager in Amherst, ticks off a mouth-watering — and at times somewhat exotic — list of items for sale: bread, baked goods, apples and apple cider, fruit preserves, kimchee, sauerkrauts, Turkish cuisine, fresh greens, popcorn, cheese, mushrooms and more.

“We now host around 30 vendors every week,” she says. “Both the

number of vendors and customers has grown tremendously.”

The Amherst market also features a number of tables set up in the midst of the action, where customers can take a break from shopping, listen to some music, and simply “hang out.”

Last year, Flanders says, one woman invited all her friends to the market to celebrate her birthday: “It was where she wanted to be!”

Four-hundred-fifty-acre Sunrise Farms is perched high in the hills of Colrain and Heath, and that’s where you’re most likely to find Rocky and Marilyn Lively; it takes a lot of time and dedication to raise grass-fed beef and produce delicious maple products. The farm has been in the Lively family for more than 100 years, but farmers’ markets are a more

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“The winter markets make a big difference to us as vendors,” Marilyn Lively says. “We wouldn’t see our customers during the winter months otherwise. I also think people look forward to them as a social event.

Some people spend the whole day almost… It’s winter, so it gives people a chance to be together indoors; it gives their kids a chance to get out, too!”

The variety offered at winter markets is almost as varied as the farmers themselves: Caroline Pam and Tim Wilcox planted their farm in 2006 on one acre of rented land in Hadley. Today, The Kitchen Garden occupies 20 acres in Sunderland, and in addition to root veggies, their market offerings include fresh greens throughout the coldest months of the year.

“It’s pretty impressive,” Morenon says.

“Farmers face different challenges in the winter — things you wouldn’t necessarily think of — such as washing and transporting greens after they’re harvested when the temperature is below freezing.”

When the Pioneer Valley was first settled, eating “locally” and “in season” wasn’t a choice, it was a fact of life; farmers grew what they needed to carry their families through the winter months — hardy root vegetables such as carrots and potatoes, turnips and parsnips — were staples in the early American diet. Today, it’s possible to buy everything from asparagus to oranges at grocery stores throughout the winter months, but as consumers have become more aware of the cost of such luxury (both environmentally and economically), many people are turning back the clock.

“Winter markets are an outlet for high-quality food,” Morenon says.

“They really support those interested in eating seasonally, and (when the summer markets end) they became the next logical step in providing

year-round access to local foods.”

CISA and the winter markets in Amherst, Northampton, and Greenfield have also made a conscious effort to make the goods they sell available to all members of their local communities: SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits are accepted at all winter markets, and during the month of March the Amherst market matches up to $5 per EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) swipe.

In Greenfield, the funds collected from the winter market’s Soup Cafe have gone to the SNAP doubling program, which matches benefits dollar for dollar at the Greenfield market.

“Providing access for as many people as possible is important on a personal level to many farmers,” Morenon says.

Last winter the markets buzzed with activity: Shoppers selected their purchases to the lively background music of a hammer dulcimer in Amherst; some children were learning about butterflies, while others explored fiber arts thanks to the local Waldorf school; recipes were exchanged, and chutney was sampled.

“There is a festiveness about it that is completely enticing,” says Lisa Gaimari, Greenfield resident, parent, and winter market attendee.

“I would tell someone who has never been to a winter market that it is a great way to meet some people from the community, get some fresh veggies, and roast those roots all winter long! We New Englanders need these pockets of social activity — especially in the winter months when it’s too easy to throw a blanket across our laps and spend the day huddled up in the house. Get out there — it’s fun!”

For more information on winter markets, including locations, dates, and hours, visit buylocalfood.org or buylocalfood.org/farmguide.

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Pioneer Valley Museums Offer Free Fun, Creative Thinking for Families, Youth

BY JESSICA DAY

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ll right, fellow Western Mass residents, here’s a pop quiz: What do Marie Antoinette and a woolly mammoth have in common? And no, the answer has nothing to do with large amounts of hair. Give up? They’re both currently in the Pioneer Valley.

