Marin Mommies is happy to present the first in a series of book reviews by guest contributor Todd Pratum, literacy expert and founder of the the Pratum Children's Library in Ross.

Could it be, that in certain fundamental ways, ways heretofore never imagined by modern thinkers—but well imagined and known in times past, especially in pre-medieval and indigenous cultures—that babies and young infants are more loving, more sensitive, more altruistic than adults? That they are, in the words of author and psychologist Alison Gopnik in The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life (288 pages, Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2009), “smarter, more conscious, more thoughtful than adults.”

Impossible? Preposterous? Delusional? Scientifically proven? This reminds of a famous line from Wordsworth, “The child is the father of the man.” While there are clunky dry passages where Gopnik is necessarily forced to present some particularly pedantic—but key experimental results, the bulk of this revolutionary book is wonderfully written, unveiling the most recent results of experimental child physiology, neurology and psychology, experiments most of which have only been conceived of in the last five years.

When the electronic trappings of modern life get to be too much, close up the laptop, put away the iPhone, turn off the TV, unplug the Wii and head into San Francisco and spend the day at Musee Mecanique. What is Musee Mecanique, you ask? It's an eccentric private museum devoted to arcade games and attractions of a bygone era.

If you grew up in the Bay Area, you may remember the Musee Mecanique back when it was housed underneath the Cliff House. (If you're a real San Francisco old timer your recall the collection from your days at the long-defunct Playland at the Beach amusement park.) When the Cliff House underwent remodeling a few years ago, the collection moved to Pier 45 at Fisherman's Wharf.

While the Pier 45 location doesn't have the same ambience (if that's the correct term to describe the cold, dark, and slightly dingy former site), it more than makes up for it by actually being there at all. And some people even prefer the Musee Mecanique's current bright and airy setting.

Learn new ways to feed healthy "yummy" meals to your family while supporting HeadsUp—the San Rafael public education foundation! Join What's Cooking' Michele Stern and nutritionist Susannah Wallenstrom, MPH, RD at Coleman School in San Rafael to learn how to plan and cook healthy meals on a budget that the entire family will enjoy.

The event takes place on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, from 6 to 8 pm. Topics for the evening include delicious meals on a budget, the importance of family meals, tips for meal planning, sample menus and box lunches, how to look for red flags on food labels, how to avoid power struggles at meal time, and how to cook safely with your children.

Childcare and dinner wil be provided for event attendees. Feel free to bring your favorite healthy yummy recipe to share. Seating is limited, so register in advance to reserve your spot: contact jarmijo@finsvcs.com or call (415) 743-1019. Event admission is free with a donation of any amount to HeadsUp (it's a $75 per family value). For mor info, visit www.srcs.org.

Coleman School is located at 800 Belle Avenue in San Rafael.

Stop by the Pratum Children's Library in Ross this weekend as it holds its introductory open house on January 22 and 23, 2011. Come visit the library, located on the expansive ground of the Marin Art and Garden Center, from 10 am to 6 pm Saturday and Sunday and browse their shelves, which contain everything from board books for babies to the complete Oxford English Dictionary to the very best books on education, parenting, and childhood.

Todd Pratum, proprieter and book and literacy expert, will give introductory talks at noon and 3 pm on both days. He'll also personally lead tours of this very special collection. Bring the children to come read some books, discover new ideas, and have fun exploring the eleven magical acres of the Marin Art and Garden Center. The library is located adjacent to the rose garden and directly across from the octagon house.

Way back in the days before children (BC), we used to love to go out for Indian food. This happy trend continued even after our son was born; until he hit about three he would eat just about anything we put in front of him, but eventually he entered his "white food" stage and it was all over. Fortunately, kids eventually outgrow their seemingly carbohydrate-only diet, so we decided to check out the lunch buffet at Anohka Cuisine of India, a restaurant located since 2009 on Grant Avenue in Old Town Novato.

The lunch buffet is a great strategy when dining at Indian restaurants with children, because there are usually more than enough items offered that will please little picky eaters, and the grownups with more sophisticated palates can indulge in their favorite dishes without worrying if the kids are going to eat it or not. Anohka's buffet is pretty cheap at $8.95 a person, and with kids at half-price it's really a win-win situation for everyone concerned.

