I don’t know what we would have done through this pandemic without having some of the greatest county parks in the world in our backyard.

While our three kids have been sheltered in place, the one break they get is going outside and getting some exercise. Of course the beaches and mountains are great for the teens, but for the 5-year-old, nothing has been better than the range of our local county parks.

And as parents, and even for the teens, the parks have been a real meeting place, masks and all. Some say the last place to see society as equals, after high schools, is the DMV, where everyone must suffer, rich and poor together.

But the local parks are an even better place to meet people from all walks of life, more cheerfully. The main thing we have in common is love for our kids. We’ve met people from countries all over the world, ranging from millionaire CEOs to farmworkers, all watching and bonding our kids cascading down the big slides at Blue Ball Park and Ocean View parks, playing on equipment at Chanticleer Avenue and Harvey West Parks. That’s been our COVID relief and we have to pay tribute to the county parks staff, which keeps the park clean and safe. We can’t tell you how much we appreciate your work. Thanks.

That said, our current issue features articles about keeping your kids playing music, learning to swim safely, cleaning the environment, and saving for college! A pretty wide range of family topics. We also have our first new guide to summer activities now that they are coming back.

And, as always, we have a salute to a local mom and a local teacher, as well as a coloring contest that is getting more and more popular. We print the winners’ work in our weekly Friday newsletter, which you can get free here.

With Mother’s Day coming up, remember to send us your nominations for mother of the month ([email protected]) and teacher of the month. They will win prizes and thanks from you and from us.

We’ve got our local youth artist inside and also a fun piece about what kids are most wanting to do after COVID. That one will make you smile.

Next month, we’ve got a great feature about the best local beaches for families, and how some of the beaches got some crazy names. Even locals don’t know some of those stories.

Thanks for reading and please send comments, love letters and advice to [email protected]
Brad Kava, Jennifer Ford
and Steve Dinnen