Showing posts with label parenting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parenting. Show all posts

Spots still available for families in the Positive Discipline for Families Program at Center for Human Services in Shoreline

Friday, June 10, 2022

The Center for Human Services still has spots available for families to connect with others and explore positive parenting philosophy and strategies for happy, healthy and strong family!

Positive Discipline for Families Program Registration Form Survey (surveymonkey.com) https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PositiveDisciplineENG



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Parent Leadership Training Institute - free 12 week online course in English and Español

Tuesday, January 25, 2022


The Parent Leadership Training Institute of Washington Family Engagement is based at Everett Community College, 

The goal of the PLTI is to increase community engagement in civic matters, public education and youth development. It is held at Everett Community College in the spring and fall of every calendar year, but is currently offered only online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This class is free to participants and they can earn 5 credits for Everett Community College plus their children can attend the Children's Leadership Training Institute alongside them.

To apply fill out the application form through Eventzilla: http://PLTISpring2022.eventzilla.net

You must choose and attend one of the PLTI Information Sessions online.


More information at wafamilyengagement.org



Más información at wafamilyengagement.org


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You know you’re a Seattle parent when...

Monday, January 24, 2022


Froggy Holler Preschool photo courtesy
City of Shoreline
30 traits Seattle-area parents can relate to...

By Tiffany Pitts
Republished from ParentMap.com

We're here, we're raising kids in this soggy corner of the country, we've got a death grip on our Yeti mugs... there is so much that unites us! 

Here are a few more things you can probably relate to:
  • You’ve gotten lost in the school parking lot on more than one occasion because you can’t tell which Subaru Outback is yours.
  • You’ve seriously thought about purchasing a kayak because the kids would love it.
  • You have not purchased a kayak because you have no place to store it.
  • You dream about living in a place that has kayak storage. You can’t, of course. At least not until the kids graduate because you’re pretty sure you’d never be able to afford something in the same area. But a dream is always nice.
  • You have had at least three passionate conversations about the merits of personal rain shelters.
  • You leave outside holiday decorations up until February. You tell everyone it’s because the kids love being festive but in actuality, it’s so you can see your way to the garbage can.
  • Every time you see an eagle you say, “Look, an eagle!” One random man on the sidewalk looks. Your children are too busy arguing to care.
  • You buy your children umbrellas. They come home from school with soaking wet hair though they swear they’ve been using them. Two weeks later you discover they’ve been using them to have fake sword fights. You take away the umbrellas. (As you do so, you realize that this is probably the reason why so many people in Seattle never use umbrellas. They never properly learned how.)
  • You’re an expert in Halloween costumes that involve parkas and hats.
  • You’ve had to search the internet for ‘slug slime removal’.
  • You’ve had to search the internet for ‘nettle sting remedy’.
  • You’ve accidentally found yourself in the middle of an argument about home remedies for nettle stings. There are an unnerving number of opinions.
  • You know that “but first … coffee” isn’t a silly saying. It’s literally an instruction.
  • You don’t want to go upstairs on the ferry. You are compelled to make your family do it anyway. Why do you do this? No one will ever know.
  • You buy the brightest colored winter jackets you can so that you might actually see your kids when they step outside.
  • Your children are terrified of black ice even though they don’t know what it is. They think it’s some sort of boogeyman for adults that drive. They’re not wrong.
  • Daylight Savings time causes untold havoc on your sleep schedule.
  • Your children hold deeply informed opinions about coffee, Amazon and public transit.
  • You frequent the lost and found at your kids’ school because North Face jackets aren’t cheap and you are not going to lose another one.
  • You know that “Do the kids really need new snow pants this year?” is a fool’s argument. You buy snow pants as soon as you see them in at Costco. If there are gloves, you buy those too.
  • You’ve had to convince your children that it really is time to wake up, even though the sky is still dark.
  • You’ve had to convince your children that it really is bedtime, even though the sun is still shining.
  • There are no less than twenty-five excellent walking trails within a reasonable distance from your home, all of which your children refuse to walk because it’s ‘too outside.’
  • You’ve had to break out the box fan on the first warm day of spring because it’s 71 degrees outside and your children are melting.
  • You’ve had to break out the cocoa on the first cool day of autumn because it’s 42 degrees and your children are frozen solid.
  • You know that ‘blackberry’ could be a fruit or technology, but is more likely in reference to a situation requiring bandages.
  • You know that beaches require shoes, a jacket, extra pairs of dry socks, sunscreen, three towels and a last-minute stop at the store for new sunglasses because no one can find theirs.
  • You have a family goose encounter protocol. You’re also working on a coyote encounter protocol but you want to do a little more research first.
  • Your children know what good ramen tastes like and they know it doesn’t come in a plastic package.
  • You have rain contingency plans for everything. Birthday parties, play dates, movies … everything.

