Latest news with #Hatches
Buzz Feed
02-06-2025
- Buzz Feed
25 Target Products For Anyone Traveling With A Toddler
A Hatch Rest Go portable noise machine to ensure your toddler sleeps like, well, a baby — no matter where you are. Promising review: "Love how convenient it is having a portable Hatch like this. My kids both have Hatches and this is a great idea when traveling and away from home." —CassiePrice: $39.99 (available in five colors) A snack spinner for the tot who likes a little variety. Think of this as an on-the-go kidcuterie plate with a fun *spin.* Promising review: "My toddler uses this every single day. He loves it and I love the variety of snacks I can put in there. I have tried so many other snack containers and this is hands down the BEST." —Mwd07Price: $22.99 (available in five colors) A two-pack of sun safety roller shades to make those long car rides easier — not only will you protect their skin and eyes, but it might help make the nap last just a little bit longer. Who's the sunny one, now? (It's you!) Promising review: "I take these wherever we go. I usually change cars with my husband on and off, so it's easy to take them off and put them back on. My baby definitely doesn't like the sun in her face, so this is a must if your windows aren't tinted." —Larissa LPrice: $15.49 A set of seriously adorable kids' packing cubes, because it's never too early to teach them the value of planning outfits ahead of time and being neat and organized. OK, let's be real... you're the one doing all the packing, but it's still helpful! Promising review: "Loved the coordination of material! Nice quality!! Nice, easy zippers for my son to use as well. Much larger than I expected though lol" —PandaPrice: $14.99 (available in three patterns) A car seat travel case with padded backpack straps, which will totally level up your airport parenting game because with kids of a certain age, well, you're going to want your hands free. Bonus: You can pack the empty space with stuff you need but don't want to put in your other bags, like extra diapers, blankets, etc. Promising review: "This was perfect for our recent vacation! I had no issues fitting our car seat in it and carrying it thru the airport with ease. So much easier than trying to fumble with just the car seat." —Mamaof2girl0616Price: $16.99 A perfectly sized (and durable!) kids' digital camera so you can give your phone a break from your kid's sticky fingers. But also, how cute is the idea of seeing your trip through their eyes? Promising review: "Got this on a whim for our 17-month-old and he walks around cracking up at the shutter sound. Great little toy, and I love seeing things (albeit blurry) from his perspective." —dmsPrice: $69.99 A folding travel potty seat, because you can't stay at home forever while potty training. You have to get out there, and your little one is going to have to go (probably at a really inconvenient time)! Now, you're prepared. Promising review: "This is seriously such a brilliant little invention. The carrying bag makes this easy to pop into a diaper bag or an overnight bag instead of carting around an entire potty seat. The suction cups make it so this doesn't slip and slide on different toilet seats. This has been the easiest way to make sure we don't get behind on potty training while visiting family members this holiday season!" —HaleyPrice: $14.99 (available in three colors) A dino-mite toddler-size backpack that can hold all the necessities — snacks, activities, and more snacks — so your little cutie doesn't go total T-Rex on the flight. Promising review: "Our grandson loved it, he put it on right away and likes to carry his toys in it." —Nana APrice: $15 A surprisingly sleek spill-proof snack cup that is perfect for little hands. There's no top to rip off and throw (been there!) so this gives you the best chance you'll have at staying somewhat neat while traveling with a toddler. Promising review: "My 16-month-old son loves this, and truly so do I. It's so convenient to throw snacks in and bring with us on the go — it prevents huge messes in the car!" —Mer1496Price: $5.99 A Bluey invisible ink book, because when you're traveling in the car or a plane you can't play keepy-uppy, or obstacle course, or hotel... but this is just as fun! Promising review: "I purchased this for an airplane ride for my 18-month-old, and it was perfect and mess-free! I recommend!" —AudlynnPrice: $5.99 A cute suitcase that the kids will actually want to carry... all by themselves. (But maybe not up the stairs to the hotel room — that's still on you.) Promising review: "My kid is super excited about this suitcase. Great look. He can carry it himself but it also has a backstrap to go over the handle and sit on top of my suitcase. The inside organizational options and the contrasting colors are great, too." —JLGPrice: $49.99 A