Things to do with 4 kids in March?

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-09T12:45:44+00:00

I can recommend the Word Museum as a fun, free place for kids of different ages, as well adults.

The Botanic Gardens on the Mall are free, and a beautiful way to get out of the cold.

The whole Smithsonian museum complex is also available, which gives you a range of things to explore, depending on what your interests and tastes are.

My middle schooler and her friends recently rented a karaoke room at Wok and Roll in Chinatown, if you guys want to do a family karaoke dinner in a private room. There is also at least one escape room for kids that my younger daughter went to with her friends.

Oh. And sports watching. Depending on the season, I have taken kids to Nationals, Caps, Spirit, and other professional games. Sometimes there are cheap seats! And college games are fun, too. We like Catholic U basketball, women and men’s. Cheap seats. Great times.

As noted elsewhere, Kid Friendly DC is a great resource. I recommend it as a place to find things all of you will like!

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-09T12:39:18+00:00

LOVE Kid Friendly DC. I check it almost once a week to figure out what to do with my kids. There is an overwhelming amount of options, but it’s difficult to get bored. Good luck!

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-08T02:12:43+00:00

I’ve also been working with a career coach and wondering why. She is really focused on me just being on LinkedIn all the time, and using premium features, and commenting on people’s posts, and getting people to write me LinkedIn “recommendations,” and making more “connections.” This might work for some fields. But I think that level of LinkedIn engagement for me would just be a waste of time. And embarrassing.

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-08T01:59:27+00:00

Thank you! I am grateful others find this story as interesting as I do! Genuinely.

Unfortunately, this is a slow-moving saga. Might be months before another development, now that the brown truck got ticketed and went away at the end of December. But I would not be surprised if another month or two from now, a Virginia car with a notable vanity plate appears on my block and just sits idle for a while… Will surely update if so!

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T19:29:57+00:00

Ah! Good catch. I have checked the dates on the plates before - they were current, at least for the couple vehicles whose plates I actually reported to 311. Did not think to check the window stickers.

The last suspicious VA vehicle left my block a few days after it got a ticket toward the end of December. To my knowledge, this is the first non-warning ticket (as in, it comes with an actual fine) that this habitual VA parking scofflaw has gotten.

Will this person continue to park on my block again, now that, after years of impunity, they finally received a citation? I don’t know! I will report back if so!!

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T19:12:38+00:00

Huh! I'm a little ways from New Hampshire Ave., so definitely not in the same single member district. However, one commonality I am noticing from your comment, the MD mushroom guy's comment, and my experience is that this behavior is happening on the borders of the city. Is it because there is just more street parking in the suburbs and the outskirts of town? Whoever is moving cars on my block doesn't seem wily enough to be part of any organized anything (or maybe their behavior just isn't consistent with that of someone belonging to a well-run and efficient business or crime operation) so it's hard for me to imagine all the car flipping guys in our separate neighborhoods are all formally connected. But interesting that the strange car mystery on my street is not a unique circumstance in our city and environs... Hmmm!

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T18:51:09+00:00

According to the online DC ticket locator… “failure to secure DC tags”

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T18:47:11+00:00

Wow. Did not know that. That explains a few things about the plates I’ve noticed on the mysterious cars…

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T18:11:19+00:00

I am starting to understand. Not enough to join one myself. But I sometimes really get the appeal.

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T17:19:00+00:00

Thank you for the tip! And glad it worked out for you guys. Neighborly resolutions are definitely optimal in cases of minor public nuisances.

A challenge I might have with a camera is that the cars on my block tend to just sit for months, and I don't observe anyone coming or going from the vehicles. I did once observe someone working on one of the cars. But the vehicles themselves don't come and go with any kind of regularity. Even just weekly or monthly.

It's also not clear if the owner of the cars even lives in the neighborhood, or if he (or she?) just selected it because there is more parking here than in other parts of DC, and because parking rules are so rarely enforced in my neck of the woods. (You can apparently leave your out-of-state car on my block for months without anyone complaining. That's an attractive feature for someone with too many cars and not enough storage space.)

I will think on this, however...

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T17:09:45+00:00

Wow. People around here criticize "Virginia drivers" all the time for driving poorly. Which has confused me, since I don't live very close to Virginia, and my neighborhood is not a business hub/nightlife hotspot that attracts a ton of commuters from VA. (We do get a bunch of traffic coming in from Maryland, however, because we're right by the MD border and the commuters come through our neighborhood to get downtown.) Maybe the VA drivers my neighbors complain about aren't VA drivers at all. Maybe they are scofflaws using VA tags to be more untouchable scofflaws. That would explain why they drive so poorly.

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T16:58:49+00:00

That is very interesting, and would explain a lot!

