Out of sight, out of mind?

Not quite! Bag of Tricks babysitter Rowan Magee may take sabbaticals from sitting from time to time to focus on his work in theatre, but he makes sure that when he is in the fray, the contributions that he makes to NY City Explorers mean that he is an indispensable member of the sitting roster! After last year's care of 2-years-old Hugo could have won him the technical award for Manny of the Year, Rowan took leave for work with BAM, from which he has now returned to sitting with a fervor. Lest one think that it's only our clients who are happy to have him back, fellow sitter, party facilitator and teacher extraordinaire Alvino Johnson was especially pleased to have another Y chromosome join him at last Wednesday's Meet the Sitters event at 186 Underhill Ave. During the sitter meeting that Amy held leading up to the meet and greet with area families, Vino and Rowan could be seen doing handstands, teaching each other strength-training exercises and exchanging tips about muscle-building diets.

While the peacocks displayed their plumes, Amy introduced the group to our newest sitters. Melissa Mclean, a nursing student at St. Francis College, has already made a sizable dent in our list of regular clients, fast becoming a parent favorite in the short month that she has been with the company. With a friendly disposition, a smile that lights ups the room and plans for medical school on the horizon, it's no surprise that our newest sitter has already become one of our most requested!

Didn't make it to our Meet the Sitters event? Plan early and mark your calendar for the next one on April 13th from 6pm-7pm at 186 Underhill Ave. Jonesing to check our crew out but no immediate childcare needs? Catch Rowan at his next performance. Throw a rose onstage if you must! http://www.phantomlimbcompany.com/projects/shackleton/

Your wish is our command!

Saturday's Annual Valentine's Day Family Party was a great success, thanks in no small part to the fact that Vino and Rachel, a who's who of NY City Explorers all-stars, were on hand to crank up the fun with crafts, singalongs and stories! This year's contests, a drawing for a 2-hour drop-off sitting session at NY City Explorers' 186 Underhill Ave location, and a yummy guessing game that sent its winner home with a jar full of chocolate Kisses, were met with enthusiastic participation. Next year's sure fire add-on? An all out contest for Best Dressed! From Kiera's rocking red frock to Shelton's Sunday best Mary Janes, the ladies and gents in attendance didn't miss the chance to dress to impress. Even Amy's 5-month-old daughter Olive was decked out with a pretty pink heart patch on the pants that covered her itty bitty booty!
While the drawings were a hit with the adults, little ones like Danika and Tai put in serious time at the craft tables set up throughout the playspace. Olive may not have the hand-eye coordination to craft her mama a homemade Valentine like Shelton and Kori did, but Amy and husband Bryan still didn't leave empty-handed. Four-years-old Haven and pal Danika each made sure that the new family went home with something special: ;ots of glitter and lace from Haven, and, in an act of strangelove, a paper heart with a picture of an intestine glued onto it from Danika!
We've had so many of our own wishes fulfilled since last Valentine's Day: Our first Breakfast with Santa was a great success; Explorers Academy Preschool is growing and thriving; and Kisha found out that her own family will be expanding very soon! We feel so much love from the families whose patronage has helped our dreams come true that we feel inspired to grant some wishes ourselves...
In the spirit of love, fun and whimsy we are excited to invite you to Explore the possibilities with NY City Explorers' Weekly Wish! School closed for the week? Then your wish may be a week's worth of arts and crafts will appear at your door to keep your little one entertained. Young-at-heart wife have a birthday coming up? We may grant your wish of 2 dozen balloons to pick up on your way home from work! If you can dream it and we can do it, we just might grant it! Like us on facebook (Visit www.nycityexplorers.com to do so!) or follow us on twitter @NYCityExplorers where you can post your own Weekly Wish each week. Check back Mondays at Noon each week to find out whose Weekly Wish has been granted! Post wishes on the wall of this fan page or twitter @NYCityExplorers from this day forward and let the granting begin!

We hope cuteness is your cup of tea!

While most of the country was preparing for the Super Bowl last Friday (Except Cristina Aguilera, evidently!), Marketing Director Lyouba Assadourova was looking forward to an afternoon visit at NY City Explorers' Prospect Heights playspace from Cairo, the 3-years-old son of her good friend, Blue Marble Ice Cream regular and fellow photographer Ian. As she waited for her pint-sized pal, Lyouba leafed through the details of her new health insurance policy; With so many Americans living sans benefits, this Bulgarian transplant and her coworkers are lucky to be employed by a company that concerns itself with the care and well-being of its employees as well as of the neighborhood Explorers in its care!
When her young visitor Cairo finally did join Lyouba for some fun, it was to the delight of another playspace visitor as well. Our soon-to=be next door neighbor at the space, Megan, of 188 Underhill Ave, transplanted from the Upper West Side, was surprised and excited by the brief history of her new building as told by Cairo's dad Ian, longtime Prospect Heights resident.
She does a fantastic job maintaining and designing www.nycityexplorers.com, but now those of you who have not yet had the pleasure of checking out Lyouba's real bread and butter, her photography, will get the chance! Lyouba will be the on-site photographer at our upcoming Explorers Academy Preschool Tea Party Picture Day. The annual party, for which our preschoolers dress up in their dapperest duds and prettiest petticoats, invites parents and other family members to join the little ones for a party of iced tea and cookies. The day is remembered on film as portraits of the peanuts are taken and shared for all who wish to participate. The fun is on April 1st, and you'd be a Fool to miss it!

