My wife and I went to see “The Importance of Being Earnest” at Centerstage last Thursday. We stressed all week searching for a babysitter, then rushed like crazy to get to the theater on time. Brenda fell asleep at the beginning of the second act, and, by the 10 pm bows, I was struggling to stay awake too. We gave up on our pipe dreams of going out for a drink after the show and headed home.

And still, we had a great time. The show, which I’d never seen or read, was enormously entertaining. The principle actors were fantastic, and it was great to see our friends at the show. But, above all that, it was just nice to be out, dressed up, among adults. I don’t think Brenda and I have been to the theater (without puppets) since our son Jack was born over three years ago.

Hard as it may seem for us to remember, Brenda and I were once considerable patrons of the arts. She’s a published poet who was always going to readings and performances before we moved from New York last year. We have a lot of artist and photographer friends and would often go to their shows and gallery openings. We both love theater, music and film—there was a time when I had usually seen most of the movies playing at the Angelika, New York’s most prominent arthouse theater, a la the Charles. Now, I’ve rarely even heard of the movies there. Since having kids, we rarely have the time to explore as we once did. And as much as I love our children and the joy they’ve brought us, I occasionally miss the cultural exploration that was once such a big part of my life.

Most recently, I thought about this after a couple of Monday morning “how-was-your-weekend” conversations. First, I talked to my sister, who is unmarried, kid-less, and lives in Chicago. She talked about trying a great new restaurant, going gallery-hopping, and seeing a great show. I had a similar conversation with Max Weiss, Baltimore’s managing editor. She had been to D.C. to play cello with her sister, went to her favorite brunch spot there (Cafe Deluxe), and saw the Angelika-worthy Coco Before Chanel. My weekend was just as packed, but every activity seemed to involve face-painting.

Of course, most of the time, when I reflect on my life and where I am now, I’m struck by how lucky I am. I have found the love of my life in Brenda. And we have created two incredible little boys, who cause me to shake my head in awe almost every day—something I almost never did pre-kids, even with all that stimulating art.

And the more I think back on my culture-infused former life, the more I realize that I’ve idealized it quite a bit. Yes, I certainly did have a lot more cultural experiences, but I was also bored and lonely a lot of the time, wondering if I’d find true love and purpose in my life (too many arthouse films, perhaps.) Truth be told, once I met and fell in love with my wife, my culture quotient dropped precipitously, even before we had kids. All we wanted to do was hang with each other, talk, cook dinner and watch movies on DVD (we used to wear Netflix out, exchanging movies several times a week. Now, the same Netflix Wire DVD has been sitting on top of our TV for almost a year. I curse myself for not quitting Netflix every time I see it.) True, we don’t watch movies like we used to, but we still try to find time to hang out. And when we do, there’s no place I’d rather be.

It’s funny, in the middle of writing this post, I came across a recent New York Times blog item on a very similar topic, the inevitable comparisons we make with our peers and the consideration of paths not taken. As I began to read it, I worried that it would depress me, making me again think about the things that I miss about pre-family life. But, happily, I found it affirming. Despite all the drawbacks, I truly wouldn’t trade my current life for anything (though the writer’s observation that every parent reflexively says that—perhaps out of fear of their life’s inherent inflexibility—is funny and true).

And I dream of a time when Brenda and I will again take more full advantage of the cultural world that surrounds us. I mean, these people go to college at some point, right?

I think every parent in America—especially those of us with very young children—has been wrestling with the question of whether or not to get our kids vaccinated for the H1N1 virus. The virus—thankfully, no longer referred to as “swine flu,” in deference to piggies everywhere—has been responsible for the deaths of 10 people in the state of Maryland, including two young people with no previously known medical conditions.

It would seem like a no-brainer to have children—who are, along with pregnant women, the most vulnerable to the disease—vaccinated against it. But in the age of Internet-induced hysteria, there are claims that the vaccine is not safe, that it has not been tested, that it’s more dangerous than the disease itself.

For answers, I turned to my trusted pediatricians Dr. Ralph Brown and Nurse Practitioner Celia Bardoff, who have expertly guided my wife and I through past crises. Bardoff reassured me that, as I had heard in recent, reliable reports on NPR and elsewhere, that the H1N1 vaccine is as safe as a normal flu shot.

