San Diego Mom - Carmel Valley

I recently signed up for this web site and have been pretty happy with the alerts I’m getting about new events and activities of all kinds in the San Diego area.

You can target just family events, or just concerts.  Meanwhile, people are entering their events in like crazy.  The alerts let you know any time something new pops up in your category.  And you can either look at a specific calender online by category, create your own or receive the alerts via email about new things.

http://eventful.com/ 

There isn’t much to show yet on this site, but these folks are attempting to create another site for Kids activities, school information, events, etc.

http://www.nineblue.com/kids/sandiego/index.aspx 

They are also offering discounts from local companies.   Its disappointing to visit these places and find such little information because its launched without data. But, hopefully people will start to populate it and we’ll all benefit soon.

Just want to set your expectations properly if you visit soon and don’t see much there.  

This site has a number of local playgroup listings, one in Carmel Valley even.  Note these playgroups for some reason are listed under culture/community as Hip Mama groups not under Parenting. 

http://www.meetup.com/cities/?dbCo=us&dbOutsideUsLink=&country=us&zip=92130&go.x=0&go.y=0&go=GO#Parenting 

There are some different categories of playgroups here including playgroups for kids with Autism, working mom groups and single parent groups.  I haven’t personally joined any of these groups so can’t speak to the experience.  But, if there’s a good match for you it seems worth looking into.

This site covers all of San Diego and includes a variety of lists such as birthday party ideas, camps, photography studios, etc.

The site is a bit difficult to read and therefore to navigate, but there are some unusual lists of resources here such as local advocacy organizations supporting kids and parents.

They also have some coupons available.  http://www.sdkids.com/

These folks have put together a nice site of ideas for things to do around San Diego.  There are lists of museums, playgroup organizations, outdoor activities, amusement parks, etc.  There are quite a few ideas that are off the beaten path here so if you feel you’ve exhausted the options you typically see advertised, give this site a look.  http://www.littlepinkfeet.com/

San Diego Parent is a web site that is attempting to centralize information about things to do with children in town.  You can register for their newsletter for free for updates. 

They are still filling in the content, so there isn’t a whole lot there yet.  And because its City wide you have to wade through everything to find things that are local to you.  I hope in time they’ll figure out a way to break things out at least by north, south, east county so you can find what you need more easily.  Check it out though - it will get better I’m sure and will be a good resource for looking for new activities for your kids. http://www.sandiegoparent.com/

Savvy Source - Comprehensive list of San Diego Pre-schools - private, religious and public with Director notes and Parent Reviews.  Click here for the San Diego page.  The team focused on pre-schools for the launch and is now going to put their efforts into camps and other classes.  Watch for more from them soon.

Savvy Source is available in several other cities in California, NYC and Dallas and San Diego.  The site is supported by advertising and is free to the public. 

City Lead Maia Starling (Disclosure: a dear friend of mine) is building a terrific resource for us locally.  Contact her at 858-354-1183 or savvysourcesandiego@yahoo.com.  She also has a few part-time jobs available for moms so if you’re interested inquire with her directly. 

If you are interested in filling out a survey about a local pre-school, visit this site to do so and help make their launch more successful by providing valuable information about your experience for all of us parents living in the area.

http://www.savvysource.com/savvy/jsp/review/review.jsp