Anyone still here?
Helloooo??? I just came upon this group via "madisonwi" and thought I'd post my question here, in case anyone's still following.

I'm a halftime parental figure for a 12-year-old (middle-school), and my involvement is likely to increase soon. I'm interested in finding a support group -- informal or more -- for parents of middle-school-aged early adolescents. Anyone know of anything like that in the Madison area?

I'll x-post over on madisonwi.

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reccomendations for pediatricians?
Please give me your rants and raves about your childs pediatrician. We are due in October and need to start meeting and greeting some doctors for our wee one. We are looking for someone preferably on ther east side, and someone who accepts blue cross/blue shield. I want to hear gripes, too, so I know who to avoid.

Much thanks!!

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free baby clothes
I have a bag full of boys onesies, jumpers, blankets, etc that I would like to give to someone who needs them. They were given to me by a friend who has an 18 month old, and the sizes range from 0-12 months. I am anti sports, race cars and slogans/logo's and that is why I am getting rid of this stuff. There are quite a few Pooh items in there as well. Theres nothing wrong with them, its just stuff I dont want for my kid.


If you'd like them, just drop a line here.

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Question for all you Experianced Madison Parents
Alright, my only Son is starting school this Fall. And I have to register him March 2nd.

The back story is, we moved to Madison from Oshkosh 3 years ago back when we had health care. I had that hospital mail me my son's Immunization Records as needed for school, and just called to see if he is up to date with them since we haven't had insurance in 3 years. Turns out he needs his Kindergarden Booster yet.

1st of all, I was 22 when I had my son and did not want him to be immunized at all, but his doctor bullied me into it. Is there anyway I can just refuse any more from now on?

2nd of all, if not, since my Son has no Pediatrician here in Madison and we still have no insurance, how should I go about getting his last immunization and does anywhere in Madison help out parent's with no insurance for their kids?

Thank you!

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Pregnant Mother Casting Call
LOOKING FOR PREGNANT WOMEN FOR HOT NEW REALITY SHOW!!!

( ARE YOU PREGNANT OR TRYING TO GET PREGNANT?Collapse )

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Play Group?
I am wondering if anyone would like to start a Play Group thing.

I have a 4 year old son, not in school yet, and not in day care because I'm a stay at home mom. And I'd like to get him to meet and play with other kids more. SO - I've been thinking of planning meet ups where Moms and Dads with a child around 2 - 6 years old would like to meet up at a family friendly Cafe or something like that. Since it's getting cold, can't really go to a park much longer!

I'm thinking of Lazy Janes right now if people are interested one day.

Thanks!

- Rebecca

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Baby Signs Workshops
Hello! I'm offering a few different baby sign language classes around town (west side mostly)over the next few months. If this is something you might be interested let me know and I'll send your more information about it. You can email me at madisonbabies at gmail dot com. There is a 90 minute parent workshop to give an overview of signing with babies and you also learn a few signs and a 6 week class for parents and babies (ages 6months-2yrs) where each week we learn a new set of signs (mealtime, bath time, animals,etc...). These classes are about 1 hour long and incorporate a lot of playtime, singing and interactions with the children.

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Attachment Parenting Support Group
Hello! Just thought I would let everyone know about a great support group I belong to for parents who want to exchange views, ideas, and support with other like-minded parents. It's every 3rd Friday at Happy Bambino (so the next meeting is July 18) from 1030-noon (late-comers welcome and kids too of course).

I hope to see some of you there...it's a great group!

http://www.happybambino.com/page.asp?redir=aspx&pgid=150089

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Food Tasting Party!
Hello! I am starting my own home-based business selling all natural, nutritious foods. I am aiming my "niche" to be busy parents who are concerned about their children's (and their own) health and nutrition but don't have the time and/or know how on how to prepare healthy meals. The foods I'll be selling will make it easy to create healthy meals in minutes. So, next week I am having two tasting parties ( you only need to come to one). There will be FREE FOOD (do you need any other reason to attend??) and no obligation to buy anything...for this first party I really am looking for people to come by, taste the food, let me know what you honestly think. Here is the info. Please let me know if you can make it or PLEASE tell any friends/family about it of you think they would be interested. As a side note, my sponsor had no direct sales experience but was bringing in $1000 within a couple months plus the food is really really yummy so I think it will be a big hit in a town like Madison.

Learn how to make nutritious meals the quick and easy way~

Kids welcome and please feel free to bring a friend or two or pass this information to anyone you might think is interested

There will be two parties (you only need to attend one):
Wed. June 25th, 6:30pm
OR
Thurs. June 26th, 6:30pm

Please comment here or email me for the address. I am in Middleton.
wildtreeally@hotmail.com

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MOMS Club
Hey, I was just wondering if any of you have ever gone to a MOMS club meeting. My little girl and I are going to try and make the one this Thursday.