“We are recommending that people get the vaccine,” she says. “It was made the same way as the regular seasonal flu vaccine.”

Most private doctors’ offices, including Dr. Brown and Ms. Bardoff’s, have not yet received their requested doses of the vaccine, but should in the coming days. When they do get their requested doses, Dr. Brown and Ms. Bardoff will first administer them to patients with underlying conditions like asthma, congenital heart defects, and sickle cell anemia, and are keeping a list of other patients who have expressed interest in giving their kids the vaccine to give it to after that.

If you don’t want to wait until your doctor gets the vaccine, and you are a Baltimore City resident, you can come to Poly high school on Thursday to do it. See the information below, from the Baltimore City Health Department:

The Health Department received its first allotment of H1N1 FluMist intranasal spray vaccine Oct. 6 and immediately began vaccinating health care workers who will be immunizing children in schools. FluMist will be administered free of charge to healthy Baltimore City children ages 2 to 24 years old on Thursday, Oct. 15, at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, located at 1400 W. Cold Spring Lane. This one-day clinic will be open from noon until 8:00 p.m. 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine will be provided to city residents ONLY on a first-come, first-serve basis. Parents/Guardians should bring proof of age (birth certificate or school id) and residency (eg. driver’s license, state ID, or a recent power/phone/cable monthly statement). Children must be accompanied by a parent/guardian who can give written consent. Staff fluent in Spanish will be present.

That is currently the only location where the City is doling out flu vaccine. Baltimore County has not yet set up any distribution of vaccines. Get more information from the Baltimore City Health Department or the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Most importantly, Ms. Bardoff, says, do not go to the emergency room if your child shows flu symptoms.

“Stay home, give Motrin and popsicles—do not go to the emergency room unless your children are having a hard time breathing,” says Bardoff, who reports that 40 nervous parents brought sick kids to the Sinai emergency room yesterday, waiting up to six hours, only to be sent home with Motrin and popsicles (good both for hydration and to keep blood sugar up—plus, of course, yummy.) “Emergency rooms are not testing anyone for flu unless they have underlying conditions that put them at risk for complications.”

There you have it. Stay healthy and informed.

[PHOTO: A child gets the H1N1 nasal mist vaccine in Anapolis, where it became available last week. Courtesy, Shannon Lee Zirkle, The Capital]

Yesterday, I took Jack (seen here, catching up on his back issues) to the pediatrician for his 3-year check-up. All went smoothly, Jack was cooperative with everything, even though it was his first time taking eye chart and hearing tests, being weighed on the real scale, and using a real blood-pressure cuff.

Almost in passing, I mentioned to Dr. Brown that Jack was lately taken up the time-honored tradition of the “Why?”-ing game. It usually goes something like this:

Me: Okay, Jack, let’s go to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

Jack: Why?

Me: Because we’re having dinner over there.

Jack: Why?

Me: Because we love them and we like spending time with them.

Jack: Why?

Me: (pause) Because they’re part of our family and we love our family.

Jack: Why?

Me: Um, I don’t know Jack.

Jack: I don’t know either.

“I don’t know” is one of only two or three possible endings for the “Why?”-ing game. The traditional end-game is “Because I said so,” but that smacks of fascism to me, so I prefer the more self-deprecating, we’re-all-in-this-confused-world-together sentiment of “I don’t know.” Of course, another alternative is to stop responding, but then, Jack tends to assume that he’s not talking loudly enough, and, if I stay silent for too long, he will end up lying on my chest, screaming in my face, “WHY, DADDY, WHY?!!” It’s not pretty.

Until I talked to Dr. Brown, I kinda liked the “Why?”-ing game, despite how annoying it is. After all, I assumed, Jack’s trying to really understand the world around him, and the least I can do is help, right?

Actually, Dr. Brown explained, most kids figure out at some point that as long as they keep asking “Why?”, their parents will keep talking to them, engaging with them—even if it’s in increasingly exasperated tones—and they like the attention. Truth is, they’re probably not listening very closely to what you’re saying or truly thinking about, say, why we love our family, or why the sky is blue, or why people like to play tennis (another recent query). They just like it when you talk to them.

And, truth be told, that’s pretty nice too. I like talking to Jack and, while I can tell that he’s not really parsing all of my explanations, I think he does think about them sometimes, and even more as he gets older. In a weird way, it’s also nice to think about some of the philosophical questions that come up during the “Why?”-ing game: Why do people like to play tennis?

