Top 10 List - Fun With Kids in ATLANTA

Fun With Kids in METRO ATLANTA

1. Zoo Atlanta - especially late afternoon at the zoo
2. Centennial Park - play in the fountains; enjoy the playground area; lunch in the food court at CNN Center, directly across the street.
3. Georgia Aquarium - quite expensive; still very crowded since opening Nov. 2005 - for the adventurous!
4. Imagine It! Children's Museum of Atlanta - a saner alternative to the GA Aquarium, especially for younger children; located down the street from the aquarium, across the street from Centennial Park.
5. Piedmont Park - one of our very favorite places in the heart of downtown Atlanta: children's playgrounds, biking, rollerblading; feed the ducks, fly a kite in the big field; fantastic dog park! Picnic in the park or enjoy patio dining at the Park Tavern - kid-friendly, pet-friendly, open for lunch on the weekends.
6. Center for Puppetry Arts/Theatre - if it's rainy or hot, enjoy an indoor puppet show. We have never been disappointed at Puppetry Arts. The kids will LOVE it. Don't miss the Create-a-Puppet Workshop! Have lunch at The Varsity Downtown nearby - world famous hot dogs!
7. MOVIES - Regal Cinemas FREE Family Film Festival guarantees a great kid flick at 10am every Tuesday & Wednesday morning through the summer at Regal Theatres around the country (check your nearest participating Regal Theatre here). In Georgia, the best free movie adventure is at The Mall of Georgia, 45 minutes north of Atlanta. Aside from the free movies, The Mall of Georgia offers a full day of entertainment and family fun, with outdoor fountains to play in (remember bathing suits!), arcades, a carousel, shopping (of course!) and endless food and dining options.
8. The Starlight Six Drive-In - Another one of our family's most favorite things to do in Atlanta! We pick up dinner, generally at Fellini's Pizza on Ponce De Leon, and movie goodies; pop up a couple of bags of microwave popcorn, load up camp chairs, pillows, and blankets to spend the night at the drive-in. The Starlight is safe, secure, and well-organized with six screens showing first-run movies, double, triple, and often quadruple-features (if you can make it past midnight!), all for $6 per person, children under 10 FREE!
9. John Howell Park/Virginia-Highland - a small neighborhood park tucked away in Virginia-Highland, one of the best areas in Atlanta for walking, shopping, and dining. The park is fun for kids, with lots of playground equipment and tons of sand to play in. For dining with kids, the park is within walking distance of two of our favorite neighborhood restaurants, American Roadhouse and Atkins Park on Highland.
10. Atlanta Kids - A wonderful, comprehensive resource for information on current events, activities, and attractions in Atlanta. Definitely the place to check for what's going on on any particular date!

Family Takes Over CAMP MOMMY!!!

All day running around with Uncle Scott, Aunt Kelly, Quinn (age 4) & Max (age 2). And Tiger and Haleigh, who can be quite a help with the younger kids. Busy day, getting ready for a family dinner with our extended family and friends in Atlanta (dinner for 18 - no big deal!?!)(fortunately, Uncle Scott is a professionally-trained chef--the man can cook for a crowd!) AND getting ready for The Big Trip to Florida in the morning--

Uncle Scott & Aunt Kelly Are Coming!

Quiet morning: preparations for family coming into Atlanta for a visit, and then a Big Trip to Florida for the holiday weekend. Laundry & clean up. Impromptu Camp Mommy arts & crafts activity: PAINT ROCKS & SHELLS. Kept them busy for an hour!

This afternoon it was CAMP GRAMMY! Kids went to Grammy's so Mommy could get through the packing (without help!), take care of house stuff, and enjoy dinner out with Daddy!

The Good, The Bad...The Balance

From an entirely rational, objective, analytical, self-therapeutic, calm, clear-headed and fairly sane perspective, I can admit, six weeks into Summer Break and CAMP MOMMY, home with my wonderful children 24/7...I AM SICK OF MY KIDS!
And I'm quite sure they are sick of me, too.

CAMP MOMMY: 33 Business Days To Go...

I am a Mommy who really, really appreciates her time to work and get things done without having to nag and referee and entertain, and BE entertained ALL.THE.TIME. I am going crazy from the constant competitive refrain of "Mom, watch this!" "Mom, listen to my joke!" "Mom, LOOK!" "Mom, Mom, MOM!!!" Once in a while, I have to beg: "PLEASE, just for a few minutes, don't call me Mom! Just don't say the word--MOM is taking a break!"

