Thursday, May 17, 2012
Fun For the Family, from crafts to parks to festivals
Ready for some more May free activities to fill up those afternoons and weekends? Here are some great options for the rest of May? Lakeshore Learning runs their free Saturday crafts from 1-3 p.m., featuring a different activity each week. On May 19, your child can use scratch art to make a creature of his or her choice. Just in time for Memorial Day, your youngster can return on May 26 to make a patriotic wand. Lakeshore Learning is in Walnut Creek. On May 21, at the Dougherty Station Performing Arts Center in San Ramon, families can enjoy a free concert. The young symphony will amaze the audience with 45 young performers sharing their love of music and instruments with onlookers. Speaking of Memorial Day, consider the annual Art and Wind…
National Police week is May 13-19. Appreciate law enforcement year-round.
I can't tell you how many times I've overheard someone talk negatively about police officers and other law enforcement officials. All too often, I believe, the police are painted as the bad guys, writing tickets and making arrests. But they're also the first people you call when you need help. I bring this up now because May 13-19 is National Police Week. Police Week began in 1962 when President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation declaring May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the corresponding week as Police Week. This resonates with me because I grew up with a police officer - my dad. Every night, my mom would kiss him goodbye and tell him to "be careful." I knew he had a dangerous job, but it never really sunk in until the night …
Friday, May 11, 2012
This week, President Obama said his historic decision to personally affirm the right of same-sex couples to marry was motivated by his children. Have your children affected your views?
As parents, do we teach, or are we taught? This week President Obama made a remarkable televised declaration of personal support for same-sex marriage—the first President of the United States to ever do so. The motivations for his declaration during a contentious election year are an issue of hot debate, but the President explained his decision to publicly affirm his support—reversing his position on the issue—as one driven not so much by his role as a chief executive and candidate, but as a parent. He credits how his kids regard the same-sex parents of their friends and peers as something that fundamentally altered his own view. As parents, we are taught that we hold the moral compass for our children; they are meant to follow our lead. …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
A Beloved Preschool Teacher Celebrates More Than 40 Years!
This story originally ran April 12, but we wanted to republish it with Mrs. Hammer's retirement celebration on Friday. Kathie Hammer is the director of John Knox Co-Op Preschool in Dublin, a school attended by children in the Tri-Valley from San Ramon to Livermore. In June, Hammer, a preschool teacher loved by all, is retiring after an 40 plus years at John Knox. She truly is an institution, and those children whose lives she has touched are very fortunate. How did it all begin? When her youngest son was preschool-aged, Kathie enrolled him at John Knox. Other preschool teachers thought she had a knack for teaching and encouraged her to enroll in Early Childhood Education classes. Kathie did just that, and in 1972 she began teaching at John…
The president told ABC News that his thinking has "evolved" on the subject of same-sex marriage. How do you feel about his decision?
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Thursday, May 10
President Obama told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Wednesday that he now supports same-sex marriage. The president—who still supports states deciding the issue on their own—said his personal views had gone through an "evolution" based on conversations with family and friends and the views of his own daughters. "They are much more comfortable with it," the president told Robin Roberts in an interview to be shown on “Good Morning America” Thursday. Excerpts aired Wednesday night on ABC’s “World News with Diane Sawyer." ”You know, Malia and Sasha, they have friends whose parents are same-sex couples," Obama said in the interview. "There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we’re talking about …
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Kristi Yamaguchi was recently with San Ramon and Danville kids to inspire them to reach for their dreams.
If you followed your big dreams, what would you do? The day I walked into my kindergarten class at Helotes Elementary in Helotes, Texas, I knew I wanted to someday become a teacher. It was seeing my nametag and a lollipop on my desk that did it for me!I am a teacher today and I did follow my dream that begin as a tiny seed in my mind at five years old. Children in San Ramon and Danville were recently asked to write about their own big dreams, as a part of the “Kids Read Challenge” this year sponsored by our local libraries and corporate donors. The idea was based on Kristi Yamaguchi’s book, “Dream Big Little Pig”. On Saturday, April 28, I had the pleasure of hearing Mrs. Yamaguchi read her latest book and then answer questions from …
Monday, May 7, 2012
The Secret of a Successful Mother's Day This Year.
Mother’s Day was always big bust and I was too exhausted to endure it again. Last year, I came up with a brilliant idea. Two days before the big event, I prepared my answer to the question, “What do you want for Mother’s Day?” “Nothing,” I said. “Come on, we have to get you something. What do you want?” “Nothing. I want a day filled with nothing. No fighting. No laundry. No cooking. No TV,” I said. “You’re just saying that. You’d be mad if we don’t get you a gift.” “Nope. This is what I really want.” “No way. That’s too hard. Just let us get you a gift.” I stood my ground and reminded my family that I had been asking for nothing for years. I have suffered…
Friday, May 4, 2012
There are many tough topics you will have to tackle with your kids, but some topics, like substance abuse, can be particularly tough for some parents, given their own track records. This week we're talking about how to handle when you have "a history."
I think there comes a moment (or several) in every parent’s life when you come face to face with hypocrisy—your own. Whether you eat the healthy foods you tell your kids to eat, or hold your kids to a high expectation of achievement in school when you yourself weren’t the model of studiousness, as a parent you have to figure out how your own history of behavior figures into your parenting. Substance abuse is one of the topics that can be especially intimidating for parents to address, especially if they have their own history of use. How much do you reveal, and how honest are you with your kids about what you did when you were their age? What about your current behavior? Substance abuse continues to be high among teens, and according to a …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Activities for the kids in San Ramon, Danville, Dublin and Walnut Creek.
Ready for some free activities for your family to partake in as we begin May? There are plenty of indoor activities to engage young minds, and of course if the weather is nice, our local parks are always a terrific bet! Consider joining family storytime at the San Ramon Library this Saturday from 11:15 a.m. to noon. Your child can hear several books related to a theme and then create a fun craft afterward. Want an activity later in the day on May 5? Consider making a Mother’s Day craft at the Dougherty Station Library from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Also on Saturday, Home Depot is hosting its monthly carpentry workshop for children. This month, you and your child can work together to make a planter box for your garden. Kits are available at 9 a.m. …
Friday, April 27, 2012
Some parents are beginning to ask visitors to their homes for kid play-dates and parties to first sign liability waivers. This week in Parent Chat we are discussing the trend.
Today it’s pretty common to see smart phones and mommy cards whipped out when arranging play-dates and parties, but how about liability waivers? The parenting blogosphere as been buzzing about a “growing trend” of parents asking those who visit their homes with their kids to first sign liability waivers. Unsure of how to handle such a thing, parents are seeking advice, including from Miss Manners. Does this surprise you? If a kid visits your house, climbs a tree, and subsequently falls out of it, do you worry that another parent’s first instinct is to “lawyer up?” I tend to assume the “fault” is my tree climbing kid. And, knowing my kid and his age, I tend to avoid putting him in situations and environments I’m not reasonably confident he …
Sandee Wiedemann
10:08 am on Thursday, May 17, 2012
Of course, I value the kids' opinions, but I follow God's Word! more ›