Suffice it to say, it doesn’t look like we’re got going to stop playing any time soon anyway.

It’s been almost a week since I found out I won “Best Local Blog” on Nickelodeon’s Parents Connect website, and the victory celebrations are just winding down.

In the meantime, I’ve been looking at some of the other Parents Connect winners. I listed them all below…

Best Art Class: Young Rembrandts - I’ve never heard of this, but it sounds appropriately ambitious. It’s in Nottingham, MD, however, and I don’t even know where that is—although I hear the sheriff is quite the scoundrel…

Best Birthday Cake: Cold Stone Creamery - I love Cold Stone Creamery as much as the next ice cream lover, but I’m philosophically opposed to the ice-cream birthday cake. For one thing, it’s a pain to transport and it has to be eaten so quickly—too much pressure for a birthday party! We celebrated Jack’s 3rd birthday last weekend and, after looking around a bit, I ultimately settled on a custom birthday cake from the Giant (left). They had an awesome Sesame Street scene with Elmo and Big Bird toys that Jack got to keep and play with. The cake itself was pretty simple and standard sheet cake, but, they’re three years old. It’s cake. They love it. Anything fancier and it’s really for the adults, not the kids.

Best Bookstore: Red Canoe Children’s Books and Coffee House - I’ve been hearing about Red Canoe constantly since we moved back to Baltimore last year, but I still haven’t been there. It sounds like a lovely and enchanting place.

Best Breakfast: Double T Diner Company - I like the Double T, but it’s pretty much indistinguishable from the many great diners around town (Nautilus, Towson Diner, Broadway Diner, Valentino’s, New Town Diner—I consider myself a diner afficianado). As I described in an earlier post, there are a couple breakfaast alternatives to the standard diner. For easy, simple breakfasts, including several healthy options and free crayons for the kids, we like First Watch, next to the Giant in Pikesville. For something a little more refined—but still very kid-friendly—try Clementine on Harford Road.

Best Dance Class: Arts ‘n Motion - As with the art class, I’ve never heard of this place. It’s in Odenton, which is closer to DC that Baltimore, and very far from our house in northwest Baltimore City. I wish they’d have kept the winners a little closer to the Bmore metro area.

Best Summer Camp: Walters Art Gallery - I don’t know much about the summer camp, but the Walters is a wonderful, suprisingly kid-friendly place. We wrote about the Chamber of Wonders in our 2009 City Guide, under “Cool Things to Do With Your Kids.”

Best Dentist: Dentistry for Kids

Best Family Photographer: Kim Flores Photography

Best Farmer’s Market: Baltimore Farmer’s Market, under the JFX - I absolutely agree.

Best Haricut: Salon 36 Kids - This is where we take Jack for haircuts and, while I haven’t been anywhere else in town (though I have been elsewhere in New York and New Jersey), it’s hard to imagine a better spot. The barbers there are experts in subterfuge and distraction—Dara is our favorite. There is a great train table for kids to play on while they wait and each haircut station has a DVD player primed with Dora, Sesame Street, and any other kid favorite. Jack is the worst haircut “patient” I’ve ever seen and they handle him with ease.

Best Ice Cream: Rita’s - Never been there, but I’m anxious to try.

Best Indoor Playspace: Port Discovery - Love it, as explained in this previous post.

Best Kids’ Clothing: The Corduroy Button - I’m not big on clothes shopping for the kids—nearly all of Jack and Ben’s clothing is gifts from Grandma and Grandpa—but I actually do know and like this Fells Point boutique. For more run of the mill—but totally decent—stuff, we go to Target.

Best Kids Party Place: The B&O Railroad Museum - I’ve actually never been there, although Jack and I had a great time at the Streetcar Museum on Falls Road around Christmas last year (when you can ride a real 1950s streetcar to the “North Pole” and meet Santa). He loves trains, so we’ll have to try the B&O.

Best Blog: Learning to Crawl - You’re here baby!

Best Martial Arts Class: American Kenpo Karate Studio - At first, I typed “Best Martian Arts Class”—that, i’d sign up for. My boys are still too young for karate, though.

Best Museum: Geppi’s Entertainment Museum - I’ve actually not yet been, but I hear it’s great. We also wrote about it in the 2009 City Guide, in the Bizarre Museums section.

