Babysitters aren't cheap these days and on top of the actual cost you have to figure in the hassle of finding one, instructing them, and, possibly driving them home afterwards. But suppose you've done all that and now you and your significant other are free (Wheee!) for the evening -- what do you do to make the most of the night? How about a movie? Oh, sure, so you can pay seven bucks to listen to someone else's kids just because they couldn't get a babysitter?

There's an alternative, now, if you live near Chicago. Gold Class Cinemas is opening a new theatre that features reclining arm chairs and full waiter service. The theatre will offer wine -- including a $295 bottle of Dom Perignon champagne -- and comestibles such as duck tacos and Wagyu beef burgers. It's unlikely you'll encounter any screaming kids or audience members talking on their cell phones -- tickets are $35, about five times the going rate.

While that might seem like a lot just to see a movie, bear in mind that you're probably already going to be paying nearly that much for the babysitter. It seems to me that it's worthwhile for parents to make their rare nights out something to remember.

Don't worry, I'm not referring to getting coffee. What I mean is, when you go in for a visit, say your annual exam or for a specific reason--like you're pregnant--how much time does your OBGYN spend talking with you? Is it enough? I've read countless articles over the years about how doctors in general are not spending enough time with their patients. Due to the pressures of insurance companies to ever-expand their businesses, for example, doctors are seeing more and more patients and able to give them less and less time. The really good doctors seem to have endless waiting rooms full of eager patients as well, which could mean that you get only a few minutes of his/her time once you actually secure an appointment.

The reason you're seeing an OBGYN might determine how long he or she spends with you. When I visit my OBGYNs, for example, I'm there for pregnancy check-ups. These don't normally take very long at all, and they're very by-the-numbers: Weight taken (fat!), blood pressure checked (low, good), belly measured (sure due date is good, why not), that kind of thing. Then comes the time for questions. How am I feeling, are there any problems, and I resting enough and drinking enough water? Then we check the baby's heartbeat and off I go.

The whole thing takes probably less than ten minutes. It's a whirlwind, but I'm not really designed to be sitting there gabbing all day. Were it an annual exam, it would take longer. There are more tests and questions and most likely the doc wouldn't have seen me a week ago, and then be seeing me next week, and so on. But, do you think you're getting the attention you deserve when you visit the OB or are you just another in a line of vajayjays?

You thought gas was expensive at more than four dollars a gallon, eh? Well try paying eleven dollars a gallon for milk and see how long you keep up that "no soda for kids" rule! That's the price people are paying in some parts of rural Alaska where the cost of living is extraordinarily high. And what about gas? Try more than nine dollars a gallon in some towns.

With median incomes around $25,000 per year in some of these rural areas, it's no wonder many families are considering heading to the big cities in search of lower prices and higher wages. "We need immediate relief," said Mike Williams of the Alaska Intertribal Council. "I don't want to see all the young people and families leave to live in Anchorage and leave the elders behind in the village."

Community leaders, businesses, and politicians are working together to come up with solutions, but it seems to me that it would be very difficult to try and raise a family under those conditions. I know I would be headed into town. "This has reached a critical point to where we will now have [to] decide if we are going to feed our young or keep them warm," said Ron Hoffman of the Association of Village Council Presidents Regional Housing Authority. I know I would want to do both.

For first-time parents, the thought of bringing another life into the world--and being responsible for it--is daunting enough. Add to that all the advice, the stuff people tell you that you need and the endless lists of such things and becoming a parent can seem less appealing than ever. Then there's the matter of labor and the trip to the hospital. If you haven't done it before--and, for some, even if you have--the hospital can be the scariest part. Just how do you prepare for such an event, especially when you haven't the slightest clue about what will REALLY happen once you're there?

Lists are great for a lot of things. And there are plenty of lists of things to pack for the hospital out there on the web, some better than others. Ultimately, what each woman (and/or man) needs is going to be different, based on his or her comfort level and lifestyle, but there are some things it's a good idea to have in the hospital when the time comes. The first thing to do is to pre-pack what you think you MIGHT need. You never know when your child will arrive, and the last thing you want to be thinking about when your water breaks is whether or not you packed your house slippers as you scramble toward transportation.

Rather than tell you what you do need at the hospital, I can provide a short list of what you DON'T need. For example, in my experience at least, you do not need extra underwear. Nope. They give you these giant maternity underwear to wear over the giant pads they give you to help with...well...leakage. Sure, you may wish to wear something different home from the hospital, but I had a totally regular, easy delivery and I still was very thankful to have those giant honking underwear--which, by the way, are made out of some sort of mesh--they gave me.