Welly first-aid kit that fits perfectly in your bag, because parents know the importance of a bandage when it comes to boo-boos. And these colorful ones especially apply to boo-boos that don't technically even need a bandage. This 24-piece set includes bandages, hand sanitizer, antibiotic ointment, and a cool carrying review: "The cutest mini first-aid kit. I like that it's small enough to conveniently carry in my purse. The adorable [bandage] prints make boo-boos less sad for our little ones. It is a little pricey but worth it because of the thoughtful design and compact size. I bought one for my husband to keep handy, too." —Sha Sha ShopperPrice: $7.99 A three-pack of Honest Company hand-sanitizing wipes, because you're not taking any chances with getting sick on this trip. These fragrance-free wipes will keep hands clean, and the aloe protects skin from drying out. Promising review: "We always take around a pack of sanitizing wipes with us for those times we don't have access to water and soap and need to wash our hands. It is safe in terms of clean ingredients, yet effective at removing dirt and germs. The pack of three makes it easy to use for a longer period of time." —IENNJNPrice: $14.99 An Apple AirTag that you can use to track anything you really don't want to lose on your trip, like your luggage or your child's favorite stuffie. Wait, come to think of it, you can actually use these to keep track of your kids, too. (Hey, I've done it!) Promising review: "My first AirTag, I use it for my daughter's diaper bag and I love it. Pairing the AirTag with my phone was easy, I definitely will get the four-pack!" —LeleB244Price: $29.99 And a cute silicone keychain to hold said AirTag, which you can attach to your little frog's backpack. That way, if they get jumpy and hop off, you'll be able to find them quickly. Promising review: "Easy to put on and feels secure so far! Like that it has a clip, too." —carabearPrice: $9.99 (available in five designs) A car seat organizer that you can stock with games, water bottles, a tablet, and more. It will keep the kids entertained, but it won't stop them from a) asking you if you're there yet and b) telling you that they need to go to the bathroom at the worst time. Promising review: "Perfect for having a stash of toys, snacks, and drinks in the car going to the park or traveling. May need to get another one once our second baby gets a bit older." —KRPrice: $18.29 A pack of chewable Dramamine Kids for your LO with motion sickness. Why? Because you saved your money. You've planned your trip all year. You've packed and prepared. And vomit would totally ruin the carefully curated vacation vibes. Promising review: "Honestly, this saved my trip. My daughter gets so carsick and after taking this she fell right asleep, probably a combination of being tired and the medicine, but it worked great!" —MBHPrice: $4.69 A travel stroller that folds up so small it can fit in the overhead compartment on your flight. A stroller might as well be a second car — it holds and hauls all of your most important stuff, and we're not just talking about your kiddo. Promising review: "The Munchkin Sparrow Stroller is a true gem! Its lightweight design and remarkable compactness make it a breeze to handle. I love how it effortlessly fits into the back compartment of my Honda Pilot, adding convenience to my daily outings. Highly recommended for its practicality and ease of use." —VadamamaPrice: $219.99 (available in two colors) A stroller fan because sitting in the same spot for a while can get hot and uncomfortable, which can lead to a total meltdown — even if you have all the right snacks and toys. Save yourself the trouble and you'll be a real fan of this, well, fan. Promising review: "Powerful and the legs manipulate to hold anywhere. It also has a light function to distract the little one." —RRecordPrice: $15.99 (originally $19.99) A travel tray that will actually save your sanity because you won't CONSTANTLY be asked to pick up the crayons, find the activities, get the snacks... you get the point. It's perfect for long car trips or time on the plane — whatever they need, it'll all be at their fingertips! Promising review: "My wife and I bought this for our daughter. She absolutely loves it! She doesn't want to leave the house without it. Overall, the quality is amazing, very useful, and well-designed. I highly recommend it for anyone with young kids or toddlers! 