Preschool is like a box of chocolates

The goal of our preschoolers' Lango Mandarin teacher is that all of the tots develop basic Chinese verbal skills., but hey, when they're 2 years old we'll take basic English skills too! In that spirit, teachers Miss Brittany and Miss Katia congratulated 2-years-old Hugo last week when he pointed to his Mandarin class name tag and easily identified the letters H and O in his name. Way to go Hugo! With parents who speak French as well as English, and such a comprehensive language exposure curriculum at Explorers Academy Preschool, it's only a matter of time before Hugo will be identifying letters and characters in words form all around the globe!
We are so proud of the fact that the diversity of the neighborhood in which our preschool is housed is so well-reflected in our teaching and support staff as well as amongst our students. Rio voiced his appreciation as well, recently, when he joyfully informed Miss Brittany during cooking class that she looks like vanilla and that Miss Franceline looks like chocolate! It's such a true delight to hear our little ones' pure unfiltered thoughts each day, before they reach the age of self-censorship! Cooking class is Rio's favorite class of the week, so it's only natural that he had sweets on the brain.
Perhaps the little ones' next cooking class should be preceded by a lesson about food groups. Better yet, maybe a visit to the Queens County farm is overdue. Long-time Explorer Shayna, smarty pants though we all know her to be, showed some room for growth when she proclaimed chicken to be a vegetable! After "cooking" up some pretend chicken for miss Devan during Imagination Station time, Shayne was told by Miss Devan that as a vegetarian she does not eat chicken. Shayna responded by asking, "Why not? Chicken is a vegetable."

What's sweeter than a bowl full of Jelly Bellys?

A day of snuggling with Shelly-belly! That's just what Shelton's mama Kisha got yesterday when she took the day off to stay home with her little lady who was feeling under the weather. Since the Explorers Academy Preschool rules for sickies apply to everyone (even co-owner Kisha Gandsy!) Shelton's slight bug meant a much-needed day of rest for a very pregnant mama and her little girl! Thank goodness NY City Explorers' jack of all trades Edwin Guzman stepped in to save the day later in the afternoon, picking up Kisha's oldest tot from pre-K to save her and Shelton the cold-weather subway-trek. Thanks Edwin!

Our newest Bag of Tricks Babysitter is already a staff and parent favorite. Andrea Lubrano, who spent the afternoon sitting for adorable neighborhood tot Joshua at our Prospect Heights playspace, did so with joy to give front desk fave Vino much-needed time off to jet to a television show audition yesterday. Good luck Vino! We know "Break a leg!" is the wish preferred by performers, but given the icy state of the city's sidewalks this week, that's not a wish we're eager to pass along. Creative Director Amy Yurcan nearly did just that, her little Olive in tow, slipping while en route to the office on Tuesday morning. Be careful with your Explorers out there!

Andrea, good friends with fellow NYCE sitters Melissa Bayer and Cassidy Petrazzi, recently moved to the city from Westchester County, and now shares an apartment with Cassidy, living the dream of every woman who went to college during Sarah Jessica Parker's reign on HBO!

After an slippery start to the week, Amy finished it wonderfully, with a chance meeting of neighborhood mom of two Georgia, and her little ones Harry and Winnie at our playspace at 399 Atlantic Avenue yesterday afternoon. With a job that gives her the pleasure of being a resource to many of Brooklyn's moms and dads, Amy was appreciative of her side on the receiving end of more info on city daycares, elementary schools and language immersion programs than she knows what to do with, as her own little lady is only 5 months old!

We guess it's never to early to start preparing! For those of you who don't know yet, our Explorers Academy Preschool at 110 Schermerhorn Street offers language exposure classes in french, Spanish and Mandarin, in addition to private lessons in karate, yoga and ballet. Check it out by registering on a tour at http://www.nycityexplorers.com/!

We hit a lucky stricke with our preschoolers!

Explorers Academy Preschooler Noon may have received the Awesome Athlete Award at our holiday party last December, but it looks like this year's award may be for good sportsmanship. Not only did he invite best friend Ethan to join him and Miss Devan in a game of bowling in the common area last week; He also cheered him on, encouraging his friend to try his best and clapping with each turn Ethan took.It's a good thing our preschoolers work so hard during playtime, because they sure do gobble up a good amount of snack during the rest of the day. Cutie pie Olivia, with wild hair and bright eyes, knows that there are no seconds given out before everyone has finished a first serving. Eager to help speed things along, when she saw Yamileth walking by with the box of animal crackers, Olivia shoveled her entire helping into her mouth in hopes that everyone else would follow suit and help pave the road towards receiving a second helping!Not one to be outdone, Cole also displayed great knowledge of one of the rules of mealtime: Finish everything on your plate! That was no problem for Cole, who, upon deciding that the carrots served during lunch weren't for him, immediately dumped them onto the floor so as not to have to worry about eating them. They were no longer on his plate, after all!There's no telling how many snacks it will take during his preschool career to power Hugo's big tall toddler body, but we do know tat a nap a day helps ensure that he doesn't get cranky! Unlike most of his peers, Hugo is always happy to be tucked in and sent off to the land of zzzzzzzs. Still in a great mood after his bowling game with Noon, Ethan decided to pay it forward and kindly took the initiative to tuck Hugo in himself!