Capone says she also posted a picture on her Facebook page of Cynthia Murphy being led away by FBI agents.
Lapin, who sat with his laptop on his front porch, just two doors away from the Murphy’s home, talked about the text messages and the Facebook status updates he’s also been receiving from other kids on the block. “Some people said, ‘OMG the FBI and police are at my neighbors house…’” and ‘My neighbors were just arrested for being Russian spies!!!!’ ”
Even the kids may be maxing out on the media circus around Marquette Road. By Monday morning, when Lapin woke up to find a text message from his friend, saying, “‘Hey, your neighbors are Russian spies!’”, Lapin just responded with “yea I know.”

Angel is happy to report, “Our first success was making a convincing presentation to the Montclair Parks and Recreation Committee. It was only after meeting and hearing the arguments presented solely by our young people, did the committee not only understand the need for a skatepark, but respected the commitment and passion that these young people have for this often misunderstood sport. Some of the kids really liken it more to an art form. We have learned to take advantage of community wide events, to use various forms of technology, as well as good ol’ person to person contact to gain supporters. We now have a giant list of names on our petition, an email contact list, a Facebook page and lots and lots of cell phone numbers!”
One of the supporters writes, “I’m a 10th grader at Montclair High School and I have been skating since the 5th grade. As soon as I was allowed to, my friends and I ventured out into the great opportunities of Montclair in order to find place that would suit our style of skateboarding. It was not long after we started, that we were promptly stopped by the higher authorities of the Montclair Community. We were kicked out of numerous spots around town and told that there was not a place that we could legally enjoy the criminalized sport that we participate in. Skateboarding was growing around the whole world, and so was the amount of people that stopped skaters. As skaters, all we want is a place in town that we can legally skate without being told time and time again that we cannot skateboard here.”
Skatepark in Montclair, NJ! is urging Montclair parents, kids and residents to support them by standing by them at the Tuesday, July 6 Town Council meeting:

Over the past year, I have been involved with a group of young people who would like to have a safe and legal place to practice their passion-skateboarding. I have been impressed with their enthusiasm and love for their sport (some would say art). We will be addressing the town council on Tuesday, July 6 to ask them to help us by allowing us to use a piece of town land in order to build a municipal skate park. We are NOT asking the town to pay to build a park. We plan on fundraising through private donors as well as public grants. This meeting is a big step, after a year of hard work, we really need the public’s support as we approach our local representatives.
We know that a skatepark in Montclair would attract many kids of all ages and demographic groups. Right now, we are asking you and your children and to join us on July 6, when we will present our proposed resolution to the town council. We need to show them that this is important to Montclair kids and families of all ages and types. We need your presence to get that point across.
The young members of our committee are gaining tremendous hands-on experience in the democratic process and community organizing, among other things! If you know of any young people who would like to become involved please let me know.
On July 6, at 205 Claremont at 8pm, let’s show our town council that skateboarding appeals to so many young people of all ages and races (as well as girls)!
Below is a draft of the resolution. It’s not final but is a general framework of what we hope will be presented next week.
Please let me know if you or your child would like to attend tonight. Please forward this to parents you know who have kids in these categories. We are also happy to help with transportation to the municipal building.
Thanks for your help!
Angel (Kenney)

To read the proposed resolution, click here.
Councilor Cary Africk, who has been skeptical in the past about building a skatepark in Montclair, is a bit more supportive of this effort:

I have attended meetings of skate park supporters in the past, and I too applaud the efforts, although I question the “1000 people who signed the petition.” I was approached and I signed, but I can assure you that the bulk of people I saw signing were youngsters, with no indication that they were Montclair residents nor no inclination as to whether they had signed multiple times. Nonetheless I am sure that there is a group of at least 100 who want to pursue this and that is certainly sufficient for me.
While it is the group’s prerogative to privately secure financing, and a place to build the park I would hope they would ask the question as to why the Bloomfield Skate Park has not been a success. I will ask our attorney to review a completely private operation and get his opinion as to any legal concerns that we should have.
I support a “private” arrangement whereby the Town has no financial responsibility for the skate park, nor does the town contribute any town owned property.
But to summarize, these are great kids, and great parents and I too welcome their efforts.

My kids didn’t badger me or complain. I’m not even sure they wanted one. I wanted one. Whenever we were outside in the backyard my kids wandered around aimlessly, invariably returning inside to the couch. I wanted to shoo them back outside and tell them to go play. But with what? We didn’t have a pool or swings or even a paved driveway to draw on. I decided for my sanity and their survival we needed a playset.

I actually had visions of summer days whiled away on the swingset or in the attached fort, children’s laughter floating by on a balmy breeze, as I worked uninterrupted nearby.