Tiffany Pitts
Tiffany Pitts grew up in the PNW on a diet of cartoons, candy and instant noodles. 

Her latest novel, Wizzy Wig, won the 2016 Cygnus award for Best Speculative Fiction. 

You can find her online at tiffanypitts.com, on Facebook or on Twitter.



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Free Online Parent/Guardian and Child Leadership Training Institute

Monday, September 6, 2021

Washington Family Engagement is hosting free, online leadership training for parents/guardians and children ages 6-12 through Everett Community College. Learn more about both programs and how to apply below.

The Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) is a free, 12 weeks online course that teaches parents, community members and professionals working with families to understand systems and develop civic, leadership, and public speaking skills. The course offers five elective college credits to those who graduate.

The Children's Leadership Training Institute (CLTI) is a free, reading-based civic leadership course offered to only the children of parents enrolled in the PLTI. Children ages 6 to 12 receive age-appropriate leadership and civic classes and books.

Online classes begin September 18, 2021 and end with graduation on December 18, 2021. PLTI classes take place on Wednesdays from 6 pm to 9 pm and Saturdays from 9 am to 12 pm. CLTI classes take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 pm to 6 pm.

To Apply:

Fill out the application form via Eventzilla: http://PLTIFall2021.eventzilla.net or scan QR code. Please note this application form is only for adults, not for children.

Attend one of the required online PLTI information sessions. Choose from the days and times listed on the Eventzilla application form.



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Lis Johnson: In the Blink of an Eye

Friday, July 9, 2021

By Lis Johnson

Over the long weekend, I went into our home office for the annual clearing of the bulletin board. 

Old receipts, appointment cards, reminders and reminders of reminders. As I took down the school calendar, I had a moment — one of those that leaves you standing flat-footed, staring at nothing in particular — when I realized as I hadn’t before that this coming fall will be the first time in nearly 20 years I won’t have a school calendar on the board.

Our youngest son graduated from high school last month. His older brother started kindergarten in 2002, so the school calendar has been a through-line in our lives for close to two decades.

In the early days, I would go through the calendar when it arrived, circling in red Sharpie all the half-days, teacher work days, holidays and breaks, not to mention penciled in play dates, birthday parties, and field trips, band and choir practice, performances and ballgames.

After smart phones arrived, these days were put on the phone calendar, with appropriate reminders, but the influence remained. Our days off, our vacations, our time was directed by the calendar in one way or another.

And suddenly, I don’t need one any more. As my sons go onto their bigger lives, my own life, my own choices and days, will return to being mine again. For the most part, anyway. And frankly, it feels odd. 

Odd in a way that graduation, sending out announcements and taking photos didn’t quite grasp — the change that was coming. The change that is here.

When our oldest son graduated, we still had another five years to go with the calendar. The bulletin board is full of holes in the cork-board, where calendars were taken up and down, months rolled over and on and on, a flip of the page, the turn of a season, until one day, seemingly out of nowhere, we don’t need it anymore.

I’m reminded of the quote in Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises,” when a character is asked how he went bankrupt. “Two ways,” he replies. “Gradually, then suddenly.”

Couldn’t the same be said for how our children grow up — gradually, then suddenly.
 
Feels a bit odd to be sentimental over a piece of paper, but more that just about any other “school thing” it represents time going by, and by and by and by. 

And then comes a moment, where you stand looking at a near empty bulletin board wondering what happened and how it happened so fast.



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Student Well-being and Engagement During Remote Learning and School Closure - webinar for parents from Shoreline Schools

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Cher Anderton, MSW, LSWAIC
Shorewood and Einstein parent communities will host two live webinar opportunities on social/emotional health that supports school engagement for teens during "remote learning." 

These sessions are open to all Shoreline parents. Panelists will include school district counseling staff and Cher Anderton, MSW, LSWAIC, mental health therapist, consultant and parent educator.

