This post is sponsored by The Allstate Foundation. All opinions are my own,

Last weekend we took a trip to one of our favorite cities, D.C. It’s sort of become our new yearly (unofficial) family tradition.

It was THE most beautiful weekend too. Extremely cold, but so beautiful. We love getting a chance to see D.C. in all it’s glory!

When I heard that The Allstate Foundationwas launching the Good Starts Young  campaign at the National Mall, I knew that was something we had to take the kids to. If you’re not too familiar with this foundation, I have to tell you all about it! The Allstate Foundation cares for young people and empowers them to succeed by helping to develop our next generation of leaders and history-makers. What I love most about Good Starts Young is that they give future leaders the tools and resources they need to learn critical skills. They also provide opportunities to put these practices into use through volunteering and service related programs. Amazing, right? THIS is why we had to check out their event! Also, this is not just focused on the kids, this program aims to educate parents (and youth) about SEL (social and emotionallearning) skills!

Before hearing about The Allstate Foundation Good Starts Young, I vaguely knew the term SEL. I’m so glad we invested time into learning more about this program. Social and emotional learning is a neat process of learning that includes five core competences. Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. Kind of a long-winded explanation, ha! But, now you know!

When we arrived at The Allstate Foundation event, we were greeted by pedestals that lined the national mall. Each pedestal featured an aspirational goal, engraved with inscriptions such as “Future President of the United States”. People were invited to stand on the ones they identified with. It was so neat! Our kids really enjoyed reading through the inscriptions and finding the ones they related to. It was such an amazing opportunity to talk with them about the future and how they could work towards that goal. Ways in which we could encourage, and empower them to follow this dream all the way through.

With The Allstate Foundation Good Starts Young’, I have felt so confident in our approach towards empowering our children, our future leaders. Take time to look into this, be the support system they need to achieve those goals. It takes a village you guys! So thankful for these basic tools. I’m excited to watch the future unfold for these three. Also, I’m pretty sure Phoenix willbe the next future president. He’s been making this claim since he was 3. Years later, still going strong!

How are you encouraging your kids to pursue those dreams? Be sure to visit GoodStartsYoung.orgfor more information.

XOXO, terri

This post was written as part of The Allstate Foundation Influencer Program and sponsored by The Allstate Foundation. All opinions are mine.