Phoenix KidsOutAndAbout Newsletter
May 28, 2026

Local in-person events this weekend

FREE events this weekend

Local in-person events next weekend

2026 Summer Camps

Birthday Party Locations

Fruit Picking

Local Spring Hikes

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

Thu, Jun 11: East Valley Children's Theatre presents Charlotte's Web
Fri, Jun 12: Snow for the Animals presented by SRP
Fri, Jun 12: Critter Crawl Night Tour
Fri, Jun 12: Family Free Evenings at the i.d.e.a. Museum
Sat, Jun 13: 2026 AZ Sunrise Series - Rio Vista
Sat, Jun 13: Free Family Summer Saturday: Let It Snow! | Heard Museum
Sat, Jun 13: Asparagus and Garlic Festival at Mortimer Farms
Sat, Jun 13: Celebrate Soul at the MIM
Sun, Jun 14: Special Needs Skate | Skateland Mesa
Thu, Jun 18: Great Arizona Puppet Theater presents Rapunzel

Dear KidsOutAndAbout readers:

One summer afternoon during a family camping trip in New Jersey when I was about 6 or 7 years old, a horse fly suddenly appeared next to my ear and started following me everywhere I went. I’m sure that, from its own perspective, it was just going about its business doing ordinary horse fly things, but to me it felt enormous, ominous, and purposeful. I can't remember if it actually bit me, but I can still summon the hot panic of not being able to get away from its threatening buzz. To my small self, that fly wasn't a little distraction, it was a crisis with wings.

The memory surfaced recently when my daughter Ella sent me the above photo, taken in Quintana Beach County Park, near Houston. The point was clear: Proceed, and you will be under attack, and not by any adorable Northeastern bugs you might be used to. No, these bugs were born in Texas. Beware.

Sometimes that is exactly how challenges feel, especially to kids: Problems loom much larger to them than they do to adults with decades of experience. A broken toy, a skinned knee, a mistake in front of the class, or a slight misunderstanding with a friend may be a fly in the ointment to us, but a Texas-sized monster to a child. The trick is to validate the feeling without validating helplessness. We stand beside them and say, Yes, I know, this feels huge. The bugs, even if they're not as large as they think, are real. They watch us shoo them away and learn gradually to do it for themselves.

If I had seen the sign above, my first instinct would have been to flee back to the safety of the car. And Ella said it was not exaggerating, at least not by much: The moment she stepped onto the property, giant mosquitoes descended, and they were hungry; even leggings soaked with OFF Deep Woods did not deter them. She assures me that the photo she got of the Bay-breasted Warbler was worth all the bites on the backs of her knees. She knew better than to show me the damage.

Clearly, the script has flipped.

—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.

• FREE spring mini photo session - Phoenix Area - Shoott - Shoott, Broadway, New York, NY, USA, Friday, May 29, 2026 to Sunday, May 31, 2026, See link for times
• Phoenix Pride's Rainbows Festival - Heritage Square Park, Phoenix, AZ, Thursday, May 28, 2026 to Friday, May 29, 2026, 10 am - 6 pm
• Camp Open House - St. Joseph's Youth Camp, 4860 Mormon Lake Road, Mormon Lake, AZ 86038, United States, Saturday, May 30, 2026, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
• Tools for School | Cholla Library - Cholla Library, 10050 North Metro Parkway East, Phoenix, AZ 85051, United States, Saturday, May 30, 2026, 10 am
• AZ Rattlers Halftime Show Performance - At The Outlet, Inc., 3004 North 16th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85016, United States, Saturday, May 30, 2026, 5:00 pm
• Tracks N Tunes at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park - McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park, 7301 E Indian Bend Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85250, United States, Saturday, May 30, 2026, 7 pm - 8:30 pm
• POWER IN MOTION: SUNDAY OPEN HOUSES POP UP SESSIONS - At The Outlet, Inc., 3004 North 16th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85016, United States, Sunday, May 31, 2026, 3-5 pm
• AMPlify the Arts - Community Outreach Performance Team - At The Outlet, Inc., 3004 North 16th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85016, United States, Sunday, May 31, 2026, 3:00 PM