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[-] Moving to Chicago from NYC. Where to live btwn Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Old Town, Roscoe Village and South Loop? Want to send kids to CPS. Prefer SFH.
7 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreOP: Thanks for the replies. I'm trying to do as much narrowing down from NYC so all input is useful. Would you recommend even going the CPS route or is private the better option in Chicago?
[ Reply | More ]OR: you can do either. Lincoln park has a great school. Nettlehorst in Lakeview is a good public elementary. If you want private, old town has Catherine cook, LP has Francis Parker and Lakeview has Chicago day, I think.
[ Reply | More ]There are lot of good CPS schools. The privates all have great reputations too, but I haveno interest in shelling about 25-30K/year for private elementary. I guess it depends on your means. There are certainly plenty of good CPS options for elementary (high school is a different story).
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[-]Help! Am visiting chicago without my dc and I forgot the shields for my Medela pump!,, I'm in lincoln park what's close and open this early? Tia
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For some reason, I have not absorbed the new numbers like I had the old numbers, even though we've had the new numbers for about a year. Some frequent posters who are generally reasonable and ignore the trolls stick out, but there are so many that start with 2 that I can't differentiate. Unless they are loony. Those stick out. Don't need to meet those.
[ Reply | More ]Nurse E. Because though sometimes she goes too far, she seems to offer a very different point of view than the average UMC NPN mom.
[ Reply | More ]Why do so many dislike her? What's the point of being so aggravated with her? I could mention a few that I dislike because they have their particular axe to grind but she is just like eh- whatever
[ Reply | More ]Because she is incredibly passive-agressive, and whenever she gets called on it, or other bad behavior, she plays victim, whines about 'bullies', and mean girls, and how awful everyone else is to her, and how she has a secret cabal of moms who totally agree with her but are 'too afraid' to post publically. She seems really, really unself-aware of it, too, which is odd in an adult woman. She ruins every thread she participates in, for me, because she doesn't understand the difference between having an opinion and judging someone, and is incapable of writing in declarative, comprehendible sentences.
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Also, she is fast on the 'needs moderation' button. If you disagree with her and call her on her nonsense, she will report your post, which means a moderator has to wade through the thread. It is a huge waste of time. I have been reported for merely disagreeing with her, which is ridiculous - literally, with no other commentary, simplying saying, "I like the red one" when she has said she liked the blue. Persecution complex, for the win!
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I'd be curious about the ones who have to hire a professional organizer to clean their cabinets, are concerned about their engagement rings and can spend lots of time on very expensive birthday parties. Not condemning them, but their lives seem to different from mine.
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[-]Need a recommendation for a jogging stroller please, to be used primarily for running. Bob revolution or bob ironman or other? thanks
6 replies [ Reply | Watch | Morecheckout the mountain buggy stroller at www.thedapperbaby.com
[ Reply | More ]I have the Bob Revolution. It's really smooth and it rolls over the "terrain" in Central Park. I don't run, DH does. Unfortunately, my DD didn't like going running in it so he never uns with DD. But we use it on weekends sometimes -- it's a pain in stores or for public transportation but good for walking, very smooth.
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[-]NPN craziness: The woman who is on the verge of firing her nanny for giving her kid a Cheerio. The people who can't understand why the zoo would raise membership fees in a crappy economy.
3 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreNP: I can understand questioning why a zoo would raise membership fees in this economy. Zoos need more money, but if they raise fees then they'll likely have fewer members. Fewer members (and fewer visitors) can make it tougher to solicit big grants or corporate sponsorships, as well as means fewer opportunities to grow those new entering members into potential bigger donors and supporters. It's a balancing act, and all nonprofits of this type (museums, zoos, etc.) struggle to find the perfect balance. Raising membership fees has a lot of pitfalls, and not something any nonprofit would take lightly. There are a lot of risks, and it's not as easy as looking at the membership dues line in the budget.
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[-]Moving from NYC to Chicago with a preschooler and need information on schools. Are private schools competitive (like NYC where there are top tier (TT) preschools? If so, which are TT schools?
9 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreLab school at U of Chicago. Latin. Frances Parker. Others aren't TT but there are many good ones.
[ Reply | More ]Chicago is very different than NYC. Latin and Parker are the "old guard" schools -- and both admit all legacies and siblings. So only about 10 spots in a given year for new kids ( and most to diversity or big $$). These schools have a lot of prestige associated with them, but coming from NYC I was not impressed ( above other schools) with them academically in the lower schools. ( high school, when the class size grows, is a different story with Latin but still not impressed with Parker). However I did love each school's campus, sense of tradition, community. In terms of pure academics, I didn't find any difference - except with philosophy - between Latin, Parker, Chicago City Day, Sacred Heart, St Clement, Anshe Emet, FXW - all great ...
[ Reply | More ]Did you look at Catherine Cook and British noted above...though it looks like British is fairly new although people seem impressed with the program.