Anyway --

"As a prospective member, you can attend two public events (those not hosted at someone's house). Our monthly meeting is the best "first event" to attend, and it can also be your second visit, too. It is usually held on the first Thursday of the month at 10 a.m. This month's meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 5th at 10 a.m. at Burke Park (corner of Nelson and Reiner Roads)."


( More information about the Madison MOMS clubCollapse )

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Teen volunteering
(Sorry for the cross post if you're also in madisonwi community!)

I'm looking for a volunteering opportunity for my daughter (age 12) for this summer. She would like to do the humane society, but since thats far east and we live in Middleton, not quite something she could do real often.

I was thinking more along the lines of light chores for elderly or something to that effect. She'd love to do something with dogs, but is just too young, it seems. Even if its just 2-3 hours/week, something to get her out of the house and get a new experience. Anyone know of any good opportunities in the Middleton area?

TIA!

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Family Weekend Activities
In an effort to keep this community jumping, I will try to post weekend family activities. Yes, I am shamelessly taking some of them from momsinmadison, but hey it saves you and extra couple of clicks. ;) If you got any more ideas, please feel free to share them, or if you beat me to it on Friday post them yourself! :)

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Hello!
Hello! It's been awhile since this community has seen some action. What do you say we do something about that? How about a roll call so that we can get to know each other?

Where do you live? How many kids do you have? Old pros or newbies at this whole parenting thing?

I am first time Mom and I live on the East side. My daughter was born on Nov. 23, 2007 (she is now three and half months old) at St. Marys. Man, St. Mary's has some pretty awesome food -- but lousy rooms. It was SO tiny! We have had a rough start being new parents because she has severe reflux and silently aspirates but I remain hopeful that she will grow out of it in the next month or so.

I also can't wait for Spring to really get here, despite Mayor Dave's good intentions of declaring it spring -- I don't think I am going to fall for it until the snow's off the ground. But that said, the 40+ degree weather the next few days will sure go a long way in alleviating the cabin fever. Tomorrow we plan on walking our greyhound with the baby in the moby wrap. We are debating on whether or not to buy a stroller.

Did you guys find that a stroller was invaluable?

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To Madison Single Moms
Hello, I am organizing a support group for single moms in Madison. Our first meeting is tomorrow at 1pm at Escapes on Willy St. (they have a toy room so feel free to bring your kids). For more information please check out our meetup page at http://parents.meetup.com/464/ or feel free to email or reply here if you want to chat with me about it.

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hey madison parents!
Hey parents with "living in Madison" experience, a single mama friend of mine is contemplating a move there and would like some input about the place. I hardly feel like living an hour and a half outside and driving in gives me the right to dish about it, so I'm appealing to my friends' list. If you'd be okay with me passing along your email address, will you comment with it and I'll pass it along! thanks!


comments are screened

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Hi there,
I am going to be moving from Flint, MI to Madison soon with my three children (19, 16, and 8, though my oldest will probably be getting her own apartment).

I've been looking at rentals, but unfortunately, I don't know anybody in the area who can tell me about crime rates in various areas. Any advice about safe neighborhoods, unsafe neighborhoods, etc from a parent's perspective would be very much appreciated.

Also, my 8-year-old son is autistic, so I would appreciate any information on services in the area for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Thank you very much,
Elizabeth

Current Mood: hopeful

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???
Anyone know when the Children's Zoo area is opening at Henry Vilas?
We've been there a few times now since we've been in town and every time we've gone my son has REALLY wanted to play on the giant outback jungle gym thing(and he's only two so he doesn't understand that he can't) but as of last week it was still closed so I was wondering when it was going to be opening.

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Following azureflower's lead...
Hi!
I just moved to Madison last week with my husband and two year old son. I'm from Wisconsin originally(north of Green Bay), but moved to Santa Fe, NM for a few years for college and then came back to the midwest two years ago after my son was born.
I'm currently a stay at home mom, although that's going to change in the next year or so, I'm hoping to go back to school to turn my associate's degree into a bachelors(which was a major part of the reason we moved here). So far we're really enjoying the city, it's a lot more kid friendly than the small town we were living in before, and my son has already been enjoying the fabulous parks and of course the zoo!
I'm looking forward to meeting some other Madison parents!

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I signed up here yesterday. My husband and I live a little ways outside Madison. We have a 1-year old daughter; Aiyana. There's some pictures of her here: http://www.dryphed.com/Angie/Aiyana/

Just thought I'd introduce myself.

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