Friday, December 11, 2020 at 12:00-1:00pm
-or-
Tuesday, December 15, 2020 at 8:00-9:00am 

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86222979394?pwd=eFdGQkRzUGF2V2ZXdlhHaDk2TVJWdz09
Passcode: TBird
Or iPhone one-tap: US: +12532158782,,86222979394# or +13462487799,,86222979394#



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Presentation on teen mental health and wellness for Secondary Parents

Saturday, November 14, 2020

Lunch and Learn for parents, guardians, and caregivers 
on Monday November 16, 2020
Join other secondary school families to learn about teen mental health needs.

Join Dr. Reed from Seattle Children’s to talk about 
Teen Mental Health and Wellness. 

Learn early warning signs of mental health needs 
and ways to best support your teen. 

No registration needed, 
simply click the link to join the talk on Monday.

Monday November 16th, 12noon - 1pm


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Pacific Medical Centers: keeping kids up to date with vaccinations

Sunday, August 16, 2020



From Pacific Medical Centers

The American Academy of Pediatrics has estimated that roughly 40 percent of children in the United States have missed scheduled vaccinations - when you include teenagers, this can reach almost 80 percent. According to the CDC, social distancing measures have decreased accessibility for routine immunizations, leaving children at a higher risk for vaccine-preventable diseases.

Given all of the uncertainty with back-to-school routines, healthcare providers are looking to prevent further disruption in standard immunization and wellness checks, which are typically part of many kids' back-to-school routine.

To address this issue, Pacific Medical Centers just launched a Back-to-School toolkit for parents.

BACK TO BASICS TOOLKIT

For children, summer physicals and immunizations do more than satisfy school requirements. They also provide peace of mind to families, knowing normal development and preventive measures are on track. Now is the time to take care of these basic health needs, before cold and flu season is upon us.

The toolkit includes the following focus areas:

Pacific Medical Centers (PacMed) is a multi-specialty medical group with nine neighborhood clinics in the Puget Sound area. Founded in 1933, the PacMed network is one of the largest throughout the Puget Sound and offers patients more than 150 providers for primary and specialty care. PacMed’s culture focuses on its mission of delivering high-quality health care focused on the individual needs of its diverse patient population with an emphasis on improving the quality of health in the community.




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Online leadership program for parents and children opens application process

Tuesday, August 11, 2020


Apply HERE - Questions? - Visit the website HERE
email info@wafamilyengagement.org


Registration is open for the free, virtual leadership course offered by Washington Family Engagement for family and community members of all ages. Since 2016, the Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) and the Children’s Leadership Training Institute (CLTI) have graduated 200 leaders who are now working to improve their schools and neighborhoods.

The PLTI is a free, 11-week course that teaches parents, grandparents, and community members to understand civic and public education systems. Participants learn advocacy and public speaking skills to become school and community leaders. Graduates are eligible to receive 5 college credits to continue their higher education at Everett Community College.

The Children's Leadership Training Institute (CLTI) is free to the children (ages 5 to 12) of parents/guardians attending the PLTI. The CLTI is a literacy based leadership program dedicated to improving reading skills, teaching how to speak in public and furthering civic instruction. Children receive age-appropriate book bundles to help support at-home learning.

As a graduation requirement, children and adult participants design and implement a community project to benefit their schools, neighborhoods and other families.

To apply, visit the event page .

PLTI and CLTI classes begin Saturday, September 26, 2020 and end Saturday, December 12, 2020. Classes are held twice per week: 
  • Tuesday evenings from 6 - 8pm 
  • Saturday mornings from 9 - 12pm

WHERE: Online via Zoom

Washington Family Engagement (WAFE) is a nonprofit organization based in Snohomish County that fosters social transformation by supporting the development of multigenerational leaders from diverse backgrounds to become actively engaged in schools and communities in Washington State. 




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Free online workshop - Positive Discipline for families

Sunday, July 26, 2020

July 28, 2020 Online Workshop. Hosted by Positive Discipline for Families 
Tuesday, July 28, 2020 at 10:00am online

Are you interested in knowing more about the Positive Discipline Program?
  • Do you wish to learn new parenting tools?
Would you like:
  • To be more effective as a parent and have fun in the process?
  • To discipline with kindness and firmness at the same time?
  • To raise responsible and respectful children?
  • To reduce power struggle, stress and strengthen relationships inside the family?

