Mike & Patty

     Hey guys!

    First off just want to thank you guys for checking out our site!  Just a little background on us!  I am Patty and my husband is Mike.  We both graduated from Sachem in 1998.  We met at Sachem North, both had third period lunch & the rest is history!  25 years later I feel truly blessed to be able to say I am married to my best friend and love of my life.  We're pretty good at putting our heads together, setting goals and executing a plan.  I am creative and enjoy design and working with children..  My husband does finance so putting our heads together, we are a pretty solid team.  I have a background in Psychology/Counseling.  As a young adult my passion for parties began as I worked in the restaurant industry for over ten years.  Starting young as a hostess I moved up and eventually became a catering manager/event planner. I absolutely loved it.  The plan was to work until I finished school.  I loved parties, loved event planning and didn't want to finish my degree at that point.  Like most people, I always regretted it.  Fast Forward I am currently 42 with 3 children 15 (boy) & twin girls 9. I am proud to say I am finally finishing up my masters degree in School Counseling!  I love working with children and being a positive influence on their mental & physical wellbeing.  While studying childhood Psychology at Liberty University, I became very interested in Erikson's Psychosocial model of human development.  (Link to info on Erikson's theory)

https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/erikson-stages

 Erikson maintained that personality develop's through pre-determined factors during 8 stages of life.  During each phase, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis which could have a positive or negative outcome for personality development.  

For Salty Kids purposes, our children are in phases 2-4.  Very crucial phases for fostering positive behaviors & personality  traits.  Mike and I just felt like technology was completely robbing our children of the crucial developmental milestones that these phases prepare them for.  Key factors include attachment, trust vs mistrust, autonomy, industry vs inferiority and initiative vs guilt.   I studied the importance of "play" in my undergrad studies at Arizona State University.  I have wanted to open a "play-center" desperately since. Play facilitates the development of social competence, emotional capacities and resilience, creativity, coping skills and problem-solving.  Adding a sensory area allows for the inclusion of all children regardless. Learning begins with our five senses...let's explore them together! 

So many times I would look up at the clock and cringe that I spent 2 hours writing a paper and my kids were playing Xbox and talking to "friends" online.  All while I was learning about how terrible it was for them to be playing video games during brain development.   Talk about parent guilt on a whole other level!  I thought to myself, we need a play space so that kids are not staring at screens for hours. Parents should be able to sit and do their work, grab a healthy meal/snack or talk adult stuff without guilt or fear! Win-win!  Children are the future and we need to teach them kindness, empathy, coping-skills and how to achieve optimal overall well-being.  Who knew it all starts with immersive play experiences?  Violent games foster aggression and negative behaviors in young children.  And that is how the concept for L.I. Salty Kids Cove was born!

And now I am so excited to FINALLY  share that we are opening a children‘s indoor play center!  A truly unique, fun & educational spin on birthday parties and open-play for your lil beach lover! Beachy everything, all things L.I,  birthday parties, wellness, education…umm only all of my favorites! I combined all of my passions and let’s get real (my crazy helicopter momness) and came up with what we think is going to be an amazing, fun, educational, immersive, (slightly bougie) super cool experience for all! 

My vision was an indoor beach playground.  The sand makes it safe, lining it with lounge chairs & cabanas around the entire perimeter meant we can see the little's no matter what!  A short picket fence around the playground island meant even more peace of mind but what really helps parents/caregivers feel at ease is the kid check system we’ve implemented.  It’s simple, who you come with, is who you leave with, period!  Everyone checks in and out at the front tollbooth reception area. Clear UV light handstamps must be matched at exit,  no match, no exit!  Safety has always been our top priority and we will continue to do whatever it takes to ensure a safe, fun, experience for all! 

That‘s the beauty of L.I. Salty Kids Cove, there is something for everyone!  I know that for me to leave my children anywhere I have to feel comfortable and that they are 100% safe.  I want parents to know they are in good hands at The Cove!  Take advantage of date-night drop-off‘s which have created quite the buzz! Available every Friday 6-9 pm.  Go enjoy yourselves! We got you! People ask all the time what is your secret to a long lasting happy marriage? My response is always the same...make time for each other and date-nights! We always have and swear by it!  And that is where the idea for date- night drop off's came from.  So many times we would invite friends and nobody ever had a sitter.  Problem solved!  Drop them to Salty Kids!  You deserve time too and how awesome knowing they are adopting healthy habits to last a lifetime at the same time...not staring at a screen.   Everyone deserves time to themselves don't feel guilty as it is proven kids benefit from having content, happy parents/caregivers.  

We hope that you visit, fall in love, become salty members and kick back as often as you would like while enriching young minds, body and soul!  Again a win-win!  Also you get a cute lil surfboard member key tag scanner for your key chain & complimentary coffee, every visit! I have twins and remember lugging them in & out for coffee on way to mommy & me.  It's a lot I know!  Grab it right here, no more in and out of the car with little ones.  Convenient & free!  Grab a phone basket at the tollbooth and have an unplugged, phone-free family night, or not!   its up to you! That's the thing we are so laid back it's whatever you want to do.  Also we have healthy food but also pizza & treats for picky kids because seriously we get it, I have a chicken nugget kid too and swore I would never! Little by little we are just regular people trying to do the best we can as parents to raise decent humans...far from perfect! We all make mistakes and question our parenting skills at one point or another.  We are all in this together!  Let's give them a little taste of our awesome childhood!  Can't wait to meet you all!  Thank you guys for the tremendous amount of love and support we've received thus far, did not expect this response! You guys rock!  

~Stay Salty!

❤️ Gullo Crew