There are many musicians who perform for children in Marin, but there are only a few who have a cult following among the 0–6 demographic. Susan Zelinsky—AKA Susan Z—is one of those few. You and your child may even have taken one of her classes for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, or you may have seen her performing her music for grownups at venues throughout the Bay Area.

We caught up with Susan Z and asked her some questions about herself, her music, her family, and living and working in Marin. To find out more about Susan Z, visit her website at www.susanz.com.

Please tell us a little about yourself. What's your background, and how did you get your musical career started?

I always knew I wanted to sing and act when I grew up. My parents were very supportive, signing me up for voice and music lessons as a child, sending me to drama camp and ACT’s Young Conservatory. I learned piano and guitar around 4th grade, choosing to

Find a Valentine's Day bargain at Marin Kids Consignment's Half Off Sale this weekend and Monday, February 12 through 14. Come browse a wide selection gently used items for children (as well as maternity clothes) at fantastic prices. Highlights include books, ranging from board books and story books to The Magic Treehouse and books on pregnancy and nutrition, mini collegiate clothing for kids of all ages, rain coats and boots, toys, and more. And of course, almost everything in the store is half off!

Store hours are 10 am to 5 pm, seven days a week. They accept cash, local checks, and Mastercard and Visa. Marin Kids Consignment is located at 814 Francisco Boulevard West in San Rafael. For more information on their sale and to find out how to consign your stuff, call them at (415) 456-4943 or visit www.marinkidsconsignment.com.

Marin Mommies is pleased to present a guest article by Marianne Lipanovich from the new Kids & Families section of the San Francisco Classical Voice, the Bay Area's go-to website for classical music news and information. Read more about SFCV's new Kids & Families section here.

What is the ideal age for a child to start learning an instrument? The answer is: it depends.

No matter what the instrument your child needs to be mature enough to be able to focus on formal learning—the age of reason, so to speak—even if it’s just for a relatively short period of time. For piano and string instruments, the general consensus seems to be that you can start formal lessons around age five, or even earlier, in a Suzuki program, although some teachers would still wait until age eight or the third grade. For other instruments, waiting a bit longer will actually give your child a better chance of success. The A music school, for example, doesn’t start students on guitar, bass guitar, or drums until they’re age eight, and many teachers recommend waiting until ages nine, ten, or eleven to start lessons on other instruments. According to Dianna Gomez, who is band director at Presidio Middle School and has taught at lower levels, fourth graders have an eighty percent chance of failure. She finds that fifth graders, on the other hand, have about an eighty percent chance of success.

Music afficionados in the Bay Area know that San Francisco Classical Voice (SFCV) is the go-to website for classical music news, reviews, and previews. With the recent launch of their new Kids & Families section, they've become the go-to website for families interested in music and music education, too.

SFCV's Kids & Family section offers dynamic, free content tailored for a new community of families and educators. Highlights include a search tool to help find music teachers for kids, tips and advice for parents related to musical stud, a calendar of family-friendly or free events, articles on kids and music education, and fun books, recordings and games for kids.

If you and your family are at all interested in music, it's a must-visit website! You can find them at www.sfcv.org/kids-family.

Marin Mommies presents another guest article by Marin marriage and family therapist Kate Brennan.

We are all born with certain temperament traits. Some of us are active while others less so. Some of us are extraverts while others prefer to stay behind the scenes. This begs the question: Is it nature or nurture? Well, it turns out it is both. How does a child with an active temperament fare in a household of quiet sensitive types? Fine, if the parents realize this and make space for the active child to express him or her self. If given the opportunity, the active child will be able to channel the extra energy into sports perhaps, while the sensitive child may discover latent artistic talents. Temperament is the force that gives shape to certain aspects of personality. For example, a sensitive child may develop aptitudes that lead to a more quiet and reflective life as an adult.

Having a working knowledge of your child’s temperament can help you in being able to choose the best approach when working with them. It can help the preschool teacher to know in advance if they have a slow-to-warm-up child who may need extra time to enter a group, and It can help the doctor to anticipate how much compliance they are going to have if they know the level of tolerance the child has in their examining room.

Starting this weekend, you and your family can experience the amazing exhibition Pulp Fashion: The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave at San Francisco's Legion of Honor museum in Lincoln Park. Pulp Fashion showcases the work of de Borchgrave, a Belgian artist who creates stunning costumes, based on art history and historic fashions, out of paper and paint. Everything depicted, from fabric, lace, and hats to jewelry, books, and fans is crafted from paper, cardboard, and paint only.

Pulp Fashion presents 60 masterworks depicting examples from throughout the history of costume, from the Renaissance finery of the Medicis and gowns worn by Queen Elizabeth I and Marie-Antoinette to designs by Christian Dior and Coco Chanel. There are also five special creations inspired by popular paintings in the Legion of Honor's permanent collection, which are presented here for the first time ever. Make sure you go upstairs to the Legion's European art galleries to check out the works in person after you view their paper counterparts in the exhibition.

This guest article is by Marin mom and financial planner Tanya Steinhofer, CFA, CFP®.

I recently conducted some research on 529 plans while deciding which plan to open for my daughter. I had chosen Utah’s 529 plan a few years back for my son, but wanted to make sure it was still one of the best choices given the market challenges of the past couple of years. Several states’ plans struggled during the financial crisis due to too-aggressive asset allocations or poor performance of some of the investment options. In fact, one of the age-based options in my son’s Utah plan suffered because it keeps 65% of a college-enrolled student’s assets in stocks, which is aggressive given the short time horizon of those savings, particularly in a bear market. Fortunately, the age-based option I chose for him is all in cash by the time of college enrollment.

My criteria for choosing a plan are low fees, good selection of investment options (particularly age-based options using index funds) and sensible asset allocation. My rationale for these criteria is as follows:

1. Low fees. Research shows that low fund expenses are one of the highest predictors of superior long-term performance. As one of the few things you can control, why pay more in fees in the hopes that you’ll outperform the market? The three states with the lowest all-in fees are New York, Utah and Nevada.

The Paper Princess and the Piñata, a new musical theater production for children created by Youth in Arts and based on the popular Paper Princess books by Bay Area artist/illustrator Elisa Kleven, comes to the Marin Center Showcase Theater in San Rafael on Saturday, February 5, 2011. With performances at 2 and 4 pm, the show is intended for children ages 3 to 10 and their families. General admission tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children. Order tickets through the Marin Center Box Office online or by calling (415) 499-6800.

Kleven’s Paper Princess picture books are gentle adventure tales, illustrated in the artist’s unique collage and watercolor style. The Paper Princess, created by a Little Girl, is carried away on the wind to explore her world. The new play was written by Youth in Arts Director Miko Lee, adapted from three Paper Princess books and a fourth Kleven title, Hooray, a Piñata!

The production captures the bright imagery of Kleven’s books using digital projections and original props and scenery recreated in three dimensions by Youth in Arts' professional visual artists. The Princess and her friends will be brought to life via live action and puppetry, with bilingual songs in Spanish and English highlighting themes of creativity, color, shapes, counting and friendship.