Seasonal Frenzy
The parents’ guide to a merry, mentally healthy holiday season: Have fun, give more than you receive, and say yes to time savers.
Address It and Forget It
If you’re ready to throw in the towel on time-consuming Christmas cards, don’t. Located among the Shops on Lake Avenue, Salutations Home prints custom orders in five to 10 days with prices ranging from $2.25 to $10 per card. Add addressing at $2 per envelope, and pay a little more for photo adhering, stuffing, stamping, and/or mailing. Specializing in fine stationery, the shop offers digital printing as well as letterpress, foil, thermography, and engraving. salutationshome.com
Over to the Mountains
By all means, book a ski vacation. Take a week or a long weekend, drive to Mammoth or Tahoe, or fly to Park City or Aspen and experience a proper family ski vacation. In the meantime, if you’re still getting your kids up to speed on skis, pencil in a few day trips to Mountain High Resort in the San Gabriel Mountains. The elevation is just 8,200 feet, but the resort makes enough snow to stay open throughout the winter season, and there’s plenty of slope for beginners. You can make the drive one way in under 90 minutes, and a day package with lessons and rentals for kids is priced from $239, starting at age 7 (no more than five students per instructor). For younger children, parents can arrange private lessons. mthigh.com
Stop and Set the Roses
It’s already a major perk of spending your childhood in Pasadena to see the Tournament of Roses Parade in person. Even better are local opportunities to help assemble the floats. Sign up online to volunteer with commercial float builder Artistic Entertainment Services, which allows children to help (with their parents) starting at age 5 at its Rosemont Pavilion site in Pasadena. You can volunteer from October through November to add flowers, seeds, and other materials. Students age 8 and older (13+ without a parent) can earn service hours and sign up in advance for shifts. tournamentofroses.com
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