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< PARENTS FORUM | Newsletter Newsletter
Sign up today! Fill out form on the left pane of this page. Subscribing to our free, occasional e-mail newsletter, sent no more than once or twice a month, is the best way to keep informed about PARENTS FORUM activities and opportunities. Let us hear from you! Sample issue - December 12, 2005 Dear Members and Friends,
It can be difficult to escape the holiday rush and, anyway, part of me loves getting caught up it in! Another part of me wants to hide under the bed until after New Year's. Of course I want find gifts that will make my sons happy, but do they really need anything from me now that they're grown? I got a tremendous sense of reassurance as a parent from reading, recently, a book on economics. Imagine! There are two chapters on parenting in Freakonomics, http://www.freakonomics.com I'd say run -- don't walk -- to your local library and sign up to borrow it. Worth waiting for . . . it took several weeks for my name to come up on the request list. The authors Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner write that what we give our kids is less important than what we do. Surprisingly, what we do is even less important than who we are. If we are honest and thoughtful people, curious about the world (among other qualities), this makes more difference in their school and life success than whether we give them an Xbox (is that the current 'IT' game?) or take them to museums. Be thoughtful, honest and curious. That is the best gift you can give your children. Having written those wise words, however, I cannot resist the season's clarion call of commercialism and share with you some interesting tidbits that have caught my eye recently. Also, below, I share news of PARENTS FORUM goings on, including an invitation for those of you who are local. I hope you can come by my house on Dec.17, Saturday, in the afternoon! ITEMS TO FOLLOW: ONE Keep it simple
ONE: Keep it simple TRUCE -- which stands for Teachers for Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment -- has accomplished a great deal in promoting positive play and media. Their 2005-2006 guide for toys can be downloaded at http://www.truceteachers.org One element that especially appeals to me is the suggestions for "Shoe Box Gifts" that promote play around themes with common objects often found around the house. Thanks to Diane Levin of Wheelock College for sending notice of this annual review. In the same vein are efforts of the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood http://www.commercialexploitation.org We need all the help we can get to keep children's experiences as commercial free as possible. TWO: Keep it fun There are old favorites, toys that some of us of a certain age remember fondly and you can see some here http://www.schylling.com. I recall long ago being completely enchanted with a Jack-in-the-Box. Wooden blocks kept me, my brother and sister busy for hours. Thanks to Yolanda Perdoma whose NYTimes article reprinted in the Worcester (Massachusetts) paper mentioned this company. THREE: Keep it safe Then, in the “keep it safe” department is this site (mentioned in ‘Ask Amy’ of the Chicago Tribune) http://www.netsafekids.org where I found the section How Can I Protect My Child and a piece on Understanding Maturity and Vulnerability especially insightful. Much of older children's and teens' play involves online activities. Monitoring these is yet another important responsibility parents' face. FOUR: Keep it healthy If what we provide for our children’s play and learning is important, even more basic is what we feed them! Dr. Bill Walsh, chief scientist at the Health Research Institute in Illinois found that giving children a fresher, healthier diet reduces behaviors associated with attention deficit, conduct disorder, oppositional-defiant disorder among others. Dr. Walsh emphasizes, in a Bottom Line “Daily Health News” forwarded by our webmaster Nina Breygin that ‘he doesn’t feel that problems with these patients are caused by diet alone… In most cases we believe (basic deficiencies) were genetic and then aggravated by bad diet.’ The report continued: ‘even for children not genetically predisposed to behavior problems, a diet high in nutrient-stripped processed foods can still lead to trouble.’ A school district in Wisconsin changed the foods both provided and available to students and found that ‘discipline problems all but disappeared; attendance skyrocketed; academic performance improved.’ Take a look at Food & Behavior (Natural Press), by Dr. Barbara Stitt, The Crazy Makers: How the Food Industry Is Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children (Penguin) by Carol Simontacchi. Both books can be found via Google. The source for both references is Bottom Line Secrets, October 13, 2005. A careful review of our shopping lists and a survey of our children’s school cafeterias and vending machines is in order. Let’s do our best to keep it healthy at the same as we keep it simple, fun and safe. FIVE: PARENTS FORUM Events LOCALLY… On October 22, National Make A Difference Day, volunteer StacyJonh Thomas and I gave a day-long PARENTS FORUM workshop at MCI Norfolk, building on the success of our First workshop there in September 2004. Three inmates who participated in 2004 helped co-lead and the 15 new participants all gave the program stellar reviews. Even more telling: 50 more inmates signed up on the waiting list. We especially want to thank the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute and director Tina Chery who sponsored the workshop at Norfolk Prison. The initial contact with the men at Norfolk came through the Children of Incarcerated Parents project and we also thank Sue Burkhardt, their coordinator. FURTHER AFIELD… On behalf of PARENTS FORUM I attended the Mind and Life Institute in Washington DC in November. The Dalai Lama and several hundred others heard presentations on The Science and Clinical Applications of Meditation http://www.mindandlife.org One of the ideas presented there, particularly relevant to our work with parents, is this: the idea that there are two kinds of pain: real pain and the ‘adventitious’ pain that comes from worrying about the real pain. As I see it, our efforts in PARENTS FORUM help people sort out their feelings about what is going on in their lives, especially the painful pieces, and help reduce the worrying. Closer to home, in Worcester, Mass., Dec.1+2, I attended a Nonprofit Summit for Massachusetts nonprofit leaders and funders. Our purpose was to lay groundwork for creation of a state-wide organization to increase the influence of the social sector, as distinct from government and business. Other states, notably Georgia and Minnesota, already have such agencies. Massachusetts definitely needs one, as our sector is strong and vibrant, but under-recognized. Information on this effort is available from David Trueblood, Director of Public Relations for the Boston Foundation by email: david.trueblood@tbf.org. BACK CLOSE TO HOME… Looking forward to preparing more volunteers to present workshops – for community groups as well as for parents in prison -- please mark your calendars for Saturday, January 28th. We will offer a PARENTS FORUM training at our Central Square location on Bishop Allen Drive. Sign up now to reserve your space! SIX: A holiday party, please come! Finally, how about some cider and cookies and an opportunity to help one of our partner organizations? Please come to a PARENTS FORUM family and friends Christmas Open House, 1:00 to 4:00 pm on December 17, 2005, this coming Saturday, at my home in North Cambridge. Donation of an unwrapped school supply, craft or art supply item (small notebook, pen or pencils) for the Children of Incarcerated Parents backpack project will be appreciated! For directions and to reply send email to me esullivan@parentsforum.org. The holidays often provide a chance to get together with friends and family we have not seen in a while. I hope I will see you, or at least hear from you, soon. Let me know if you will come on the 17th! Merry Christmas and thanks, Eve Sample issue - January 12, 2003 Dear Friends,
Here's, ONE, a little story from my Christmas season, TWO, some notes on events in the Boston area and then, THREE, most important: PARENTS FORUM news and happenings! and finally, FOUR, notes on some interesting books. ONE I asked each of my sons what they wanted for Christmas -- cooking supplies and house stuff were mentioned -- but one said "not a book"! So I sent him a sweater which turned out not to fit. Maybe next year he'll ask for a book which is sure to fit. TWO Here are the Boston-area events, one for kids, one for parents. Jan.18+19 Now, the event for parents: Jan.22 THREE a l l a b o u t u s ! January 14 January 25 February 1, March 1, April 5 and May 3 AND SAVE THE DATE ! May 15 FOUR I'll close by recommending several books. There I go again with assignments ...smile ... still a schoolteacher! The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker -- a heavy read and fascinating. I'm about one-third into it. Organizing from the Inside Out and Time Management from The Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern -- both excellent resources to help you (they're help- ing me) live up to New Year's resolutions. http://www.juliemorgenstern.com/book.html The Global Citizen -- a wonderful collection of resources
and stories on both struggles and successes in
the new world we live in where paid or volunteer
work and pleasure trips can take us far from our
homes and comfort zones.
If your library or bookstore does not have these books you can request they be ordered. I recommend The Global Citizen especially! It explains a cultural profile scheme developed by Richard Lewis (http://www.crossculture.com) which groups countries according to three main behavior attributes which he calls' "multi-active", "linear-active" and "reactive." There's a quiz in the book to take and see where ...in the world... you fit. That's it...HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all, and if you are local, please come to our January 25 Book and Toy Exchange in Cambridge, and say hello i n l i v i n g c o l o r !
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