But I wanted one thing to be perfectly clear. If I was going to take out a second mortgage to finance a playset for my kids, they would have to live on it. I’m not being funny, and this isn’t hyperbole. I mean literally.

The playset we eyed up had a house-like enclosure and a picnic table and was practically as big as my house. It was certainly a suitable dwelling for two smallish people. They could come in for the winter but not until then. And if we ran some electric wire and plumbing to the fort, I might not ever have to see them again.

But as with all fantasies, once realized, the facts on the ground don’t quite match the vision. And so it was with my dream playset.

My research on playsets commenced in March that year. I thought if we bought in the off-season, we might be able to get a reasonable price. I was wrong. Reasonable prices do not exist when it comes to playsets. I don’t know if the hardware is solid gold or if the structure is constructed out of a rare wood imported from a remote tropical isle, but bargains were not to be had . So I considered an option a friend suggested: used playsets. I could get a whole playset for half the price. That had my name written all over it.

Unfortunately, my husband’s name was not written on it as well. Kevin was against the whole playset idea from the beginning. It would damage a small corner of his lush green lawn. If, however, I was going to force him to acknowledge he had children and that they needed toys with which to play, then he determined he would have to have a deluxe model set. Something that would compliment his grass.

I continued in my search for pre-owned models, convinced I could satisfy both of us, and I was successful in finding a used playset in relatively good condition. It was large enough for two school-age kids to use at the same time, and it even had a rock wall. The best part was it only cost about a thousand bucks. Victory was mine. My husband promptly pointed out the playset was somewhere outside the tri-state area, and we didn’t have a vehicle large enough to transport it even if we did want to take the half-a-day’s drive to go get it. We’d have to rent a truck, and we’d have to dismantle and reassemble the 5,000 parts ourselves. I silently nodded. I understood, and with my heart broken, I gave up on my beloved used playset.

Weeks passed as I comparison shopped online, until finally the day came when I spotted my dream swing set. It had everything I imagined any elementary school kid would die for and all the components necessary for hours of fun. The only problem was I couldn’t afford it.

Over the course of the following weeks, I visited the playset several times, hoping as the days stretched further and further into the summer to find a sale. In mid-July the company had what constituted a storewide sale in playset circles: free gangplank weekend. I was sold.

For those who have never had the experience of shopping for a playset, it’s quite a daunting task. There are many makes and models and heights and configurations to choose from and all the actual play things are extra. I suppose you could buy a wooden frame fairly cheaply, but all your children would be able to do is stare at it wistfully. It would come without swings, fort, slide, trapeze bar, rock wall or monkey bars. Essentially, it would be an oversized sawhorse that they could neither climb on nor play with.

Free gangplank weekend was a huge coup for me. I could swap the slide for a free gangplank (experienced friends advised the slide was a waste) saving myself a couple hundred bucks, throw on a rock wall, go with the two swings and a trapeze bar (mandatory) and the two-story fort but opt out of the model with a ground level floor to compensate for the pricy fortress (my husband needed the floor but agreed to build one himself). I breathed a sigh of relief that the hunting and agonizing and planning was over. Then the sales guy hit me with the bill. Just under $3,000. And it was FREE gangplank weekend!

The playset has been bought and paid for, delivered and erected in our yard for almost a year now, but it hasn’t been much played with. Or, maybe I should say it hasn’t been played with as much as I would like or as much as $3000 would dictate. We haven’t made our money back on it yet, but a few items have been worth their price. The swings and trapeze bar. That’s really all you need. A simple, old school frame with some swings and a trapeze bar. Take it from someone whose been burned.

The kids still wander aimlessly about the backyard, ignoring the one component, the most expensive one, for which they lobbied so vehemently, the fort. It sits empty except for the birds and the squirrels. But maybe if we installed a T.V. in there….

(Photo: Flickr: WalkingGeek)

Montclair Baseball Summer Camp
Where: Edgemont Park Field, Montclair, NJ, 07042.
Who: Kids ages 7 – 10.
What: A one-week summer camp at Edgemont Field, in conjunction with Ashton Athletics. This camp will cover every aspect of the game of baseball and is a great way for kids to be introduced to Baseball in a safe and enjoyable atmosphere.
When: July 12 – 16 from 9 am – 12:30 pm
Cost: $125. Register here.

