San Antonio KidsOutAndAbout Newsletter
April 9, 2026

Local in-person events this weekend

FREE events this weekend

Local in-person events next weekend

2026 Summer Camps

Earth Day

Fruit picking

Local spring hikes

Baseball

Family Photography

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

Sat, Apr 18: BABY DAY! at Mammen Family Public Library
Sat, Apr 18: FREE Entry Day – Celebrate Earth Day and Native Plant Month at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center
Sat, Apr 18: Fiesta de los Niños at Port San Antonio
Thu, Apr 23: PACfest 2026 at Palo Alto College SHARE Center
Sat, Apr 25: Julia Robinson Math Festival at San Marcos Public Library

Sat, May 2: Dragons Love Tacos at San Pedro Playhouse
Sat, May 2: Saengerfest at City of New Braunfels
Sat, May 2: EL DíA DE LOS NIñOS at Plaza Guadalupe
Sun, May 10: Mother's Day Wildflower Walk at Government Canyon State Natural Area
Sun, May 10: Mother's Day Brunch- Krause's Cafe
Thu, May 14: 44th Annual Tejano Conjunto Festival at Rosedale Park
Sat, May 16: Dirt Dauber Festival at Eye of the Dog Art Center

Dear KidsOutAndAbout readers:
 

As I write this column, three Americans and one Canadian are hurtling home from a trip around the Moon, inside a machine that had better do exactly what it’s supposed to do. For years, every person involved in the mission obsessed over every detail at every stage until as little as possible was left to chance. “Failure is not an option,” an ethos long associated with our quest to explore outer space, makes perfect sense when we're talking about Artemis II.

But decades ago, the attitude leaked out of the space program and into everyday life, and that was a mixed blessing. When I was a teenager, “failure is not an option” might as well have been tattooed on my brain: For me, not only was failure not an option, but anything below an A grade wasn’t an option, either. I was so afraid of not being perfect that if I felt unprepared for a test, I’d stay home “sick.” I looked successful from the outside, but because I was working so hard to avoid mistakes, I played it safe. So I didn't actually accomplish much aside from some sharp-looking letters on a report card.

It took me years out in the real world to realize that real accomplishment usually looks less like gliding and more like bumping into things until you find the way through. So these days, failure and I are best buddies: I've replaced "failure is not an option" with "nothing ventured, nothing gained" as I inch toward and away from success each day. Even writing my column each week is an act of resilience: I add and then murder my words until they say what I mean, and I'm always aware in the end that it could be better.

One of my goals when I was homeschooling Madison and Ella was to make failure safe and ordinary... cheerful, even... a sign of progress. Kids need chances to try things that might flop: recipes that taste weird, projects that collapse, math problems they have to redo, conversations they wish they’d handled better. I wanted them to understand that when the stakes are low, failure is not a tragedy, it’s just how learning works.

It doesn't usually feel fun, or comfortable. But it's the only way to fly.

—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.

• Boys 2 Men Choral Festival Concert - Trinity Baptist Church, 319 East Mulberry Avenue, San Antonio, TX, Friday, April 10, 2026, 6:00pm
• San Antonio Book Festival - 625 Shook Avenue, San Antonio, TX, Saturday, April 11, 2026, 9 am- 5 pm
• Movie in the Park, Tower of the Americas, Hemisfair - Tower of the Americas, East César E. Chávez Boulevard, San Antonio, TX, Saturday, April 11, 2026, 7 pm
• 2nd Saturday Habitat Work Day - Mitchell Lake Audubon Center, 10750 Pleasanton Rd, San Antonio, TX 78221, Saturday, April 11, 2026, 8-10am
• Garden Ridge Market Days - April 11, 2026 - Garden Ridge Market Days, 19185 FM 2252, Garden Ridge, TX 78266, Saturday, April 11, 2026, 9:30am - 2:30pm
• Young Sun Choi – Russell Hill Rogers Musical Evenings - San Fernando Cathedral, Main Plaza, San Antonio, TX, Sunday, April 12, 2026, 7:00 PM
• Movie in the Park- Tower of the Americas - Tower of the Americas, Tower of the Americas Way, San Antonio, TX, Saturday, April 11, 2026, Movies start at sunset