Friday roundup: 5 Helpful and Inspiring Items
Chime in on listening time, learn about screen-free parenting ideas, podcasts for little kids and so much more...
Hi Parents,
It’s Friday. Time for my weekly roundup of helpful and/or inspiring items for you to peruse. Today I have a listening time offer, advice from a Harvard sociologist, screen-free ideas for your kids, little kid podcasts and my mantra for entering this virtual school year…
In my little spot on earth, school is starting on Monday. It will be all virtual/remote learning. I am thinking a whole lot about how to support my kids, their teachers, and my fellow parents during this time. Please stay tuned for parenting support as we collectively venture into the newest part of this global pandemic.
I subscribe to Martha Beck’s newsletter. Martha is a Harvard-trained sociologist, world-renowned coach and New York Times bestselling author. In one of her most recent newsletters, she said this:
Here’s the single best word of advice I’ve ever learned: Listen.
When a Harvard-trained sociologist says Listening is the best advice, well, um, I listen (: She goes on to say that she thinks there are 4 levels of listening: Ear Listening, Body Listening, Heart Listening and Soul Listening. She takes us through each type and lands with the idea that we need ALL 4 levels to really be listening to another fully and to bring healing and connection.
She is speaking mainly about adult to adult listening through these tumultuous times (which is important) but as a Hand in Hand parenting instructor, it definitely caught my attention. The director of Hand in Hand Parenting, Patty Wipfler, wrote a book about our parenting philosophy and it is titled Listen: 5 Simple Tools to Meet Your Everyday Parenting Challenges. If you have been following what I have been sharing, you know that listening is the cornerstone. I can highly recommend Martha’s wisdom and Patty Wipfler’s book. Both will fill your cup and Patty’s book will share the 5 Hand in Hand tools and loads of anecdotes too. PS - it’s available on Audible and it is read by Patty (hearing tone when it comes to parenting really helps).
Many parents are concerned about an uptick in screen time. A glimpse into my family: we are a very low tech family (my kids do not have devices and because it is our family culture, device free days are their norm although my oldest has ventured into youtube martial arts lessons). But I have a lot of concerns about the screen time coming our way through virtual schooling. Screen Free Parenting is a great resource for parents looking for inspiration and ideas on reducing screen time for kids. They are compiling a massive list of screen free ideas, you can find it here.
But….I know that parents are working and their kids are home a lot if not all the time. Want your kid off of a screen but need something to keep them occupied during your next work meeting? Check out this list of podcasts for little kids. So many good ones here.
If there is one thing I would say to parents who are feeling concerned about the upcoming virtual school year, it would be Alfie Kohn’s words: Put the Relationship First. What we know is that when kids are feeling deeply connected and they have a parent who can practice listening on all 4 levels (from point 1 above), then they will do well academically. Maybe this year’s academics won’t be the main focus, but that’s okay. They will pick up where they left off. In my humble but (parent coach) educated opinion, if we can put the relationship first this school year, our kids are going to be just fine. I will keep showing up here with tools and tips for doing this. For now, see how this lands: I wrote an article titled Put the Relationship First. It was pre-pandemic but still relevant.
One way I can offer support to parents is through Listening Time. I would like to setup a weekly Zoom time for parents who are interested in support, community and listening time. This would be a drop in when you can and want offering, no commitment necessary. We would go around and allocate a certain # of minutes to each parent to share whatever they want to get off their mind and heart while the group listens. The amount of time for each parent depends on how many show up each week. In the beginning, I will review the basic ideas of how to listen in this unique way. I would just ask for a love offering - offer what you can, if you can, via PayPal or Venmo. This can be a solid way to offload your stress and emotional burden to me and a group of parents confidentially. It will help you return to your children and their virtual schooling with less of an emotional load. It is one big way we can maintain our patience with our kids. We aren’t meant to hold it all together all of the time. Listening time with other adults is a great way to achieve some of your parenting goals. Will you either comment on this post or email me (just reply to this message) and let me know if you would be interested? Thank you.
I hope you have a deeply connected, laughter-filled weekend with your crew.
Love, Kate
PS - I am on a facebook hiatus. If you know me, you know I struggle with that platform. I hope to share more about that soon. I will occasionally stop by Instagram. You can still check out my Wholehearted Family page on Facebook for some parenting inspiration. I can actually post on IG and have it show up on FB without me having to show up too. I need to use all the ideas to keep my life facebook-free. I know facebook doesn’t bother everyone so if this was helpful to you, maybe you can venture into Facebook world and share it? Thank you.