2012 February | Growing Up Austin

Monthly Archives: February 2012

Top 5 SXSW Kid-Friendly Events 2012

February 27, 2012

Sparkles at SXSW in 2011, on a walk along South Congress

Two truths about Austin, Texas during Spring Break:

The SXSW Music, Film and Interactive conferences bring 10,000+ people to town for day-time sessions and day-and-night live music shows, film screenings and parties.
Kids of all ages are home for Spring Break and Moms and Dads are looking for fun things to do.

Most of the time the two never meet, since a typical SXSW event requires an expensive badge or wristband, is likely to start at 1:00 in the morning and is probably in a bar.

But, while there might be thousands of things you can’t do, there are a few that you can do and who needs more than one or two things to do anyway? It’s easier that way, you don’t have to sift through the enormous schedule of events or search the Internet for hours. Here are my suggestions…

Top 5 SXSW Kid-Friendly Events 2012

#5. South Congress (SoCo) Walk

Wednesday, March 14 – Saturday March 17, 11am – 5pm, South Congress between Annie and Riverside

South Congress walks are free and funky and likely to be remembered. Bands play for free in just about any spot they can find with room for a drum set and an amp. The people-watching is world-class, since SXSW has it’s own sense of fashion, equal parts cowboy boots and tattoos. The day-time is the best because parking (mostly in neighborhoods) isn’t crazy yet, the sidewalks aren’t too packed and it is too hard to keep up with kiddos at night anyway. Bring a wagon, if the kids might get tired of walking. The walks are free, but bring a few bucks to tip the bands. If you stop for a bit to eat after the lunch rush or before dinner, Guero’s has great food and free music on the patio after noon-ish.

#4. Moms Rock from Texas M.I.L.K

Sunday, March 18, 11am – 5pm, Happy Salon and Spa, 1605 West 6th Street

Moms Rock is a showcase celebrating motherhood and music with live music by Mom musicians and kid’s activities including making your own musical instrument out of recycled materials. There isn’t a cover charge, but bring a few bucks for food from a few favorite food trailers and raffles for cool prizes. The venue is a little odd, it’s in an alley between 5th and 6th streets, behind a hair salon and between businesses that are closed on weekends. It is mostly contained, to be safer for the kiddos. Parking is off-street parking only, so you will want to allow for some time to park and walk. The event is hosted by Texas M.I.L.K. (Mothers I’d Like to Know), a growing collection of conversations with the Lone Star State’s most fascinating Texas Moms.

#3. Educational Video Game Play Dates

Friday, March 9 – Sunday March 11, Palmer Events Center (Note: These is part of SXSW Interactive, so is the first weekend of Spring Break.)

If you have kids 5-13 who like video games and if you like video games to be fun AND educational, this is for y’all. Airy Labs creates educational video games for the iPhone and iPad and they are inviting kids over for a play date to try out what their latest games. They can play “junior scientist” and you can meet Andrew Hsu, the Airy Lab founder. He has a unique perspective on education and games and how they can live peacefully together. To sign up for a play date, email sxsw@airylabs.com or visit their Facebook Page. (Thanks Heidi from Free Fun in Austin for the tip!)

#2. KUT SXSW Live Music at the Four Seasons

Wednesday, March 14 – Friday, March 16, 7am – 11am, 98 San Jacinto Boulevard

It makes me giggle to think of the musicians who usually play in a bar late at night playing in a well-lit hotel ballroom at 7am. If feels like an Alice-in-Wonderland potion-gone-wrong, but I’m not complaining because this is a pretty decent venue for my kids. KUT hosts these morning, downtown shows during SXSW each year and broadcasts them on-air. The lineup this year includes Jimmy Cliff, Ruthie Foster and Ray Wylie Hubbard. There is a $10 charge for each person (kids 6 and under are free) and $5 for parking at the hotel, but the money is a fund raiser for the Seton Shivers Cancer Center AND it gets you live music, breakfast tacos and coffee.

#1. Your Favorite Babysitter and Green Side of the Pond Showcase at Jovita’s (no link available at this time)

Friday, March 16, 7:30pm – 12am, 1619 South 1st Street

Your Favorite Babysitter isn’t a new band, it is a suggestion. For one night during SXSW, get a babysitter for the kids and head out for a grown-up night of live music. Jovita’s isn’t technically a SXSW venue, but that is good news, since you don’t need a wristband or badge. Four of the five bands are pop, alt country or rock bands from Scotland who also have SXSW gigs. The fifth band plays traditional Scottish music and they are from Austin. Strange, huh? You can check out the music ahead of time at the links below. Get there at 6:30ish to get a table for dinner, then stay for the music. There isn’t a cover charge, but tipping the bands is encouraged. (Jovita’s is an all-ages venue, so you could bring older kids who have a later bedtime, but you can also pretend that I didn’t mention that.)

7:30-8:15 French Wives (Scotland)

8:30-9:00 Tango in the Attic (Scotland)

9:15-10:00 Woodenbox (Scotland)

10:15-11:00 Three Blind Wolves (Scotland)

11:15-12:00 Poor Man’s Fortune (Austin)

And remember that GrowingUpAustin.com and AustinKidsDance.com work year-round to bring you information about grown-up live music in kid-friendly venues! Like us on Facebook or subscribe to the RSS feed to get the latest stories and info.

[UPDATE: Also check out a follow-up post, ANOTHER Top 5 SXSW Kid-Friendly Events 2012 for more ideas.]

[UPDATE: The SXSW Auditorium Shores shows on Saturday afternoons, starting at 2:00pm, have been confirmed. Check out the web site for details.]

