Ask Nicole: Preventing Parental Burnout By Nicole M. Young, MSW Being a parent is hard work, even when you love your kids deeply. In some ways, parenting has gotten easier as my kids have grown older. The days and sleepless nights filled with dirty diapers, tantrums, and shopping trips gone wild are long gone. I have more energy to enjoy being their mom. in other ways, parenting has gotten harder as they’ve grown older. the exhaustion from constantly being “on” when they were little has been replaced by exhaustion from constantly negotiating family rules and trying to figure out when it’s time to be involved in their business and when…
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Coping with First-Time Camp Experiences
Coping with First-Time Camp Experiences by Peg Smith For thousands, the camp experience has been a long-standing family tradition. For others, the camp experience seems almost counterintuitive. Send your child off to camp for maybe weeks at a time? “As parents, recognizing that you and your child are growing and learning on a journey together is key to adequately preparing yourself and your child for any type of separation, including going to camp for the first time,” states Peg Smith, former chief executive officer of the American Camp Association (ACA)*. Following are helpful tips to consider as you ask yourself, “Who’s going through separation anxiety, me or my child?” Separation…
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A Park by any Other Name: The Secrets of Anna Jean Cummings Park
A Park by any Other Name The Secrets of Anna Jean Cummings Park By Ann Carin Niland The Anna Jean Cummings Park is one of the most recognizable in Santa Cruz County, but some don’t even know its real name, still more people don’t know about everything the park has to offer, and almost no one knows about some of the interesting things that have happened at the park known locally as Blue Ball Park. If you only drive by, you would never now that the park is 96.7 acres divided into three uses. The Park’s Name Anna Jean Cummings was the Founder and Executive Director of the Land Trust…
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New Boys & Girls Clubhouse Opens
New Boys & Girls Clubhouse Opens The large Joe and Linda Aliberti Clubhouse will Serve Kids and Teens in Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley By Bob Langseth Starting in April 2018, families in Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley now have a new after-school and summer option for their kids. Ideal for children of working parents, and open to all children, the new Joe & Linda Aliberti Clubhouse in Scotts Valley offers a broad range of educational, enrichment and recreation activities to provide quality programming for a child’s “out-of-school” time. Memberships are $75 per year. Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Cruz County (BGCSCC), the largest year-round youth development…
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May 2018 Editor’s Note
May 2018 Editors Note Kim Allen has been a largely unheralded Santa Cruz hero. Two decades ago she started Growing Up in Santa Cruz, providing countless resources to parents and their kids who are growing up in the most wonderful county on Earth. She was one of only a few women at the top of the publishing industry and put together a successful monthly free newspaper overcoming great odds and challenges. She’s helped two generations of kids, some of them grown up and now working for her paper. She donated to area nonprofits, letting people know about their work. She sponsored local events, including the Cabrillo Music Festival and Kid’s…
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Kids Read: The Shape of Whales
Kids Read: The Shape of Whales Written by Michelle Spence April marks the return of humpback whales to the Monterey Bay, after spending their winter months off the coast of Mexico. To get ready for the treat of casual whale sightings as you walk along the beach or drive up the coast, turn to these books with beautiful whale illustrations—and some sweet stories, to boot. If I Were a Whale Written by Shelley Gill Illustrated by Erik Brooks Beautiful and detailed renditions of nine different whale species accompany this simple rhyming celebration of these magnificent creatures. With just a smidgeon of technical detail (a distinguishing feature for each species), this…
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Ask Nicole: 30 Ways to Praise
Ask Nicole: 30 Ways to Praise Written by Nicole M. Young, MSW In my line of work, I often hear people describe two communication patterns they’ve noticed in the workplace: 1) they have a hard time saying positive things about themselves, and 2) they tend to hear more “constructive criticism” than genuine praise and positive feedback from their colleagues. The two patterns are usually related and exist for many complicated reasons. The combined effect of these patterns is often insecurity, fear of failure, misunderstandings, and conflict in the workplace. It makes me wonder why it’s hard for some people to give and receive authentic praise. Hearing positive, encouraging words can…
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The Evolution of Competition
The Evolution of Competition Written by Mike Herzog & Bill Trimpi It was a cold cloudy rainy day in the dead of December 1994, at Natural Bridges After School Sports Program. The kids were restless. If we didn’t do something quickly the pent-up energy of twenty children ages five to eleven was going to erupt like a volcano. Suddenly an inspiration hit me, we needed to do the unthinkable, we needed to go outside in the rain and play a game. I called everyone in, who was interested, to play a two-hand touch mud football game. Naturally all the older boys came running over at the sound of mud. We…
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Building Your Own Weather Vane
Building Your Own Weather Vane Written by Jennifer K Mahal Look outside. Is it sunny? Is it cloudy? Is it rainy? Is it cold? Did you know before you looked what the weather would be like? If you did, you probably relied on meteorology, the science of weather prediction. The word “meteorology” actually means “the science of atmosphere and its phenomena,” according to Merriam-Webster. The earth has five layers of atmosphere: the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, the ionosphere and the exosphere. Most of the things we think of as weather happen in the troposphere, which is the layer of gases closest to the surface of the earth. It’s…
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Five Great Ways to Unplug and Get Your Kids Outdoors
Five Great Ways to Unplug and Get Your Kids Outdoors Written by Jan Pierce, M.Ed. Family life can be hectic. After a busy day of preparing meals, snacks and overseeing homework projects, breaking up squabbles and keeping up with dishes and laundry, parents are often more than happy to “pop in a video” as they say, and watch their brood settle into wide-eyed, quiet little people. But I’m also aware that many children rarely see the light of day except when in transit from school to home where they immediately turn something on—the television, a video player, a computer or a computer game. It’s become a huge problem for…
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What’s the Magic of Camp?
What’s the Magic of Camp? Written by Michael Thompson, Ph.D. Why are people so loyal to their sleep away camps? What exactly happens at camp that makes people rhapsodize about the experience thirty or forty years later? Whenever I tell people that I am curious about the camp experience, the stories start to pour out. “I loved my camp,” they say in a dreamy voice. What is it about the summer camp experience — just a few weeks away for perhaps two or three seasons — that goes so deep under their skin? As a psychologist, I am curious about the mystery of camp. What’s the magic ingredient? After a…
