Sweet Songs Scores #1 Texas Artist CD at Waterloo Records!

By Monica Cravotta  |  Published: Wednesday, June 16, 2010

We should have brought our fancy camera to better record this wonderful historical moment for the Sweet Songs CD.  Holy Moly, these photos could really use a face lift!

Thanks so much to all the Austin Mamas who rallied together last week to go buy their copy and support the Sweet Songs for Mama’s Milk cause.  In selling 40 copies at Waterloo, we shot up to #4 nationwide.  Rock it!

Don’t live in Austin and are wondering where the heck you can get your own copy?  You can help us keep our ranking at the local store if you purchase at Waterloo or  please visit austinsweetsongs.com.   Thank you!

Posted in Sweet Songs, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

New York Times’ Article on “Mommy” Bloggers Lights a Fire

By Monica Cravotta  |  Published: Thursday, March 18, 2010

Honey, Don’t Bother Mommy. I’m Too Busy Building My Brand

NY Times Artwork Depicting Blogging Moms

The article came out in the New York Times last weekend.  Author, Jennifer Mendelsohn, attended and reviewed a blogging conference called Bloggy Boot Camp designed for “Mommy Bloggers,” interviewing several attendees and panelists for the article.  The headline, lead copy, article placement (Style section versus Business) and accompanying artwork has offended a significant number of highly-respected parenting blog writers and lit up a very heated debate of comments on numerous blog sites.

Reading the piece and some of the many reviews (PhD in Parenting, The Huffington Post and Mom101) along with several of the comments on a few sites, I’m first struck at how incredible it is that a debate can occur the way it does today thanks to the new world called the Blogosphere that inspired the article in the first place.

Like many of you, I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s. Our children will find it so archaic to hear about how we communicated through phones attached to the wall and that we were lucky if we had a long stretchy cord that allowed us to walk around the room while we gabbed. They’ll laugh that we wrote hand-written letters and passed notes on folded up pieces of paper in class. And the fact that we had to schlep to the bookstore or the library to research something will be our generation’s “When I was your age I walked 5 miles to school in the snow” story.

Now we experience instant conversations with multiple people. From around the world. Instant information. Instant debates. All kinds of voices expressing themselves on everything and anything. Offending. Being Offended. All in a few key strokes. I’m transported for a moment, hearing one of my favorite thick-Texas-accent lines from the documentary Hands on a Hard Body: “It’s a human drama.” (more…)

Posted in Article Reiviews, New York Times, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Feeding My Family with Love and Respect

By Monica Cravotta  |  Published: Friday, March 12, 2010

This post is part of the 2010 API Principles of Parenting blog carnival, a series of monthly parenting blog carnivals, hosted by API Speaks. Learn more about attachment parenting by visiting the API website.

I was drawn to participate in this month’s API Speaks blog carnival because I find the topic so interesting in its subjectivity.  I view myself as:

An advocate of breastfeeding for both its health and nurturing benefits;

Someone desiring to provide and model healthy eating for my children (today we had mac-n-cheese, veggie burgers and fries….some days are better than others); and

Someone with deep curiosity around the intensely personal, primal nature of feeding our young that exists cross-culturally among mothers.

I feel very fortunate to be alive today and part of a generation of women that can experience so much when it comes to equal rights with men. I’m all about competing with men professionally and earning equal pay.

AND at the same time, I like to acknowledge gender differences and embrace all that is inherently feminine.  During this chapter of early parenting years, I personally feel a great sense of my own femininity when nurturing my children with their daily sustenance. I feel connected to all other mothers in the world through this practice — including animals — especially birds for some reason. Funny that one of my 20-something nicknames was “Monnie Bird.”

Guzer.com Photo

I think the highly personal aspect of feeding our children with love and respect is how we each define what that means a little differently. To tell a mother that she’s not feeding her child right — iye, iye, iye — that can be seriously offensive!  It seems to cut to the core of a defining aspect of motherhood.

