Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in new orleans, LA

Tough Stuff

by Kelly Leahy

May 04, 2009

Just about everything was easier before having kids. I only had my own welfare and psyche to look out for. Now I have three (four including my husband). Though I hope not to see the inside of a hospital again for a very long time or end up in family therapy for yelling at my kids around 5 pm every day, I am glad that there are resources in New Orleans to give families a hand.

It may seem like the city is chronically broken but the good news is that family services are doing pretty well. Here are some local references for when the going gets tough.

COUNSELING

• If your marriage needs some tweaking or you think that the entire family would benefit from some counseling, check out Family Service of Greater New Orleans (FSGNO). Funded in part by the United Way, FSGNO offers counseling  on a sliding scale to make the therapy less cost prohibitive.
• For children or adolescents with severe emotional or behavioral disorders, there is Milestones Mental Health Agency Uptown.

EMERGENCY and URGENT MEDICAL CARE

• As far as I'm concerned, the only place suited for emergency medical treatment for children in this city is Children's Hospital. I've visited the ER twice and had x-rays taken during a third visit. The staff is accommodating, the care is excellent and they exist solely to provide the best medical services for your kid.
• If you find yourself seeking a doctor after the pediatrician's office closes but the ailment doesn't warrant a trip to the ER, try New Orleans Urgent Care on Magazine Street.They have extended offices hours, don't require and appointment and can treat children from the age of 4 months and up.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

• If there's one thing that we know about here in New Orleans, it's emergency preparedness. Pick up a weather radio at Walgreens that will alert you to any tornado warnings or watches in your area.
• Ready America suggests making an emergency kit as well as a plan. Chances are you are well aware of this already.

OTHER HELPFUL NUMBERS & LINKS

National Domestic Violence Hotline .......... 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or TTY 1-800-787-3224

New Orleans Legal Assistance .......... (504) 529-1000

Child Protection Hotline .......... (504) 680-9000

Women, Infants & Children (WIC) .......... 1-800-251-BABY

 

 

 Read more...

Gearing Up for April Fools

by Kelly Leahy

March 31, 2009

I'm not sure when April Fools Day slipped off the radar for me. It was so much fun in grade school.  I guess that I'm generally not a big fan of pranks. However, this is probably the first year that my eldest might find tomorrow to be a bit humorous. So, in the spirit of the holiday, here are five preschool friendly pranks and activities that you may want to give a whirl.

1.  After the kids have gone to bed on April Fools Eve, make some noticeable changes to the house. Whether you rearrange the furniture or simply move the cups to a different shelf, your efforts will be rewarded by a befuddled babe.
2. When it comes to dressing for they day, have your child wear mismatched socks or their clothes on backwards.
3. Have fun making up silly sentences describing the wings on the car or the giraffe in the bathtub. End each phrase with "April Fools!"
4. Mix up your meals; pancakes for dinner and food coloring in the milk. Make a deceptive dish like this shepherd's pie disguised as desert.
5. Family Fun has a lot of great pranks -- the easiest of which is putting a rubber band around the sprayer on your kitchen sink to surprise the next person who turns on the water. Just don't spray yourself.

[via: Preschool Express]  Read more...

School Day: New Parent's Guide Released

by Kelly Leahy

March 23, 2009

The new 2009 New Orleans Parents' Guide produced by the New Orleans Parent Organizing Network has been released. This is your complete source for public schools in New Orleans. It not only tells you how to enroll your child but lists various statistics for each school. Whether you are looking for a school under the Recovery School District or New Orleans Public Schools this guide is enough to get you started.

This new edition did offer some encouragement. Though there are still plenty of charter schools with an unproven track record, there are more test scores and statistics about their students available this year compared to last year. There are also more preschool programs available than previous years.

 Read more...

Farewell 2008 -- 10 best posts of the year

by Kelly Leahy

December 30, 2008

Boy, what a year it's been. With my second child born towards the end of 2007, 2008 was about keeping my sanity, surviving the preschool application process for my eldest and treasuring every moment (even the mind numbing tantrums). The year culminated in a live television interview yesterday on ABC's Good Morning New Orleans . Since this year has been all about keeping my head above water, I  Read more...

(Belated) School Day: Childcare Options

by Kelly Leahy

December 04, 2008

We got a notice from Addy's preschool that there would be no classes for three and a half days last week. As I work from home and also care for a her one-year-old sister, this wasn't much of an upheaval. However, it got me thinking about what trouble it must be to schedule childcare around preschool closings. If you have relatives in the area who are willing to pitch in, you've got a quick  Read more...

New Years Resolutions for 2009

by Kelly Leahy

January 01, 2008

I think that having kept my children alive thus far makes me a pretty good parent but there are certainly ways that I can improve. Here are my list of resolutions for 2009. Survive the "Terrible Twos" with my second daughter with a lot less yelling than the first (on my part ... I can't expect as much from her). Allow Adelaide to help me garden even if it means losing an entire crop. Turn off  Read more...