Our Wheel Throwing Playdate Review

| Patti Webb

It’s the last week of the school year and the last posts before our annual summer blog break. So we’re keeping it fun with a playdate review.

With the kids getting older, there isn’t much that they haven’t tried. So, play dates have been harder to brainstorm and plan. One of the first things I wanted to do when we came up with this blog series is wheel pottery. I had never done it before, and the girls have done kids clay sculpting classes many times. Now, all three kids are finally old enough to take it on.

Most pottery wheel studios have a minimum age for their beginner wheel classes, or they want you to buy several sessions or weekly course. In my cursory Google search, I found Mudfire, an open community pottery studio built around creativity, inclusivity, and shared space. They offer single Wheel 101 and 102 classes, capped at 12 people with a minimum age of 6 years old. They also have kids summer camps and special kids-only pottery wheel classes starting in June.

  • “It’s called wheel throwing, not wheel gently tossing.”
Continue reading →

Coffee Chat: Kids Sports and the Long Game

| Patti Webb

Yes, we’ve been writing more and more about youth sports. But is it really that big of a surprise, since our kids are now 2-3 years into their teams and activities?

Just like OT, everything is foundational. What they are learning now is going to shape their social skills and identity 5, 10, 20+ years down the road.

Our kids’ sports experiences are vastly different, and they are uncovering a lot of skills and lessons for us parents to dive into. We’re also seeing a lot of bad habits thanks to sports system that’s getting harder to navigate.

Therein lies the conundrum: How long will our kids be on this path before it starts turning into a tearful, stressful, time-sucking money pit? Can we walk the line, or are we already in the vicious cycle?

Continue reading →

The Wide World of Youth Sports

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

This past February, the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina held our attentions for three weeks straight, including our kids. Watching hours of slaloms and biathlon and speed skating, completely engrossed.

Both the Winter and Summer Olympic Games pique kid’s interest in new sports. They are at an age where they think they can pick up these sports so easily and they want to try everything. What, like it’s hard? We found ourselves Googling where the nearest luge center was.

But with the Winter Olympics particularly, the countries bringing home the most medals aren’t always the biggest or richest. This year, Norway, the Netherlands, and Germany were in the top five medal count, along with the US and Italy the host country.

Are they just better at snow sports? Do they start their kids on the Olympic track early? Yes and no.

It raised a bigger question about youth sports around the world and how different countries develop young athletes. Turns out, different countries structure youth sports very differently and the contrasts are big enough that they shape kids’ experiences, family culture, and even national athletic success.

Continue reading →

Arousal Levels and Amusement Parks

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Amusement and theme parks look like a sensory nightmare. This goes for small, pop-up carnivals all the way to big, immersive theme park resorts. There are blaring speakers, flashing colors, crowds, constant movement…Honestly, I feel overwhelmed just picturing it.

And yet, some kids who are usually sensory‑sensitive walk through those gates and suddenly become focused, regulated, and living their absolute best life. What kind of plot twist is that?

Some kids who are sensory-sensitive can look completely unbothered (joyful even) at amusement parks, and it feels like a total contradiction. It’s not. Their nervous system is responding to a different sensory pattern than the one that overwhelms them in everyday life. That difference has everything to do with sensory processing, arousal levels, and how they modulate input.

Continue reading →

Our First Theme Park Survival Guide

| Patti Webb

Growing up in Florida, Troy and I would go to Disney at least once a year for school field trips. Gradually, that grew to loving roller coasters, fandoms, drinking around the world, and staying in the parks late at night. We were always with friends, had very little cash, and ended up passing out on the ride home.

Making a big to-do about Disney World was never a thing for our families. But, we thought long and hard about how we wanted to navigate Disney with the girls, knowing that it is probably worth it to do one big magical trip to Florida while they are still little princesses.

So for this year’s Spring Break, we decided to give them an amuse bouche while we were in California. In addition to Joshua Tree, Carlsbad, and sightseeing around LA, we took the girls to Universal Studios Hollywood. They are on the fifth Harry Potter book. Super Mario Galaxy just came out. Z just got over 42 inches tall. It seemed like the best time to test the waters.

  • Screenshot
Continue reading →