Dan Zanes is one of our favorite also-awesome-for-adults kid's musicians. Nueva York! definitely gets the most play in my house, but across his spectrum of albums, Zanes and his collaborators are consistent with their energetic, multidimensional style across a range of cultural inspirations. I'm thrilled that Dan Zanes is coming to the Somerville Theatre February 5th (11am/3pm shows) and it's also fantastic that the kind folks at World Music/CRASHarts have offered me a pair of tickets to give away to one of you awesome readers. The show is sure to be a rockin' party; here's how to enter to win tickets:

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THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED
Congrats to winner Lauren!
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Rules*:

Simply e-mail contests@bostonmamas.com with "Dan Zanes" in the subject by noon EST, Tuesday, January 31, 2012.

Local entrants welcome.

One entry per person (please do not enter off multiple e-mail accounts).

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* One winner will receive two (2) tickets to the February 5, 2012 show at 3pm. The winner will be notified directly via e-mail, then listed back at this post using first name only. Good luck!

Today, Jennifer (also of Hey Girl Momma Go) shares some local spots to get your groove on:

This week's warmer temperatures aside, we've had some really cold days. The winter blues are lurking in the corners of our house for sure, but thanks to my 6 1/2 year old daughter's new microphone and my husband's old amp, we are doing a lot of rockin' out these days. We dance, we sing, we whip our hair around, we even have a disco ball. So it got me thinking about cool options for dance classes. Things have certainly evolved from the traditional ballet, tap, and jazz of my youth. Here are a few local options to help kids and adults stave off the winter doldrums.
1. I've heard some serious buzz about House of Dance in Sudbury. This uber cool and funky studio offers the best of both worlds -- fun classes for moms and kids. For mom, they offer heart pumping classes such as cardio hip hop, hip hop yoga (now this I will need to see for myself), and Zumba. They have easy pricing for the busy moms too -- 10-pack pricing or a drop-in per class rate. Kids' classes include everything from jazz/funk to break dancing to modern/contemporary.

2. DanceFit Studio in Brookline offers a whole spectrum of cool stuff. For moms they offer BalletFit and Cardio KickFit and even Bollywood workshops (how fun is that?) and for brand new mommas, DanceFit babies -- a workout class specifically designed so that moms can bring baby along for the ride. That sounds way more fun and much less lonely than walks with the stroller around the neighborhood!

3. In Cambridge, check out Dance Complex. It has a totally fun roster of classes including Kids Flamenco, Duncan Dance -- this class is said to "emphasize the relationship to each other and nature, respect, honor and grace. There is a focus on solitude and affiliation balanced through choreographic etudes and classical music." There's also a kid's Hip Hop Empowerment and an African dance class for parents and kids on Friday night.

Do you have other spots that you and/or your kids love getting their groove on? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Image credit: digitalart via FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I've read so much research on stress and optimism and half full and half empty. And I've written about it, too. 

Me on happy in 2009!

Focusing on what would make me feel better and not what is making me feel bad is helpful and obvious, and I wish I could get back all those years I didn't know how to do it. But if I hadn't had them, I wouldn't appreciate the difference now.

Me FOUR DAYS LATER in 2009!

And then some other annoying stuff happened at work, and then as I was hurrying home and stuck in traffic I remembered OH, YEAH, MY CAT DIED and we have to take the little angel in to have a 3.5-year-old tube yanked from her eardrum with no anesthesia in two weeks, so soon after she had her five-year shots in both arms and both legs and I had to hold her while she screamed, "No, Mommy, don't let her hurt me!" and then my head exploded and I called my parents.

One of my most humbling experiences as a writer is when people remember what I said before when I'm totally and completely contradicting myself, oh, say, less than a week later. Especially when I'm all "I am going to change for the better!" and then I totally don't, sometimes after a shockingly short period of trying.

But that was 2009. I've been really trying since 2009 to reframe things when I start feeling anxious. Note: This works better when I'm not either a) hungry b) tired or c) well, menstruating (it must be said). Like a toddler, I'm prone to hysteria when I'm tired, especially tired. People have been telling me my whole life the world looks better after a nap, and THEY ARE SO RIGHT!