We invite you to participate in an Introductory Positive Discipline workshop on Tuesday July 28th from 10am to 11:45 PST via live Zoom

Please register HERE. Don’t forget to add your email address:

  • After registering, you will receive Zoom link and code the day before class, so you can join this workshop.
  • We recommend you register before 5pm on Monday July 27th, so you can get the Zoom info on time, necessary to join the class.

This workshop is FREE and sponsored by the nonprofit Center of Human Services, whereby we ask you to carefully fill out your registration. 

This is important, as we need demographic info of participants to continue getting finance funding for these free workshops.

Personal information is confidential and for exclusive use to report general demographic data of the participants.




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Online: Baby Story Time!

Saturday, May 9, 2020

Stock photo
Online: Baby Story Time!
Wednesdays, May 13 - June 24, Noon

Get comfortable with your baby and your laptop (or another device) and get ready to connect with other caregivers and their infants! 

We will enjoy a short program of songs and rhymes, followed by time for adults to share with each other around their questions, concerns and baby successes. 

Napping babies are welcome! 


Please also send your email address to lfield@kcls.org with the subject line: Baby Story Time, by 9pm on Tuesday. 

Include your name and your baby’s name in the body of the email. You'll receive an invitation to a Zoom meeting to join our live Story Time by 10am on Wednesday morning.

--Shoreline Children's Librarian Laurie Field



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Have an evening out - Babysitting Nights at Shorecrest High School

Wednesday, December 18, 2019



The Shorecrest Senior Class will be hosting Babysitting Nights, one Thursday each month!

It is from 6:30pm to 8:30pm in the Shorecrest Commons (the cafeteria in the main building) at Shorecrest High School 15343 25th Ave NE, Shoreline 98155.

We will have board games, arts and crafts, homework help, etc. We will provide snacks, but make sure your child has dinner outside of the babysitting night. 

It is $20 per child, ages 3 and up. Please RSVP by contacting nicolen3062@gmail.com.

The first session is this Thursday, December 19, 2019. It will be offered once a month on these Thursdays:

January 23
February 13
March 19
April 2
May 28




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Beyond Birds and Bees: Bringing Home a New Message to Our Kids About Sex, Love, and Equality

Friday, September 27, 2019

Beyond Birds and Bees: Bringing Home a New Message to Our Kids About Sex, Love, and Equality, 6:30-8pm on Wednesday, October 2, 2019 - Meridian Park Elementary Cafeteria 17077 Meridian Ave N, Shoreline 98133

Bonnie Rough, author of Beyond Birds and Bees, will be speaking about how to raise young people with healthy, positive, shame-free, and egalitarian attitudes about bodies, gender, sex, and relationships. Q/A and book sale/signing to follow.

Hosted by Meridian Park PTSA, Syre PTA, Brookside PTA, and Highland Terrace PTA. Free childcare provided by Dale Turner YMCA.


Birds, Bees, and #MeToo: Helping Our Kids Build Gender Equality 

Now that the #MeToo movement and current events have parents and educators asking how best to raise young people with healthy, positive, shame-free and egalitarian attitudes about bodies, gender, sex, and relationships, Bonnie J. Rough, author of Beyond Birds and Bees: Bringing Home a New Message to Our Kids About Sex, Love, and Equality, will share the practical lessons she learned as a parent and journalist when she took a close look at the world-famous Dutch approach to sex education, instrumental in producing one of the most sexually healthy and gender-equal societies on the globe. 

With immediate takeaways for parents/caregivers and time for sharing and questions, this event will show how we can make the most of — and enjoy — life’s many opportunities to change the conversation with our kids as we empower them to build a more equitable and inclusive future.



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Positive Discipline for Families program from Center for Human Services in Spanish and English

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Center for Human Services is offering free Positive Discipline programs for parents and caregivers in English and Spanish.

Registration is required. Register online: English

The Positive Discipline for Families Program is a series of 8 weekly classes for parents/caregivers who want more cooperative and respectful relationships with their children.

Classes will be weekly on Tuesdays 10:30-1:00pm starting October 1st - November 19, 2019.

Through this program participants can learn tools to:
  • Be more effective as a parent and have fun in the process
  • Discipline with kindness and firmness at the same time
  • Raise responsible and respectful children
  • Strengthen your social support network
  • Reduce your stress and strengthen your family’s resilience.
If you register for this program you are intending to attend all 8 sessions.

COST: FREE
On Site free child care is provided.