(NOTE: This content is copyright protected by the Common Copyright License. Links to this site are welcome.)

By Carol | Posted in Austin Kids Dance! | Comments (16)

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT at the Ramsey House

February 20, 2012

Growing Up Austin Parenting

The Bay City Rollers may think they know how to do a Saturday night, but this is my version at the Ramsey house.

7:51pm Saturday night – Sparkles and Buttercup are snuggled in their beds and Blue Eyes and I are about to say goodnight when Sparkles says her ear hurts. I am not a brand-new Mom and I know that Sparkles discovers an unusually high number of physical ailments right around bed time. I tell her what I always tell her for a bedtime ailment, “The best thing you can do is get some rest for your body.” It’s not that I ignore her complaint all together, I just wait to see if she brings it up again. Blue Eyes and I sit down on the couch to watch a Netflix movie.

8:51 – Sparkles brings it up again by crying “Mommy!!!!!! Daddy!!!!!”. Yes, her ear hurts. Given our last experience with an ear infection that started after the doctor’s office was closed, when she cried throughout the night, I told Blue Eyes that Sparkles and I would sleep in our bed and I asked him to sleep in the guest room. I give up on the movie and go to bed with Sparkles. She is comforted by my arms around her and she falls asleep peacefully.

12:42am – Sparkles is sleeping well, but she is tossing and turning and kicking me and kicking me and kicking me. I noticed that, in my half-asleep state, I had started to stiff-arm her, like a football player, keeping one arm out long, to try to keep some distance. But it wasn’t working.

1:15 – The ear pain wasn’t waking her up and my body was suffering greatly, so I carried Sparkles upstairs to her bed.

4:35 – “Mommy!!!!” calls out from the baby monitor. I head upstairs. Sparkles woke up, not because her ear hurt, but because her pull-up leaked and wet the bed. I had accidentally bought the day-time pull-ups when Sparkles needs the night-time pull-ups and at this moment this seemed like a Very Big Shopping Mistake. I get Sparkles cleaned up and in new pajamas. We are two seconds from being done when I hear, “Mommy!!!” from Buttercup, in the other bed in the same room.

Buttercup sees that something is going on and she isn’t about to just go right back to sleep. I’m at great risk for having two completely awake toddlers at 4:35 in the morning. I have to think quick. I set Sparkles down on Buttercup’s bed and tell her I’ll be back. I pick up Buttercup and bring her downstairs to cuddle with Blue Eyes in the guest room, so she will fall back asleep. On the way to the stairs I step on something wet and I ignore it. I wake up Blue Eyes and say, “It’s a long story, can you take her?” and he does.

I head back upstairs to get Sparkles. I have a dream-like memory of stepping on something wet and I try to imagine how Sparkles’ leaky pull-up could have gotten the carpet wet by the top of the stairs.

No, that isn’t it. Oh, #$%#$%. I know what it is.

In another recent Very Big Shopping Mistake, I did an impromptu grocery shopping trip earlier that day without having my list that clearly identified cat litter as a critical item. Our cat had been protesting the messy box by not using it. How often does a house have two separate pee accidents at 4:35 in the morning? I get a towel from the bathroom and cover the spot. I’ll clean it in the morning. I don’t have the energy to change Sparkles’ sheets, so I bring her downstairs to my bed.

6:11 On most mornings, Sparkles wakes up at 7am and sometimes later, but on this morning when we both had trouble sleeping during the night, she wakes up at 6:11. We sneak into the living room without turning on lights and being super quiet, so we don’t wake up Buttercup or Blue Eyes. We pull the big easy chair in front of the TV and put on the Wizard of Oz DVD. We snuggle under a blanket and talk about the movie and her favorite parts and what Dorthy is going to do next. Well, this last part really was pretty sweet.

I felt pretty hung over on Sunday, kind of like I felt when I was younger after a late night of drinking. Now I have different reasons for staying up all night. My new reasons may not seem like as much fun, but that early morning snuggle under the blanket and the conversation about the Wizard of Oz, that is my favorite cocktail of all.

By Carol | Posted in Mom Stories | Comments (11)

Light a Candle and Make it So

February 17, 2012

The girls were excited. They helped set the table. (Well, they spent most of the time picking out the candles. Candles are their favorite.) I got out the table cloth and nice plates. The girls’ simple salads of carrots and ranch dressing were arranged in a circle, all fancy.

The special occasion was Buttercup’s $0.01 dress from Nordstrom’s Rack, the one on the left. It was super cute, her size, and marked as “100% Savings!” on the red clearance sticker. It was a computer error, but they honored the price. It is hard to buy just one beautiful girl’s dress in our house, so I found another one at the same store for Sparkles for $12, no computer error, just a good sale price.

Who wants to come home with such beautiful dresses and have no where to go? Not me! Who wants to do something expensive and complicated, spending all the money they saved on a $0.01 dress? Not me, either!

I am not Martha Stewart. If you have been to my house for dinner or a party, you know this for sure. I’m never ready on time, I don’t have the right serving pieces and I might have to microwave the bar-b-que chicken to cook it on the inside before the grill burns it on the outside. It is all well intentioned, but it isn’t pretty.

This dinner was like that. There were creases in the table cloth, the meat was a little over cooked and it was a multi-course dinner only because my timing was lousy. But none of that mattered. We set the intention for it to be a special dinner. We did extra things to make it nice. Blue Eyes was surprised and happy and the girls thought it was special.

It’s sweet when you are two and four-years-old. It’s easier to make something special. I want to be more open to that feeling. That I don’t need to spend money or eat something or be validated in some official way to have a good night. Some times I can just say that it is and light a candle, making it so.