My seven-year-old longs to have have thick, sleek hair that flows to her lower back. Unfortunately, what she has is short, wispy hair that struggles to grow past her shoulders. The last time I took her to the salon for a trim, she balked. She was convinced that even a small trim would delay the achievement of her hair goal and result in her looking like a boy. I finally convinced her that trims were important for healthy hair and that we would only have the tiniest bit taken off just to neaten things up a little. She reluctantly agreed and sat down in the chair. When the stylist asked her what she wanted done, she pointed to a photo on the wall and said she wanted her hair just like that - an ear-length bob with bangs.

I usually let Ellie her make her own decisions regarding her hair, but not this time. I caught the stylist's eye and indicated through creative sing language that what we really wanted was about half an inch taken off the ends and nothing more. She complied and Ellie left happy with basically the same hairstyle she went in with.

As a parent, I feel it is my duty to protect Ellie from all manner of bad things, including ear-length bobs (no offense to ear-length bob-wearers - it's a face-shape thing). I suppose that by vetoing her hair cut choice I may robbed her of the opportunity to learn an important lesson about impulsive actions and their consequences, but I would do it again. She has the rest of her life to make bad hair choices and that is a lesson that can wait.

When it's time to take your child in for a haircut, who calls the shots regarding style? Do you give the stylist instructions or is it kid's choice and anything goes?

Somehow, and I don't know why this is, but I feel like Uma Thurman is such a normal person. Sure she has ethereal beauty and is a megawatt star on the big screen, musing for heavy hitters such as Quentin Tarantino, but really she seems like she's just like everyone else. So I don't know what the big deal is with her bump watch. Rumors continue to fly that Ms. Thurman is once again in the family way. Sadly, Uma's actions are doing little to dispel those rumors.

The former Mrs. Ethan Hawke is already mom to two children, along with Hawke, Maya, 10, and Levon, 6. She recently became engaged to big wig money man Arki Busson. She's hinted that she'd like to add to her family. And now, goodness gracious, she's gone and ordered some clothes from Fred Segal that are a few sizes larger than her normal frame. Clearly someone at Segal needs to be fired, immediately, for letting her purchases slip, which, to me, is the much larger issue.

Also, hey, maybe Uma ordered those clothes for SOMEONE ELSE. Of course, there was that shot of her from this past summer in a bathing suit looking slightly bumped-out, so who knows. Obviously if she is pregnant she'll tell us about it when she's good and ready, unless someone at Fred Segal would like to do it for her. I know normal people don't really shop at Fred Segal (they can't afford it), but I rather feel like Uma deserves her privacy, just like the rest of us!

Labor day weekend, along with the usual suspects (a bunch of families from my son's preschool, plus a few additions from kindergarten and first grade), I took my older two kids camping at Mount Hamilton, the tallest mountain in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and home to the Lick Observatory. The location was selected because of a star party taking place Saturday night hosted by the Halls Valley Astronomical Group.

The long weekend coincided with a new moon, so the night sky was nice and dark. After dinner, we wrapped our flashlights in red cellophane and headed up the hill to where local astronomy enthusiasts had set up their telescopes. These might have been amateurs, but their telescopes were anything but. Motorized and computerized, they were big devices that brought the heavens right down into the campground. The highlight of the night was being able to see Jupiter along with four of its moons, all in a row. Club members were more than happy to explain what the kids were seeing and answer any questions they had.

You may not be close enough to attend one of the Halls Valley club's star parties, but they're not the only group that invites the public to see the stars through their telescopes on a regular basis. Sky and Telescope magazine has a searchable directory of clubs and organizations around the country, along with some tips and advice on getting started on your own. Even without a high-powered telescope, there's a lot to see in the night sky, so get outside and look up!

OK, is it me or is a national convention no place for a baby? As was widely covered (yet not as much as the Democratic National Convention, interestingly), the Republican National Convention showcased many of Sarah Palin's children (and a would-be teenage groom). Among them, Palin's infant son, Trig. I thought it was a lot to take my newborn to the local diner when he was born!

Now, while the Republicans seemed a little more calm and collected than their boisterous Democratic opponents, they were still a relatively rowdy bunch. The whole point of a convention is to get people riled up for the cause, and there was a lot of that going on, especially from Palin herself. It was a loud, crowded, noisy place, which, to me, is no place for a baby. Babies need stimulation and interaction with the social world, I'm sure, but the RNC is a far cry from what good old Doctor Spock imagined. I am sure that kid was terrified. He seemed ok in the arms of family members as the rest of the RNC wailed on, but I couldn't help but think he should have been home with a nanny or a sitter.

