^^ http://www.thelittlegym.com/Pages/default.aspx - it's not free, of course, but the kids love it.  We go to the one in Shaker Hts.  We didn't put either of our kids in daycare either.  Signing them up for these classes gave them the chance to socialize with other toddlers/infants.  My son just turned 6 and still goes to class once a week - he's done gymnastics, karate, sports, tumbling, and other classes.  My little girl (11 mos) has been beating up the boys in her class.  Some of them can't crawl yet (or at least are not very mobile) and she treats them like they are just another apparatus to conquer.  :) 

 

I think Gymboree also does something at their locations my wife has taken the little one to which is free.

My wife and I were 'fortunate' in that a lot of her 'friends' were having kids at the same time when my oldest was born. The quotation is in there as it was a mixed blessing. Yes, my kid was in a playgroup, but the moms were raging neurotics (or worry-paths), who made my wife crazy.

 

She had better luck signing up to a bunch of mommy and me typeclasses (Kindermusic, the now defunct Chabam, etc) and meeting other moms there and setting up playgroups that way.

 

Edit: +1 on the Little Gym. They're a little rule crazy in my book, but the programming is excellent, and all three of my kids truly enjoyed it there

Thanks.  Much appreciated!

 

 

My wife started taking our son to The Little Gym at about 9 months old and had a great experience.  When the next session came around and it conflicted with naptime, she had made enough friends from the LG class that they split off and formed their own play group (which of course is free).  She still enrolls him in sessions as schedules permit often coordinating with her group of friends.

 

We also started sending him to toddler pre-school 2 days a week (1/2 days) for child socialization.  Also gives my wife a chance to do some chores without toting him around.

We walked our son into pre-school slowly.  Non-day care pre-schools usually run from approx 9am-1pm.  At 2 1/2 yrs old, we sent him for 1 day per week.  When he was 3, he went for 2 days.  At 4, he was going 4 days a week.  It made the transition to kindergarten at 5 much easier, I would think.

We both work FT so there was no option to "transition" into anything, but he did go to a home daycare (smaller group, more individualized attention/care) from the time he was 3 months old when I went back to work until the time he started preschool this past March, so he had some socialization there. I didn't work too hard on socializing outside of that group - we did a few playdates here and there, and still do, but our schedules and finances don't work with a lot of organized play things like classes at Gymboree or Kindermusic. But since he's been away from both of us all day long since 3 months old, I don't think kindergarten is going to be a big deal for us either. First grade will be the big deal here, because he will be going to a different building/actual school and with all new kids.

^Kindergarten and 1st grade are not in the same building?  That's odd.  Most of the elementaries on the east side are Kindergarten and up. 

 

The 'socialization' issue is much bigger for parents that don't send their kids to daycare and that was why Deansheen was asking.  We're talking about babies that spend all day either at home or shopping with mommy.  They need a break from mommy just as much as mommy needs a break from them.  Also, if you don't expose your kids to germs at a young age, like they are at daycare, it is a nightmare sending them to school at first because they pick up everything and have not built up any immunity.  When we put my son in preschool, it seemed like he was sick for 3 straight months.

Our preschool has a certified kindergarten; we plan to keep him there through that grade and start him at "real" school in first grade.

 

Totally agree about both mommy and baby needing a break!

I should add that the kindergartens where we live are only half day, so that factors into the decision as to why we are going to keep him at the preschool through Kindergarten. Otherwise we would consider transitioning him for K so he would move up to 1st with his classmates.

^ I think State law has changed so that all Kindergartens are going to be full day. I know Orange changed last year. The school can defer the implementation for a year or two, but eventually, it has  to have a full day program.

Well, in Strongsville right now it is still half a day, and it says on one school's website: "New legislation was recently passed, removing the requirement of implementing all-day kindergarten. Subsequently, kindergarten classes will remain half-day sessions."

 

 

 

^Well whaddya know. They repealed it.

 

http://education.ohio.gov/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&TopicRelationID=778&ContentID=78128&Content=124266

 

I find that interesting in that part of the reason for the new levy in Orange last November, was to cover the cost of all day Kindergarten. Do I get a refund? [pause for laughter]

Seriously.

Some school districts that passed levies to pay for full day kindergarten are still doing full day.

I imagine that full day kindergartens are vital to most middle-class and all low-income neighborhoods.

I had a co-worker at my old job that had the all-day kindergarten requirement go into effect the year after he paid the school district to send his twins to all day kindergarten. He was not amused.

 

It was still cheaper than child care though.

 

From my understanding, you could still do half-day kindergarten too. My son had 3 or 4 kids in his class that left at lunch last year. Of course in Lakewood you don't have the busing issues that would complicate that.