Eligibility: Our focus population for this class are parents/caregivers with at least one child under the age of 6.

Questions: Contact Velia Lara at 206-631-8824 or vlara@chs-nw.org

Classes at the Bothell United Methodist Church, 18515 92nd Ave NE, Bothell 98011 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Programa de Disciplina Positiva para Familias

Se require registro: Español

El Programa de Disciplina Positiva para Familias es una serie de 8 clases semanales para padres/cuidadores que desean relaciones más cooperativas y respetuosas con sus hijos.

Las clases serán semanales los martes de 10:30-1:00pm a partir del 1 de octubre al 19 de noviembre de 2019.

A traves de este programa, los participantes pueden aprender herramientas para:
  • Ser más efectivo como padre y divertirte en el proceso
  • Disciplinar con amabilidad y firmeza al mismo tiempo
  • Criar niños responsables y respetuosos
  • Fortalece tu red de apoyo social
  • Reduzca el estres y fortalezca la resilencia de su familia.
Si se registra en este programa, tiene la intención de asistir a las 8 sesiones.

COSTO: GRATIS

Cuidado infantil gratuito.

Elegibilidad: Nuestra población de enfoque para esta clase son los padres y cuidadores con al menos un niño menor de 6 años de edad.

Preguntas: Contacto Velia Lara 206-631-8824 o vlara@chs-nw.org

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Padres unidos - familias seguras

Wednesday, September 18, 2019


Uno de los intereses más grandes de un padre debe ser el bienestar y seguridad de sus hijos. Es importante estar informados para PREVENIR.

Los temas que cubrimos son los problemas que seguimos viendo en nuestras comunidades. En particular el uso de drogas así como el suicidio y el abuso sexual de menores son temas de los cuales todo padre debe estar informado. No espere a tener el problema para buscar información. La clave es la prevención.

El Departamento de Policía de Shoreline te invita a la serie de 6 talleres en Español donde aprenderás de estos temas, como identificarlos y como abordarlos.

Recibirás un certificado al completar los talleres. No tienen costo. Incluye cuidado de niños.

El cupo es limitado. Para registrarte llama al (206) 801-2719 o envía un correo electrónico a Dahlia.corona@kingcounty.gov




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Frank Workman: A high school senior's letter to Mom and Dad

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Huge crowds attend Shorewood - Shorecrest football games
Photo by Wayne Pridemore


Frank Workman is not a high school senior. He is a long-time participant and observer of high school sports, who is known locally as an announcer for high school games. He has been a regular contributor to the Shoreline Area News.

A high school senior's letter to Mom and Dad
By Frank Workman

Dear Mom and Dad –

You know how you like to write me a letter before my sports seasons begin, offering me encouragement, advice and good wishes?

This season I want to turn the tables and write a letter to you, especially since this is my senior year, and likely to be my last time playing organized sports.

I know there have been times before, during, or after my games when you’ve said or done something that has annoyed me. I realize you’ve meant no harm, but I want to spell things out for you so the memories we’ll take from this last year of my playing ball will be good ones.

First, I want to thank you for respecting my wishes by letting me play football, basketball, and baseball, and not making me specialize in just one sport.

The money you spent for me to play on various Select teams wasn’t some sort of guaranty that I’d ever become good enough to play college ball. What my Select ball experience did was improve my skills and help keep me on the right track, instead of drifting off doing who-knows-what with my idle time. I am only guaranteed a chance to play when it comes to high school ball – nothing more.

Look, I know deep down that I’m not going to get an athletic scholarship to college. I’m a good athlete, but I am not the elite, almost freakish one that gets a free ride. I’ve learned something about genetics in Biology class, and I got your genes, which explains why I’m not 6’10”, or 275 pounds, or run the hundred in ten-flat. So don’t blame me for not playing at the next level – look in the mirror. Just kidding. I wouldn’t change a thing about me – or you.

I need you to understand that it’s not just me who gets to have a sports season. But the sports season the two of you get to have is going to be an entirely different one from mine.

I’ll be learning life lessons in the “non-traditional classroom” that high school sports represent. I’ll be learning what dedication and commitment are, not just by playing the games, but by working hard in practice, testing my courage, running until my lungs feel like they could burst, dealing with the hurts and pains that come from sore muscles, bruised bones and scraped knees. By finding out how much I can care about something, how much I’m willing to do beyond what I think is possible in order to help our team be successful, how much I’m willing to sacrifice myself for the good of the team, I’m going to be learning important things about life.