Of course, the whole point of having her family there was to drive home the point that she's a mom and that she is a working mother, too. And, naturally, rather than focusing on real issues that truly matter to the election, the focus was all on her family. Trig has down syndrome. Bristol is pregnant. Levi will we her. Both Palin and the press have done their best to constantly remind us of these things--things which matter, sure, but they shouldn't be a part of the race for the White House. Should they? Palin and her people say keep the children out of it, yet there they were, even the littlest one, at the convention. Obama was no better--he trotted his kids out for the cute factor, no denying that.

Thoughts? Should we keep candidates' kids out of the political spotlight? If so, shouldn't they NOT be on television?

According to a new report, actress Leighton Meester was essentially born in prison. The Gossip Girl star's mother was allegedly in prison serving time in federal prison in Texas for drug-related charges when her now-famous daughter was born.

Mom was allowed to live in a half-way house until little Leighton was three months old, but then had to serve out the rest of her sentence behind bars. The report appears in the questionable if anything Star magazine, where it is noted Leighton was raised by a relative until mom was released.

The magazine also claims other members of Meester's family, including her grandfather, spent time in the slammer, again for drug-related charges. Do we believe it? Sure, why not--plenty of women have had children while in prison. Can't stop mother nature. Do we care? That I'm not so sure about. With Gossip Girl's second season opening to its largest audience ever, I doubt the show needed such a publicity stunt, but they got one anyway!

For pretty much everyone, Labor Day signifies the last day of summer. Never mind that most kids go back to school either the week before or after Labor Day, which many feel like is the real end of summer. Never mind that the actual end of summer is sometime in late September. To many, this year, Labor Day represents a few things quite different than a last hurrah for summertime activities. Many will hit the beaches or pools one last time before they close for the year, and many will have one last barbecue or picnic with family and friends before resigning themselves to school schedules. Many, however, will lament not being able to do much of anything because of the failing economy and soaring gas prices.

I don't really know anyone who went anywhere real for summer vacation this year. They made good use of the park and local activities, and they spent some quality time with said family and friends (which is great) but most are really looking toward the normalcy of the regular old school year, when they don't have to disappoint their kids by saying they're not going anywhere.

Or, are they? Now is the time to get out of town if you're going to do so. Many airlines are having specials. Gas has finally lowered a tad (although it's still well over $3.50 a gallon in most places). The kids are more stir crazy than ever, especially knowing school is right around the corner. Maybe now is the time to pop into the minivan and hit the road--wherever it may take you. Hey, maybe you don't even know where you'll end up (that's always a scary thought when traveling with kids). If you do hit the road this Labor Day, just keep in mind that everyone else may have the same idea. Some people are traveling anyway, regardless of cost or inconvenience. Some of them saved a lot of money by not traveling the rest of the summer. But all of them chose not to pass up this last chance to do something this summer.

Chances are, if you weren't saving money hiding under a rock this summer you heard, perhaps one time too many, about the values and virtues of the 'staycation.' A staycation is exactly what it sounds like--a 'vacation' where you and your family stay at home. And, more often than not, a staycation is also how it sounds--boring!

Americans spent a lot of time watching the Dow plummet and the prices of gas jump through the roof. Just because they're back down to $3.69 a gallon does not mean things are going well. Still, many families got too stir crazy to sit around their houses all summer. Just try keeping the kids in the house during summer vacation, when they're supposed to not have to worry about anything but having fun and enjoying the long days and nights that make it great to be a kid. Sure, you don't have to travel to enjoy those things, but it does help to get out of the house. After all, the house is generally filled with chores and the projects no one ever gets around to because they're hard or boring or both.

In direct response to the staycation, I know a lot of families who did their best to get the heck out of dodge. They became very creative when it came to outings and spending. In fact, some of them had the trips of their lives. they visited parks. They saw relatives. They engaged in discovering places that were within a three- to five-hour drive from home. And, of course, during all of this they spent quality time together. Some of them said to heck with it and took the longer trips anyway, visiting foreign lands or at the very least, Florida. They were clearly tired of hearing about the merits of the staycation.

What did you do? Did you say to heck with it all and packed the kids in the car for that Griswold family vacation anyway, or did you suck it up, stay at home and watch the paint dry?

Pic by Manchester Library.