10/10" —JasonPrice: $19.49 (originally $29.99; available in four designs) A SlumberPod — which can fit over a Pack 'n' Play, mattress, or cot — to give your kiddo that black-out curtain effect no matter where they are. This makes sharing a room on vacation way more tolerable. Remember how you saw it on Shark Tank and thought it was brilliant? Now's the time to use it! Promising review: "This product is perfect for our lifestyle. We love to travel, but it can be challenging to give our LO their own sleep space unless we book a two-bedroom place. This product will allow us to put them to bed at 8 p.m. and still enjoy our evenings when we don't have separate rooms!" —reviewerPrice: $199.99 (available in two colors) A silicone carseat food tray that elevates the built-in cupholder and turns it into an hors d'oeuvres tray. Kids these days... they've really got it made, don't they? Promising review: "This makes car rides just a little bit easier. Super easy to fit in the cup holder. We can put her snacks on the little tray part and she can still use the cupholder for her cup. It makes things less messy and she can even use the tray part to put toys in." —reviewerPrice: $14.99 A set of mini Magna-Tiles, because we all know these are the G.O.A.T. of kids' toys and the thought of leaving behind your kids' full-size set is almost unbearable. Promising review: "Amazing value! This has been a lifesaver in restaurants and on airplanes. The kids love building new things with these blocks and this set is small enough to throw in any bag. The tin also functions as a base for their creations." —Jen27Price: $19.99 A sunscreen applicator that makes keeping your kiddo slathered in SPF super easy. Fill it with the product of your choice and it will glide on mess-free. Wait a second, what about you? Don't forget to do yourself, too! Promising review: "We have used this product for our toddler for the past two summers and can't imagine wrangling and applying sunscreen without it. It is so easy to use and toddler can actually kind of manage to use it herself without getting sunscreen everywhere. It's super convenient to bring along, and love that it saves my hands from getting sticky." —ErinPrice: $14.99 A two-pack of bottle toppers, which can turn a regular bottle of water or juice into a toddler-friendly sippy cup. While nothing is funnier than watching a toddler donkey-lip a bottle of water, this thing will help you get the job done without the spills and gross Goldfish bits leftover in your H2O (iykyk). Price: $7.99
Chicago Tribune
02-04-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
National Public Housing Museum opens in Chicago, the first of its kind, with residents' stories at its heart
On a gray Thursday on Chicago's Near West Side, Rev. Marshall Hatch Sr. stepped through time. Here were his five sisters, proudly donning caps and gowns in graduation portraits framed on the wall. There, the family's World Book Encyclopedia set — a favorite of his mother, Helen Holmes Jackson. A petite pair of boxing gloves, a relic from when he was obsessed with Muhammad Ali, and the plush velvet couch that doubled as his bed. Across it: the television on which he watched Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral. 'It's probably how I ended up in ministry,' Hatch Sr., a pastor in West Garfield Park, tells his son, Marshall Hatch Jr., who's filming the walkthrough on his phone. He points at a spot on the couch. 'Our father was sitting right there. I looked at him and saw a single tear roll down his cheek.' The Hatches are standing in the last surviving building of the former Jane Addams Homes, in an apartment unit eerily like the one Hatch Sr. and his family lived in until he turned 16. It's not quite the same layout — their unit was down a level and across the hall, meaning this recreation is a mirror image of their actual unit. And there's no way the Hatches, with their matriarch's suspicion of television generally, would have gotten a color TV. ('Cellophane paper was blue at the top, green on the bottom, and orange in the middle. You put that on, and that was our first color television,' he jokes.) But all else is uncannily accurate, down to the minty shade of green in the hallway. 'Project green!' Hatch declares when he sees it. 'Either that, or peach.' The Hatches' time machine comes courtesy of the National Public Housing Museum, the only museum of its kind in the country. The museum opened its first brick-and-mortar space last week after years of being 'a museum in the streets,' in the words of board chair Sunny Fischer. Between now and the museum's incorporation in 2007, Fischer — a former executive of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and a child of a Bronx public housing project herself — says the museum hosted education programs, walking tours and pop-up exhibitions 'wherever they would let us,' including an early installation at the Merchandise Mart. The museum's new space offers a permanent home for its roving presentations — now free of charge to visitors — which trace the history of public housing from its origins in the New Deal to the present day. But unlike the typical museum, the National Public Housing Museum offers a deeper, more personal engagement through $25 tours of