According to tradition, the first Thanksgiving holiday became a monumental occasion marketing the intersection of two cultures—the Native Americans and the Pilgrims settling in the New World. The Native Americans helped the Pilgrims survive particularly harsh times, helping them understand how to farm the land, trap food, and many other critical techniques that would’ve cost many more lives if the Pilgrims had been left to their own devices.

Despite their difference and many ongoing challenges, these two unique cultures were able to connect and communicate in valuable ways. Let’s take this larger idea and bring it over to the challenges that parents can have trying to connect and communicate with their kids. Aside from the obvious age difference, there are many other variables that can impose a seemingly impassable divide between adults and children—but it doesn’t have to be that way!  Continue Reading

There are few kids out there that don’t enjoy the occasional indulgence in candy and other sugary treats, and Halloween seems the perfect time to allow them to satisfy their sweet tooth. However, while Halloween is a great time to experience as a family, making costumes, carving pumpkins, and Trick-or-Treating, you don’t always have to let your children’s health go by the wayside. In fact, it can be a great opportunity to instill even more healthy habits in your kid and encourage them to make good eating and snacking choices while being offered less-healthy options.

Now, this doesn’t mean you have to be the family on the block that only offers chopped veggies to wandering ghosts, goblins, and witches. Nor do you have to absolutely ban any and all candy from the household. Instead, it can simply mean being more aware of how much candy is being consumed and talking to your kids frankly about the long-term consequences of such. As we’ve noted before, kids enjoy learning and being given the chance to make their own informed decisions. The same applies to consuming candy on Halloween! Here are some ways to address the sugar dilemma while keeping the kids happy:  Continue Reading

Memory can be a tricky thing. Sometimes people who experience the same event together—such as, say, a birthday party or family vacation—can remember wildly different things about it in the aftermath. But thanks to digital photography and online storage, it’s become easier than ever to record significant events in your family’s development. Births. Weddings. Graduations. Promotions. All times you’ll want to be able to look back on with proper recall years down the road.
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Here are a few family-friendly events happening in San Diego in the coming month. As always, if you know of an event you think the families we work with should know about, please let us know so we can pass it along.

10/9/13 – Guided Nature Walk
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10/13/13 – Little Italy Fiesta

10/13/13 – Native American Flute Players
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The three-day weekend of Labor Day is one where families often have mini-vacations, hold barbecues in the back yard, or otherwise relax. Some kids who have just started school enjoy their first Monday holiday, while parents can appreciate a day free from work responsibilities.

Beyond just having an extra day to laze around and enjoy good food, though, have you considered taking the Labor Day celebration a bit further with your family? After all, the holiday was established to highlight the contributions of workers in society. This can apply to families, just as much as it does to the professional arena.

How so?

Consider this: How hard does your family work to stick together, even during tough times? As a parent, you may be working hard at your job to provide enough to make ends meet. Kids may be working hard in school in order to keep their grades up. Or maybe they’re even old enough to have started holding down jobs themselves!
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Here are a few family-friendly events happening in San Diego in the coming month. As always, if you know of an event you think the families we work with should know about, please let us know so we can pass it along.

9/4/13 – Cajon Classic Cruise 2013

9/6/13 – Escondido’s Cruisin’ Grand
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Did you know that the first Sunday in August is International Friendship Day? Forming friendships is an invaluable part of a child’s development and can play a vital role in their evolving self-esteem and personal identity from their earliest years into adulthood. Friendships not only help them learn valuable social skills, but it also lays the foundation for trust, environmental awareness, empathy, and being willing to explore beyond the safety of the family unit.

Some children have no difficulty in establishing new friendships wherever they go, while others struggle to make such positive connections. Sometimes this is simply because of a lack of experience, while shyness can also pose a personal obstacle to bridging the gap between them and other children.
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Here are a few family-friendly events happening in San Diego in the coming month. As always, if you know of an event you think the families we work with should know about, please let us know so we can pass it along.

8/10/13 – Cardiff Dog Days of Summer

8/17/13 – 2013 Haute La Jolla Nights

8/20-21/13 – Birch Aquarium Full Moon Pier Walk

July is upon us, with its heat waves and barbecues and, of course, the Fourth of July! Independence Day is that great mid-summer escape opportunity, inspiring trips to the water park, family picnics, the devouring of many helpless watermelons, and to top it all off—the fireworks shows.

Now, thanks to many of the dry conditions and laws in effect, most areas have a personal fireworks ban in place. So if you and your family want to enjoy fireworks this year, your best bet is one of the many fireworks shows in the area.

A few of the main displays include Big Bay Boom, San Diego SeaWorld’s Into the Blue show, and the Red, White, and BOOM!
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