 

 

Our little girl, Mariana, was born very early Friday morning (missed being born on Thanksgiving by 57 minutes).

 

 

 

 

Welcome, Mariana, and congrats to you! What a blessing at this time of year.

Congratulations!

Well done, JJ.  Your first?

Congratulations!!

Well done, JJ.  Your first?

 

Yep.  And according to my wife before the epidural, the last.  According to her after the epidural, not the last.  (She was in labor 18 hours and didn't get the epidural until 15 since she didn't want to have to get it at all.)

Sorry for being so blunt, but the road is already plowed.  Might as well let another delivery come through.  For our first, my wife was in labor for 22 hours and was stuck in the "pushing" stage for nearly 2 hours before the Doc pulled the baby out with a suction cup.  For our second, the labor was only about 5 hours and, once the doctor said to start pushing, the baby popped right out.

 

And FYI, if she doesn't already have one, you might want to think about getting the wife a moby wrap.  http://www.mobywrap.com/  Total game-changer.  Our second child lived in that wrap when she was an infant.  Wife would grocery shop, vacuum, whatever and the baby was totally chilled.  It probably gives them the feeling that they are back in the womb

I loved my Moby but it is a huge PITA in the winter because it gets stretched out as you take the baby in and out and then you have to keep re-wrapping it, with it dragging on the snowy parking lot ground or whatever. Highly recommend the Ergo carrier, which has an infant insert and can be used for much longer. Beco's are similar and very good, but a little more money. It's much easier to put on and take off, like a backpack. You wear the baby in the front when they are small and then on your back as they get bigger. And for the love of God do not use a Baby Bjorn. All the pressure is on their crotch and it's bad for their developing spine.

^I'm not sure how the moby was dragging on the ground unless you didn't have it tied correctly.  My wife ties it in the back and then wraps it around the front so there is no slack left to hang down.

When you have to take it off and untie it to re-tie it, it drags the ground. If you take the baby out of it and put back in more than twice, it gets too stretched out and you have to take it off and re-tie it. At least that was my experience, and I used it for several months.

Just get the potato sack harness thingy that makes the baby hang upside down....wait....no, my wife says I used it wrong...that straps the baby so that it's face is stuck in your chest, causing it to become woozy from your man stink. Sleep, little child....sleeeeep.......

 

Anyway, congrats on the baby. She's beautiful. And don't fall into that trap where the wife guilts you into staying up with her. That's horsecr@p. You'll be staying up plenty when she's 16 and out riding around on her boyfriend's motorcycle at 3am, and it'll all even up then.

My wife made her own sling based on instructions on whatever website she wasted her time on before Pinterest. The kids seemed comfortable and well supported in it, but MY neck is still aching.

 

Congrats on the addition to the family.

Hts and RNR,

 

Here's what a friend highly recommended to us.  It seems to be similar to the Moby Wrap but they advertise that it doesn't need the wrapping (however that works).

 

http://www.babyktan.com/

 

I believe my wife way have bought it already actually.

The Ktan is a great wrap. Enjoy it!

Our little girl, Mariana, was born very early Friday morning (missed being born on Thanksgiving by 57 minutes).

 

 

 

 

 

CONGRATS on your tax deduction the birth of your first child! ;D    Mariana is a very pretty name.

Congrats Jeff. I meant to reply earlier .

Family oriented events, destinations, and entertainments guide for NEO.

 

http://findtimeforfun.com/

OUers,

 

I would love to get feedback on your thoughts of installing a playground in downtown Cleveland. My wife and I have the opportunity to pitch a downtown playground to Joe Cimperman on Thursday. We also plan on offering a significant contribution to buy equipment, maintenance etc.  I know many (but not all) 18-34 year olds may not see the value for these types of amenities. Please keep an open mind when responding.

 

The highlights of our proposal include the following:

*Families/children are a missing demographic within the boundaries of downtown Cleveland. There is a lack of amenities to attract families to put down roots in Downtown Cleveland.

*Temporary (visiting) and permanent families support both entertainment and non entertainment retail, with non entertainment retail lacking due to this missing core demographic.

*Appealing to all segments of demographics is a much quicker path to a critical mass goal of 20K.

*Positive use of underperforming green space.

 

My questions are if it was your proposal, where would you recommend the playground be placed that tie in other features of downtown that attract families and what are your views (agree or disagree) on the highlights of the proposal.

Not sure how much space would be needed or any details of current ownership but maybe Settlers Landing, or the small lot north of the Hampton Inn at Rockwell, or the patch adjacent/east of the One Cleveland Center garage?

