Wow, its June! It seems like we were just celebrating Mom and now its time to hail the Dads in our lives. Where does time go? I feel like since becoming a parent, time flies especially fast! It seems like just yesterday that my two-year-old was grunting to communicate and today he's talking in complete sentences. Older, wiser parents always tell us newer parents to enjoy the kids while they are young because they grow so fast. Easier said then done when one is having a meltdown and you just want the ground to swallow you up!

Summer seems like the perfect time to slow it all down and have fun with the little ones in our lives. To help, we've put together a calendar full of activities that are fun for everyone!

Celebrate dad with a special create your own sundae event. $8 per dad and up to 2 children, each additional sibling is $3. Please RSVP to katie@javamama.com. We want to make sure we have enough ice cream and yummy toppings! Sat. June 20th at 4-6pm.

Join us for an afternoon of food and fun. Make messy, but edible, creations that are fun to assemble and yummy too! $5 per child. Please RSVP to katie@javamama.com. Sun. June 7th at 1pm.

On Saturday, June 27th, from 6-10pm we are offering our monthly Parent's Night Out. It's $25/child; $15/sibling and includes dinner, crafts, a movie and lots of fun! Please RSVP soon.

Also in June:
Tween Dance - June 13th @ 6pm - Have a 'tween in your life? Join us for our Tween Dance, featuring favorites like Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, and Kidz Bop music. Lemonade and snacks will be served! $3 each. Ages 9-12.

Baby Time Expo - June 13th and June 14th, 10-5pm - Join us and lots of other fabulous family-friendly business at the Baby Time Expo at the San Diego Convention Center.

Spring Portrait Event - June 20th @ 4pm - Bring the kids in their summer outfits and Just Hatched Photography will do the rest. Just Hatched is offering a special session fee of $25 with portrait packages ranging from $95 to $155. Call Just Hatched Photography at 619-946-7420 to reserve your spot.

Hullabaloo - June 29th @ 10:30am - Join us for San Diego's favorite children's band. Always a great time. Free!

Word from a Java Mama

Walking behind my daughter the other day, I noticed that she just doesn’t walk. She either skips, twirls, dances or stomps to her destination. Same with my son, he either runs, jumps, falls or waddles to wherever he is going.  Do they consciously decide that walking in a straight line with their arms to their sides is boring, or are their actions purely emotion driven? I wonder when they are happily twirling or jumping their way into the seemingly boring grocery store, what is going on in their minds? Are they too young to be bogged down by the daily worries of life, or is everything such an adventure that they put all their thoughts and emotions into it? I’m not saying everything they do is done happily and with glee, because we have our share of temper tantrums and bad moods. But it seems kids have such a gift of living every moment as it comes.

I tried walking through the hall at work today and thought what I would do if I was a kid. At first glance, the long hallways of the Navy building I work at seem so boring, but if I was a small kid, it could actually be fun. There are pictures of ships and lots of people in cool uniforms and doors with signs on them that say KEEP OUT and AUTHORIZED personal only. If I was two, would I try to figure out what was behind those closed doors, or would I decide it was more fun to run down the loooong hallway at top speed and see how loud a noise my shoes could make on the concrete floor?

I realized that its really hard to think like a kid. If I did any of those things, people I would think I am crazy or I would be reprimanded. I guess that’s why kids get frustrated so easily - there are so many big people haulting them in their desire to explore.

Though I am past the days of skipping aimlessly down the hallway (in public places, anyways), I am certainly going to try and learn something from my kids. When the everyday worries start invading my mind, I’ll try dancing in my mind or imagine what it would be like to build a fort of filing cabinets in my office.

I encourage you to try learning something from your little one, or if you don’t have little kids, the toddler down the street. We spend all of our time teaching them, but I think they have something very important to teach us...and all we have to do is watch, learn and every once in a while join in the fun.

Alicia Campen
Co-Owner Java Mama Cafe