This article by guest contributor Tanya Steinhofer, CFA, CFP®, offers valuable tips on educating your kids to be financially literate.

Did you know that 75% of parents think teaching kids about money is a moral imperative, but only 36% report knowing how to do so ? These statistics speak both to the perceived importance of the task and to, the high level of financial illiteracy in our country. It is up us to break the cycle and provide the next generation with a better chance at financial prudence and success.

Teaching your kids about money gives them important life skills, such as independence, responsibility, self-confidence and hopefully, good judgment. Who wouldn’t want all those things for their kids?

Below is my list of key concepts for teaching young (under age 8) kids about money:

1. Values First
   Determine your financial values and rules first. Sit down with your spouse and talk about how you were taught about money growing up and any money messages you learned from your parents. Then agree on four or five key money values that you would like to teach your kids. Kids are great at picking up on inconsistencies between your words and your actions, so be sure you are living by the values you communicate to them. Also determine general rules for how they should use the money.

Busy families often could use some help with dailly meal planning, shopping, cooking or baking, and kitchen organization. Sound like something you and your family need? Check out a service like San Rafael's Rustik Chef.

Chef Brittany Rice founded Rustik Chef to provide these private chef services and more. All meals are made to each individual's needs and are created form seasonal organic ingredients.

Rustik Chef also provides health and wellness coaching to help curb childhood obesity, promote family health awareness, and for preventative health and illness recovery. Brittany's services are also available for special food and wine events and cooking classes for up to ten people.

Rustik Chef is part of Rustik Elements, LLC, which also includes Millesime Cellars, an exclusive wine club and wine store offering high quality, handcrafted, wild-fermented, and unfiltered wines made with organically grown grapes.

To learn more about Rustik Chef's services and see sample menus visit www.rustikchef.com

Marin Broadway Bound Kids presents Seussical the Musical at the Marin Civic Center’s Showcase Theater in San Rafael. Seussical the Musical runs from January 13–16 and offers a full scale musical production with professional sets, lights, orchestra and costumes. This Broadway musical is based on and features characters from a variety of Dr. Seuss stories, including The Cat and the Hat, Horton Hears a Who, Yertle the Turtle, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Music and lyrics by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. Broadway Bound Kids musical theater introduces kids to the magic of theater.

Performances take place on:

• Thursday, January 13, 7:30 pm
• Friday, January 14, 7:30 pm
• Saturday, January 15, 2 and 7:30 pm
• Sunday, January 16, 1 and 5 pm

Tickets are $16 for adults and $14 for children and seniors, and can be purchased through the Marin Center box office. For more info about Broadway Bound Kids, go to www.northbaybbk.com.

This guest article is by Autumn Robertson, Co-Founder of Golden Gate Health Insurance, a local health insurance brokerage serving Marin, San Francisco, and the East Bay.

Health care reform is here, but how will it affect you and your family?

With all the changes taking place in the health care system these days, it can be difficult making sense of what it means for families. While businesses may not be cheering for the reforms, there are many benefits families will be able to take advantage of, such as insurance companies putting more money toward wellness benefits and preventative care. Wherever you and your family fit into the reforms, these times offer an opportunity to re-evaluate your current coverage and potentially, save money.

Although changes will take place between now and 2014, some will immediately affect your family:

Pre-Existing Health Conditions
Reforms will prohibit insurance companies from excluding children with pre-existing health conditions. This means your insurance company can’t drop you if a child gets sick or deny your family if one of your dependents is deemed “high-risk.”

Guest contributor Barbara McVeigh shares her family mission for 2011.

Like many, after the holiday mania, gift giving, and Christmas tree disposing, I look forward to back-to-life normalcy. But, at the turn the New Year, angst has developed that I would not consider normal. The emerging grave concerns for the future health of our oceans and lands are outweighing a lot of my own jubilant, optimistic feelings.

This past holiday season I felt the mission to simplify, reuse, buy used and actually make most of our gifts. I refused to buy new ribbon or wrapping paper, and instead got very creative with leftover butcher paper, paper bags and pre-used ribbon or yarn. I asked my husband to make wooden stilts for our two children from reused wood, a simple project that helped encourage him to be part of the family activities. And, two weeks later, my children are still excited about playing with them.