Best Music Class: Music Together By “It’s Groovy Baby” Music - We are HUGE fans of It’s Groovy Baby and, in particular, of the primary teacher, Miss Bettina (who we also wrote about here). She led a music class for Jack’s birthday party this past weekend (left) and it was great.

Best Party Entertainer: Eric Energy - Probably not his real name.

Best Pediatrician: Cross Keys Pediatrics - I voted like crazy for our fantastic pediatrician Dr. Ralph Brown, but he was bound to lose to a practice that had several doctors’ patients’ voting. That said, I’ve heard lots of good things about the doctors at Cross Keys, and there’s something to be said for choosing a practice, where doctors can fill in for each other in case of emergency.

Best Pizza: Pizza John’s - I’ve neer been to this place in Essex, which looks lovely, but we love Matthew’s in Patterson Park, and have been served well by our neighborhood pizza place, Mt Washington Pizza and Subs (which also has surprisingly good Indian food).

Best Place for a Parent Date Night: Todd Connor’s

Best Playground or Park: Roger’s Forge Tot Lot - I love it and wrote about it here.

Best Preschool: The Montessori School

Best Shoe Store: Nordstrom - Really? We’re all about Target.

Best Swim Class: Meadowbrook Aquatic Center - I’m sure this place, Michael Phelps’ stomping grounds, has great classes.

Best Theater of Theater Group for Kids: Pumpkin Theater - I’ve never heard of this, but am very anxious to try it out.

Best Tourist Spot: National Aquarium in Baltimore - We’ve had great times at the Aquarium, as I wrote about here, but I’m not sure we’re as into it as other families are. Lots of beautiful fish and aquatic life—and the dolphin shows are great—but we prefer things a bit more interactive. And I’m moderately offended at how expensive it is: $24.95 per adult, $14.95 per child, not including dolphin or 4D immersion shows. Unfortunately, those prices put a trip to the aquarium out of reach for a lot of local families.

Best Toy Store: Barston’s Child’s Play - Haven’t been there. We’re big fans of Amuse, which has locations in Fells Point and in the Quarry Lake shopping center in Pikesville.

Best Tutor or College Prep: Sylvan Learning Center

Please, please, leave comments with your thoughts, opinions, and suggestions about any and all of the categories. I’d love to know what people think…

Nickelodeon’ Parents Connect just announced that we are the best local blog in Baltimore!

Thanks to everyone who voted for Learning to Crawl! Hooray!

This afternoon, I appeared on WYPR’s Midday with Dan Rodricks (with fill-in host Karen Hosler) to discuss parenting blogs. You can check out a stream here.

The other guests were Kate Shatzkin of The Sun’s Charm City Moms blog and Kayris Wall of Great Walls of Baltimore. It was fun and, I hope, informative. Listening to the stream, I do wish I’d spoken a bit louder and not let me voice trail off—and not talked about potty training so much! I sound obsessed!

Since moving back to Baltimore last year, one of my biggest pleasures has been attending the seemingly endless calendar of festivals in the city. With music, food, games, and, often, kid-friendly attractions, they’re a goldmine for parents looking for weekend activities that are fun for everybody. Among many others, we’ve hit the Fells Point Festival, Baltimore Book Festival, the Transmodern Festival, HonFest, Artscape, and, just this past weekend, the Baltimore International Festival.

One thing we’ve noticed is that, like too many things in Baltimore, the festivals seems to be heavily segregated by race. The phenomenon has been especially pronounced at two of the most recent fests. We had a ball at HonFest, watching the bands and gawking at all the Hons, but couldn’t help noticing that the crowd was overwhelmingly white. And then, this past weekend, we watched soccer matches and music and ate amazing Jamaican food at the Baltimore International Festival, but I only saw three other white people in attendence. I must say, Artscape, where my son Jack played percussion with some new friends (above), seemed to attract a refreshingly diverse crowd, but it seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

It may be that my wife and I notice the segregation because we spent years living in Brooklyn and Jersey City, New Jersey, where public festivals tend to draw much more diverse crowds. An African festival in Prospect Park, Brooklyn tended to draw people from a broad spectrum of ethnic backgrounds, anxious to hear the incredible music, just as an Indian festival in Jersey City drew people from miles away to taste the incredible food.

