Monday, September 26, 2011
Kathy Zucker takes her kids to the Arts & Music Festival every spring and fall. They enjoy checking out the artwork, handicrafts and toddler rides.
It's been a packed toddler festival season in Hoboken. Starting with the OLG Funfest in June, Hoboken has a myriad of kid-friendly outdoor activities throughout the summer. The Fun & Fit Day, Movies under the Stars and the Italian Festival are just a few of the ways to while away a warm summer afternoon. The fall Arts & Music Festival marks the end of the true festival season. Sure, we still have the Ragamuffin Day Parade to look forward to, but I can't get a sausage and pepper sandwich there. Instead, I dodge stiltwalkers and battle crowds of teenagers on Washington Street for the endless supply of Tootsie Rolls handed out by local store owners. My husband and I enact a parent tax of Reeses Pieces from our kids' treat bags; they are too …
40.739993
-74.030105
Capital One Bank
301 Washington St, Hoboken, NJ
Toddler Zone at Arts & Music Festival
/articles/hoboken-arts-music-festival-where-families-singles-come-together
52018
/locations/5451230
Friday, September 9, 2011
Kathy Zucker and her husband watched the World Trade Center attacks from Manhattan and Brooklyn. They are raising their children in Hoboken because they feel safer here.
On September 11, 2001, my husband and I were a childless married couple living on the twentieth floor of a landmark building in Brooklyn Heights, in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge. I got a phone call from my husband moments after the first plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center, back when everyone thought it was a small commuter plane that had a terrible accident. I was working from home that day, so I turned on the TV in the background. And then the second plane hit the south tower and I knew it had to be a terrorist attack. I rushed across the hall to my neighbor's apartment and watched in terror while the towers burned and then collapsed like the foundations were made of matchsticks. Within an hour, I evacuated to a …
Monday, September 5, 2011
Kathy Zucker's three year old is starting preschool next week. She spent the summer preparing him for the big change from home to school.
Last May, I made a panicky phone call to my son's preschool asking what would happen if he was not potty-trained in September. They told me it was okay to have accidents but that I would have to be honest with them about his training level. I said, "I am. He's not trained at all." Something clicked this summer and in the space of one weekend, my son was potty trained. I wish I could say I had some special trick, but all that happened was I took his diaper off and let him run around naked. He freaked out and clutched himself when he had the urge to go but made it to the potty every time. Having a toddler going commando all summer freaked out many a guest to my house, but hey, it was effective even during the hurricane. We gradually worked …
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Kathy Zucker discovered that the Jersey Shore has everything from public beaches to full-service luxury hotels equipped with private beaches; all an hour from Hoboken.
Last week, the kids and I strolled on boardwalks in balmy sea air, examined jellyfish stranded by the waves, collected seashells and rocks for collages, and dug endless sandcastles. All under the shade of enormous palm trees. Where were we? Less than an hour from Hoboken at the Jersey Shore. I have lived in the NYC area for my entire life, but I was stunned to discover that the Jersey Shore has everything from public beaches teeming with boardwalk stalls and and crab shacks all the way to a high-end luxury hotel where our every need was taken care of before we even anticipated it. Our week began with a business trip to Ocean Place in Long Branch, NJ. With huge palm trees and valets materializing to unload our car the instant we parked, the…
40.30565
-73.98089
1 Ocean Blvd, Long Branch, NJ
Ocean Place Resort & Spa
/articles/taking-the-kids-to-the-tropics-an-hour-from-hoboken
/locations/5112757
Friday, July 22, 2011
Kathy Zucker's toddlers have gradually been getting used to the water in several Hoboken pools over the last few years. Their first swim lessons this summer have had unexpected results.
Over the last three years, my husband and I have been gradually introducing our children to the water. We enrolled our daughter in a swim class at Stevens when she was eighteen months old, which was an abject failure; she spent the entire time clinging in terror to her dad and crying about the water being too cold. Discouraged, we put swim lessons on the back burner until the kids were older. When we moved to our current apartment in South West Hoboken, the first thing that jumped out at me about the location was its proximity to the Sky Club Fitness pool. At ages three and one, maybe it was time to reintroduce our kids to the water. After my experience with baby no. 1, I didn't bother with swim lessons. Instead, I took the kids to weekly …
40.74082
-74.04246
2nd St & Marshall St, Hoboken, NJ
Sky Club Fitness pool
/articles/a-hoboken-toddler-pool-love-story
/locations/4910808
Friday, June 17, 2011
With her kids out of school for the summer, Kathy Zucker has been looking for new activities to keep them busy.
