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UrbanBaby Asks...
Do you 'enjoy' spending time with your kids?
- Yes, most of the time we really have fun together
- Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's really dull and aggravating
- Honestly most of the time it's not fun at all, but it's not supposed to be fun
- I really don't enjoy it at all, and wish I could spend less time with them
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UB Like it's 1776!
Posted September 13, 2007(191 replies)
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Highlights from the boards for the week of Nov 17th – Nov 23rd:
Want Refund from My Sister Who is Divorcing After Short Marriage… (65 Replies) My sister is getting divorced and she’s been married for 13 months. She stated that she ...
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[-]LA Moms - are there any boards like this that are focused on LA? A friend of mine is moving there and I told her about UB was helpful (most of the time) for me in NYC. Any recs?
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[-]Anyone know anyone who had complications from a VBAC? Or tried a VBAC, but ended up w/ a 2nd c section? What was the experience? TIA
2 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreI have two friends who had their first child in their early 20s via c-section and their second via VBAC in their late 20s (and third for one in her early 30s) with no complications. I did not know either of them when theyh had their furst babies but both of theor recoveries after the VBACs were comparable to my easy vaginal delivery.
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[-]We are contemplating a move to Los Angeles from nyc. My children currently attend a private school in nyc, but we would prefer to send them to public school if we make the move. Are there any particular public elementary schools that stand out as exceptional in LA? Am I being delusional about gettting an exceptional education for my kids in a public school? My knowledge base in this area is at about zero, so any advice is appreciated.
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PV I agree with. They have their own school district. But is Pali High good? It's LAUSD. And as for Irvine, their schools may be good but who would want to live there? It's OC and not LA by the way.
[ Reply | More ]Pali High has been a charter school for a few years now, so steadily improving. Due to financial constraints may not bus in anymore students, so this is a positive or negative, depending on your outlook on "diversity".
[ Reply | More ]Pali High is no longer part of LAUSD, we are an independent charter school. Do not enroll at Pali if you have a problem with diversity (47% white, 26% Hispanic, 17% African-American, 9% Asian). It is the core and the strength of the school, and the charter dictates that Pali must maintain diversity or lose the charter and go back to being just another LAUSD high school. Approximately half of the graduates go directly to four year colleges and come to Pali from over 100 zip codes. Pali offers 21 AP courses, with overall pass rate of 79% (100% in Calc BC, 93% in Eng Lang, 85% in World). In the top 10% of our senior class, 87% will have taken 3 or more AP's. Top 20% of class, 71% have taken 3 or more AP's. Top of class is very competiti...
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Carpenter in Studio City is very good. I have friends who send kids there and I just visited and sat in on 1st grade. I really liked it. The middle school is 4 or 5,000 kids though. Many go from Carpenter to private middle school. Warner in Holmby Hills is also great. I think the middle school and high school would be Beverly Hills. Great schools but huge.
[ Reply | More ]LA is v complicated. LAUSD covers a huge sprawling area, but there are some cities embedded within the LAUSD area that have their own school systems (Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, etc.) In general, I'd say those are better schools, but there are some LAUSD highly regarded elementary schools. On top of that, there are charter and magnet schools that you can apply to, but it's too late for fall 2010 for that.
[ Reply | More ]more: Specific names in Santa Monica are Franklin and Roosevelt schools, in LAUSD, Warner in Westwood is excellent but the problem is that LAUSD middle and high schools are freq really bad unless you go magnet/charter (Warner does NOT go to Bev Hills for middle, it is LAUSD and goes to Emerson; BH has their own school system) I don't know about the Palisades, my friends there complained. I hear good things about S Pasadena/Pasadena and Palos Verdes.
[ Reply | More ]I went through Santa Monica schools: Franklin elementary, then Lincoln (middle) then Santa Monica High. Great schools, great neighborhood, nicer weather than other parts of LA (cooler due to sea breezes). Lots of very successful graduates in my class and the classes + or -1 year from mine. Lots of Ivy colleges, a candidate for a major office in NY, an advisor to Obama (on transition team), many many others I knew and know still. One Saint Ann's parent w 2 dcs at ST A also went to Santa Monica schools and said his children's peer group at Saint Ann's reminded him of his friends at Samo.
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[-]Will be in LA next week with a one year old. Is Catalina Island worth visiting? Looks beautiful but seems like a hike.
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[-]anyone ever used or know someone who used the Au Pair Foundation to find nanny for newborn?
3 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreI know this isn't answering your question, but I am looking for a live-in nanny position. I am hard-working, reliable, caring and gentle. I especially love caring for newborns, infants and toddlers. If you would like to talk to me about your needs in a nanny, please either email me at NYnanny@LIVE.com, or contact me on my SitterCity account ( http://www.sittercity.com/nanny/ny/new-york/1758233.html ). I hope to hear from you!