To clarify, “Marie Antoinette” is actually an 18th century hand-

colored print of the infamous queen, and it’s a woolly mammoth skeleton, as opposed to the entire creature, but, both can indeed be found nearby — one at the Smith College Museum of Art and the other at Amherst College’s Beneski Museum of Natural History. When it comes to a treasure trove of art and artifacts, they’re just the tip of the iceberg.

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old dark by 4 p.m. in December, but Smith College’s Museum of Art is bright, warm, and filled with families.

Kids and adults are grouped around tables, examining the supplies in front of them, and figuring out what they might like to make. Concentration is punctuated by laughter, and there is no pressure here — it’s a Free Second Friday.

“Free Second Fridays are a time

for multi-generational art making; adults and kids might have different skills, but we can all learn to look closely and then create art based on our observations,” says Gina Hall, Associate Educator for School and Family Programs at the museum.

So every second Friday of the month, the museum stays open until 8 p.m., admission is free, there are snacks for all (also free!), and creativity reigns.

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about 80% of its bones are original.

Amherst College students have been participating in field expeditions almost since the college was founded, Venne explains, as he stands in front of a case that houses the 25 million-yearold bones of Pyrotherium sorondoi, a sort of elephant-like creature, which was discovered during an expedition in 1911.

The Beneski offers family and school “field guides” with age-appropriate language about the museum’s collection. “We gear them toward different grade levels,” Venne says.

“It’s all the same collection, but we’re very aware of the spiraling of curriculum, which is to say that a student will hit the same topic in his or her studies maybe three or four times in elementary school, high school, and college, but each time the level of conversation spirals upward.”

At the Museum of Art, Gina Hall mentioned the importance of “visual thinking strategies”; at the Beneski, Venne explains the importance of “divergent thinking” — a thought process used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions or outcomes. When younger children visit the museum, he has them talk about the colors, textures, patterns, and shapes they see in the slabs of the ichnology (the study of tracks and traces) collection, for example, before they even begin to talk about what could have made those marks. Through observational activities, even the Beneski’s youngest visitors can begin to understand “ichnology.”

Rich in history, rich in educational resources, the Pioneer Valley offers teachers, parents, and their children many opportunities for learning outside of the classroom. Fred Venne describes a project called “Postcards From the Past,” in which students used artifacts in the Beneski as primary resources to design “postcards” and write messages as though they were there when dinosaurs roamed the valley and first left their mark on muddy shores.

Both Venne and Hall point out that teachers from local communities utilize their museums for workshops and professional development in addition to leading students on field trips. “It’s about arts integration,” Hall says, “and connecting art to math and science curriculums; it’s interdisciplinary and not just for art teachers, but for those who teach history, science, and literature, too.

Everyone can find connections at our museums.”

For more information on family and school activities, programs, hours, and directions to the Smith College Museum of Art, the Beneski Museum of Natural History, and additional college and university museums in the Pioneer Valley, go to museums10.org, smith.edu/artmuseum, and amherst. edu/museums/naturalhistory.

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Families are encouraged to stay for as much or as little of the evening as they want; making art is usually followed by “Open Eyes” — an informal, guided conversation about an object in the museum’s collection. Smith’s Second Fridays also coincide with the town of Northampton’s Arts Night Out — also a monthly event that highlights creativity and community.

“Second Fridays are an opportunity for kids and their families to make something with their hands and to build a connection to the artist by that process or through what they observe,” Hall notes. “For example, the artist Tara Donovan, whose work is currently on exhibit (through Jan. 4), creates her art from everyday objects. We echoed her process at a recent Second Friday by offering simple objects to create with — straws, toothpicks, adding machine tape, and buttons.”

If the art supplies are sometimes ordinary, the art in the museum’s galleries is anything but. This past September, after a summer filled with construction, the museum reopened completely redesigned, and reinstalled second- and third-floor galleries. The unveiling happened on a Second Friday.

“The museum is a great bridge between the college and the community,” Hall says. “What we’re offering is not your ‘old-school’ museum experience. We’re trying to teach kids that there are multiple ways of looking at art; we’re trying to encourage visual thinking strategies with the idea that the visitors give meaning to the art — there’s great energy and we want the museum to be a point of connection for local schools and families. We’ve worked to create a welcoming environment and to meet families and kids where they’re at.”

