Strollerderby : park slope

Parents Need Sex Toys, Too!

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:31:00 GMT

Park Slope residents are all abuzz over news that a new Toys in Babeland, the popular Lower East Side sex store, will soon be opening in Brooklyn’s family-friendliest neighborhood. As a single gal living in the Slope, I was thrilled to hear the news. But what about the moms who are sitting in a neat, sweatered circle a foot away from me right now, bouncing their babies on their knees and sipping their lattes? Well, judging from a brief New York Post article, titled Sex-Toy Shop Has Bad Vibes in Park Slope, you’d think Park Slope parents would be better suited to Minnesota than New York.

Fortunately, New York Magazine’s Daily Intelligencer blog quickly set the record straight by reporting that the blogosphere has actually been flooded with Park Slope mommies and daddies eager to express their approval of the new sex store (sweaters and lattes or not), which will be located on Bergen Street on the same block as a Gymboree clothing store. Seems like convenient one-stop shopping to me: grab a onesie for little Jimmy and some edible undies to keep little Jimmy from destroying Mommy and Daddy’s marriage. According to comments on the Brooklyner and Brownstoner blogs, the majority of Slope parents are in agreement. As one woman wisely commented, “How silly of the Post. Where do they think all the babies come from?”

To which I would add: where do they think all the happily married couples with kids come from?

Photo: New York Magazine

Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and a Baby.

editors — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:30:00 GMT

We’re looking forward to the release of Baby Mama almost as much as the ending of the writer’s strike. Although not everyone’s a fan; a few of my neighbors over yonder in Park Slope, Brooklyn were a wee bit ticked off during the filming last summer. Parents were up in arms about everything from the depiction of career women in film to the lack of parking that inevitably comes when a film crew rolls up in front of your food co-op. We trust Tina Fey to bring us the goods as only this recent Golden Globe Winner can. Check out the trailer after the jump and judge for yourself, Baby Mama opens April 25^th. - April Peveteaux

Delusional Park Slope Parent Seeks Nanny/Saint

Madeline Holler — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 21:34:00 GMT

I’ve never had to hire a nanny. I stash my kids in the cheapest kiddie farm that minimally passes health inspections. So maybe I don’t really understand what it’s like to open my home and life to a stranger, who will spend a seemingly endless amount of time with my kids, doing the bulk of the drudgery so I don’t have to.

Still, I feel comfortable in saying that the requirements laid out in this ad for a Park Slope nanny will be met only by liars or those with hands bearing scars from stigmata.

Let’s unpack the ad:

Busy young couple … active, energetic nanny … three-month-old. Got it. Fluent in English … 1-2 year commitment … experience with family from newborn to elementary school a plus. They’re dreaming, but fine. They outline a four-day week, 12-hour days plus one weekend night per month. Next come the delusions/cries for help.

Experience with and/or support of exclusive breastfeeding and pumping is a requirement. I am imagining, here, a nanny being non-“supportive.” Pointing and laughing while she nurses? Making mom pump in the bathroom? Then: Interest in learning EC (elimination communication/ infant potty training) is a requirement. Experience with EC is a significant plus. Riiiight. No mention of combat pay, which is surely a requirement for holding a bowl under someone else’s naked three-month-old while he blasts one out.

Now, as if a diaper-less kid pissing all over the floor isn’t enough, there’s also the duty of preparing his meals, cleaning up after him, handling his laundry … AND … just maintaining the home's existing neatness and running occasional household errands ... But if the parents can’t do it (they can’t, right?), how should the nanny be able to?

Finally … must be willing to travel with the child … by public transportation … Is that with our without diapers? With or without the dry-cleaning? With or without maintaining the train’s existing neatness?

All that and more, plus you’re not even allowed to smoke! (But the ad says nothing about drinking on the job.)