The 8-year-old had tremendous luck, as he caught fish after fish (or possibly the same luckless one that he kept releasing), gaining confidence and enthusiasm with each success.
Both became experts at handling the fish by their fins, which, they explained to me, stopped them flailing about, allowing them to be freed from the hooks and returned to the water. It was just as well, as I had no plans to gut, clean or cook anything while on vacation.
But the sushi-loving boys had bigger plans. They’d heard there was salmon in the water; why keep the small fry when they could get Mom to gut, clean and (gulp) present them with fresh, raw fish? Thankfully for me, sans chum (which I was reluctant to buy or handle), the salmon weren’t intrigued by shrimpy shrimp bait.
As we waited for the fish to take the bait, exotic birds would appear out of nowhere. Giant pelicans, as if being filmed by hidden National Geographic cameras, dove headlong into the water feet away from us, clumsily landing beak first but usually accurately upon a fish. And herons would magically appear near us as we fished, curious and watchful. One heron (see photo) waited till my son had caught a fish, only to casually walk closer, and, well, take it. Among the many fish the kids caught and freed, that’s the only one that got eaten!
Meanwhile, with two kayaks invitingly resting on the deck, all we had to do was to find some life jackets, and more lessons ensued. On being safe, learning what to do in case the kayak tipped over, keeping a hold of the oar at all times lest it slipped into manatee territory below the boat, and on how to steer a kayak.
And how to relax, enjoy each other and have fun, even in stillness – listening to the incredible birdsong of Florida, the gentle splashes of the oars in the sea-green water, and breathing in the perfume of exotic summer blooms amid the caress of a warm, summer breeze.

Montclair High School’s most recent graduates were greeted by
applause, cowbells and much support from Montclair residents on
Thursday evening after the graduation ceremony. After their
traditional parade around town, the seniors were bussed to Project
Graduation at Velocity 17 in Maywood, New Jersey.
Go Karting and Laser Tag were the main attractions at the event, but
the most popular activity was signing yearbooks. There was also a
hypnosis show, which wowed and amazed all that attended.
Early birds may have spotted the caravan of buses returning hundreds
of happy and exhausted students to the school very early Friday
morning.

Maybe your little one heard you and wanted to know why you sounded like you were crying, or worse, maybe she walked in on you and actually saw you doing the deed. How do you handle it?
Not that this has happened to me, but I thought it was best to ask Evelyn Shalom who gave Barista Kids some sex education advice back in March.

Apparently telling your child that you stubbed your toe and were screaming is not the right thing to do according to Evelyn…

Recently, someone posed the following situation to me:

“My first grade child heard my husband and me having sex. She started calling to me and asking if I was OK. She was very upset, thinking I was hurt. I ran to her and lied and told her that I had stubbed my toe. It was the only thing I could think of! Was that the right thing to do?”

The short answer is that no great harm was done, but you missed a valuable opportunity. If a child is asking a question, she deserves a truthful answer. Perhaps the timing was wrong. You were obviously “busy” and maybe the child was already in bed for the night. You simply could have told her that you were fine. You and Daddy were making love. That’s a special kind of touching and closeness that grownups have, and you weren’t hurt at all. If it seems like the child wants to know more, tell her that you can talk about it again tomorrow. That will give you some time to gather your thoughts and your courage.
Just because these conversations may be hard or uncomfortable for some of us doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have them. Establishing honest conversations like these is the way to build trust. It may not seem so important for a first or second grader, but messages about body image, physical affection and intimacy are clearly internalized early. You are also laying the foundation for future critical interactions. You want her to think of you as an “askable” parent. Kids obviously are getting sexual messages from friends, classmates, and the media. Don’t YOU want to be the primary conveyor both of facts and of values to your own child?

Some people believe that a first grader is too young to hear this. In fact, a publication by SIECUS (Sexuality Information and Education Council of the US) reminds us that this is not true. “No child is too young to learn that it feels good to receive and give affection and that loving and trusting relationships are at the heart of joyful, productive lives.”

So, how much should you tell? Explain just a bit more than you think your child can understand.Use correct terminology for body parts. Say a little and wait for the child’s next question or comment. But don’t take her silence as an excuse to stop. At least lay the groundwork for future conversations. Remember, not knowing about sexuality isn’t innocence, it’s ignorance.

Nobody said that being a parent was going to be easy. But this is part of what we need to do to nurture happy, well-adjusted teens and adults. Starting early is much easier and more productive than thinking that sitting a teen down for “the talk” fulfills parental responsibilities in this area.

As I described in a previous Barista Kids article, parents of young children have four important tasks:

1. Talk to your kids
2. Be a good role model
3. Keep it simple
4. Get brave

From many years of working with high school students on these issues, I can assure you that kids remember what their parents did or did not teach them about sexuality. And those who were lucky enough to have parents who took deep breaths and really tried to help them understand about sexuality’s place in their lives have been most appreciative!
Good luck as you embark on this important mission.

Evelyn Shalom, with over thirty years of experience as a public school teacher, has a Master’s degree in health education and is certified by the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists as a sexuality educator. She has also lived the personal side as a Mom and Grandma. Evelyn now has a parenting consulting practice in Montclair, and is available to work with individuals or small groups on “how to talk to your children about sexuality” and many other issues.
Have you ever been caught by your kids? How did you handle it?