March 2013 - The Culture Mom

30Mar

A Meaningful Passover (w/a Bit of Girl Power)

This year Passover took a whole new meaning in my house. For one thing, it's the first time my children have ever kept the holiday's strict dietary rules. In prior years, I felt they were too young for me to change their dietary habits and I couldn't get them to eat enough Passover food to keep them going. This year I decided that at ages 8 and 9, they could survive a week without bread, pasta and rice. For another thing, going to Hebrew School twice a year seems to be paying off. This is the first time they were genuinely excited to sit down at the Read More

28Mar

Ditch the Mom Jeans and Get Ready to Get Your Cool Back!

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Join the first Culture Mom Media Twitter Party to talk about taking the cool back with Tracy Beckerman, author of the new book LOST IN SUBURBIA, A Memoir this Tuesday night, April 2nd, from 9-10pm EST! "When you're a mom, you get a 'Get Out of Fat Jail Free' card for as long as you have young kids. Whenever you feel fat, you can tell someone you still haven't lost 'the baby weight,' and they will nod in understanding. It's like the Sisterhood of the Traveling Fat Pants. We all wear Fat Pants, otherwise known as Mom Jeans, after the baby is born Read More

26Mar

Review: Cirque du Soleil TOTEM

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This post was written by guest writer, Brian Fink. Cirque du Soleil has arrived to Citi Field, marking TOTEM’s 18th tour stop since its April 2010 World Premiere. In over two years and a half, more than 2 million people across Canada, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States have been mesmerized by the TOTEM experience that The San Francisco Chronicle described as “whimsically seductive and the most enjoyable show to come along from Cirque du Soleil in quite awhile”, and The Toronto Star proclaimed as “spectacular, artful. Read More

26Mar

When it’s Worth the Wait

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This past weekend I attended a wedding of an old friend of mine. She’s 42. It’s funny how any age over 40 is considered “old” these days. Personally, I don’t understand that but I have to accept that I, too, am over the hill. Sigh. However, I refuse to believe that it is downhill from here, because it is most certainly not. About three years ago, two very different things happened to my friend at the same time. She suffered a terrible loss when her brother passed away very suddenly and quite tragically. They meant everything to each other. And then Read More

22Mar

Doing Motherhood Together

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As the Mommy Wars are heating up again for the umpteenth time this week with Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In movement, Marissa Mayer’s ridiculous telecommuniting policies and the NY Magazine article on the “retro feminist wife,” I know only one thing. I do not judge or blame Kelly Makino, the young woman profiled in this article as a complacent stay-at-home mom who is being compared to Phyllis Schlafly for setting the woman’s movement back. Schlafly is known for her opposition to modern feminism and for her campaign against the proposed Equal Rights Read More

19Mar

Stacy London, Help!

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The other day I was shopping with both of my kids at the Gap. This is not something I do often. Well, shopping is not something I do often. And shopping with both of them at the same time is something I do even less often. Ever since I ventured to Lord & Taylor when they were both toddlers and ran from rack to rack until they decided to camp out, disappearing behind the clothes. That kind of squelched my desire to shop with them at the same time. Fortunately, my daughter is very easy to shop for and I can easily pop into any shop that caters to Read More

17Mar

Giveaway: A (Tooth) Fairy Tale at the Vital Theatre Company in NYC

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The Vital Theatre Company is pleased to announce the return of past Vital favorite A (Tooth) Fairy Tale, opening March 16, 2013 at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre at 2162 Broadway at W 76th St. With a book by author Ben Winters (Uncle Pirate[musical]; The Last Policeman; Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters [novels]), music and lyrics by Rick Hip-Flores (My New York), and direction by Linda Ames Key, A (Tooth) Fairy Tale was hailed in its original Vital Theatre Company production in 2008 as "Written to amuse anyone from 4 to 12, the show is even a treat for Read More

15Mar

Will I “Lean In”?

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I have to admit that I've been mystified by all the criticism of Sheryl Sandberg new "Lean In" movement. Here we have a female who's making every attempt to help women rise up and succeed and there is a large group of women (and men) criticizing her for what she's trying to do. And why is that? She wants every little girl who people perceive as bossy to know they have leadership skills and potential. I certainly want my daughter to grow up feeling that way. I've been sitting on the sidelines watching the debate unfold online about her because she is Read More

13Mar

Review and Giveaway: The Croods

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Last week my son and I headed into the city during the week to catch a preview of The Croods, a 3D film about a a family who's cave is destroyed which sends them on a wild adventure to ensure the world doesn't come to an end. Little did I know before seeing the film that it had an important message or two, something I'm always glad about when seeing films with my kids: Never be afraid and two, tomorrow is a place where things are better. Films with a mission to educate its viewers, that's something I can really appreciate (even when it's not my Read More

11Mar

Everything Has Its Reason, Everything Has its Time

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Yesterday was the first rehearsal of the show I'm producing this spring, Listen to Your Mother NYC 2013. I've written about how life-changing and rewarding the LTYM experience has been for me. I've written about it again and again and again and again and again. This is my second production of the show. Sitting in a room full of nearly 20 successful, influential and creative people is such a thrill for me, particularly after working in Publishing/TV for the last 18 years which are very different lines of work. The funny thing is Read More