Fun Summer Activities for Kids in Philadelphia

Looking for some fun summer activities in and around Philadelphia?  Look no further! Here are some highlights to what will be a fun-filled and memorable summer.  The activities cover a broad range of interests, from nature to theater and food.  And by food, I mean the favorite food group of most kids, ice cream!!

The Tyler Arboretum

If you have never visited this 650 acre arboretum, it is time to pack up and take your kids to this natural wonderland, full of walks and short hikes through rare plants, ancient trees and historic buildings.  Need a better reason than that?  The Magical Habitats Exhibition, which will be ongoing through the summer, has been described as a “fantasy come to life.”  Elves, gnomes, wizards and fairies occupy this brand-new neighborhood of natural dwellings.   If this isn’t your cup of tea, check out the Totally Terrific Treehouses Exhibition, back by popular demand for another year of climbing and exploring.  Bring a picnic and enjoy the view from these beautiful treehouses! 515 Painter Road, Media. Call (610) 566-9134 or visit tylerarboretum.org.

Robin Hood at the Media Theater

Who doesn’t enjoy the eternal tale of Robin Hood and his mischievous merry men?  This rendition of the British folk story takes children and adults alike back into the magical Sherwood forest.  This musical adaptation will entertain kids from ages 5 and up.  The children will love the young cast’s humor and be singing songs all the way home!  June 4-July 30. $10/kids, $12/adults. 104 E. State St., Media. Call (610) 891-0100 or visit mediatheatre.org.

Alex’s “Original” Lemonade Stand

Having become a regular summer sighting across the country, Alex’s Lemonade Stand returns to its original location in Wynnewood for a special event.  Here is where a young girl made the best out of her childhood cancer, following the popular optimistic saying -when life give’s you lemons, you make lemonade.  Help raise money for this great cause with fun, food, games and an exciting butterfly release! Last year’s event raised $100,000 and this year they hope to top that.  If you're there by 1pm and like to dance (who doesn’t?), make sure to learn the dance to Katy Perry’s “Fireworks”, found on their website!  June 11. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Penn Wynne Elementary School, 250 Haverford Road, Wynnewood. Call (610) 649-3034 or visit alexslemonade.org.

Super Scooper All You Can Eat Ice Cream Festival

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!! Reward your kids, teach them about the negatives of too much dessert and donate to a good cause all at the same time!   Wawa’s Welcome America! Celebration benefits the Joshua Kahan Fund’s fight against pediatric leukemia.  For just a $7 per person, you and your kids can enjoy ice cream from 20 vendors, including Haagen-Dazs, Ben& Jerry’s, Edy’s and Turkey Hill. July 2-4. Noon-5 p.m. daily; 6-9 p.m. July 2. Walnut Street and Columbus Boulevard at Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia. Call (215) 683-2200 or visit welcomeamerica.com.

Local Sports

For all of you who aren’t Phanatics or are looking for cheaper activities, there are other great sporting events to take your kids to around Philadelphia.  Love tennis? Go check out the WTT’s  Philadelphia Freedoms in action.  Opening July 6^th, the schedule contains highlighted visits from superstars Venus Williams, John McEnroe, Chris Evert, Lindsay Davenport and the top-ranked doubles team of the Bryan Brothers.  Better with your feet than your hands? Check out the first-place Philadelphia Union.  Watch them kick around the soccer ball in their brand-new stadium, PPL Park, led by star players Carlos Ruiz and Danny Mwanga.  For a special treat, help them welcome to Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field one of the best teams in the world, Real Madrid, known as “Los Galacticos” (The Superstars) on July 23^rd.  The Freedoms play matches through July 19. $8-$85. 800 E. Lancaster Ave., Villanova. Call (610) 896-2890 or visit philadelphiafreedoms.com for a full schedule.

The Union plays games through August. $25-$150. PPL Park, 1 Stadium Drive, Chester. Call (610) 859-3100 or visit philadelphiaunion.com for a full schedule.

Need some more ideas?  Check out an expanded list of great activities for adults and kids at manlinetoday.com

The Truth About the Regulation of Day Care Centers

                With all of the talk of regulating industries, I wondered about the role of regulation in day care centers.  We have all heard the many horror stories that make their rounds on the evening news across the country, babies left unattended for long periods of time, overcrowding of small day care centers, and unsanitary practices.  Although these stories are sensational, they don’t represent the average day care center.  Without the direct oversight that parents have over their personal nannies, I began to wonder: who is watching the people who are watching the kids in the day care centers?

