Photo courtesy Denise George
What’s a Washington-area parent to do?
Literally. What is there to do with our children? Whether you are home all day every day every minute with the little rascals, working part time or full time, a mother or father, married or single, this is a question that you are bound to ask.
In speaking with other parents in the community since I became a mom, I have heard this question thousands of times. Especially from new mothers that have just left their jobs for a maternity leave of anywhere from two months to twenty years. If I had a nickel for every time I have heard “How I do I meet other moms with kids the same age?” or “How can I find a playgroup?” I would probably live in Bethesda.
Just kidding.
I think there are oodles of resources for parents and opportunities to meet other children and families and friends in the Washington, DC area. My goal for is to provide a fun, free and accessible resource for Washington families, especially those good citizens of Silver Spring, Maryland. I’d love to assist that new mom in her yoga pants that does not know a soul with a child and is jonesing for company other than her newborn. Or that stay at home dad that feels lost in a sea of nursing bras. The family that just moved here from another state. The parent that works outside the home and is looking for events to share with his/her kid when they have time together.
And who am I?
Photo courtesy Denise George
My name is Jessica McFadden. I used to be Jessica Slovak, until I surprised myself and embraced tradition. Now I’m a minivan driving, bass-booming Washington, D.C. area housewife and mom to two energetic children: six year old son Charlie and three year old daughter Eve. My husband Chris is hot and kind and an IT genius and an incredible dad. No, you can’t have him. In addition to momming it up and writing this website, I work as a writer of informative and humorous parenting articles (the kind you don’t have to be an MD to get away with.) I’d love to write a feature for your publication or help you promote your business or cause in this weird online world. I also make special guest star appearances in Washington DC and the blogosphere.
I’m a California native that moved to DC to work on Capitol Hill for a U.S. Senator, and then for corporate and public affairs clients at a big PR firm. I worked until late each night and then shook the pins out of my bleached hair and hit the town. Then I fell in love and got married and moved to Silver Spring and had babies and my priorities changed. Now working from home as a writer for Nickelodeon’s ParentsConnect, as well as reporting on activities for kids on this site, means every day is take my kids to work day. It rocks.
I love libraries, live music, early American lit, period dramas, loud dinner parties, Alfred Hitchcock, Smithsonian Institutions, wooded trails, beach and Italian vacations, antique shops, flea markets, Real Simple, board games and boxed wine green tea.
I’m extroverted to a fault, so if I run into to you at the store and start jabbering away to you or your kids, just tell me to shut up. I won’t be offended. Email me with your suggestions for the site any old time. Don’t worry, I have no idea how to spam you.
I hope you enjoy this humble website. Cruise around and explore all that the area has to offer, and email me with anything that you’d like to see. I’d love to hear from you.
A note to marketing professionals & companies: All reviews of events, places, people and products are written with journalistic integrity and in accordance with the FTC guidelines for online writers. Events and items pertaining to the Washington DC area appear here, products get the special treatment at A Parent in Silver Spring Reviews. Oh, and Alexa ranks A Parent in Silver Spring in the top 1.15% of all websites, and Technorati categorizes A Parent in Silver Spring as one of the top 0.06% of all blogs. Which means I don’t write about my cats. Much. Maybe if I did I’d get more hits?
But I’d rather write about having fun with these people:
Photo courtesy Lawrence Luk
