A Great Resource for Every Parent!
By Scott Bailey, Community & Parents for Public Schools

Parenting is the best job in the world. At times, it’s also the most difficult. As our kids progress from preschool into elementary school and beyond, the rewards and challenges increase. We become part of a larger community of parents and children, along with incredibly dedicated teachers and other school staff. As parents of school-age children, we also have to learn how to navigate new systems, with their own languages and an endless number of acronyms (from “PTA” to “NCLB”). School funding also joins our list of worries.
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Teaming up with other parents can help ensure a fun and healthy break
By Oregon Partnership

Many area kids are counting the days until Spring Break. Excitement reigns. For parents, however, the reaction can be mixed.

Maybe Spring break means a reprieve from the typical busy week of homework and shuttling between school and activities, but for parents who will clock in at work during Spring Break, kids’ time off can present challenges. How can you ensure a fun and safe Spring Break for your kids amid your busy workweek?
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By Emily Moser

How would you react if your child started hanging out with a youngster who wouldn’t be your first choice in a friend for him? What if your teen, after years of banking on a four-year university in her future, told you she wanted to attend a technical school or earn a two-year degree instead?
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On Nov. 2, take the time to show your kids how you rock the vote
By Sally Murdoch

When the California Voter Foundation asked infrequent voters in our most populous state a few years ago why they don’t turn out at the polls, the overwhelming response was simple; we’re just too busy. Parents today know the feeling. Our schedules are jam-packed with sports, school, shopping, friends and (hopefully) fun. Voting can easily fall off our to-do lists, especially without the crescendo of excitement we had during the 2008 Presidential election, when 86% of Oregonians cast their votes.
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A Parent’s Guide to Helping Your Child Kick the Small-Screen Habit This Summer

By Terra Wellington

Oh, the lure of the newest XBOX game! Or maybe it’s the Wii. Or iCarly and Hannah Montana reruns. Perhaps it’s a handheld, thumb-numbing game. Or maybe it’s of the YouTube nonsense variety. No wait! There’s 145 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to discover from streaming Netflix for your high schooler.  

Whatever gravitates your child or teenager to the small screen this summer needs a bit of parent pull the other direction. And that means alternatives your kids will accept. Here are some suggestions:

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Take Time to Listen, It Speaks Volumes to Your Child

Parents who actively listen help nurture a strong relationship that can protect their kids from using alcohol and other drugs

By Emily Moser of Oregon Partnership

“The first duty of love is to listen.” – Paul Tillich, theologian and philosopher

As parents, we play a huge variety of roles: provider, teacher, cheerleader, boundary-setter, to name a few. Each is critically important in helping children grow and mature. Add to that list chief listener.

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Resolving to Become – Aquamom!

One mom’s story of how her son’s swim meets tested the limits of her abilities as a parental super hero

By Anna Seip

You hear a lot about soccer moms, but I’m not one of them. My role is more like Aquamom. No, I can’t breathe underwater. Nor do I possess superhuman swimming skills. My talents are even more amazing: I chauffeur my 12-year-old son to swim practice Monday through Friday and then sit through a five-hour swim meet on Saturday. Every week.

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Co-sleeping – Societal Stigma?

By Emily Puro

Some co-sleeping families find there’s a stigma attached to sharing a family bed in our Western culture.

“I think it really does create a closeness for us, (but) I struggle with our society versus what we do,” says Gresham mom Sarah Manlupig, whose three children, 5, 4 and 5 months share their parents’ bed in various configurations on any given night.

“Our society and our culture say it’s wrong and you shouldn’t do it. …I just have to say, ‘You know what? It works for us. It works for our kids.’ They are, I think, more secure and more happy sleeping with us.”

When Your Child’s Friends Use Alcohol/Drugs

Being proactive, listening can help parents support kids whose peers engage in harmful behavior

Submitted by Oregon Partnership

You’ve worked hard to ensure your child is healthy, safe and prepared to make good choices about not using alcohol and other drugs. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, and you trust him. And yet, you’ve learned that one of his longtime friends is drinking. What should you do?

Parents and children both can struggle to negotiate the challenges of growing up.
Stephen Grant, who has worked with children and families since 1992 as a therapist, group leader and parent coach, shares his thoughts on ways parents can protect their kids while providing an opportunity to learn, grow and support their peers who may be engaged in harmful behavior.

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Boosting Child Safety IQ to Keep Kids Safe

By Sandy Nipper, Child Safety Program Coordinator
The Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel

The job of protecting a child from injury is probably one of a parent’s or caregiver’s most anxiety-provoking and sometimes overwhelming responsibilities. There’s good news and bad news to report. Let’s start with the bad and move as quickly as possible to the good.

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The First Day of Tween School

By Anna Seip

It’s the first day of middle school, and I’m sharing the only bathroom in the house with a tween. This is not going to work, I can already tell. My 12-year-old son sprays a cloud of cologne. It’s the “scent of California,” he told me. The smell is like limes left over after a party. Puberty has barely begun in my house, and I’m already tired of it. This time last year, I was begging him to take a shower once a week. Now all of a sudden, he’s asking for acne cream and deodorant. I make a mental note to get an estimate to build a half-bath in the basement.

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Putting a Stop to ‘Shoulder-Tapping’

Take time to educate your kids about the dangers of asking adults to buy alcohol for them

Submitted by Oregon Partnership and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

A guy in his mid-20s pulls into a convenience store parking lot and is approached by two teenage girls, who nervously ask him to buy alcoholic lemonade for them. The man obliges, emerging from the store a few minutes later with a couple of six-packs he hands to the kids.

Unfortunately, the scene is all too real, because most kids who consume alcohol – about 30 percent of 8th-graders and nearly half of 11th-graders say they have in the past month, according to a survey of Oregon schoolchildren – get it from adults, who either knowingly or unknowingly supply it.

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