BENCHED Opens in Georgetown

BENCHED a play about three urban moms is both funny and poignant.

Benched opened Thursday night at The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts at 1556 Wisconsin Ave. in Georgetown. The audience in the small black box theater was a combination of avid theater students and local moms. Both groups enjoyed the humor and the emotional moments that this new play had to offer. Allyson Currin's Benched follows several months in the lives of three friends who are struggling with raising small children while navigating lives that keeps changing. We are quickly introduced to the "stalwart mom," the "working mom" and the "overwhelmed mom." But all is not what is seems. In the course of a brisk 60 minutes, we find out that each woman is struggling to cope with a variety of set- backs. And that each woman relies on her…

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Urban Parenting

How Big Is Your Backyard?

Look beyond your plat for play.

My husband and I bought our house in Northwest Washington, D.C. eleven years ago. I remember looking over the plat during the inspection. On 0.05 acres stood a brick row house with an unfinished basement, 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. The house was small, but we were a young married couple with no kids. I could tend my garden, we could host a few friends or accommodate our parents for an overnight stay. When we started to have kids we began to rethink our space needs. While we were expecting our first, we got rid of the office and converted the basement into a family room. When our second was born, we nixed the guest room. When I became pregnant with our third, our friends and family started saying things like, "I guess you'll have to move out …

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Urban Parenting

Time to Play!

Creative ways to have fun, with children, in Georgetown.

In my short time as a mother, I have learned one thing … keeping baby entertained is KEY! When you live in a city apartment, as I do, you have to come up with easy and creative activities for children. We don't have mega parks in Georgetown but we do have a lot of other fun and inventive options. A good place to start is the Georgetown Moms online forum on Yahoo Groups. With over 700 members, this is a wonderful resource for parents that are looking for everything from how to start a play group for Czech speakers to where to enroll your 3 year old in dance classes. Personally, I love both Rose Park and the Old Stone House on M St. Rose Park is located between P and M Streets, bordered by 26th and 27th Streets. It has two playgrounds and …

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