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Health & Fitness

The Mommy's Guide has Arrived on Patch

"The Mommy's Guide..." has arrived to the Patch!

Attention Lynbrook, Malverne, West Hempstead, Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, Rockville Centre and the Five Towns area, The Mommy's Guide has arrived! That's right look no further, I am here to help you find something fun to do, this weekend and every weekend!

Ah, but I jump ahead, first let me introduce myself. I am Jenny, and I created "The Mommy's Guide," a Mommy blog that posts free, low-cost and noteworthy events throughout Long Island, Queens and Manhattan.

Besides that, we do reviews, have listings of parks, museums, play places and other places of interest that you can view anytime from our site. All are free or low cost of course. Noteworthy events are the events that may cost a bit of change, but are worth it (at least to me).

Find out what's happening in Malverne-Lynbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Every week we post a blog about ideas or happenings that we feel strongly about, and invite your opinion, whether you agree or not! I will be sharing that along with some of my top places to go on weekends, reviews and whatever else comes to mind, here on the Patch Network, which I am super excited to have been asked to join!

So since this is the first time many of you have ever heard of us, I'd like to tell you why I do this thing that I do.

Find out what's happening in Malverne-Lynbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

My son has just turned 19 months old, and I, as a stay at home mother, really get upset at the cost of entertaining him. You want to give him the best, give him opportunities and experiences that will make his childhood amazing, just like every other parent out there. But why does it have to cost so much?

I understand that everything costs money, but I feel like the parenting field is overrun with places that can charge anything because they say it's the best thing for you child. And as parents we want anything that is "the best" for them.

But we are being scammed. Paying hundreds of dollars out of pocket for a 3-month-old to start "socializing" is just not okay. It's not the parents' fault for paying it -- they may not know that there are other activities available for their child for so much less.

Socializing your child is super important. I have been taking my son to classes since he was 3 months old and I feel like it has really benefited him, and me (especially in the winter cooped up with an infant). You know what I didn't do? Pay for them, and neither should any of you.

If you want to spend money on a special type of class, absolutely, go for it (I just actully enrolled him in a fantastic gymnastic program, for very low cost (review coming soon). I just don't think it's fair to feel like you have to pay a lot for it.

There are plenty of other options, and my search for them was how "The Mommy's Guide ..." was born. Every week I would go online and find these events to take my child to, I would meet up with other moms and tell them about my finds, and every single one of them said to me "HOW DID YOU FIND THAT?" It's certainly not easy, but the information is out there, and I, and my fellow blogger Christina, put it out every single week for you to see, and use.

Christina has a 4-year-old son and adds her experience for a larger perspective, Sometimes she finds things that I haven't caught!

So go benefit from the spoils of my long hours of research and create some family memories, without going broke! I will putting out my top three picks for the weekend, but you can find out about everything that is happening this weekend right now. Go to www.themommysguide.com, like us on Facebook and email me directly with any questions themommysguide@gmail.com

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