joy in the midst of chaos 😜

December 2025 NewsletterHi read,Wishing you moments of joy and peace in the midst of what can often be a hectic time of year! This month I'm sharing a (semi-embarrassing) story to encourage you to embrace joy even when things are busy or hard…read

December 2025 Newsletter Hi read, Wishing you moments of joy and peace in the midst of what can often be a hectic time of year! This month I'm sharing a (semi-embarrassing) story to encourage you to embrace joy even when things are busy or hard…read on to hear it… ☀️ Recommended Resource: For our California families, one of our therapists found out the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra is offering 3 different sensory friendly concerts for families this coming spring. Get all of the details here.   And for Wisconsin families, Children's Theater of Madison has sensory-friendly theater performance scheduled in March. Get details here. 💚 OT Tip for More Joy & Ease in Daily Life This tip relates to my story below…We often forget how HUMOR can be a huge stress-buster during hectic or challenging times in a family. Next time you feel crabby or short-tempered, try acting silly with your child and see if it can break you (and them, too) out of the cycle of negativity. Some simple ideas: -Tell a joke -Make a silly face -Use a funny voice -Have a tickle fight (ELF movie reference for the holiday season…if you haven't watched it, its a funny one!) 🧝 🌳 OKOT Story & Service Updates This is a personal story from raising my own kids that I was reflecting upon (with some chagrin) a few days ago. I'm sharing for you parents who may feel weary at times.   I found an OLD video from about 14 years ago, when my middle son was about 8 years old. He had secretly taken my phone to record. It starts out with him zooming in on a strange looking lumpy piece of brown clay on a napkin…and he whispers: "We're going to trick my mom with this fake piece of poo!" 💩 😆   Now for my true confession: I vaguely heard him, but it had been a LONG day of work in challenging public schools in Oakland and the house was a complete mess and I was trying to cook dinner in the midst of 3 loud kids in a tiny space. I was CRABBY and in no mood for jokes.   So on video, when he finally caught me discovering the weird lump on my desk, I'm ashamed to say I reacted in a very dull and boring voice and just said: "What is that?"    I did NOT give him the reaction he wanted. And the whole trick did not really make us all laugh as he intended because I just acted matter-of-fact about it.    [Cue the WOMP WOMMMP sad trombone music.]   Do you get why I'm embarrassed by this story? Because I MISSED a moment for joy and connection with my sweet kid who was JUST BEING A KID.   What I could have done is so clear in retrospect… I could have cracked up. I could have acted SO GROSSED OUT and pretended that I thought it was real. I could have told him he really tricked me and laughed about it. I could have playfully threatened to get him back and trick him at some point.   When I look back on that video I feel sad I missed that opportunity to laugh with him and be silly. Let my mistake over a decade ago remind you to stay light-hearted, to let yourself be amused and experience joy with your kids, and not miss the opportunities you have to laugh with them! 💚   (Unfortunately in all my searching I could NOT find the video to share an actual screenshot of the poop-dupe because I KNOW you're wondering how real it looked…but you can see my silly boys below and imagine their mischief around our house back then!) 🤣 OKOT Service Updates: If you're interested in outdoor OT services for your child: You can check out our 1:1 services here. You can check out our group services here.   SUMMER CAMP ENROLLMENT WILL OPEN in JANUARY this year! Enrollment for Outdoor Kids summer camp will open: For current clients on Friday Jan 9 at 7am PST (9am CST) For all our email list families on Friday Jan 16 at 7am PST (9am CST) - We'll send some emails to remind you and share the link via email. For the general public on our website on January 20. Camp will be first-come-first-served enrollment this year. Once you enroll, you have your spot(s). Your child will automatically be added to the waitlist if any of your preferred weeks are full. Our team will still review all applications to ensure camp will serve your child's therapeutic needs. We will reach out to families if there are any concerns (for example, a child who is an outlier in age compared to all the other kids enrolled that week.)   Here are all of the tentative camp dates & locations (with age ranges) to help if you're an early planner!:   WISCONSIN June 15-19 Token Creek (Ages 4-7) June 22-26 Glen Oak Hills (7-10) June 29-July 3 Glen Oak Hills (7-10) July 6-10 Glen Oak Hills (4-7) July 13-17 Token Creek (7-10) July 20-24 Glen Oak Hills (4-7) July 27-31 Token Creek (7-10) Aug 3-7 Glen Oak Hills (7-10) Aug 10-14 Token Creek (4-7) Aug 17-21 Token Creek (4-7)   SAN FRANCISCO June 8-12 Presidio (Ages 4-7 & 7-10) June 15-19 Presidio (7-10 & 7-10); McLaren (4-7) June 22-26 Presidio (4-7 & 7-10); McLaren (7-10) June 29-July 3 Presidio (4-7 & 7-10) July 6-10 Presidio (4-7 & 7-10) July 13-17 Presidio (4-7 & 7-10); McLaren (4-7) July 20-24 Presidio (4-7 & 4-7); McLaren (7-10) July 27-31 Presidio (4-7 & 7-10); McLaren (4-7)   EAST BAY June 8-12 Joaquin Miller (Ages 7-10) June 15-19 Joaquin Miller (7-10) June 22-26 Joaquin Miller (4-7) June 29-July 3 Tilden* (7-10) July 6-10 Joaquin Miller (4-7 & 7-10) July 13-17 Joaquin Miller (7-10 & 7-10) July 20-24 Joaquin Miller (4-7 & 4-7) July 27-31 Tilden* (4-7) *Tilden is pending permit. We applied on Dec.1 but are awaiting reply from East Bay Regional Parks.    We are excited about 2026! Wishing you a restful and JOYFUL season with family and friends. Cheers, Laura Park Figueroa  Founder, OKOT   P.S. Here's a beautiful shot from summer camp in CA a few years ago: VISIT OUR WEBSITE 2930 Domingo Avenue #1092 Berkeley, California 94705, USA Unsubscribe or Manage Preferences here. No hard feelings!