                The answer to this question is rather unsettling.  Every state sets the laws that dictate what type of oversight the state government will have over the child care centers, so there are varying levels depending on the state.  However, compared to what is recommended by childcare experts, most states do not do nearly enough to keep tabs on the day care centers.  In California, inspectors are required to check day care centers once every five years.  Compare that to the once a year mandatory inspections of dog kennels and twice a year inspections of restaurants and the frequencies do not mirror priorities.¹  In Pennsylvania, the situation is ugly.  The state employs 60 inspectors to cover the 8,500 day care centers registered in the state.²  I don’t know about you, but I think it is impossible for 60 people to inspect those 8,500 centers enough to provide the level of comfort and safety we demand for our most precious possessions.  Beyond that, Pennsylvania licenses centers, not the people working in the centers.  Therefore, the owners of the centers, possibly attempting to cut costs, could hire less qualified employees to work in their centers with no fear of repercussion to their license.  This gives the ability of child care centers who have been exposed for different violations to simply blame an employee, fire that employee, and continue on with business as usual.  As I write this, I become progressively more wary of the day care center system.  The worst part about this whole thing is, with the budget cuts that most states are passing throughout this financial downturn, the chances that the oversight of child care centers will decrease is greater than the chances that more money is spent to increase oversight.  Scary, huh?

                After examining the day-care centers, I had to compare them to the nanny industry and its regulation.  The greatest difference between the two is the personalized nature of the nanny industry versus the one adult to a group of children nature of day care.  When using a nanny referral agency, before parents even interview a nanny, they have been run through a gauntlet of background checks and reference checks.  These practices are outlined by the International Nanny Association on their website as Recommended Practices for Nanny Placement Agencies. By virtue of the job, parents, if they choose to, can observe the nannies through a variety of mediums.  The parents also provide the venue in which the child spends a majority of time, the household.  The common theme within all of these regulating tools is that they can vary from home to home, depending on the wishes of a parent.  With day care centers, it is the one-size-fits-all model that acts as the safeguard.  And if that model isn’t good enough, you may just be out of luck.

           1. http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/
             2. http://www.wtae.com/

New car seat advice

CHICAGO — Children should ride in rear-facing car seats longer, until they are 2 years old instead of 1, according to updated advice from a medical group and a federal agency.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued separate but consistent new recommendations.

Both organizations say older children who've outgrown front-facing car seats should ride in booster seats until the lap-shoulder belt fits them. Booster seats help position adult seat belts properly on children's smaller frames. Children usually can graduate from a booster seat when their height reaches 4 feet 9 inches.


Children younger than 13 should ride in the back seat, the guidelines from both groups say.

Click here for full article

Show your support for TPNN! Vote in The Best Of Main Line Annual Reader's Choice Awards

Please show your support for The Philadelphia Nanny Network, Inc. by voting for us as "Best Nanny Services" in the   2011 Reader's Choice Best of Main Line Times Media News (Main Line Times and Main Line Suburban Life) Annual Readers' Choice Poll!   With more than 25 years earning the trust of thousands of families, we are proud to be an agency that our clients can count on.     99% of our clients said they would recommend us to a friend 80% come to us through a personal referral 95% of our clients are successful in hiring through us 90% of our permanent referrals stay past their first year commitment 98% of our temporary requests are filled in a timely and satisfactory manner TPNN is the largest provider for corporate back up care allowing Main Line parents get to work when their regular child care arrangements break down   Voting for us is easy. All you have to do is visit:  http://forms.journalregister.com/allaroundphilly/MainLineRC/  Deadline is APRIL 15     1. Scroll down to "Miscellaneous" to find the category "Nanny Services"    2. Enter your name, address and phone number.  3. Ballots must be filled in and submitted online.     Many thanks in advance for taking the time to vote for us as Best Nanny Services. We sincerely appreciate your support and the opportunity to continue to serve you.    Wendy Sachs President The Philadelphia Nanny Network, Inc. www.nannyagency.com

Beware of the nanny adoption scam

Ardmore, PA—March 21, 2011—“She seemed like a great person, very articulate, very smart, she seemed so caring and so nice,” said the woman who found the nanny on sittercity.com, a national website that matches parents with local baby sitters and nannies. Her profile and photo showed a 26 year old Villanova law student, who worked part time at her uncle’s law firm. She had experience with infants and young children and passed a criminal background check with flying colors.