[ Reply | More ]Yes, five years ago we moved from NYC and both British and Catherine Cook were great about talking to us past the admissions deadline for 3 yr old preschool, and we ultimately got in to both over the summer. We loved the people we met at Catherine Cook, it was a warm and lovely place, but British just felt like New York to us if that makes sense. Sometimes you need a little NY in the midwest! We then looked at all the other schools for JK. We originally thought we would want Latin, but discovered it is more about status than anything else. Don't get me wrong, I actually think that is a valid reason to chose a school, but by that time we were so happy at BSC and so impressed with it. And pretty much everyone who wants gets into Latin f...
[ Reply | More ]got cut off, sorry. most kids who want to are getting into Latin and Lab for high school, as well as the selective enrollment public high schools. ( My post above also got cut off, not used to posting here). What I said above is that I do think Catherine Cook is probably the weakest academically, and British School the strongest, but this is all subjective. Also really loved Sacred Heart.
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All of these schools are great academically. To me, the big distinction is between the schools that go through high school and those that don't. Latin, Lab and Parker all go through high school (British just started one, too.), but the rest don't. As is the case in NYC, applying and getting in is a PITA, so if you can avoid it, do!
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[-]Anyone else think CPS is on a fast track to self-destruction? As a CPS teacher and CPS parent who is normally non-paranoid, I'm pretty sure there is something bigger at play here and it isn't good. I hope I'm wrong, but I have this sick feeling I am right.
5 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreOh, I think he is baiting the union in hopes of a strike so he can pull a Ronald Reagan "air traffic controller" thing and fire every last teacher. Which would be really awful and funny when he fills schools with brand new teachers and more than half quit within the first year and the rest don't know what the hell they are doing and scores plummet. I think he wants to eliminate the teacher's union but not sure if he's calculated the final fall out from that very well.
[ Reply | More ]Wow, under that scenario would they really have to hire all newbies or could they hire back the fired teachers after they re-apply? Can't see there being enough newbie teachers to fill each and every position in CPS. And the hiring process would be chaos. How exactly is he baiting the union? What's he offering?
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I think there is going to be a strike this fall. I personally know teachers at about two dozen schools in all parts of the city and every single one has between 90-100% of its teachers saying they are ready and willing to strike. And that's without even knowing what the contract details will be. All teachers know is that they are no longer able to bargain over basically anything at all other than money and we know we won't be getting much of a raise if anything at all. It won't be popular but families need to start at least thinking of what they'll do for childcare for a few days up to a few weeks come August and September.
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[-]Chicago: Recommend a restaurant downtown for visitors from Wisconsin where they won't need a reservation on a Friday night (or where they can get a reservation a day in advance). Visitors are a couple, not taking the kids along to dinner. No seafood. Nothing too spendy.
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[-]Does a condo association board have an obligation to inform all units that one unit is in foreclosure proceedings?
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[-]Chicago NPN specific post: Anyone else think that the "Mom, don't ruin my fun" poster is under 30?
7 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreYeah, probably. She doesn't seem to have a lot of awareness of a world outside of her own, which I guess is more common in a younger rather than older person. She definitely doesn't seem very pleasant to be around.
[ Reply | More ]Interesting assumption, but I'm under 30, and disagreed with her ton and judgements.
[ Reply | More ]She sounded like the woman a few months ago who was in danger of being homeless. The same endless sentences and run on thinking.
[ Reply | More ]I remember her. She kept coming up with excuses for why suggestions wouldn't work, while at the same time seeming desperate for help. I couldn't figure out what the heck she wanted. It was like you couldn't get through to her. The playground poster seemed to get it, a little, by the end. I think. That thread got pretty off track.
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I couldn't really get a sense of what she might be like. Confusing posts. I thought the weirdest thing was being upset with other parents at the park who were playing with their own kids, because then her kid didn't have anyone to play with.
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[-]Any suggestions for kid/baby-friendly restaurants in Chicago that also have decent grub? TIA
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[-]Did npn pull those threads because of liability concerns or because they were mean?
9 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreI don't see what the liability would be. I think they pulled them because of the multiple and egregious violations of their forum terms or standards or whatever they are called. I'm actually surprised that a couple users weren't banned, because they were harrassing another user, cyberstalking her, and posting personal info about her. I wish they would have banned one of them.
[ Reply | More ]Well, there was a business involved in one, and I wonder if they complained of defamation because one of those posters really trashed their website, pictures, experience, age etc. There have been plenty of nasty threads over the years, and npn never enforced their standards before. Geez, the self pitying and incoherent rant from you-know-who when someone pointed out her hypocrisy. Made no sense and denied even criticizing the business in posts right there in black and white. And oh she is supposedly protecting the board from bad nannies because she is the one with balls and conscience. Nuts, just nuts.
[ Reply | More ]Right--the one with the agency posting. The ones just prior to that had some crazy-ass cyberstalking. "You live in ___, right? And you're in a custody dispute, right?" Should be banned for that, IMO. Would make the boards a hell of a lot more pleasant and productive, that's for sure.
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