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[-]we're moving to LA area and I can't decide bw Long Beach or an LA beach town like Manhattan Beach or Hermosa. Can anyone stack up some pros and cons for me. Never been to either and have to pick without going. TIA!
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hermosa is way more laid back. manhattan beach people are on their own planet. the women are totally hung up on how they look, their gym time, their botox, going to all the coolest places for lunch and all that. no thanks! they do not welcome newcomers and if you're moving there now, it could be a lonely place for you. hermosa is a much better option between the two or even redondo beach.
[ Reply | More ]Manhattan or Hermosa. There are pockets of nice areas in LB but lots of sketchy parts. http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-angeles/544648-what-life-manhattan-beach-like.html http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-diego/607524-place-better-live-hermosa-beach-huntington.html
[ Reply | More ]While on topic of the South Bay vicinity, has anyone considered Palos Verdes Peninsula. It is beautiful and the schools rate very well. I know it is a little inaccessible but I am considering it if it also helps me give my kids a little more range as they enter the teen years. Any thoughts on the area?
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[-]Going to Los Angeles for the first time with a one year old. Need a hotel. Would love to be in Beverly Hills but prefer a suite with sep sleeping area for baby...and everything looks so expensive. Suggestions for hotels where we can walk places (breakfast, stores, etc). Thanks!
2 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreThe Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire is my favorite. Rooms are small at most Beverly Hills hotels though and suites are expensive. If you don't mind driving a lot, the Four Seasons in Westlake Village is wonderful. We stay at both of these hotels a lot. HATE the Beverly Hills hotel and Casa Del Mar in Santa Monica.
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The Manhattan Family Guide to Private Schools and Selective Public Schools by Victoria Goldman and Catherine Hausman
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i'm an over-educated private-school person who is ashamed to admit she likes trashy novels and never even answers "recommend a book" posts.
[ Reply | More ]Why? I read 100+ books a year, and have for nearly 20 years now. I can recommend many, many great books. But if asked for just one? It's always going to be To Kill A Mockingbird. [Unless it's someone I want to sleep with, in which case I recommend Sabbath's Theater.]
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Which is not to say I'm above the occasional trashy fun. I have a whole (back) shelf full of Stephen King...
[ Reply | More ]I can't wait til my kids are old enough to enjoy Stephen King. They were such a pleasure for me when I read them - I actually underlined parts of The Stand when I read it in high school. And I still think The Shining is one of the all-time great psychological thrillers.
[ Reply | More ]Agree about The Shining, and the movie is a flawed masterpiece too. How old do dcs have to be before you can expose them to Kubrick? :)
[ Reply | More ]14 is about right for Lolita, no? [kidding] I'm generally not spooked by movies, but even now I can't hear the opening music for The Shining without getting a chill. What's odd is that the book and the film are *so* far apart, but both are indeed masterpieces. In contrast, another fabulous King adaptation is Shawshank Redemption. And aside from casting Morgan Freeman as Red, the film is incredibly faithful to the original story.
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Really, books like Animal Farm and To Kill a Mockingbird is not up to snuff for you, huh? Idiot.
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Atonement by Ian McEwan - the movie didn't do it justice, it's a remarkable, beautiful, sad love story
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Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin, West with the Night, Paradise Lost, Time and Again, and The Tennis Partner
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just finishing up Beloved & it's brilliant...also: The Brothers Karamazov; Master & Margarita; Midnight's Children; Sheltering Sky; Pale Fire
[ Reply | More ]A Separate Peace, Speak Memory, Revolutionary Road (just read it--haven't seen movie.)
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1984, A Brave New World, and A Clockwork Orange, for anyone interested in an author's perception of where the world is heading.
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"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." -Paul Krugman
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Fried Green Tomato, read it in a rainy day in a house on the beach of Jamaica after a Gunja, absolutely the funniest book I have ever read...
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The Known World... as well as... The Kite Runner, Life of Pi, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, (I agree with above posters)To Kill a Mockingbird, A Prayer for Owen Meany, This Boy's Life, Atonement.
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Tomcat in Love by Tim O'Brein. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius by Dave Eggers.
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Best? Ok, my best: on how to create, "A Movable Feast" by Hemingway; being in the process of creation, "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man"; on creation from the wispiest of real stuff, "The Stone Diaries" by Carol Shields, and screamingly funniest, "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" by Bill Bryson.
[ Reply | More ]It's not the best, but a recent book that really held my interest was The Loneliness of Wolves by Stef Penney A great read. Also agree with any Augusten Burroughs book, Bruce Wagner, Christopher Buckley, and a million more that I cannot think of! Oh, Diane Johnston - Le Divorce is great.
[ Reply | More ]OK, maybe my book snobbery is showing, but with some exceptions this reads like a grammar or high school assignment list. I mean, The Count of Monte Cristo???
