Tag Archives: raising kids

our last day with our day care provider…

May 28, 2016 By in herding (my own) cats, observations, teaching and coaching, thank you notes Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

yesterday, we said goodbye to one of the most important people in our lives…our day care provider…

given the impact this woman had on our lives, i am re-posting (below) a post i shared more than 3 years ago…

everything in this post is still true today…or, more true…meaning, you just need to “times” all of the good shtuff i said below by ten thousand (x 10,000) and then you’ll be close to just how much my wife and i love and appreciate her, our day care provider…

note: in the first version of this post, i didn’t give out her actual name–for privacy reasons–but i’m gonna do that now…because if you’re out there (in the twin cities)–looking for a place for your kids–look no further, sign up today!!!

thank you, stefanie berge/sharon (owner/operator of tender heart childcare) you’re the best around!

to see what i’m talking about, please keep reading…

…

before i was a teacher, i worked with kids in many different settings…coming through a gauntlet of years in youth work & (now) teaching, it takes a lot to impress and inspire me in this field…

but, i have been truly impressed and inspired over the past 3+ years…

with our in-home day care provider…

and yes, i said in-home daycare provider!  …in-home daycare programs are often regarded as marginal, “fly-by-night” operations that may be alright in an emergency….but not as a “serious long-term consideration”…because people think that “they’re just not as good as centers” or a mom/dad staying home with their children…nor are they viewed as “safe places”–you get the feeling that this is one of the most horrific decisions you can make for your children–tantamount to sending a kid cross-country on an orphan train (esp. from my parent’s generation) …like your kids will end up abducted, abused, neglected, abandoned, in the emergency room, dead in the street and on the nightly news if you leave them there!!!  i heard the world saying, please report to the shame corner and turn in your parent card, now!

…this is not the case with our person, sharon–yes, her name has been changed to protect the innocent–or in the many cases of parents who use amazing in-home daycare providers each and every day…anyways, my wife did the first drop-n-go routine, through a river of tears (mind you, this is a person who cries over  the voice🙂 and i did the job three days later…and this is what happened…

i entered the house, took off my shoes, and proceeded downstairs to find my children…i was excited to see them…arriving downstairs, i made eye-contact with my son and daughter…they recognized me and smiled…but, they weren’t that excited to see me…they stayed where they were–by the side (son) and in the arms (daughter) of sharon…i thought, what the hell is this?!  i’ve been your father for nine months–you think that was a piece of cake–i was there when you were colicky, when you wouldn’t sleep, when you had that “projectile shit”–the rapid fire, .50 caliber shtuff that ‘took out’ the nursery room door–and this is how you repay me…how dare you?!  i mean, i had envisioned my children running from sharon, bounding towards me–their father–with outstretched arms (press play on can’t hold back by survivor)…but, it didn’t happen…so, i made funny faces, talked to them, waved for them to come to me…but still, they stayed with sharon…so, i hiked back upstairs, put my shoes on, went out to the van and grabbed the wonder bar…so-to-pry my children off of their in-home daycare provider!

…since those early days, we’ve seen and heard all about the amazing things they’ve learned from sharon…sign language, “how to wear a helmet with style”, music, how to pronounce their “t’s”, please and thank-you’s, “how to help”, potty training–you name it…she is unbelievable …so, let me just take this moment to say…thank you, thank you, thank you, sharon…for teaching our kids, for loving our kids like that…i am impressed and inspired…you’re the “+1” to my wife and i, you’re the best around…

love hurts

November 13, 2014 By in herding (my own) cats Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

‘love hurts’ (by the band nazareth) was one of my very good friends, one of my brothers–einar monstad of bergen, norway–favorite tunes back in the day, back when we went to college together (in the early 90’s)…einar loved and stills loves music…back then, he even achieved legendary status on campus for singing and bangin’ a drum at the crack of dawn throughout the dorms to celebrate norwegian independence day…he was/is a great and unstoppable force of nature…

anyways, i was reminded of the song this past summer when my kids (jack and grace) were playing together in the backyard…they were running around chasing each other as my wife and i sat nearby talking quietly (it was a warm summer day–far from the arctic smackdown we’re getting this week–winter in minnesota hurts, too)…

as they were playing, i looked up to see jack push grace to the ground…grace wasn’t happy about it and started to cry…

i said, “jack, that’s not o.k., help your sister up, please”…

he paused for a moment and then tried to help her up…but, what he did next wasn’t the most helpful thing in the world…

he really tried to help her, truly….he really tried to help her up off the ground…but, not by the hand…and not by the arm…

but, by the throat–he grabbed her right around the neck, with both hands (like you would do if you wanted to choke the life out of someone) and tried to pull her up that way…

what the what?!

so, my wife and i bolted out of chairs shouting “no, no, no…” and separated him from his sister (while we tried, at the same time, to keep ourselves from laughing…because it was pretty hilarious)…

though not evident by his actions–we could tell that it wasn’t intentional and that ‘what he really wanted to do’…was to help her up…

chances are, you’ve been there…maybe with your own kids, maybe with your family at home or on vacation, or maybe with your colleagues at work …sometimes, you try to help someone and it doesn’t turn out that way, it doesn’t end well…sometimes, someone tries to help you and the situation goes from bad to worse…

it’s in these moments, when you realize that…

sometimes…

love hurts.

tradecraft…boundaries (part I)

August 1, 2014 By in tradecraft Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

boundaries: preface

one of the best things that an adult…who is working with kids (and especially, an adult who is raising kids)…can do–to bring up responsible young people–is to give their toddlers, children, and teens boundaries…even their ‘tweens’ in a lot cases–especially, when you consider that the pre-frontal cortex isn’t fully developed until people are on their way past ‘legal adulthood’ as defined by state laws…you know the part of the brain i’m talking about…the part that controls impulsive behavior and the ability to make good decisions 🙂

in my opinon, all kids need boundaries…expecting a kid to function positively and responsibly in the world without good boundaries is like expecting a house to stand without a solid foundation…it’s just not gonna happen, folks…

one of my favorite gems on this topic comes from child and family expert, dr. david walsh:

“it’s a kid’s job to test limits, it’s our job (responsible parents and other adults) to set limits–in saying ‘no’ to our kids…we are (hopefully) teaching them to say ‘no’ to themselves (some day)” (walsh, 2014)…

importantly, one of the single most important ‘trade skills’ in working effectively with young people is establishing good and reasonable boundaries for kids to know and follow…i mean, how can any teacher, counselor, para, social worker, coach, youth leader, juvenile justice worker, or parent instruct a young person if that young person is doing what they want to do when they want to do it…with no regard for anyone else around them?!

this is a part of instructing our youth that we need to return to wholeheartedly and fearlessly in our society, in america…i would argue that there’s never been a more important time for us to get back to the ‘world of boundaries’ than right now…because it’s something we’ve strayed away from…and we can see the results reflected in how young people see themselves and act in the world today…it’s not a pretty sight…

so, with that…we begin a new series on boundaries…

stay tuned…

[i would like give a special ‘shout out’ to family friend and proud parent of two, rachel s.–who called for some special attention to this subject back when i wrote the post titled, ‘know your role’–so, while it’s a bit late in coming…this series is for you, sister! cheers!]