I’m also going to experience the fun times, too, times that you can’t be any part of, like the ten minutes in the locker room right before a game, and the ten minutes in the locker room after a game, regardless of if we won or lost, happy or sad – or the bus rides to and from games, and the silly times in the dugout or locker room when I’m just having fun with my friends, still just being a kid.

This goes without saying ---

While this has never been a problem with you in the past, if for some reason you indulge in adult beverages before one of my games and think it would be a good idea to show up and be loud, abusive, possibly even vulgar - DON’T. EVER. That sort of behavior from you would embarrass me to death, and would become your signature moment, to be remembered forever. And should one of the other parents come to a game in that condition, do everybody a favor and quietly suggest to them that they leave. Or better still, discreetly talk to one of the school’s administrators who are at the game, and let them handle the situation.

I want you to get the other parents on the team to sit together at our games.

You and the other parents get to have fun, too, as you band together and root for us all season. It’s sort of like getting on a ride at Disneyland, with all the ups and downs, thrills and spills.

Here’s a golden opportunity for a couple old fogies like you to make some new friends, and when was the last time that happened? I’m not saying you have to sit next to that blowhard who is always bragging about his life, who distracts you from the game you’re intently watching – avoiding getting stuck sitting next to him is going to have to be a new move you’ll have to work on this year, I guess. I’d like you to seek out the parents of the new kids on the team, the ones who don’t really know any of the other parents yet, and bring them into the fold. You’re always telling me how some of my high school buddies are going to be my friends for life. Maybe the same can be said for you about other parents on the team. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your next best friends at my games this season.

This year, I want to hear you cheering for my teammates, too, and calling them by name, not just me.

I’d really like it if you went out of your way to get to know some of the other guys on the team. I am not the only story on the team. Every player has his own story worth being aware of. Unlike the college or pro teams in town who you can only cheer for from a distance, you can actually meet and get to know the kids I play with. The more kids you know on the team, and the more you know about them, the more you will enjoy watching us play.

I know you like to root for me at my games. I can hear your voice every time you do – I’ve been trained all my life to listen for it. But I also want you to cheer for my team and teammates so much that a stranger in the gym can’t tell that we have the same last name. With any luck, the other parents will get the hint and root for all of us, not just their own kids.

They’re just our opponents – they’re not our enemies.

It’s also OK with me if you acknowledge a good play or effort by an opponent. You know, those kids are just like me, they just live in a different town than we do. They care about the sport we love, they probably like the same music and movies that we do, and there’s not much difference between them and us, other than the color of the shirt they’re wearing that particular night. At the end of each game, we show them respect by going through the handshake line with them. I want you to show them respect, too.

Just because the call wasn’t in our favor doesn’t mean it was a bad call.

And while I’m on the topic of showing respect, I want you to be respectful to the game officials. I know there are times when we all disagree with their calls, or are at least disappointed when one doesn’t go our way.

It’s OK to disagree with them, but don’t be disrespectful. They are the game’s authority figures, and since you’re always telling me to respect authority, I expect you to do the same.

Besides, those guys are right most of the time, and they almost always know our rules better than anybody up in the stands does, especially since the rules can be different for high school, college and pro ball.

The team comes first. Not me. Not any one single player. Certainly not you or any of the other parents.

Our coaches do a great job of instilling in us team values, to put aside any selfishness we may feel in favor of support for our common effort. If any of us are unhappy about our playing time, the position we’re playing, or the way we’re being treated, he wants us to come to him and talk with him about it. All of us are OK with this arrangement. Most of the time, the guys who are second-string understand that the guys ahead of them are better than they are. Our coaches work really hard to nip any jealousies or disagreements in the bud.

The most important thing for us when we’re on a team is …… The Team.

When comments are made by outsiders (parents, particularly) that are critical of us or the coaches, they tear at the very fabric of the team. The louder they are, the more they damage the sense of unity and togetherness we’re trying to establish.

Instead of thinking about the next play or the next game, we wind up spending time dealing with stuff that takes our eye off the ball, so to speak.

But our coaches know more about the game than you do, I’ll bet. When a play doesn’t work, they know – right then- who it was that caused the play to fail, as opposed to the fans in the stands who only know that the play didn’t work.

The coach has earned the right to fill out the line-up card - to decide who plays where, when, and what plays we run.