So without implying any kind of critique if yours is different, here’s a window into my family’s practice of feeding with love and respect:

• Extended Breastfeeding. This is a relative term…some moms define “extended” to mean until a child chooses to wean which could be age four or five. Each to their own. My goal is two years for my littlest. (more…)

Posted in Attachment Parenting, Breastfeeding, Nutrition, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Indoor Fun for Toddlers in Austin — Great Ideas for All Towns

By Monica Cravotta  |  Published: Friday, January 8, 2010

Anyone else preferring to stay at home but suffering a bit from cabin fever crazies at home?   Here’s some ideas for getting out of your house and right back inside the warmth of someplace else fun:

Photo by Emily Starbuck Gerson

1. AUSTIN CHILDREN’S MUSEUM

$5.50—Kids and adults, $3.50—Toddlers 12-23 mo.

Free—Under cialis reviews 12 months

Monday Mornings 9am-noon: “Baby Bloomers” for ages 3 and under

Toddler Storytime, rotunda – 9:30am
Sing-a-long, rotunda – 10:30am

Location: 201 Colorado St, Austin, TX 78701

2. BOOK PEOPLE Story Time

FREE, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. 10:30 AM

Location: 603 N. Lamar, Austin, TX 78703

3. CAFE MONET Pottery Painting

The cost depends on which piece of pottery you choose. On Wednesdays, all children’s pottery is $3 off. A fun, paint-it-yourself pottery studio, all supplies are provided; instructions on how to paint provided as well.

Location: 4477 S Lamar Blvd # 560, Austin, TX

4. PUBLIC LIBRARIES

FREE, Story times, activities, and books, order medicine online books, books.

Complete listing of locations with maps on web site.   I personally can’t wait for the W. Mary/S. 1st library to open!

5. TEXAS MEMORIAL MUSEUM

FREE/donation, Parking $3/hr

Dinosaur footprints/skeletons, Texas animals, fossils, insects, spiders, snakes, kids love it!!

Hours: Monday–Friday, 9 am–5 pm; Saturday, 10 am–5 pm; Sunday, 1–5 pm.

Location: 2400 Trinity Street (UT-Austin campus) Austin, TX

6. SCOTTISH RITE Children’s Theatre

Pricing for Regular Productions: $3—Infants under 1 year, $7—Children 1-12, $10—Adults

Pricing for Supper and Show Tickets (Special performances that include a catered meal at 5 pm): $3—Infants under 1 year, $15—Children ages 1-12, $20—Adults

Location: 207 West 18th Street, Austin, Texas 78701

7. FLIPNOTICS coffee house on Saturday Mornings

It’s the Hey Lollies show every Saturday morning at 10 am.  Cute, super-fun music – kids love it!

Location: 1601 Barton Springs Rd. Austin, TX 78704.

8.  RUTA MAYA coffee house Kids Shows on Sunday Mornings

Every Sunday at 10:30, check the web site calendar to see what the show is as it changes every week.  This Sunday (January 10), it’s a free Music Together sampler of with Michael Shay of Music Forever, Music Together.

9. AUSTIN MUSEUM of ART

Learned about the new Family Saturdays program from a fellow Austin AP Mama. Sounds super cool!  Every second Saturday, the first one is tomorrow, January 9 and will repeat Repeat on the second Saturday of the month until 12/01/2010
Time: 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM, Family Yoga (1 pm)

$7 for the whole family; $5 member families.

Location: 823 Congress Avenue at 9th Street, Austin, TX

10. KULA YOGA

Located in Tarrytown, Kula Yoga is great.  Classes for every member of the family — from prenatal and postnatal mom/baby, to toddler, children’s, teen, and more.

Mom & Baby: Wednesdays, 10:15 – 11:15

Parent & Tot:  Wednesdays, 10:15 – 11:15

Toddler:   Mondays, 11:30 – 12:30; Wednesdays, 11:30 – 12:30; Fridays, 10:00 – 11:15; Saturdays, 9:00 – 10:00.

For each of the these classes that are just for toddlers, there is another class at the same time that Moms or Dads can take.  And check this out, on Saturdays, the 9:00 – 10:00 class for adults is Hip Hop Yoga.  Rock!

Drop In – $15
5 Class Pass – $65 (Good for 2 months)
10 Class Pass – $120 (Good for 3 months)
20 Class Pass – $200 (Good for 5 months)

First class is free when you purchase a pass on your first visit. Monthly Unlimited – $115 per month with a 3 month commitment

Location: 2415 Exposition Blvd., Suites A & B, Austin, TX 78703, (512) 542-3334

Have a suggestion to add to this list?  Please drop me a line or comment here.

Posted in Austin, Best Indoor Outings for Toddlers, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

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