Posts in Parenting Resources
Enriched Family Roundup: Resources for Youth and Parents on Consent, Puberty, Friendship, Gender Identity, & Sex Education

The month of February seems like a perfect time for this Enriched Family roundup on consent, puberty, friendship, feelings, gender identity, & sex education resources for youth and parents. There are many fantastic resources to help support parents’ and caregivers’ conversations about these topics in age-appropriate, affirming, and non-shaming ways. There are also lots of resources specifically for youth that are appropriate at different age levels. So, after doing my research, I want to share with other parents and caregivers.

Reading these resources with your kids can start conversations and let your children know you are open to their questions. As with all resources, parents and caregivers should review the materials first to be sure they are suitable for your specific child and family.

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Enriched Family Parenting Resource Alert

Enriched Family Parenting Resource Alert 🚨 I don’t know about y’all, but I could use some new parenting tricks and tools these days 🧰. I was excited to hear about A Fine Parent’s upcoming Positive Parenting Conference and wanted to share with you!

Free, online conference September 22-29th ✨ “16 experts in parenting, neuroscience and psychology, with decades of research, clinical and personal experience, are coming together to share tips, tricks and techniques that parents can start using right away to raise happy, well-adjusted kids.”

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Enriched Family Roundup: Alternative Schooling Options for the Fall

Austin parents, we have had a hard past few months and it doesn’t look like things are going to get much easier. After 4+ months of quarantine (to greater or lesser degrees), COVID rates in Texas are skyrocketing, and city, county, and state officials are considering a return to lockdown to prevent the ongoing spread. Having juggled online schooling, work, and childcare during the spring semester, it seems we will be back at it come fall. On July 14th, the City of Austin and Travis County enacted a joint order banning in-person classes for all schools through September 7th. What this means is that all students in the affected districts will shift to remote learning again, for at least the first three weeks of school, including students in the Austin Independent School District (AISD), Del Valle ISD, Eanes ISD, Lago Vista ISD, Lake Travis ISD, Manor ISD, Pflugerville ISD, and all other public school districts in the city limits and county of Travis. It is unclear what will happen beyond September 7th. If COVID has taught us anything, it is to not try to look too hard into the future as things are always changing. While I don’t want to be “gloom and doom”, it is important to acknowledge that this situation poses immense hardships for all parents, but particularly for working parents.

This post, therefore, is focused on rounding up a variety of alternative schooling options for the fall that parents can consider, whether temporarily (until in-person schooling starts again) or for the full fall semester and potentially longer. Options include a discussion of and resources on homeschooling; pod-type learning environments; nannies/tutors; small, private preschools or kindergarten programs; and YMCA child care for essential workers (a good option for the fall if your children are not yet of school age or if you need some summer childcare).

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Parenting with Anxiety

I have managed anxiety (and periodic depression), to greater or lesser degrees, for most of my life. Nevertheless, I did not recognize my anxiety as a mental health issue for many years. For much of my life, I felt a sense of shame about my anxiety. I told myself if I was … fill in the blank … stronger, smarter, more resilient … I could “handle” my anxiety. It took age and experience to come to terms with knowing that I am incredibly strong, smart, and resilient, but sometimes anxiety still handles me. It wasn’t until I had my own children and they began to have some signs of anxiety that I recognized how intense my anxiety was from an early age.

While my anxiety is a challenge, it also comes with unique gifts. I am very sensitive and empathetic to other people’s emotions. I am a list-maker and planner extraordinaire. My hyper vigilance makes me a very safe and reliable person, as well as extremely detail-oriented and organized. I am an incredibly hard worker, highly focused, and push myself to excel. I also have a strong sense of responsibility. While these traits have many positives, they are also fairly exhausting at times.

Who knew that another gift of lifelong anxiety would be that it prepared me – at least to a certain extent – to deal with a pandemic? For me, the sky was always falling. Only now, everyone else sees it too. Oddly, there is a sense of comfort in knowing I am not alone in dealing with anxiety these days. So, if you have been dealing with anxiety all your life or are new to experiencing anxiety largely as a result of the COVID-19 situation and/or the current racial, economic, and social tumult in the United States, you are not alone. Maybe you don’t have anxiety, but someone you love does or you are parenting a child or adolescent with anxiety. This post is for you. While in no way meant to provide medical advice, this post provides salient information and resources related to anxiety from well-respected, credible sources. Given the ongoing issues of racial injustice and police brutality in our country, and in honor of July being Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, I have also included a number of resources specifically for Black communities and People of Color.

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Boredom Busters: Summer Engagement Ideas for Kids - Part II

Last summer I did a blog post on Boredom Busters to give parents some additional summer engagement ideas for their kids. As it was well received, I thought I would do a Part II this summer. Entering the tail end of July, I have definitely started to hear more of a chorus of: “Mom, I’m bored.” And when my kids are bored, they tend to get cranky and more prone to poor choices and behaviors. To help support them and my mental sanity, I made a new list of Boredom Busters. Below is the list of ideas I created for my family; I hope it is helpful to yours as well. As always, take what seems like it will work for your unique family, modify as needed, and forget the rest. While most of these ideas require some degree of parental involvement, many of the steps can be done independently once you set your kids up for the activity.

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Free Online Resource: The Bright & Quirky Child Summit, January 28-February 3, 2019

I want to share a free resource that may be helpful to your family, a friend's family, or to the families you work with: The Bright & Quirky Child Summit presented by Bright & Quirky, whose mission is to “ease the struggle for bright and quirky kids and parents, help them self-actualize with the help of experts in the fields of mental health and education, and inspire the hope that new ideas and possibilities bring.”

The 7-day summit will occur online January 28-February 3, 2019. Registration for the free summit gives parents links to watch the summit talks over the 7 day summit. Each talk is free and accessible for 24 hours from when it airs. Presenters include…

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Bringing Home Lucky: Preparing Your Family and Home For a Puppy

Our children have been asking for a pet for a long time. My initial, internal reaction was: "Like I need another thing to take care of!" However, our children are currently 8 and 6, and I work from home now, so somehow it seemed more doable. Cats were out of the question as our neighborhood is always losing cats to coyotes. So, we started looking around for the right rescue dog. It took about six months, but thanks to @austinanimalcenter and @happyfosterdog, we found our dog! As you can see from the picture, he is adorable (yes, I am biased, but objectively, he is just darn cute).

I am discovering daily what a joy it is to have a puppy, and also what an undertaking! Whew. As I didn't grow up with dogs due to family allergies, this is pretty new for me. So, I did what I always do when facing the unknown and put on my researcher hat. I thought I would share the results of my research for other folks out there who are getting a dog for the first time. 

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Austin Weekend Event: Nurture My Child Summer Camp Fair 2018

Check it out this weekend! Nurture My Child Summer Camp Fair 2018

When: Sunday, February 25th, 2018, 1-4pm

Details: The Nurture My Child Camp Fair is a friendly, community focused camp fair to help parents select the right summer camp for their child. Free admission and free parking. Fun, free, hands-on activities. Learn about spring break, summer, and overnight camps for ages 4-18. There will be over $10,000 worth of free camps and giveaways to win at the fair. 

Where: Norris Conference Center (2525 W Anderson Lane), Austin, TX

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Free Online Resource: Resilient Child Summit, January 22-26, 2018

I want to share a free resource that may be helpful to your family, a friend's family, or families you work with – the Resilient Child Summit presented by GoZen! will occur online next week, January 22-26, 2018. By registering for this free online summit, each day you will receive access to 3-4 expert interviews (from 20 of the world's top resilience experts) packed with practical tools to help kids cultivate resilience and manage stress better. 

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