I have a childhood girlfriend in Chicago.  Her three kids are about the same age as mine. That's where the similarities end.

I was always jealous knowing that she was raising her children just miles away from an amazing city full of incredible opportunities.  The Joffery Ballet.  The Shedd Aquarium.  Theatres specializing in only young audiences.  Museums.  Planetariums.  A functional lake.  Special extracurricular programs for folk music, teddy bear teas at the Four Seasons, Chinese language lessons and intro-to-sushi-rolling for kids.  How could she be bored with three children I often wondered?  "Dude.  I never leave my suburb by myself with three kids.  Let me know when you're in town and I will get a sitter to accompany me downtown.  To go to the zoo."  Gah!  The zoo?  What about this and that and how about that I wanted to scream.

I think we all take things for granted.  It's so easy to be jealous of people living in places you think that the grass is greener in.

I, for one, would like to imagine that if I lived in Chicago I'd take full opportunity of what the city offered.  This coming from a teenager that took two buses and three L-trains to see a Nirvana concert at the age of 14. And finagled her way to find a weekly ride to North/Clark for extra Manic Panic.

Nothing makes my heart grow sadder when one of my kids says, "I'm bored."  It. Makes. My. Blood. Boil. Sure they are only 7, 5 and 2 years-old.  But I desperately want to instill the adventurous streak that is so prominent in my blood and remind them that they can never be bored if they seek the opportunity to be a tourist in their own city.  "You're bored?  Let's go...."

Did you know that "Ansel’s Cave once sheltered Civil War soldiers and munitions, runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad, and Prohibition-era bootleggers"  in CLEVELAND?  Just a 45 minutes drive from downtown?  A two mile un-paved hike through hilly terrain which will make your middle child scream, "my feet are tired" but the surroundings will leave you breathless.

Hallo. Hawt. Husband.

Chicago has nothing like this.... Mr. Kringle's Inventionasium.  Where kids, in Tower City, can invent/create/imagine new toys for Mr. Kringle.  A whopping $2 per person, you must make reservations, this 30 minute hands-on-tour is nothing short of amazing for children three and up.  My two year old was frightened by the dramatic "elf" accent and purple hair of our tour guide.  But shame-on-you mothers of kids older than that, who have never experienced it. Go.  Now.  Take advantage of what our city offers and pull that minivan off of your suburban turf, yo.  It's awesome.

I am no longer jealous of my friend, or of anyone that lives in a "cooler" city.  I've realized that you have to become a tourist in your own home town to really appreciate everything it has to offer.  It's all in your hands.  Make it incredible or make it "dude the zoo is cool enough for my clan."

Cleveland does rock for kids and I try to take advantage of every opportunity.  Even a swanky restaurant (The Greenhouse Tavern) on 4th street stows away strollers during prime time Saturday dinning hours for a selfish hungry mother to get her pommes frites with raw garlic aioli.  Dude, you can't get that the stuff at AppleBees.

Cleveland:  Giving away a PAL membership for a day to the Playhouse Square here to meet and greet Elmo.  Who doesn't love the theatre?