Let's just list the woes (real and imagined) of Motherhood, get it out in the open:

• Self-sacrificing, completely unappreciated
  
• No matter what, it is never enough
  
• Unending complaints and whining (them, not me)
  
• Unceasing rivalry & competition
  
• Pestering, provoking, screaming, and squabbling (again--them, not me)
• And the MESS...

While I'm on a roll here, allow me to elaborate: They never clean up after themselves! While I realize that's my fault, too, for not teaching them properly and consistently--I'm working on it, dammit! They walk out of a room, saunter out of the kitchen (snack in hand, mess left behind), hop out of the car...and I spend half-hour picking up, cleaning up, putting away, throwing away (they'd better not leave anything they care about--it's all garbage to me!); doing it myself, because most of the time (and I know this is the fatal parental weakness) it is easier to do it myself.

Oh, I can, and do, quite often, stop them short and firmly encourage them to pick up after themselves. Just because I don't sometimes, doesn't mean I can't--I know what buttons to press, the stimulus-response, the Evil Mommy Voice (accompanied by the Stare of Certain Doom) when appropriate and necessary. [sigh] It's a lot of work--the emotional energy of yet another battle of wills. I know how to push their buttons. Unfortunately, they know how to push mine, too.

The one time they do get along and cooperate together is when they are scheming and plotting:
"We can chase each other around the house three times before she really blows up."
"We can totally mess up the playroom, as long as we're not jumping on the furniture (or she doesn't hear us jumping on the furniture)."
"We can torment Tiger, as long as he doesn't scream!"
etc.

It is all a predictable cycle of events that plays out hour after hour, day after day. I'm sure Nanny 911 would have a field day visiting my home.

Before I leave you today, though, let's consider the alternative: What if, god forbid, I had no children? The Rebel Housewife would be pretty boring to read (and write!) without the constant frustrations and crises, the sparkle and spice of life with my little hooligans. They are my mission, my purpose, my life.

Or even worse, what if I had perfectly quiet, perfectly cooperative, perfectly-perfect-all-the-time children? No laughter, no light, no horseplay, no joking, no fun? Even in the worst moments, at the very breaking point of a rage so large I could never have imagined it--suddenly, the humor of the situation shines through, and saves us all (or else I give myself a TIME OUT and go hide in the bathroom for a few minutes). What the hell am I getting so worked up about? Furniture is just wood and cloth, paint is easy to repair, messes can be cleaned up; noise is life, laughter is joy, and the mischief--the mischief and unquenchable creativity, energy and activity are all signs of very bright, engaged, fun-loving kids, figuring out their world and their place in it.

They are learning. I am, too. They do occasionally, sometimes even without me saying anything, pick up and put away. They try to work things out together--mainly to avoid getting into trouble; still, they are learning the life skills of negotiation and cooperation. I am learning patience...and slowly, slowly, I am learning the beauty of being in the moment, the good and the bad, because this too shall pass, and so very quickly...

Day 27 Total = $13
(When things get really bad, and the weather is, too--McDonald's is the answer: Happy Meals, Playland, and cheap ice cream!)

The Adventure (NOT) of Errands...

No big adventures today, as we prepare for a visit from Uncle Scott & Aunt Kelly, Quinn & Max. They will be here Wednesday! We are all going to drive down to Florida together for 4th of July--and Tiger's birthday!--on the beach. Busy, busy--

We had to take the Tahoe back to the dealer this morning, so they could actually do all the work that was supposed to have been done Friday...there is a rant there, about auto repair and maintenance service, but I don't have time today!

We ran errands, with plenty of waiting and frustration. We had lunch at La Fonda Latina (another Atlanta favorite) with Daddy. We ran more errands. Zach had a basketball game this afternoon--they won! We picked up the Tahoe--now we are waiting for parts to finish two of the repairs, a rattle and a seat that won't fold down properly. I drove Zach back up to Camp Joan--three more days of fun and sun at golf/tennis camp. The kid is going to be so bored when he finally gets back home and settles in for the rest of the summer...

Day 26 = $10 - Starbucks Frappucinos
(I know I shouldn't have--it was a weak moment.)