The Villanova family learned that this “nanny poser” who began taking care of their 7 month old daughter was actually an adoption scammer –a person who claims to have given birth to a child that doesn’t exist for emotional or financial gain. The “nanny poser” was stealing the identity of her employers, such as using photographs and other detailed information of the family, to show as “proof” to potential adoptive families that she was legitimately putting “her” child up for adoption.

All too true is the fact that people who use on line nanny agencies, without conducting additional screenings, are not immune to being scammed. “A comprehensive background check is needed to ensure an understanding of who you are hiring,” says Wendy Sachs, President of The Philadelphia Nanny Network and Co-President of the International Nanny Association (INA).

For some parents, browsing through websites of Internet based referral services from the comfort of their own home seems like the ideal way to find a nanny or a babysitter. Internet based referral services can provide a viable method for finding child care but a parent must be willing to invest time to screen, interview and check the references of each candidate, “and they must know how to identify the red flags”, says Sachs. For a small fee, parents can gain access to numerous candidates who list “profiles” on the company’s website. Many parents are surprised to learn, however, that candidates who list themselves undergo no screening process before they post their profiles to the site. “Parents should be aware that candidate’s identities are never verified, their childcare references are never checked and their employment history is never validated”, says Sachs and while many online services offer background screening services for additional fees, parents should inquire as to what the screenings include.

While on line agencies can be used as a recruiting tool, there is NO replacement for a comprehensive professional background screening procedure through which a brick and mortar agency would conduct on any nanny candidate. Sachs says, “Parents going the “do it yourself” route must follow through in doing their due diligence and use ALL tools available, understanding nothing can be a replacement of the expertise of agencies who have cultivated their own proprietary tools and developed skills that provide a tighter screening process than what a novice can complete.” Sachs notes that although there is no such thing as an airtight seamless procedure, it’s a best practice to use the most all-inclusive screening method available before leaving young children alone with a nanny. Further, parents need to understand that online screenings and online criminal record databases aren't always as comprehensive as presented. Many agencies offer an “a la carte” screening service for parents who have identified candidates on their own but want to tap into a professional’s expertise.

INA recommends following these practices for background screening, practices that are followed by INA member agencies, like The Philadelphia Nanny Network, in Ardmore, PA.

* Verify and authenticate a nanny candidate’s identity to ensure that the candidate is using real and accurate information about his or her own identity.
* Verify employment and educational history and applicable credentials and licenses.
* Perform state and county criminal record searches for every jurisdiction where the candidate has worked and lived, using any and all names the candidate has used, for at least the past seven years, depending upon applicable state laws.
* Perform a sex offender registry search for all 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam.
* Review the candidate’s driving record.
* Comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and all other applicable local, state and federal laws.
* Perform periodic updating of background screenings for all placed nannies and nannies who provide temporary services.
Says Wendy Sachs, “Screening is the necessary key to protecting your children and family. An agency can do all the necessary checking and make recommendations so a family doesn’t have to go through what this Upper Providence family went through.”

Private eyes: Parents using hidden cameras to monitor nannies, baby sitters

From the Chicago Tribune, February 25, 2011 | By Ryan Haggerty, Tribune reporter

TPNN Scholarship Contest - Get 50% off Conference Fees

Member Scholarship

This year, INA is offering 50% off of 2011 INA Annual Conference registration fees to those members who joined INA after June 1, 2010 and who have never attended an INA Annual Conference.

Are you a current INA member who does not qualify for the new member/first time attendee 2011 INA Annual Conference promotional discount?

If so,  you are invited to participate in the Family Helpers Scholarship Contest.

To enter The Philadelphia Nanny Network, Inc. Scholarship Contest, visit The Philadelphia Nanny Network, Inc. blog at http://thephiladelphianannynetwork.blogspot.com/ and write a few  sentences (no more than 5) about what it would mean for you to attend the 2011 INA Annual Conference. Post your sentences in the comments section where this post appears.

One winner will be selected at random and posted on  The Philadelphia Nanny Network, Inc. blog on March 18, 2011 to receive 1/2 of her conference registration fees paid for by The Philadelphia Nanny Network, Inc..

The fine print:

* To be eligible, you must have been an Individual Member of INA prior to June 1, 2011 and be a member in good standing.

* Sentences  must be posted in the comments section on The Philadelphia Nanny Network, Inc. blog located at  http://thephiladelphianannynetwork.blogspot.com/. Facebook comments and comments on any site other than The Philadelphia Nanny Network, Inc. official blog are not eligible for entry into the contest.

* All entries must be received by 11:59 pm, EST on March 17, 2011.

*If selected, you must complete the INA Annual Conference registration process prior to March 24, 2011.