Lately we've had a lot of unexpected costs pop up. And when I say "unexpected," I mean "of course things had to be fixed or replaced because we don't live in a vacuum or say on the moon, but I never want to have to pay to fix or replace it." I mean "I didn't expect to have to deal with both cars needing new brakes and the furnace motor burning out, like NOW." I understood intellectually that car brakes wear down the way I understand that light bulbs need to be changed, but when either thing conks out, my reaction is usually WTF HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO MEEEEEE?

I know, I know.

This weekend, I was at Petsmart with Simon the New Betta Fish's tank. The motor unexpectely went out just about a month after we bought it. And here, when I say "unexpectedly," I actually mean it. Grousing to myself, I took it back with no receipt and the guy ... just ... exchanged it. Just like that!

Then, when I was leaving, the Corolla wouldn't start. Then it started and it died. I finally got it going again and drove it home and told Beloved because he drives that thing all over the state of Missouri, and I could just picture that happening to him late at night on the side of I-70 or something. He took it in immediately, and my brain was thinking OH HELL WE STILL HAVEN'T REPLACED THE BRAKES ON THE TRUCK HOW MUCH IS THIS SHIT GOING TO COST?

And then Beloved came home and told me that the Corolla had been recalled for that very reason, and we just hadn't received the notice yet. And they ... just ... exchanged the parts.

Now! There have been lots and lots of unbudgeted (which is a better frame than unexpected, really) costs since November. But then, in two days, two problems got fixed for free. The aquarium was $20. The car -- oh, hell, who knows? Doesn't every part in a car start at $600?

This is a very long and rambly way of saying if I have not succeeded in turning my Debbie Downer inner child into Suzie Sunshine, at least I am still trying. See? Look at me go! Take that, anxiety disorder! Take that, adrenaline and cortisol!

She tells me most things while she's in the bathtub, the warm water up around her ears, bubbles surrounding her fingers. And she asks me things, too.

"Mommy, what was your favorite day?"

I smiled but paused. She looked worried, reconsidered.

"I mean, what were your TWO favorite days?"

"When I married Daddy and when you were born, of course."

"Were you so happy when I was born?"

"Yes. I'd been waiting a long time to meet you."

She curled her little toes against the rubber duck floating by the faucet and smiled. And I smiled, surprised by the lump suddenly in my throat.

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I'm glad she asks, because even though I tell her every day I love her, I forget to tell her that she is more important to me than any book, any accomplishment, any present. I very much need the chance to look her in the eye and tell her the day she was born was one of the two days in my entire life that will always float to the top of best moments, that she need never worry about the security of my love.

I hope you all enjoyed this lovely weekend! In my opinion it was the perfect amount of snow -- plenty to be pretty and fun to play in (Laurel frolicked outside for two hours with her cousins yesterday!) but not too arduous to shovel. Oh, and also, congrats to the Patriots! Now, here are some handy/fun ideas to consider in this week's Weekly Blueprint:

January 23: Come glean the best ideas for getting organized.

January 23-29: Bread and Puppet Theater brings a carrot circus to Boston.
January 24: An event for women looking to get back on the career track.

January 25: Pretty, pretty. An exploration of color.

January 27: A Chinese New Year celebration in Acton.

January 27: A different kind of Green Eggs & Ham.

January 27: The Wizard of Oz kicks off its run at Wheelock Family Theatre.

January 27-29: Enjoy Lincoln's winter carnival.

At your leisure: Nominate your favorite nonprofit to win a $1,000 charitable donation. So easy, so awesome.

At your leisure: Pick up some hand relief (Hydrolatum is totally working for us!).

At your leisure: Make something yummy. I just made a pan of magic spinach pie yesterday (see my recipe revision in the comments) and it was fantastic, as always. And so gratifying to watch the kids gobbling it too.

At your leisure: Chip away at organization. I love these ideas for using pocket organizers all over the house.

