Month: March 2012

BY D.J. DUCKWORTH
Contributor to The MOMS

I love clothes. I love shopping for clothes. I love looking at boutiques like Lily Lulu Fashion and finding the perfect outfit. And evidently, so does my 6-year-old son! Whenever we get a catalogue in the mail, he’s quick to grab a pen and start circling the looks he wants us to buy. He is usually drawn to the graphic print tees and anything with a fish or other water animal on it. Of course, I’m always thinking to myself, can he wear that to school? How will that work on the playground? How long will he wear that? And of course, I’m wondering how will it fit? After all, you can only tell so much from a photograph on a page. My other concern is, as you might expect, how much is that going to cost me? Budgeting is something that so many people spend time doing these days and, in this digital age, it’s easier than ever to do due to the existence of websites like Raise that give you access to promo codes and discounts, like Kohl’s coupons, which means that your next clothing shop won’t set you back quite as much as it otherwise would – ideal for if your little one is heading back to school!

So we were both thrilled to see that Ralph Lauren has brought his children’s collection to life with an on-line e-book called the RL Gang. We recently met the RL Gang Class of 2012 thanks to MomTrends at Bloomingdale’s. Corbin thought it was really cool to see the RL Gang come to life on our computer screen. If you aren’t familiar with it, each character represents a certain style, like bohemian, rock star, explorer, etc. And the clothing they are wearing coordinates with their style and adventures. We both think it’s a great way to shop for clothing. For me, it gives me an idea as to how the clothing fits. For my son, he gets to decide which look he wants to wear based off of the e-book video and not just a photo. We both get to see the clothing in action!

I think for those of you who have kids who are difficult to dress and struggle with their daily clothing selections, this live catalog, if you will, is a great way to get them to wear a more put together look. They are entertained with the e-book while they get to decide what they’d like to wear. So you knock out two birds with one stone! To me, that is multitasking at its finest. Now, if Barney’s on-line would do this for me, then my shopping experience would be a much better one too!

THE MOMS / STRUT KIDS STYLE:
Corbin’s look:
Boden skinny jeans, zip up hoodie and red striped long sleeve shirt. He was sporting his new green Adidas sneakers!

Lovin the first warm day of the year in my full Gap outfit.  Best way to feel spring is to look spring with a white shortsleeve sweater and pink jeans.  Top it off with Bauble Bar jewels and Stuart Weitzman boots and it’s a perfect look for a perfect day.  (Although had I left home later today, I would have gone with a spring-ier shoe but still obsessed with these gray wedge boots!)

BY MELISSA GERSTEIN

For our Spring Break stay-cation just a few weeks ago, I was determined to make the most out of it. We were going to tackle the city as tourists and I made plans to show my six year old the city like she has never seen before, which included her first Broadway show.

Many of my girlfriends took their little ones to see Godspell and suggested that she would love the singing and dancing. My daughter is a Sutton Foster in training. I wondered if the story would be too intense. I was curious if she would get upset by the ending when Jesus dies and I was concerned about the overall content.

Little did I realize when we booked the tickets for a Wednesday matinee it happened to also be the holiday Ash Wednesday. I thought to myself, how ironic, booking Godspell on Ash Wednesday. Maybe the conversation about God was just meant to be.

As we walked in Times Square towards the theatre, the questions began. “Why are people wearing dirt on the forehead” and “why do some people have this black stuff and not us.” The answer was simple at first…because we are Jewish and this is someone else’s holiday today. That was not satisfactory for her.

So I attempted to tell her more about Jesus Christ and how Ash Wednesday marked the first day of Lent. Then I tried to explain Lent. I saw confusion all over her face as I continued on about religion and how everyone has different beliefs and traditions – concepts she also learns at Hebrew school.

Then we went into Godspell. I am one of many who never saw this musical growing up which is quite surprising since I grew up dancing and singing in musicals in my local town. Could it be that my parents never wanted me to see Godspell or that the opportunity never presented itself?

From the moment the the stage lights went up, I was blown away by the talent on the stage. The singing and dancing was mesmerizing and for that moment in the theatre, it didn’t matter that my daughter didn’t understand the story. Then the ending of the show came, which I was worried about for her. Death is hard to comprehend at six and then to see the sacrificing of Jesus Christ. How would this affect her? Would she be scared or hurt?

I watched her as she watched the act. She was actually fine and in fact, she is more mature then I give her credit for. I think the initial instinct is to protect our children from death and pain, when in fact, they can handle many more adult-like situations than we give them credit for. Since she appears to be quite engaged in it, I want to instill a sense of spirituality in her even more. Maybe I’d like her to accompany me to the churches as well from now (like church in elk grove). I am pretty confident that she’d probably be able to understand the preachings and will try to incorporate the sayings into her life.

Anyway, as we left the theatre, we discussed the celebratory musical. At the end of the day we came to the conclusion together that story is the celebration of life and love and that was what resonated on our Ash Wednesday afternoon together.