^Not sure if it's a safety issue or not, but can you make it 30 stories tall, at a location on Public Square. 

 

Great idea, and best of luck to you both.  Hopefully it all pans out for the best.  Would Perk Park be an option?  Close enough to the 9, and also 1717.

I work next to Perk Park and even without playground equipment it seems popular with younger families.

I think a natural fit would be on the vast, unused lawn of the Science Center. It is almost the only young kid/family-oriented thing downtown that's kind of away from other stuff that's not related. Maybe some space nerds or real science geeks go, but the vast majority of attendees to the Science Center are families with children, and usually ones fairly young, or young enough that a playground would appeal to the younger child while the center might appeal to the older child, if they have more than one. There also seems to be space there for it, but then you'd have to get the science center to be interested in doing it, so who knows.

 

You have to think where are they going anyway that's an anchor. I don't see Perk Park being all that close to anything like that, and there's no close by, easy access parking like there is around the science center, with the USS Cod and Mather right there also.

My top three spots.

 

Northern half of Willard Park.

+ Whenever I notice children downtown it's usually someplace between Lakeside Ave. and Voinovich Park (amenities)

+ A blank slate to work with, and probably the most underutilized space as far as I know.

- Most removed from existing downtown residential cores (of these three)

 

Eastern corner of Mall A.

+ Most centrally located (of these 3)

+ Library across the street

- Mall purists and "patriots" may rabblerabblerabble.

- The design might be compromised by trying to fit it within the space.

 

Fort Huntington Park (so long as the trees are preserved)

+ It just looks the part of the idyllic urban playground sans the playground at the moment.

+ Lots of eyeballs about during the week

- Sandwiched between a freeway and the Justice Center

- The western most stretch of Lakeside Ave. is a completely awful pedestrian experience and somewhat negates proximity to WHD/E.Flats residential core.

 

Perk Plaza doesn't rate as high for me, because it's new, vibrant, and being utilized and actively programmed. Settler's Landing is down a big ass hill. Problematic for strollers, and it's still just a very removed place of downtown till the oxbow flourishes. North Coast Harbor etc. is too far removed from everything, and Willard Park to me is the obviously better solution to the deficiencies of those areas.

^^If you mean a giant slab of pavement for parking, there are three large garages in adjacent blocks. Then there's metered parking all around Perk Park and adjacent side streets.

Fair enough MayDay. Perhaps well-marked/easy access parking is what I meant. I have worked downtown for a lot of years and I wouldn't even know where to park if I was going to Perk. I do think one of our problems as a city is parking garages are almost hidden and the costs a complete mystery until you pull in. Other cities seem to have big, branded, bright P signs visible from main roads as you pass them. KWIM?

My thinking with Perk Park (or the patch north of the Hampton Inn) is that it's adjacent and in a few blocks walking distance of an existing and growing residential base that seems like a more family-friendly area of downtown. The other areas such as the Science Center... I still think they'd be a great addition to downtown but I wonder if they're too isolated at the moment? Maybe there's a way to put both a small/local spot close in and a larger/"destination" type of facility around North Coast Harbor? I think either or both would be a great addition - and I haven't mentioned it in a while but thank you to all the folks who contribute to this thread. I'm not ever going to have kids but I certainly see the value in making the city more appealing to young families and hopefully this section has helped at least start or facilitate discussions.

 

rockandroller, as far as the parking costs and not being able to know until you're onsite - agreed, but that's not unique to Cleveland. As far as branded parking signage - yep, the universal standard is a blue/purple circle (or slight variation thereof) with a white letter "P". So yes, I know what you mean, but speaking of knowing - not trying to be snarky but just pointing out a few things ;-)

 

Hee. Not snarky at all. Perhaps because it's my own town, I've kind of blocked those signs out. I would almost never pay for a parking garage downtown, there are just too many meters. If there are no meters, that means it's football day and no way am I taking my kid downtown on football day. So maybe that's why I don't see them.

 

I agree it's isolated and it would be nice to have something in downtown proper. But Perk Park doesn't even have public bathrooms and there's no business close by to take little ones. This is something parents look for. So that would have to be factored in. In fact, should be discussed/factored in, wherever it ends up. at the science center, you can go in and use theirs without paying an entrance fee, and they are clean and sheltered and well-trafficked.

All, excellent ideas and almost all the locations (sans the 30 ft playground ?) are on our proposed list. Thanks so much for the extremely quick and detailed responses.

 

Our list in no particular order:

 

1. Modification to the Public Square plans since the plans do include a water play area.

2. Willard Park - Vastly unused greenspace with close proximity to Voinovich Park & The Science Center

3. Eastern corner of Mall due to the close proximity to the library. As Loretto stated, I think this would garner significant opposition.