My head coach probably spends 750-1000 hours a year on his sport, between planning practices, watching game films, game-planning for each week’s opponent, running practices, and actually coaching the games, not to mention attending coaching clinics, dealing with the paperwork side of coaching, and keeping in touch with us players all year round. He spends more waking hours during the season with us than his own family. Fact is, I see more of him each week than I do you during the season. On top of that, you might know only 5 or 10 of the kids on the team. Coach knows each and every one of us. He cares about us, not just as players, but as people.

Just because you disagree with the coach, doesn’t mean he’s an idiot.

Dad, I know how much you love sports, and how much you think you know about them from having played when you were young, and from watching games week after week, year after year. You know a little about a lot of sports. My coach is the world’s greatest expert on the subject of my team.

Just remember that there are three things every guy thinks he can do better than anybody else – build a campfire, grill a steak, and manage a ballclub. There’s an old saying – ‘a little knowledge is a dangerous thing’. There are bound to be times when you disagree with something he does. When that happens, keep it to yourself, please.

I hope you’ll get to know my coach.

If you want to have a relationship with my coach, make sure it’s a non-critical, supportive one. Thank him after the games for his hard work, be appreciative of all he does and be thankful (as I am) that we have him on our side. And while you’re at it, be a friend and supporter of his wife, too. She comes to all the games and roots harder (if only to herself), and cares about it more than you do. While all you parents have a son on the team, she has fifty of us. She hears every comment that gets made up in the stands, and somehow manages to keep her cool when somebody up there says something critical or stupid about the team or her husband. When the game is over and you’re on your way home, the game may not even be on your mind by the time you pull into the garage. I’m sure Coach’s wife lives with the outcomes (especially the losses) a lot longer than any of you parents do.

I know you’ve always told me that my schoolwork is more important than sports. I guess that means that if you’re going to get to know my coach, you better get to know all my teachers this year, too. I want both of you to come to Back To School Night and meet my teachers, maybe shoot them an email afterwards.

As you would no sooner try to tell my English teacher how to conduct her class or criticize her in public, the same probably should be said about your demeanor toward my coaches.

If you want to analyze and re-hash the game in-depth, I’ll do it with you, but won’t it keep until the next morning?

When the game is over, don’t expect me to be all chatty and happy to talk with you, at least not right away. Games are physically, mentally, and emotionally draining for me, for you, for all of us. Everybody’s nerves might be raw and on edge right after a game. Sure, I’ll take your hugs, win or lose, as will my teammates. But give me some time to decompress, to think through what just happened out there and what the coaches had to say afterwards before you start peppering me with all sorts of ‘what happened?’ questions. And don’t ask me to violate the sanctity of the locker room. What gets said in there stays in there – sort of like going to Las Vegas.

Look, if all you want to know right after the game is what was so funny in the third quarter that all of us on the bench started laughing, I’ll tell you all about it.

Playing in games with my buddies, in front of our fellow students with all you moms and dads watching and cheering us on; it might just be the most fun I’ll get to have in my whole life.

I know we’ve talked in the past about what it’s like for me to be playing during the pressure situations that can develop during the games, and how your stomachs get twisted into a knot, and how mom sometimes has to hide her eyes.

But from my perspective, I’m so busy playing, so locked in and focused on what I’m doing, that I don’t have time to think about the consequences of failure, of what happens if I drop the pass, or miss the shot, or strike out.

What you call ‘pressure’ is, for me, pure fun.

Everybody’s always saying how playing sports builds character. You’ve told me that yourself on several occasions.

My coach says that while it’s true, there is a greater truth to be said about sports.

He says ‘sports reveals character’.

As my last year of playing sports begins soon, I hope that the character I reveal will make you proud of me.

And I hope that I’ll be proud of you.

I have to go now. First practice of the season is in the morning.

Here’s to a great season.

For you.


Love,

Your Child



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Justin Van Hollebeke Memorial Golf Tournament raises funds for Wonderland

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

The Golf Club at Newcastle
The 20th Annual Justin Van Hollebeke Memorial Golf Tournament Weekend is just two weeks away! 

Join Wonderland and ESPN legends Chris Berman and Bill Rasmussen for a weekend of fun for a great cause!

Proceeds from this event will support our uncompensated care fund, so all families can receive services regardless of their income or ability to pay.

Limited spaces are still available!