So, why not here? Are people in Baltimore less adventurous? More accustomed to sticking to their own? With people of such a broad range of ethnic backgrounds populating the Baltimore metro area, it should be the setting for glorious cultural exchange. So why isn’t it?

Learning to Crawl has been nominated by Nickelodeon’s Parent Connect as “Best Local Blog” for Baltimore!

The voting has been going on for over a month and is VERY close! Today is the last day to vote, so please click on the logo here or the link below and VOTE for Learning to Crawl! You can vote once a day per computer, so even if you voted already, please vote again! Thank you!

http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/parents-picks/baltimore-md-usa/best-baltimore-local-blog

After a long and demoralizing monsoon season, the summer is finally hitting its stride. This past weekend was glorious and sunny and we took the opportunity to explore some FREE corners of kid-centric Baltimore.

On Saturday, we went to the annual Toddler Fair at the Montessori School on Falls Rd. I had never been to the school before and I have to say, it’s a wonderfully green, sprawling space with lots of play areas. The fair, as advertised, was too good to pass up: pony rides, face painting, live animals, balloon animals, and a a fire truck and a play area to put out mock fires—all for free.

So often, when we go to carnivals and fairs in the area, we have a great time, but find that a good chunk of the attractions are geared toward older kids. And our 2.75-year-old has to compete with them for play space. Not so at the toddler fair, where tykers ran the roost. Jack had a ball, particularly with the pony rides and at a kiddie pool that was set up for the kids to go “fishing” with a net and rubber ducks. There were real ducks, turtles and snakes displayed by a local nature reserve, a play area set up by Rebounders and, after all that, a juice station provided by Juicy Juice. Good times.

That afternoon, we went on a lovely hike. Ever since we moved back last September, I’d wondered why all those cars were parked along the side of Falls Road, just north of Mount Washington. At some point, I saw the opening in the trees and have been meaning to explore. I put Jack in a hiking backpack (we call it the “Jackpack”), my wife loaded 8-month-old Benny in a Baby Bjorn and we entered the Falls Road rabbit hole. We found a great, wide trail filled with birds, dog-walkers and runners—all teriffically friendly. We eventually got to a footpath over what I assume was the Jones Falls. We went down, took off our shoes, and dipped our toes in the refreshingly clear water.

Sunday, we finally got to the mini-trains at Leakin Park (above and left). From April to October, on the second Sunday of every month, a dedicated cadre of stream-train afficianados take visitors aboard miniature replicas of local steam trains around three miles of miniature tracks. It was awesome. And the surrounding park was really beautiful. Jack loved the train-themed playground, and there were lots of families that stayed after the train rides to make a picnic. We’ll be there next month.

As is painfully clear from posts like this and this and this, the Serpick family is hopelessly obsessed with Elmo. This week, we made our second annual pilgrimage to Sesame Place, the theme park 30 miles north of Philadelphia where Elmo and all the other Sesame Street characters live.

As with last year, we had a blast on all the rides and Jack (2 1/2 years old) was much more into the water attractions this year. There is a mid-afternoon parade where all the characters march down Sesame Street: Jack high-fived Cookie Monster and Rosita tickled Benny’s (7 months) belly.

But the highlight, as with last year, was Elmo’s World Live, a stage production of Elmo’s World (the Elmo-centric 15 minutes that end every episode of Sesame Street). On our way into the theater, a stage manager pulled us aside and asked if Benny would appear on the “Ask a Baby” segment of the show! On every Elmo’s world, Elmo asks a couple kids a question like, how do you put on a jacket, or how do you get cocktail sauce out of red fur (depending on the theme), and at the end, he always asks a baby. The best babies just giggle and smile and Brenda and I have always said the particularly smiley Benny would be great for “Ask a Baby”.

Sure enough, at the appointed time, Elmo asked Benny, “How do you swim like a fish?” (fish was the theme today). Right on cue, Benny unleashed a dazzling smile and a couple giggles, to a deafening “awwwww!” from the crowd. He also clenched Elmo’s fur so hard that the red monster had to yank his arm several times to break free. Benny left with a nice chunk of red polyester—free souvenir!

Anyway, we highly recommend the place, and I humbly ask you to keep voting for Learning to Crawl for Best Baltimore Parents’ Blog ever day until July 15th!