Eve Sullivan's blog

I am very happy about this news: Digital Book World Announces First-Ever QED Approved Ebooks 
 
NEW YORK – January 6, 2012 – Digital Book World today announced that 85 ebooks have been approved as QED-worthy.

 
Among the awardees is Where the Heart Listens, by Eve Sullivan, founder of Parents Forum www.parentsforum.org. The book was produced by - and can be ordered from – eBookIt www.ebookit.com. 

With consumerist craziness in its ascendance at this time of year, it is a challenge to keep things simple. I remind myself that children, all of us, really, remember the good times we share more than we remember specific presents. 
 
When my kids were growing up I tried to keep the madness in check by observing a three-present limit: book, sweater and toy, that is, something for the mind, something for the body and something for the spirit.  Of course I bent the rule on many occasions, but I still find it helpful to remember those categories when selecting gifts.
 
This year I am giving my two 'grandgirls' children's museum memberships in their parents' names. With my name included as childcare provider, I can take them to the museum too. We will have fun! 
 
Sometimes I think I just want off the gift exchange merry-go-round, but I wouldn't want to stay off the ride forever. Exchanging presents, any time of year, can be wonderful. Moderation keeps it fun.

This is so exciting, stepping out on the world stage. Doctors and other health care professionals around the globe read The Lancet! Take a look:
 
Visit http://www.thelancet.com and search for 'parenting resources'
 

And this!
 

As a representative of the International Federation for Parenting Education, I attended a panel discussion on “Stop violence against children through positive parenting” on the occasion of the Universal Children’s Day, co-organized by the Permanent Mission of Chile and Day of Prayer and Action for Children Secretariat.
 

http://nyti.ms/uij2qL and I ask, how about improving parenting resources?

 
High on my Thanksgiving gratitude list has been the increasing attention paid to parenting.
 

First, more singing!
 
Today’s Boston Globe ‘Music class lifts teen from life of silence’ story October 26, 2011 http://b.globe.com/taZvSJ (the link requires a subscription to read the whole article) describes the transformation of a young man into a musical ‘superstar’ after spending most of his youth not speaking at all.  Thank you, James Burnett, for writing the article.
 

We need some rules for ourselves, too, as parents, and it seems that one should be: 'Turn off the TV when children are in the room with you'.  What children need from us, what anyone wants, really, more than anything, is good attention, not divided attention.  
 

Happy news! Matthew Martin at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) let me know that an interview he did with me in August, launched today: http://hvrd.me/r7R6vt .
 

This morning I had a very interesting conversation with one of my sons and he granted me the above mentioned ‘permission to speak’ about our discussion.
 

We spoke about a perception we share that  men - fathers - do not feel they have permission to speak about their own emotional life . . . wheels within wheels!
 
He said that one challenge faced by young and not-so-young couples today (setting aside the economic situation which is bad for some and terrible for many) is how to reconcile family roles with work roles.
 

The Boston Globe op ed piece today 9-30-11 is 'serious need for free play' by Carlo Rotella, director of American studies at Boston College, and I love it!
 
The gist: