Long Island KidsOutAndAbout Newsletter
March 12, 2026

Local in-person events this weekend

FREE events this weekend

Local in-person events next weekend

2026 Summer Camp Preview

It's CSA Sign Up Season!

Local Preschools

Big List of Private Schools

Easter Fun!

Post your organization and events to our site (It's all FREE!)

Fri, Mar 20: Native New York Goes Wild at Queens Zoo (Grades K - 5th)
Fri, Mar 20: Creatures of the Night: Family Night Hike at CSTL - The Center for Science Teaching and Learning
Sat, Mar 21: Spring Egg Hunt - Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery & Aquarium
Sat, Mar 21: Spring Festival and Egg Hunt at Sweetbriar Nature Center
Sun, Mar 29: Acting Fun for the Whole Family! at Gold Coast Arts Center
Sun, Apr 5: Spring has Sprung Wildlife Walk - Springfield Park
Fri, Apr 10: Spring Break at Alley Pond Environmental Center
Sun, Apr 19: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: The Musical - CM Children's Theatre
Sat, Apr 25: Spring Festival - Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery & Aquarium

Dear KidsOutAndAbout readers:

For much of the country this year, March simultaneously is bringing hope that spring may in fact return to North America AND the awareness that every car is at risk for the foreseeable future. All winter long, water seeps into asphalt cracks, freezes, expands, melts, and freezes again, and bit by bit the driving experience becomes a game called Avoid the Crater. 

But lately I’ve started seeing the repair trucks out there again, their bright-vested workers moving methodically from hole to hole with their shovels. Every time I pass them, it gives me a lift, not just because it means someday soon I'll start seeing flowers out in the real world, but also because potholes are one of those perfect reminders of what humans do. Playrooms, projects, and paperwork start out neat, but over time, weather, wear, gravity, and procrastination take their toll. No matter how strict the system, order gradually slides toward chaos. And then humans step in and make it right again.

I saw the cycle in action at the KidsOutAndAbout office last week: Our storage room had slowly become a museum of random supplies, half-filled bins, and Christmas decorations that had been tossed in with a hopeful Future Us will deal with this someday. Fortunately, my colleague Michelle, who works in our data department, is also a genius organizer. A few hours after Future Michelle stepped in and applied logic and elbow grease, the little room had transformed from a cluttered cave into a serene space.

The quickening of the seasons seems to bring that same energy into our homes: Closets get sorted, garages get swept, junk drawers finally meet their match. It feels good, not just because the space looks better, but because fixing things reminds us of something important: Disorder is normal, but it’s not permanent. Humans can step in and bring brightness back.

So here’s to spring cleaning, organized shelves, and freshly patched roads.

Our tires, and our spirits, roll much more smoothly because humans fill potholes.

—Debra Ross, publisher of KidsOutAndAbout.com, co-author of The Eclipse Effect: How to Seize Extraordinary Moments to Build Strong Communities

KidsOutAndAbout.com: Discover more. Do more. Connect more.

If you like my publisher's column, you can easily scroll through past columns in the "Notes from Deb" section of our site.

• Bay Shore Brightwaters St. Patrick's Day Parade - Bay Shore Chamber of Commerce - 38 Garner Lane, Bay Shore, NY, Saturday, March 14, 2026, 2 pm
• Massapequa Chamber of Commerce St. Patrick's Day Parade - Ocean Avenue, Massapequa, NY, Saturday, March 14, 2026, 11:00AM
• Farmingdale St. Patrick's Day Parade - 361 Main Street, Farmingdale, NY, Sunday, March 15, 2026, 2:00PM
• 6th Annual Wantagh St. Patrick's Day Block Party - Wantagh Chamber of Commerce - Park Avenue, Wantagh, NY, Sunday, March 15, 2026, 2:00PM