Travel a few miles east from Smith on Route 9, and you’ll be at Amherst College. There you’ll find Fred Venne, Museum Education Curator for the Beneski Museum of Natural History.

It’s not a long drive (or leap) from art to science. About 25,000 people visit the Beneski every year, and 10,000 of those visitors are local elementary and high school students.

The museum always offers free admission, and Venne and his student guides welcome the opportunity to encourage “looking with open eyes.”

“We try to help kids ask the right questions when they visit,” Venne says. “We don’t expect them to have the right answer; we don’t expect them to say, ‘Oh, that’s a dinosaur print;’ we want them to just look at first.”

It would be hard to miss the towering exhibit just inside the museum’s front door: a massive skeleton, of a woolly mammoth complete with curving tusks, stands proudly alongside an Irish elk (also huge!). The mammoth was unearthed in Florida in 1925, and

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Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, and more • • • • •

Mom/Dad & Me School Age Home School Adoptive Families Tutoring for School Subjects also Available: Science, Math, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and more

Private Kindergarten Nursery-Preschool Day care services Summer program Drop-off services Before & After School Full and half days Extended days Open all year 6:30 am to 5:30 pm

$20 OFF

Visit our website for more info

www.GlobalConnectForum.com

508-466-8274 276 West Main Street, 11B, Northborough, MA 01532

Now Enrolling-Toddlers 15 Mos-2.9 yrs old

www.magictouchpreschool.com

The Budget Coach thebudgetcoach@aol.com TheBudgetCoachHelp.com Tax Preparation & Budget Planning Professional help for your personal finances Over 20 years experience managing budgets!

Celebrating 30 years!

• Live In-Out Nanny Care • Experienced Nannies only • CPR Certified • Respite Care for Special Needs • Part-time/Temp Care

originalnanny.com Judy Flynn: 508-723-4912

at Kathy Corrigan’s School of Gymnastics

USA Gymastics Skill Development Program For All Ages

★ Competitive USA Teams ★ USA Safety Certified Coaches ★ Gym Tot Fitness For Ages 3 & 4 ★ Birthday Parties ★ New Drop In ($7.00) Mom & Me For Toddlers

FORMER OLYMPIC 406 VFW Drive, Rockland 781-878-9155 GYMNAST www.kathycorrigans.com

Fun & Challenging

First Learning Experience

Mary Ellen Regele, Head Coach It’s time to meet with the Coach!

508-792-9087

ch for the Stars Rea

OWNER

Children’s Foreign language Programs

MAGIC TOUCH Nursery • Pre-School • Kindergarten

for 3, 4, & 5 year olds

ool

esch r P e c a r G azing

Am

Also Offering offering Vacation open Programs gyms

Year ‘Round Pre-K Program

• Full and Half Day programs available • Pre-Care and After-Care available • Low student/teacher ratio • Bible-based curriculum • Phonics, Math, Reading, Music, Art, Spanish & Sign Language!

• Experienced teachers with degrees in Education • Kindergarten to 12th Grade enrollment available

1000 Oak Hill Ave., Attleboro, MA (508) 431-8159 or (508) 222-8675 director: Lorraine Bailey

Stardust Gym offers a variety of children’s activities including: Gymnastics, Cheerleading & Toddler Classes (up to age 12) Visit us online for more information.

www.theamazinggracepreschool.org www.gracebaptistchristianacademy.org

612 Plymouth St., Rte. 106 ★ East Bridgewater 508-378-2223 ★ www.STARDUSTGYM.com

To Advertise Contact Regina Stillings at regina@baystateparent.com

www.baystateparent.com BAYSTATEPARENT 68 69

our december favorites fa sunday

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The amusement parks are closed but it’s still coaster season with the Hyperspeed Hangtime Roller Coaster Building Set from K’NEX. The set, aged for the 9+ child, features 624 pieces and 18 feet of twisting track. Want to win this cool prize, which retails for $69.99? Head to baystateparent.com today for details.

wednesday

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The little red guy is back, this year as My Peek-A-Boo Elmo. Elmo plays peek-a-boo and says 15 fun phrases to keep youngsters engaged.