its recreated apartment spaces. The Hatch family apartment is one of two recreated units in the new museum, with the other, representing the Jewish Turovitz family, who were among the Addams Homes' earliest tenants in the 1930s. A third unit has been transformed into a presentation on redlining, with visuals by local shadow-puppet theater Manual Cinema and a script by Princeton University scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. The National Public Housing Museum was profoundly inspired by New York City's Tenement Museum, a cluster of well-preserved and partially recreated tenement apartments on the city's Lower East Side. That museum, which National Public Housing Museum Executive Director Lisa Yun Lee considers a 'sister' institution, also incorporates oral histories from tenement residents and their descendants. But the interactivity of the Chicago experience is largely without precedent. Tour-goers are invited to sample Jackson's peanut brittle recipe, held in a cookie tin in the Hatch family kitchen. And visitors who tour the Turovitz unit next week will notice an empty space above the sink: the family's gefilte fish bowl, on display there most of the year, will have been pulled off the shelf for their present-day Passover celebrations. Elsewhere, visitors can spin vinyl records and learn more about the public housing pasts of famous musicians in a 'rec room' curated by DJ Spinderella, of Salt-N-Pepa fame, or listen to archival interviews in a studio named for late Chicago historian Dr. Timuel Black Jr. At every turn, the National Public Housing Museum wants to dispel, or at least complicate, voyeuristic, 'Candyman' -inspired notions of what public housing is. Public housing could be the fantastical, Edgar Miller-designed sculpture garden at the Addams Homes' heart. It could be the hardworking, wisecracking Evans family in the 1970s sitcom 'Good Times,' set in Cabrini-Green. It could be the varied lives and hobbies of Baltimore public housing residents, pictured in an ecstatic mural by Marisa Morán Jahn in the museum stairwell. 1 of 13 Rev. Marshall Hatch Sr. holds a boxing glove from his childhood in the Hatch Family Apartment exhibit at the National Public Housing Museum on March 27, 2025. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune) To that end, eight current public housing residents have joined the staff as museum 'ambassadors,' leading education programs and guiding guests through exhibitions. And textile artist Dorothy Burge, whose family lived in LeClaire Courts and the Washington Park Homes, was commissioned to create a quilt portrait of late housing commissioner and museum co-founder Deverra Beverly, which now greets passersby on Taylor Street. Burge remembers rushing to finish her homework early so she could participate in after-school art programs in the Courts. 'In public housing, we always did a lot of collective art. There was quilting, there was collage work,' Burge says. That the museum building at Ada and Taylor survives, much less hosts the National Public Housing Museum, is a testament to Beverly's efforts. She and other public housing residents stridently opposed the Chicago Housing Authority's 1999 Plan of Transformation, which responded to the disrepair of its public housing projects by razing them. According to the museum, the plan precipitated the largest net loss of affordable housing in the country's history, destroying 11 developments and more than 20,000 units in the Jane Addams Homes, Cabrini-Green Homes, Robert Taylor Homes, Henry Horner Homes, Ida B. Wells Homes and others. In many cases, the mixed-income units that the CHA vowed would replace them never materialized as planned. Even today, the museum, whose north wing now includes just 15 units of mixed-income housing, is surrounded by yawning blocks of undeveloped lawn, barren but for no-trespassing signs posted by the CHA. Though these empty city blocks appear overlooked and forgotten, the National Public Housing Museum is a significant step in ensuring their former residents — like Hatch Sr.'s mother, Helen Holmes Jackson — are not. When the elder Hatch walked through the apartment, 'his' apartment, he was overcome with emotion when he spotted the peanut brittle tin full of 'Helen's Surprise.' 'The night she died, I wanted to watch a Western, and she wanted to watch the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She had a high school diploma, but she was such a smart person — literally cultured. And all she did was have babies and die,' he says. 'Her being in this museum brings it full circle.' Hannah Edgar is a freelance writer. The National Public Housing Museum is o pen Wednesdays-Sundays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (closed Mondays and Tuesdays) at 919 S. Ada St.; admission free; guided apartment tours $15-$25 and scheduled online at
