Hipster Parents Need Your Help

If I told you that a community of parents and families in a hip Brooklyn neighborhood need your help to fund their website re-design, you would probably not respond by saying, "Oh, what a compelling cause! Those poor people! Without a new website, they might end up living on the street. No one should have to live without necessities like clean water, food, and a fancy-schmancy website for networking with other parents. Let me get my credit card."

But if I told you that Park Slope Parents, a community of more than 6,000 parents in Park Slope, Brooklyn, has released a benefit CD to fund their website re-vamp, and that the CD includes tracks from artists like Dan Zanes, AudraRox, Astrograss, and David Weinstone, you might (and should) respond by saying, "Cool! Let me get my credit card."

Park Slope Parents: The Album (Vol. 1) opens with John Carlin's energetic "Run Around," winds through 17 tracks from a variety of artists, and wraps up with Ralph Covert's beautifully moving "Fools Will Try." While some of the songs touch on themes specific to urban family life (like Wendy Gelsanliter's "Itty Bitty Kitty in New York City" and Michael Leyden's "I Hear a Train"), the album is also enjoyable for families far-removed from city living. Favorites around our house include AudraRox's "Moms and Dads" (excellent for parents who want to help their children appreciate the diversity of families) and Randy Kaplan's "Grape Juice Hesitation Blues."

The album was created with the help of numerous volunteers from Park Slope Parents -- artwork, artists' contracts, studio time, distribution, and other services were all donated. You can read more, hear sample tracks, and order your own copy here, but hurry -- this is a limited release of 5,000 copies.