For a chance to bring him home, visit baystateparent.com today.

14 {Fact} 14 According to Reader’s Digest, mall Santas make about $10,000 a season (October–December), most working around 40 ten-hour days and listening to 30,000 children.

tuesday

31{Fact}

“Auld Lang Syne” was popularized by bandleader Guy Lombardo.

The song was a fixture in his dance band’s set list. He played it at midnight at a New Year’s Eve party at New York City’s Roosevelt Hotel in 1929, and the tradition was born.

Riders can carve, drift, spin 360 degrees, and now, pop wheelies like never before — forwards and even sideways with the $149.99 Y Fliker LIFT from Yvolution! Using the same motions as downhill skiing, riders only need to move their hips and legs from side to side to get going and keep moving.

Enter today to win this amazing scooter at baystateparent.com.

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friday

44 {WIN} 5 The weather outside is frightful, so stay inside and enjoy unlimited movies or TV shows in your home with this $30 gift card to Netflix!

Start enjoying the popular streaming service or, if you’re already a subscriber, apply it to your existing account.

Learn how you can win at baystateparent.com today.

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{Tip}

To keep your Christmas tree from drying out, run a room humidifier near it.

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saturday

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With baby comes a host of gear and essentials that are easily lost. The Baby Combo Pack from Mabel’s Labels is an assortment specially created for new parents: from waterproof labels for baby bottles, toys and gear, to name tags for diaper bags or strollers and more. To win a personalized Baby Combo Pack, visit baystateparent.com today and find out how you can enter to win.

The iconic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” TV special turns 50 this month! In the original airing, Rudolph, Hermey and Yukon Cornelius promise to visit the Island of Misfit Toys and bring them back, but never do. After the show aired, Rankin-Bass received so many letters from angry children demanding the toys be helped, they shot a new scene and added it to all subsequent broadcasts starting in 1965.

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{WIN}

Your home will be safer than ever guarded by these guys. Enter to win a pack of four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys from Playmates – two 11-inch Interactive Talking Turtles and two Stretch N Shout figures. For a chance to win, head to baystateparent.com today.

Starting on the date the prize appears, log on to www.baystateparent.com to enter for your chance to win.

BAYSTATEPARENT 70 71

We are not just a sign company . . .

rs e m o t s Are cu g your findin online? ss e n i s u b Reach the RIGHT Customers at the RIGHT Time!

Consumers spend over 30% of their media-viewing time on the Internet. (Emarketer 2013) Online Display advertising helps place your business in front of consumers by zip code, audience and interest to ensure you get the most bang for your buck.

KNOW what people are saying about your business ONLINE!

Call for more information about how we can help your business.

545 SW Cutoff • Worcester MA 508-459-9731 • SignaramaWorcester.com

80% of Internet users visit social media sites and other blogs (Nielson Social Media Report: Q3 2011) Manage your social media from one interface with guidance, if needed, and engage with existing and new customers.

If you’re NOT online, you’re MISSING OUT!

proudly presents

89% of consumers expect ALL businesses to have a website, regardless of their size. (1&1 Internet, Inc.) Website design that works on any device: desktop, tablet and mobile, so no matter how consumers are going online your business looks great!

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Even if you don’t sell products online, you need a strong digital presence to compete in today’s market!

Call Today For a FREE Assessment of Your Digital Presence!