Image credit: Wheelock Family Theater

Because I'm all about reducing physical and emotional clutter in life (I'm even speaking about this topic at BlissDom next month), I'm thrilled to join Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks and Meagan Francis of The Happiest Mom to host a conversation on The Best Ideas For Getting Organized at The Motherhood. Join us tomorrow -- Monday the 23rd -- from 1-1:30 pm EST to chat about simplifying and streamlining your home, schedule, and life. No complicated technical know-how is required to participate in the chat -- it's basically like commenting in on status updates. You will need a logon at The Motherhood to participate, so hop on over and register now. You can also submit questions in advance if you like.
Image credit: Parent Hacks

Last year we opened a bank account for Laurel -- she's really proud of it. She saves up money to put in her account and is always game for rolling loose household change (we tell her if she's willing to roll it, she can deposit it into her account...she just deposited $21 in loose change this week, actually). And while normally I don't get excited about banking matters, I am really looking forward to ableBanking opening so we can transfer her savings. Normally I would not write about a bank opening, but stick with me -- helping out your favorite nonprofit is involved!
First, I want to disclose that ableBanking is a client of Women Online. In my advisory role on the project I am not obligated to post about ableBanking, but I love their model and want to share it. In a nutshell, as an online-only savings bank, ableBanking will save on overhead and thus be able to offer better rates and no fees for customers. But the big differentiator? They are foregoing fancy ads and redirecting their marketing budget to charity -- on behalf of their customers.

Once ableBanking is open, simply open an account ($250 minimum to open) and you then can designate $25 (a huge amount compared to other banks offering charitable percent donations) to any nonprofit you choose. Even better, ableBanking is committed to ongoing charitable giving and will donate one quarter of a percent of your balance every year to the charity of your choice.

As I said, I find this model totally awesome and it also offers a wonderful means to talk to kids about charitable giving. And most immediately, before the bank opens, ableBanking is engaging a charitable campaign. Simply nominate a beloved Massachusetts 501(c)3 non-profit by January 31, 2012 and the five most nominated nonprofits will each receive a $1,000 donation from ableBanking. This is a big sum for many struggling nonprofits and nominating takes about 5 seconds. So GO DO IT! Also, don't worry, nominating doesn't commit you to opening an account -- submitting your e-mail will add you to a distribution so they can let you know when the bank is open, but then you can choose at the time whether or not to take action.

Personally, I am rallying for Laurel's school PTO. Like many schools, they do so much and are so committed and are always in need of cash flow. I double checked with my friend Elise (who seems to know everything about anything related to the PTO!) that it is a 501(c)3 and was thrilled to receive confirmation. I'm going to try to rally all of my friends and their friends at the school to nominate.

And what about you? It takes only a few seconds to nominate your favorite nonprofit and then a few minutes more to rally friends and family via e-mail. While yes, of course I want to win $1,000 for our school PTO, I'm rooting for all of the nonprofits you all care about.

One technical note: For kids under 16 years of age, ableBanking accounts will need to be opened in an adult's name with the child listed as a beneficiary. Those 16 years and up can open a joint account where the teenager is the primary account holder. Either way offers excellent fodder to involve kids in charitable giving discussions!

Image credit: vintage Mexican piggy bank via Etsy

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you're gearing up for a wonderful weekend. Here are 12 picks that caught my eye:

1. Hail to The Monkey King! (Cambridge)

2. Hooray -- there's actually snow on the ground for this family snowshoe walk. (Mattapan)
3. I'm admittedly curious about how big the big red dog will be. (Boston)

4. A perfect pick for Elmo fans. (Worcester)

5. For those who are curious about creatures. (Arlington)

6. Magic! (Arlington)

7. Classic children's stories, puppet style. (Brookline)

8. Cinderella, apparently with a twist. (Brookline)

9. Geckos! (Boston)

10. A family friendly musical jamboree. (Cambridge)

11. A healthy family expo where you can jump to your heart's content. (Everett)

12. I am admittedly a little obsessed with penguins right now. This would be perfect. (Boston)

Image credit: Peabody Museum

Hi y'all -- I know, three posts in one day! But I want to send out this poll and it has to live somewhere, so here it is! I'm working on a post about electronics depreciation and would love to know how you think about gadgets and money. I myself am a wait-until-it-has-dropped-at-least-$100-and-then-try-to-buy-it-with-gift-cards stingy-ass person. How about you?

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/Poll/Embed/WEB22EGZ87C38S?e=tOnline Surveys - Zoomerang.com