4. Area around the Science Center

5. Settler's Landing. A major drawback is the location. It's at the far edges of downtown and next to train tracks

 

We considered Perk Park but we thought that the fact that it's the last park to be upgraded is a big deterrent.

 

We never considered the lot by the Hampton Inn or Fort Huntington Park certainly two to add to the list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes yes yes!!! This is something I think about often as my wife & I live on East Fourth and are expecting our first child in February, and we're planning on living downtown for a long time. While there are many things important to us as we work through raising children downtown, a playground is definitely on that list. 

 

In fact for the size of downtown, I hope that eventually there would many playground options (by the lakefront, settler's landing, gateway district, playhouse square/perk park area etc). For the first one, I would hope for a central location so that families from W. 10 all the way to E. 14 would find it a manageable walk with infants & toddlers. For where people live right now, I would rule out by the Science Center & Lakefront. Public Square would be incredible. As would some place on one of the Malls.

 

An intriguing spot could also be in between the old & new library buildings on Superior. That is a central location. It is a highly visible area, yet also has a sense of privacy. I would think that being between the two buildings could provide some cover from the elements & high winds. Plus, it would increase the library's service & outreach to families.

 

The more I think about it, the more I hope for the library spot. Anyway, thank for working on this and engaging the Councilman on it.

When we take the kids downtown, it is most often to go to the science center.  I agree with RnR on the placement.

 

As for the idea of giving it some height (yes, I know that was a joke), I love this type of design from Kalahari (Norwalk) for at least one element (of course, this is for an indoor playground so probably won't work....

 

I never looked at this as something that suburbanites would drive their kids to play on, but rather something to cater to the children that are being raised downtown.  It would have to be an "out of this world" playground for me to drive my kids to it.  And not to dis-credit the concept, because I love it!  Settlers landing seemed OK, but too far from families.  I was thinking something closer to the office building conversions along 9th, the porposed nuCLEus, and the new hotels along 9th/Euclid.  That's why I thought the eastern side of downtown would be best. 

 

What about something close to the Q, or the Jake?  Something that could cater to families that live in the vicinity, and families on their way to a game.  Can't think of much other than the Proposed Ferrari Building lot, or something within nuCLEus. 

I don't think anyone would go downtown just to go to a playground...... but it would be a nice addition to enjoy while families are down there for something else.  Perhaps a good "split the baby" solution would be to build something more traditional near the residences and something more iconic/elaborate by the science center.  There could even be some incorporation of science into the playground, much like they have in the science center on the upper floor.

I can tell you suburban moms do actually go to different cities specifically for the playground if it's a good one. There was a whole thread recently on my private Mom's board comparing three playgrounds and what was good/bad about them, which included what else there was to do close by. For example, Westlake rec center playground is great because the rec center is right there if you are a member, but they also have a fantastic library that has a GREAT little kid's section in the back, with puppets to play with and games and computers for littles to use, so you could make westlake a destination for an afternoon. Which I myself have done with my kid. Westlake library, playground and lunch at Moosehead is one of our fave saturdays.

The E. 12th spot of land between St. Clair and Rockwell Ave. is a really good spot. This piece of land has been unused since One Cleveland Center was erected approx. 30 years ago. There is also the gym above the parking garage of One Cleveland Center which possibly could be updated/renovated to be family friendly (I think the gym is currently closed, and has been for a long time). With a playground, and the gym, there is a spot for families to go during both good and bad weather. Also, there is plenty of street parking, and of course the parking garage for One Cleveland Center.

 

My reason for this being my #1 pick is I think the area of E. 12th from Lakeside to Euclid Avenue and blocks moving east are going to be the most family friendly areas for downtown living in the future with future development.

 

My #2 spot would be the land where the Ferrari development was proposed. There is enough land there for a good sized playground, it is right by the just voted most family friendly ballpark in America, and I also know there is in the works an approx. 30 foot tall Superman Statue/Sculpture which a local artist is working on to have erected on this same piece of land. Yes, I have seen drawings of it for those who want to know.

 

If a playground would be built at NCH, most of us know that that proposed development has a school segment to it, so if a school ends up as part of the NCH development, there should be a playground built with it.

 

To me Perk Park is not a good spot as this park was just rebuilt, and I like it just as it is. The mall locations are too far from any residential, and Settlers Landing is to small. The spot between the Old Federal Court House, and the Old Public Library is a pretty good spot as E. 2nd St. is less then a hundred feet long and not really used by vehicle traffic in any significant way anyway, it is next to the Library, and there has been talk for a long time to close this road and put a small park there. But it is not near any residential developments.