Thursday, March 22, 2007

Dining Out with Little Kids

I have been to Elmo's about 400 times. Now, I love Elmo's, but there must be somewhere else to eat that's as kid friendly, right? And that isn't fast food. My children are adventurous eaters, so it's mostly the environment that we look for. Right now, the baby is 8 months old and the big one is three and a half, so they're both at phases that are good for public outings - the little one can't go anywhere and cheerios keep him happy for hours, and the big one can actually use manners occasionally.

(If you haven't been to Elmo's, both on Ninth Street in Durham and down in Carborro, you should go, and take the kids. It's sort of diner food, and extremely child friendly. If you are there before 10pm and there are no children in the place, something is weird. Get the chocolate chip pancake. Tell 'em my daughter sent you.)

Recommend your secret favorite place to take the kids in a comment.

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Occasional Babysitters

We've had a couple of conversations recently about where to find good, steady, occasional babysitters - evening and weekend stuff. Here are some ideas - feel free to add your own in comments!

Duke HR's Spring 2007 Babysitter and Elder Care guide is out: http://www.hr.duke.edu/child-family/bec.pdf

Place an ad in the Duke Chronicle: http://www.dukechronicle.com/media/paper884/template/ad2ad/
(easy! online! costs money, though.)

Place or answer an ad in the Duke Trading Post
http://tradingpost.dukenews.duke.edu/
(easy! online! free! Duke students/faculty/staff only.)

Advertize on your neighborhood, place of worship, or other association list-serv or newsletter looking for responsible teenagers or grannies looking for a child fix.

Join or start a Babysitting Co-op, where you trade care with another family or families (great for the budget!)

Other thoughts? Leave a comment!