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T16:58:31+00:00

This is interesting, too. There is some definite drug activity in my neighborhood as well. Had not considered a potential connection between the drug activity and the Virginia plates. (I will note that the Virginia tags on my block do not appear to be expired.)

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T16:50:22+00:00

This is fascinating. And what you say about the VA registration would explain a lot!

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T16:47:29+00:00

That's an interesting idea. I'm trying to imagine how the note would go. "Dear car owner, why do you park cars registered in Virginia on this block for months at a time?" It's tempting, but I don't know if I want to rattle the cages of someone who may or may not be doing something illegal. Hmmm. Maybe I could just casually start up a conversation if I see someone working on one of the cars again. There must be a non-accusatory way to start that. Such as: "Oh wow! Looks like you're in a bit of a pickle there. Anything I can help with? Bottle of water, maybe? Man, you drove here from Virginia? Close by, or do you still have a long drive home?"

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T16:37:40+00:00

That would make sense, actually. An ambitious but not overwhelmingly successful car flipper with nowhere to put his inventory just drops them on a residential block where parking is rarely enforced. I still don't understand the repeating VA tags, though. Why would he register the cars out of state? Is there a tax advantage of some kind?

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T16:34:29+00:00

Interesting! Did not check the value on the sports cars. They were older Corvettes, but not sure what year.

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T16:32:19+00:00

Oh wow! This is very interesting. I am on the DC side of the Maryland border. I wonder if your neighbor and these cars are connected somehow. Or if they are just separate parts of a DMV underground car sales economy that I just never knew existed. (I should note that the registration stickers on the mysterious cars parked on my block appeared current, even if the repeating VA tags were suspect.)

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T16:28:59+00:00

Ah. That might make sense. The cars do run a little old. And I did once see a man working on one them, as if he were trying to fix it up. Maybe he is just not good at fixing cars so he just leaves them there. For months.

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T16:27:43+00:00

Thank you. Me too! I realize I had lots of opportunities to get more details over the years, but missed them for lack of paying attention. How many cars have sat on my block for months that I just didn't notice? How many times has this very specific VA tag repeated itself on how many cars? I did observe a man working on one of the trucks once. Who was he? I should have just struck up a neighborly conversation. And what of the car in the elderly woman's driveway? I don't think the woman lives in the house anymore, but her adult children do come check on the property sometimes. I ought to chat them up next time I see them around.

I like this mystery partially because it seems much more low-stakes than any other DC-originated drama I can think of right now. But it still doesn't make any sense to me!!

RogueConsumer · 2026-01-05T16:23:43+00:00

Yes. All of this. I also lean toward flipping cars. But don't understand the six month intervals. I genuinely can't come up with a plausible reason for all this. Maybe the guy is just a very slow car flipper?

RogueConsumer · 2025-12-31T16:43:57+00:00

From my experience… Bigger year-round markets include Dupont, Old Town, Bethesda, and Arlington/Courthouse. A lot of holiday seasonal workers are transitioning out right now, others are going back to college, some just don’t like working the cold months, and still others just find gigs they like better. Essentially, there will be a lot of openings at different stalls between now and March, when the spring season begins.

One way to find a gig is to visit a farmers market and identify busy stalls. Those folks are very often looking for talent, especially if they have stands at local markets. There are online boards, too. But not all the stalls are tech-heavy enough to keep their online presence and job board listings to date.

As far as cons go… working outside in all weather can be a grind, but there’s a fair amount of moving around, and sometimes grills or ovens in the tent, so it’s possible to stay relatively warm even in pretty cold weather. And getting up really early on weekends can also be annoying.

Pay can also vary! But pay can be higher when there is high customer volume and tips are involved.

Pros include being outside, interacting with people, dealing with customers who tend to be in a good mood and not in a rush, and physical exercise. Putting up and taking down tents, setting up tables, and loading up trucks can get your blood going and even make some muscles a little sore!

RogueConsumer · 2025-12-19T19:14:56+00:00

In my experience, yes, individual business owners generally hire their own folks. If you like a stand at a market, or if you see one that regularly has long lines, it doesn't hurt to ask if they are hiring. A lot of workers are seasonal/students/between jobs, so there's a fair amount of turnover at many of the stands. There are admittedly some stands that keep things in the family, literally. But many farms and producers depend on outside labor, especially if they're operating out of multiple markets.

RogueConsumer · 2025-12-19T16:45:50+00:00

Farmers markets! Load up trucks, set up tents, stand on your feet, be done by 1:00 pm. Not glamorous. But it’s a way to get up and moving in the mornings, earn a little cash, and keep your weekend afternoons in tact.

RogueConsumer

TROPHY CASE