Christmas Day Our Way

December 24, 2012 by 2 Comments

When I was growing up, Christmas Day went like this:

-wake up, really excited about opening presents, but also nursing sugar hangover from sweets-filled Christmas Eve party
-open presents, then be hurried off to get dressed
-visit first set of grandparents
-visit second set of grandparents
-return home exhausted and cranky

And I’m sure it didn’t even go that well for my parents, who had to shepherd three kids through this day.  I’m willing to bet that with sets of divorced and remarried parents and extended family multiplying all the time, other families get even more hectic on the holiday.

So I decided that even though I live far away from all of my kids’ grandparents and that makes me very sad and homesick, the bright side is that we have no place to go on Christmas day.  No obligations.  No rituals that we MUST execute.  It’s all up to us.  We can keep the things we like from our childhoods and toss what doesn’t work for us.  Christmas dinner can be a trip to the drive through if we want that.  We haven’t resorted to it yet, but the option is there.

So far in our children’s young lives we’ve been lucky to have both sets of grandparents with us during the holiday, but this year we have one grandmother visiting only and she’s easy to please.  So here is our loose plan:

Wake up.  Enjoy the day.  Eat something delicious.  Play with our new presents.  Go to church.  Enjoy each other.  After all, that’s what Christmas is all about, isn’t it?

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Filed Under: Around Town Tagged With: , , ,

Resources For Parents From Las Virgenes Unified Superintendent

December 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Parents,

 

As the horrible tragedy continues to unfold in Connecticut I wanted to provide resources and support to you.  As our children are hearing about this tragedy, several questions may arise for you at home.  As parents you not only have to deal with their questions but also your own emotions.   I would like to take this opportunity to help you in that process with some suggestions.  The following are some strategies from our school psychologists and the National Association of School Psychologists to help you and your family.

  1. Minimize television viewing of this event.
  2. Encourage your children to talk and share their feelings.
  3. Remain calm as you discuss these events with them and with others.
  4. Let your children know it’s ok to feel upset
  5. Assure your children that they are safe and are taken care of at home and at school
  6. Keep in perspective that these events are extremely rare
  7. Maintain a normal routine at home
  8. Be a good listener
  1. Keep your explanations developmentally appropriate.
    1. Early elementary school children need brief, simple information that should be balanced with reassurances that the daily structures of their lives will not change.
    2. Upper elementary and early middle schoolchildren will be more vocal in asking questions about whether they truly are safe and what is being done at their school.  They may need assistance separating reality from fantasy.
    3. Upper middle school and high school students will have strong and varying opinions about the causes of violence and threats to safety in schools and society.  They will share concrete suggestions about how to make school safer and how to prevent tragedies in society. They will be more committed to doing something to help the victims and affected community.
    4. For all children, encourage them to verbalize their thoughts and feelings. Be a good listener!

Give them a hug and reassure them that they are loved

We hope that you find these suggestions of value.  If you want additional information, please refer to the following link.

http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/terror_general.aspx

 

Dr. Dan Stepenosky

Superintendent

Las Virgenes Unified School District
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SALT, New Restaurant in Calabasas

December 7, 2012 by 2 Comments

Last week I tried Salt, the new restaurant in the shopping plaza at the corner of Agoura Road and Las Virgenes. I wrote up my experience for cbsla.com:

Calabasas Can’t Hide New Restaurant Salt

“Standouts were the wild mushroom mac and cheese, which elicited groans of pleasure, the chicken and waffles which was on the appetizers list but is big enough to be an entree, and the Kurobuta pork chop served with sauteed apples and carmelized onions.”

Since I wrote the article I’ve been back to the area during the day and saw that there is indeed a big sign out by the street. So, if you’re looking for the place, you will find it. But if you were just driving by, you might think the sign is for a store. That sells salt. Stranger things exist.

Filed Under: Local Businesses Tagged With: , , , ,