For me, the best part about going out to eat is the opportunity to enjoy food that I wouldn't (or couldn't) prepare for myself at home. I can whip up a decent batch of chicken enchiladas, but they don't compare to what I can get at my favorite Mexican restaurant. And I don't even know how to make anything Chinese. And Indian food tastes best when prepared by an expert who has all those wonderful spices on hand. In other words, when I go out to eat, I enjoy the food because it is usually something I can't get at home.

Which is why I find a new restaurant chain that serves just cereal quite curious. Cereality Cereal Bar and Cafe offers the same cereal you buy at the grocery store - Frosted Flakes, Cheerios and all the rest. The gimmick is the addition of toppings. Just like at some ice cream shops, you choose your toppings and they mix it in. Toppings include malted milk balls, fruit, nuts and all kinds of other things I've never considered putting in cereal. The cereal and toppings are mixed together and served in a Chinese take-out style box. You add your own milk from the milk fountain.

Granted, Cereality does serve a few non-cereal items (smoothies, parfaits, coffee and tea), but the main dish is cereal. And judging by the Web site, it is not geared towards those who love cereal the most - children. The site shows lots of happy adults chowing down on their custom-mixed boxes of cereal. And you know what? After looking at the site and the virtual tour, I am starting to think that I love this idea. What about you? Would you go out for cereal?

Let this be a lesson to us all. If you're going to borrow library books from your local library, please be reminded that "borrow" is the operative word. You get a library card (generally for free) and thereby enter into an agreement wherein said library lends you books for a few weeks...and then you give them BACK. If you don't, you get hit with a meager fine. Last time I borrowed a book, the fine was about five cents a day. Seriously--it's been a LONG TIME since I've borrowed a book. In other words, there's really no incentive to not return the books that were lent to you for free by the very nice people who work at the library. Sometimes, however, when you take those things for granted, things get nasty.

Just ask Heidi Dalibor, who refused to return her copies of White Oleander and Angels and Demons. Nor did Ms. Dalibor remit the fines she owed to the library from which she borrowed the page-turners despite the notices she received in the mail. Furthermore,she declined to take note of the court citation issued to her when she didn't respond to the Grafton Library's calls and letters to her. The result? She was arrested. Cops showed up at her family's house, handcuffed her, and booked her for violating the "overdue library materials" ordinance! Seriously.

My words of advice? Return your library books, people. Or, at the very least, see what policies your town has regarding whether or not you return them.

Pic by jhoweaa.

When I was a teenager, I spent a lot of time listening to music, and perhaps even more money on t-shirts from the concerts I attended. I've kept them faithfully over the years. In fact, they've traveled from Kentucky to New York several times and have still remained intact, tucked away somewhere safe for all this time. My husband also have quite a collection of his own that he brought to our marriage. Many of his are tucked away too.

I occasionally wear mine every once in a while, and some of his (his are cooler). For the most part, though, they sit in storage waiting for us to do something with them. Perhaps we hold on to them for nostalgic purposes. Perhaps we keep them in hopes of turning them over to our children one day--at least that's what I told myself upon recent purchases of concert t-shirts from both Police and Springsteen concerts. Maybe then my kids will think I was cool.

But, other than storing and waiting, what is to be done with all those t-shirts? Some have suggested cutting off the fronts and backs and using them to make a giant quilt. That would be very cool. I countered that notion with, hey, why stop at a quilt--you could do throw pillows, the whole nine yards. Others say to sell on e-bay or donate to charity or just use them as rags like the rest of the old t-shirts. Some say, better yet, don't buy them--they're too expensive and just sit in the closet. And that kids won't think you're any cooler for having them (and having kept them all these years).

What did you do with all your old concert t-shirts? Are they still sitting in a pile somewhere or did you come up with a clever alternative to dumping them?

How do your kids get to school? How did you get to school when you were a kid? Taking the yellow school bus, walking or riding a bike may all seem like normal methods of getting to school. In the modern world, we drive and carpool as well. But what about in urban environments where a lot of parents don't drive or even own a car? They take the subway.

And they do it ALONE. That's right--I've seen it myself. Kids popping onto and off of the subway without a parent in sight. How do they manage it? And why, you might wonder, do their parents let them do it? Well, necessity is the mother of invention and a lot of other things, it turns out. Kids are going in one direction, their parents in another (to school versus work), and the main way to get around town in New York, for example, is underground.

Turns out, it's probably safer too. Driving in this city is a disaster on a good day. You're a LOT less likely to get into an accident on the subway than you are in your car. Plus, the kids tend to travel in packs on the subway. I never see a kid get onto an empty car at an odd (non-rush hour) time. They pick which car to meet up on and collect as the train makes its stops toward their final destination. I know because I can hear them screeching above my iPod.