508-865-7070, ext. 450

Partnered with

Directed by Barbara Weihrauch

December 5-7 Fridays & Saturdays 8 pm • Sundays 2 pm

Proposals February 6 - 22

GRANDVIEW PLAYHOUSE 21 Grandview St., Worcester

www.wcloc.org 72 DECEMBER2014 73

• 508-753-4383

INDEX Ballet Arts Worcester Inc...................................19 Bancroft School ..............................................75 Bay State Skating School .................................42 Big Y Foods, Inc. ............................................12 Candy Shoppe ................................................17 Casa Vallarta ..................................................18 Children’s Development Network, Inc ...................7 Citi Performing Arts Center ...............................36 City of Worcester..............................................28 Clinton Savings Bank.........................................2 Cornerstone Academy.........................................3 Country Montessori..........................................66 Curves of Holden.............................................25 Ecotarium.......................................................11 Edaville USA ................................................... 4 Fay School......................................................63 Fidelity Investments.........................................49 FMC Ice Sports.................................................31 Great Wolf New England ................................. 30 Growing Room of Berlin.....................................67 The Hanover Theatre........................................48 Harrington Oil.................................................45 Heywood Hospital............................................51 Hop On In , Inc...............................................26 Justice Resource Institute....................................28 Kiddie Academy of Burlington.............................58 Lanni Orchards................................................17 Legoland Discovery Center Boston......................71 Little V Designs................................................61 Mall At Whitney Field .................................... 27 Marini Farm....................................................14 Millbury Craft Fair............................................53 Millbury Federal Credit Union............................19

Music Together Corporation...............................62 New England Music Academy.............................60 Next Generation Children’s Center.........................5 Nichols College................................................19 Pakachoag Community Music............................51 Parenting Solutions..........................................45 Playtown Express............................................65 PR Running.....................................................47 Providence Children’s Museum...........................29 Puckihuddle Preschool......................................60 Roots Natural Foods Inc ...................................14 SALMON Health & Retirement...........................50 Seven Hills Charter School.................................66 Shrewsbury Children’s Center............................73 Shrewsbury Montessori School...........................55 Signarama Worcester.......................................72 Smuggler’s Notch Resort...................................35 Sunday River Resort.........................................53 The Learning Zone...........................................31 Tower Hill Botanic Garden.................................22 Tri State Speedway...........................................29 Trombetta’s Farm............................................44 Turn 4 Hobbies..................................................9 UMass Memorial Medical Center .............25,61,76 Unitarian Church of Worc..................................67 Wachusett Mountain........................................33 Wee Care for Little People, Inc...........................65 Wheelock College Theatre.................................73 Worcester Art Museum................................21,47 Worcester County Light Opera Club.....................72 Worcester Music Academy...................................9 Worcester Sharks.............................................58 YMCA Central Branch.......................................57

Holiday Fun For Kids of All Ages!

Celebrating Over 30 Years of Caring Now Enrolling

Preschool and Toddler Programs!

Infant (from 12 wks) • Toddler • Preschool Pre-Kindergarten • Full Day Kindergarten

Conveniently located in Shrewsbury 138 North Quinsigamond Ave. • 508-755-3922

Visit us at www.shrewsburychildren.com

Happy

Holidays

Sign up today for Christmas vacation week classes beginning Dec 29, 2014 - Jan 2, 2015

A Season You Can’t Miss!

PINOCCHIO

Jan. 30-Feb. 22, 2015

The Taste of Sunrise March 13-22, 2015

SHREK the MUSICAL April 17-May 24, 2015

Wheelock Family Theatre’s Family FUNdraiser The classic MGM film on the big screen!

The Wizard of Oz A family event that is more than just a movie • Costumed Characters • Interactive Games • Surprise Performances!

Professional, Affordable Theatre for Every Member of the Family!

200 The Riverway, Boston Box Office: 617-879-2300 tickets@wheelock.edu

from all of us at

baystateparent

Shawna Shenette Photography

Friday December 26 & Saturday December 27 • 1:00pm

www.WheelockFamilyTheatre.org BAYSTATEPARENT 72 73

take eight

with Jeff Kinney

Jeff Kinney is a busy man: writing and designing online games for the kids’ virtual world of Poptropica; building and opening a new bookstore/coffee shop/cultural space in Plainville, where he lives with his wife and two sons; and, oh yeah, last month releasing a ninth book, “The Long Haul”, in his best-selling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series/phenomenon.

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What inspired “The Long Haul?” I really wanted to get The Heffleys out of their home environment. I think every creative endeavor needs to be shaken up from time to time, and it seemed like a good move to get The Heffley family — and Greg especially — out of their comfort zone.