[ Reply | More ]You obviously never read the unabridged version and only stuck to the cliff notes and film. I posted the Count of Monte Cristo AND I happen to be a well respected book reviewer it's what I do. I can say that there is a 99% chance that I'm a bigger lit snob than you my dear since lit is literally my life. Go to BN and buy an unabridged copy if you dare.
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How about three? Cloud Atlas (the David Mitchell one, not the other Cloud Atlas), The Sheltering Sky, Falconer.
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I can't really say all time, because my tastes change, but recently I read Winter's Bone and Room, and they were both interesting (not best of all time I guess though). Best of all time would probably be Jemima J, if you are going by how much we loved it when we first read it (at age 17 or so! Hah)
[ Reply | More ]I'm curious- to all the people who responded with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, how old were you when you read it? I also loved it (would list it as a fave)but I read it for summer reading after 7th grade. So I don't know if it still seems like such a deep piece of literature in the eyes of an adult reading it for the first time? Anyone read it for the first time after the age of 25?
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[-]I am spending a few weeks visiting my mother in Los Angeles. Does anyone have any suggestions for activities and things to do out here with my year old son? We are in the Manhattan Beach area and my son seems totally bored without his usual playdates, storytime and music classes. Any suggestions (particularly free/cheap ideas) would be much appreciated.
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[-]We're from NYC and need a hotel in LA for two nights. My dd is 17 months old, so while we don't necessarily need a kid themed hotel, we would like it to at least be kid friendly and have a pool. A lot of the places that say they're kid friendly seem really posh and I'm worried that we'll disturb the peace at the pool. At the same time, this is the tail end of our vacation, so we would like it to have ammenities too. We'd like to stay under $300/night. Any suggestions? Thanks!
18 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreThere's a hotel that's right on the Fox lot on Ave of the Stars . . . can't remember the name. It's exactly what you're looking for. Wish I could remember the name. Haven't been in 2 yrs but used to stay there for business. Great pool, some rooms have balconies with views.
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OP: Thank for the resposes. I'll check out the hotel on the fox lot. I realize that LA is huge. That's why I'm having trouble narrowing down an area. I guess Santa Monica would be fun, but I worry it's too far from downtown for when we want to go into the city.
[ Reply | More ]Do not stay downtown unless you have a specific reason to, its dead after 5 p.m. downtown and on the weekends.
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Go to Santa Monica, plenty of nice hotels near the beach (Loew's, Viceroy, Shutters, Casa del Mar). Activities: 3rd Street Promenade, SM Pier, Venice boardwalk, a nice bike path on the ocean that goes all the way up to Malibu, and a short drive to Beverly Hills & West Hollywood. If you're only there for two days, LA is too spread-out to cover much else. Signed, former LA mom.
[ Reply | More ]Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. YOu have the beach, bike paths, sand, views, the Annenberg Community Beach House close by, merry-go-round, etcetcetc
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In my fifties. Past menopause for several years, now. My hair was thinning but in the last three weeks it's gotten really thin on top - I have to wear it back to cover how thin it is. I've been using Biotin which was helping, but now, I have new hair loss. Any suggestions? I feel so embarrassed.
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I'm at 34 weeks and am at my pre-preg weight. I had some (okay, quite a bit) to lose to begin with, lost some in first trimester, and have regained it in the last few weeks. I assume I will start ballooning from here on out.
[ Reply | More ]np: Am I missing something? How can you be at pre-preg. weight AND 34 weeks pg. You have gained no weight in 34 weeks? Are you saying you were overweight at pre-preg. and then dieted to lose fat as you were gaining baby weight and it has evened out?
[ Reply | More ]I was overweight when I got pregnant. I had pretty bad morning sickness and lost about 6-7 pounds in the first trimester. I have regained the 6-7 pounds and am currently at my pre-preg weight at week 34. I have no desire/intention to lose weight while pregnant but this is what has happened. My OB is unconcerned as long as I'm eating 3 nutritious meals a day (which I am, plus some snacks... and chocolate, sweet chocolate). And, strangely, the baby is measuring so big that they wanted to push my due date up by two weeks.
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Ok, ladies who are 40 and over. Deadly serious message here. Diagnosed with breast cancer at age 47: tumor NOT visible on mammogram AT ALL. Atypical mass identified at 2.1 cm on MRI, ultrasound reading corresponds with MRI. Core biopsy shows malignancy. Women in their 40s commonly have dense breasts: mammograms cannot read dense breasts thoroughly. Mammograms have an error rate of over 10%-that's OVER 10%--many reliable websites (ACS etc) will tell you they are only 80% accurate. I wish that news was amplified more. If you have dense breasts (find your rating from the radiologist report w/your last mammogram--if it's 3 or 4, your breasts are dense enough- mine were rated 3) I URGE YOU TO GET ANNUAL ULTRASOUNDS WITH YOUR mammogram. MRIS are ...
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