I apologize. It's apparently our fault (as well as a couple of other states). Storms here caused chilly temps in the NE. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Hey San Francisco people, tiggy is in your city with family (and one family member is on a business trip, I think). She's looking for kid-friendly tourist-y places to visit Any suggestions? She's at the Hyatt Regency and says the area seems very business oriented.

She's down at the end of Market Street near the Embarcadero. So she's very close to the Ferry Building which has kid friendly gelato, hamburgers and chocolate.

She could take the F-Market vintage street car line down Market Street until she's at 4th. That's about where the Virgin Megastore is. Cody's Books is around the corner and it's a huge bookstore with an excellent children's section. If she wants to continue into the Tourista Zone she could then walk over to Union Square which has a Disney Store, and also a Tin Tin store.

But I'd recommend walking down 4th Street from Market to the Metreon. Unfortunately the Metreon doesn't have the Where the Wild Things are play space anymore. But it does have the cool toy store Things From Another World (second floor) and a huge cool video game arcade. The Metreon is part of Yerba Buena Gardens which is a large arts space with lots of kids stuff. There's a kids museum (Zeum - I don't recommend it though), which is right next to a big out door play area, an indoor skating rink and a bowling alley.

If she went underground to the Muni and took the N-Judah train outbound she could get out to Golden Gate Park. Lots of fun stuff to do there. I'd recommend renting a paddle boat and going around Stowe Lake. Make sure to get popcorn and drinks (coffee, Icees) and then just enjoy paddling about in the lake. Very nice.

Also from downtown, you're fairly close to the Giants stadium which has a pretty big kids play area that's open even when they're not playing games. (If they're playing a game, however, you'd have to buy a ticket to get in. Still! So fun to see a game there.)

Oh! Turns out he speaks Greek. Only outside the house, and only with Not!Parents, but at the park yesterday he said "Ball" and "No" and "Up" and so on in Greek the whole time.

My friend's son knows she doesn't speak Farsi so will only use it with his father and Iranian relatives. At first he'd hear Farsi but answer in English. The he started answering in Farsi--but only with people he knows speak it.

This is a strange day. For te first time in a couple of months I have nothing tat actually has to happen today. Tons to do, but nothing with a deadline. so far have no deadline means tv and computer.

Hec, that's terrific. Thank you. I'll pass it on.

When my cousin's daughter was wee, she would only speak Spanish to her Spanish relatives. She'd look at the Gringo side of the family like we were nuts, when we tried to get her to speak Spanish to us. She did call her Irish grandfather "AH-boo" though, which was how she originally got out the word abuelo.

My friend's son knows she doesn't speak Farsi so will only use it with his father and Iranian relatives. At first he'd hear Farsi but answer in English. The he started answering in Farsi--but only with people he knows speak it.

Both of these stages are absolutely typical of native bilingual language acquisition -- but absolutely weird and frustrating for parents who want to make sure the kids get to practice with both sets of skills.

(What's a little sadder is the cases where the parent gives up during the hear-Farsi-speak-English phase on the assumption that the kid just isn't picking up the other language. S/he is, but the ability to code-switch smoothly is a separate stage.)

(Also, kid has the makings of a wiseass.)

She'd look at the Gringo side of the family like we were nuts, when we tried to get her to speak Spanish to us.

Maybe it was your accent.

It probably was, but she wouldn't even speak Spanish in front of us at her (Spanish) father's urging.

She could take the F-Market vintage street car line down Market Street until she's at 4th. That's about where the Virgin Megastore is. Cody's Books is around the corner and it's a huge bookstore with an excellent children's section. If she wants to continue into the Tourista Zone she could then walk over to Union Square which has a Disney Store, and also a Tin Tin store.

But I'd recommend walking down 4th Street from Market to the Metreon. Unfortunately the Metreon doesn't have the Where the Wild Things are play space anymore. But it does have the cool toy store Things From Another World (second floor) and a huge cool video game arcade. The Metreon is part of Yerba Buena Gardens which is a large arts space with lots of kids stuff. There's a kids museum (Zeum - I don't recommend it though), which is right next to a big out door play area, an indoor skating rink and a bowling alley.

Thanks, Hec! I relayed your suggestions. She thanks you by proxy.

Hec, that's terrific. Thank you. I'll pass it on.

Heh. Sorry! I called her.

Years ago I had a boss who along with his wife was raising their kids to be bilingual. He would only speak Spanish to his kids and his wife would only speak English. His son understood Spanish but refused to speak it to anyone. (I think he was around six at the time). His daughter (who I think was around eight) would speak Spanish to any adult who wanted her to, because she loved the attention.