Wonderland Child and Family Services is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and early-intervention agency. They serve more than 250 families and their children ages birth to three with special needs per month in north King and south Snohomish counties. We are dedicated to helping children with developmental delays or disabilities realize their full potential.

Wonderland is headquartered in Shoreline.



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Best Starts for Kids survey for parents of children 5th grade and younger

Best Starts for Kids is a King County initiative that strengthens families and communities so that babies are born healthy, children thrive and establish a strong foundation for life, and young people grow into happy, healthy adults. 

Public Health Seattle and King County helps implement Best Starts for Kids.

Help us make sure all voices are represented in the Best Starts for Kids Health Survey!

Best Starts for Kids is now in its fourth year and things are changing in our communities. The Best Starts for Kids Health Survey questions are designed to help Best Starts for Kids better understand those changes.

Parenting is hard work, and it is our hope that learning about your experiences as a parent, child’s health, family strengths, and community supports will help Best Starts for Kids build on strengths and meet needs for families across King County.

Read more on the Best Starts Blog about the 7 things families should know about the Kids Health Survey.

All voices are valued in this survey. Click here to take the survey (or visit this link). It will take about 20-30 minutes to complete.

Pass it on! We would appreciate you sharing the survey web link with parents and caregivers with children 5th grade or younger.

The survey is open until September 2 and is available to take online in Chinese, English, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

We need your help to increase survey participation from members of these communities:
  • Families with children who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native; Black or of African descent; Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.
  • Families who speak Mandarin or Cantonese, Vietnamese, Somali, or Russian.
  • Parents or caregivers who identify as LGBTQIA or Two-Spirit
  • Families who are experiencing poverty
  • Families with children with special needs

Your survey answers provide important information about how our youngest children and their families are doing. Over time, the survey helps us track whether our efforts are making a difference in the health of King County children.

Findings will continue to be shared several ways:


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SnoKing Healthy Start Program

Monday, July 15, 2019

Healthy Start is for families with children
under the age of 3
Healthy Start is an intensive free parent education program for young families who have children under the age of 3 years.

The SnoKing Healthy Start program was established in 1997 and serves both King and Snohomish counties including Shoreline. It is administered by Northshore Youth and Family Services.

This program has served several hundred families during its twenty-two years of operation.

The Healthy Start Family Support Specialist provides monthly visits, group activities, health and support screenings, educational activities and connections to community resources.

Our Shoreline Healthy Start Board, in collaboration with the Richmond Beach Congregational Church, supports the young parents by supplying diapers, books, toys and gift cards.

Our Healthy Start program is also supported by Shoreline Rotary and the Dale Turner Y.

Research on the Healthy Start home visiting model has shown it reduces the incidence of child abuse and neglect, promotes optimal child development and prepares children to be ready to learn in school.

Healthy Starts’ goal is to give each baby or child served a healthy, happy home and the best possible start.

For additional information call Ari Fraire at 425-343-7797. If you are interested in contributing to Healthy Start call Board Chair Pearl Noreen at 206-227-3843.



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Cher Anderton online parenting class starts June 1

Wednesday, May 22, 2019


Join me for a a LIVE, online class where I'll be sharing my 5 must-have tools for your parenting toolbox. I’ve learned some incredible parent hacks as a therapist, school counselor, Positive Discipline parent educator and parent of 4 kids (all teens now!) and I want to share them with as many parents as possible!

I'm going to teach you how to:
  • Coach your kids through big emotions
  • Set healthy boundaries for yourself and them
  • Teach your kids to trust their own voice so they are less likely to be influenced by others (hello peer pressure)
  • Take care of yourself and your kids when they are experiencing tricky life stuff like anxiety, depression, friendship issues, divorce, etc. 

What I’m teaching will have a huge generalization effect meaning you will see improvements in all aspects of your life if you practice these tools! This is life work and it’s good work. Can't wait to see you in the class!

Here’s what’s included in the course:
  • Four 60 minute LIVE classes (June 1st, June 8th, June 15th, June 29th @9am PST)
  • Unable to make those dates? No problem! With the purchase of the course you will get a recording of the class within 48 hours and…
  • Monthly office hours (for educational purposes) where you can ask me questions and learn from others going through the course. It’s like having a parenting coach in your back pocket!
  • One purchase per household so if you have a parenting partner, you can go through the class together and provide a unified front for your kids
  • A workbook to practice the tools and take notes
  • Valued at over $700
Sign up HERE



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