“The Heffleys” sounds a lot like “The Kinneys.”

What similarities are there between the families? They have the DNA of my childhood in them. The stories aren’t exactly true or on the nose, but there’s enough truth in there that my family members will be able to recognize most of the stories. Greg is really an exaggerated version of my worst parts as a kid. And there’s a relationship between the other characters and my family members.

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Your sons are 11 and 9. What is their reaction to the success of the series? Do they get it and are they wondering, “Am I gonna wind up in a book?”I don’t think that the Wimpy Kid stuff really intrudes on their lives too much. I try to keep it out of their lives; generally speaking, I don’t have really any Wimpy Kid books or paraphernalia inside the house. I keep it all in my office. It’s not in their faces on a day-to-day basis.

I haven’t drawn that much from their real lives, I’d say maybe three or four jokes over the lifespan of the books so far. I thought I’d be drawing from their experiences a lot more than I do.

Head to baystateparent.com for more questions and answers with Kinney!

74 DECEMBER2014 75

If someone came to you in 2004 and said, “In 10 years your ninth book is coming out,” not to mention the movies and everything else, what would your reaction have been? I would have been really shocked to hear that there were nine books. I remember when we were talking about making it into three books and that felt like a reach to me. When I think about it, the first draft of the book online was about 1,300 pages. That right there is the equivalent of almost seven books.

My ambition is to keep the quality as high as it can be without making it feel like I’m just pumping it out or it’s a cash grab.

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Is the 10th book underway? Yes, I think I have about three jokes of the 350 I need to write. It’s underway, but in lowercase letters [laughs].

Kids’ screen time is a big issue for parents. You’re very successful in both worlds as a best-selling author and as a writer and online game designer for Poptropica.

How do you balance screen time with your kids? Figuring out the screen time conundrum is one of the biggest challenges for today’s parents and I think it will continue to be. It used to be a kid would sit down in front of the television or play a video game at the television and it was just this one station. Now, if you kick the kids off the TV they’ll pick up an iPad, and if you kick ’em off the iPad they’ll go to something smaller like a phone. It’s a real challenge.

We try to limit the amount of screen time; we try to keep it to a reasonable time limit. But of course there’s always the haggling, the negotiating and the pleading for more. It’s really an everyday problem and I’m not sure we’ve got it cracked yet.

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You executive produced the Wimpy Kid movies.

What was that experience like? The role of executive producer can cover a lot of different things.

I was pretty heavily involved, at least for an author. I worked with the writers on developing the screenplays, and I was involved with casting. I got to be on the set of the movies for about half of each shoot and worked a lot on marketing and post production. It was certainly a new experience for me and something that was very edifying, and now I’m hoping that if there’s a Wimpy Kid reboot I get to do the screenwriting as well. It’s a lot of fun for me: I live in this small town called Plainville and I get to make movies in Hollywood. It’s a good life.

Are there talks of a reboot? We’ve been talking about making a new film. We’re definitely interested in starting it back up. Of course if we did we would have to have new kids and it would be a whole new round and a different creative approach, and I’m excited about that possibility.

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STORYTIME WEDNESDAYS Come read with us!

DEC. 3 • 10 • 17 9:00–10:00 AM

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• Free

and open to the public • Ages 3–4 • Stories, snacks, activities

“ My kids are disappointed on Saturdays because there’s no school.”

Bancroft parent

Lower, Middle, & Upper Schools

110 Shore Drive Worcester, MA 01605 508.854.9227 www.bancroftschool.org

Bancroft provides a cohesive, consistent learning environment where it’s cool to be smart and successful, and students encourage each other to try their best in all that they do. When it comes to our familial, caring atmosphere, we’re truly in a league of our own.

BAYSTATEPARENT 74 75

great Looking for a doctor for your child?

Call 855-UMASS-MD From well child visits to sports physicals to disease management, our UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center and community pediatricians can help.

You’ll find highly trained and skilled doctors close to home in Worcester and surrounding communities, including Uxbridge, Spencer, Webster and more.

www.umassmemorial.org/greatdoctor

76 DECEMBER2014