Zeno's Bar & Grill

June’s issue of North Shore magazine had an article right up our alley, titled “The Parent Trap: Are We Really Raising the Best Kids Money Can Buy?” Its author, Susan B. Noyes, describes an eight year saga of trying to break free from the bonds of serfdom...er, extracurricular activities for her six children.

Her life is so hectic, in fact, that she looks with envy at her friend Sally Schneiders, who has five children, paints and writes her own thank you cards, and helps her children perform plays in the basement for the entire neighborhood so they can donate the proceeds to charity. Somehow, embracing Sally’s lifestyle doesn’t sound like it would be exactly getting off the treadmill.

At the end of the article, Ms. Noyes concedes that nature trumps nurture and that her children would be the same if they hadn’t taken the multitude of classes, sports, and lessons. She doesn’t really seem to buy it, though.

We’d like to invite both Susan and Sally over for a margarita and let the kids do something really crazy, like play by themselves in the backyard or maybe even watch a cartoon.

--Kelly and Melanie