Raising kids in Hoboken just got a lot better. We have visited Pier C park three times since it officially opened over Memorial Day weekend, and I can unequivocally say it was worth the long wait. There have been some amazing playgrounds opening up recently in NYC like Imagination Playground; Pier C is on par with the best of them. Also? It is geared toward older children; just in time for those of us whose kids were starting to outgrow the playground equipment in Hoboken's existing parks. The playground equipment is seriously challenging. As a former elite national athlete, even I was taken aback by how advanced it is. From the vertical toeholds up a steep shaft that represent the only way to reach the top of the incredibly tall slide …
40.73949
-74.02704
3rd St & Sinatra Dr, Hoboken, NJ
Pier C Park
/articles/sun-sand-water-at-pier-c-park-in-hoboken
/locations/4630372
Friday, June 10, 2011
Kathy Zucker stumbled upon the OLG Funfest four years ago. She and her family make a point of going every year since it is such a fun day for the kids.
Hoboken summers are magical for toddlers. From free carnivals and outdoor Pixar movies to Art in the Park, there are a slew of inexpensive toddler activities taking place from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Each year, my toddlers know summer fun is getting underway when we attend the OLG Funfest in Church Square Park. The weather tends to be a bit cool and windy so I pack windbreakers and leggings to chase away the chills. We stock up on carnival tickets at 10 for $13 and then follow our battle plan for the day to pack in maximum fun. With a tiger paint job (two tickets) on my four and a half year old daughter's face, we had our war paint in place to brave the long lines & crowds around popular activities. The pony ride is hands-down our …
40.74157
-74.03148
Church Square Park
Garden St & 4th St, Hoboken, NJ
/articles/kickoff-to-toddler-festival-season-in-hoboken
153048
/locations/4566302
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Kathy Zucker and her family spent the afternoon half an hour from Hoboken at Adventurers Amusement Park.
I took a trip down memory lane today at Adventurers Amusement Park, located in Brooklyn one stop on the Belt Parkway after the Verazzano Bridge. The many delightful rides are visible from the highway, starting from motorcycles, boats and real flying helicopters all the way up to a toddler roller coaster. Most rides are geared toward kids between 36 and 54 inches tall, which is perfect for my two children, ages two and four. Formerly known as Nellie Bly Amusement Park, the park has been a rite of passage for Brooklynites for decades and is like a miniature slice of Coney Island, complete with cotton candy, hot dog stands, funnel cakes and freshly squeezed lemonade. I went there many times as a child and am happy to see that it remains true …
40.59157
-73.994749
1824 Shore Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY
Adventurers Amusement Park
/articles/toddler-day-trip-to-adventurers-amusement-park
/locations/4519664
Friday, May 20, 2011
Kathy Zucker is making a list of all the things she needs to consider when choosing child care for three children.
Having a third child means hiring full-time child care for the first time in my life. The last time I contemplated the logistics and costs of hiring full-time care, it caused one of the greatest existential crises of my life. I wound up abandoning a 10-year corporate career and staying home because that was the best solution for our family. I have learned several things from my experiences with my two older children: Now let's look at the pros and cons of my three child care options: No two ways about it, having a third child in Hoboken is going to be expensive and complicated. To read more about what makes Kathy Zucker tick, check out her blog at http://momcondoliving.com/ and follow her at http://twitter.com/kathyzucker
40.74051
-74.04065
2nd St & Jackson St, Hoboken, NJ
/articles/deconstructing-child-care-for-three-in-hoboken-2
/locations/4379564
Monday, May 2, 2011
Kathy Zucker's older child is extremely socially perceptive; when she started asking questions about the Osama bin Laden news blitz, it required some careful parental handling.
Being a parent of young children is a lot like walking around wrapped in a thick woolly blanket. You can dimly see and hear things going on outside your household, but you are so exhausted from prolonged sleep deprivation and distracted by small people trying to climb your leg that it takes something really exceptional to make it through the parenting haze. With the royal wedding on Friday and the death of Osama bin Laden on Sunday, this past weekend has been a highly newsworthy one. My husband and I openly watch television in front of both our kids, although they are generally bored by "Mommy and Daddy TV." My older child especially will wail, "NObama, NObama" when her father turns on CNN. But, at almost five-years-old, she brings her own…
40.74051
-74.04065
2nd St & Jackson St, Hoboken, NJ
/articles/how-to-explain-osamas-death-to-your-kids
/locations/4199736
PAMELA
10:33 am on Monday, September 26, 2011
I too was checking out that cool painted furniture like your daughter is in the photo -- and I'm 40! :>) I wanted the chair she is standing next to in fact! more ›