Visions of sugarplums...

...dancing in our children's heads. Ahh. A timeless and nostalgic vision. Unless they are ACTUALLY visions of corporate advertisements being imprinted in their brains. What's a busy parent with a shopping list and not a lot of time to do? My vote is to use the CCFC's Guide to Commercial Free Holidays (tag line Tips for Resisting Holiday Hype). This guide has practical ideas for families of all faiths that embrace the joy of the season. At the same time, it supports us in protecting our kids from the sexy, violent and otherwise ridiculous messages that are part and parcel of so many products marketed to our young children. If you like the guide, loving and well intended grandparents might also appreciate the information. Super Granny endorses the guide and offers other really fun holiday gift ideas for grandparents on her blog. Best wishes for a peaceful holiday!

Early Literacy Conversation at Twin Tech II ?!

Some of you may know that Foundations for Families is participating in the Greater DC Board of Trade’s Small Business Academy. After class last Thursday, many of us crossed town to check out BOT instructor, Peter Corbett’s, Twin Tech II event. Washingtonian called it, “a wildly popular tech and social media networking happy hour”. It was very well attended – over 1000 friendly and creative (and young, the Washington Post online agrees!) people. I don’t often intersect with this hip tech scene, but I was impressed.

I especially enjoyed meeting Mike Subelsky. He told me about Other Inbox, his cure for email overload – you don’t even have to be hip to know what that’s like. He told a compelling story, used relevant examples and was really convincing. But when the conversation turned to his three month old, that is when Mike’s real passion emerged. Mike and I talked enthusiastically about his daughter, early learning, the importance of reading daily to babies and the bond that daily reading ensures. It was a highlight of my evening.

This was an event for a cutting edge crowd. Smart businesses across many industries support literacy initiatives because tomorrow’s most able and creative workforce depends on what we do in the home and early childhood centers today.

What are you and your family reading tonight?

Lunch Bunch

It was the kindergarten family picnic for my family last night and I got to meet my co-room parent. Her family is new to the school (very cool to jump right into the room parent mix, don't you think?) and she asked about packing lunch every day. Making lunch for the girls each morning is demonstration of love and values, in addition to being a pretty major hassle (hold the trash and waste – double order of healthy and delicious) and source of angst, at least according to yesterday’s Washington Post.

Before arriving at the picnic, I spent the day training the elementary and middle school staff at Columbia Academy. We were treated to a delicious school lunch prepared by Linda and Merry, who is a retired corporate chef. Delicious. She shared the secret to the teaching staff’s favorite meal: soup and grilled cheese: tin foil a baking sheet, dribble melted butter on that, use 9-grain bread and whatever cheese, second slice of bread with a butter on top, then cook at 350 for 10 minutes. Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had Linda and Merry’s lunch everyday? My daughter’s favorite lunch is Ina Garten’s chicken soup. We make it weekly.

Making lunch every day is obviously easier when you're prepared. I’m impressed (overwhelmed?) with the CHEJ Back-to-School Guide to school supplies. It includes lunch box and container ideas. Just got reusable bags and may try The Soft Landing’s food containers, as featured on Daily Candy yesterday, and Green Feet’s featured lunch menu is inspiring my grocery store run.

Happy lunch packing…

Count us in!

Maybe you’re excited about the convention next week in Denver. Perhaps your team is gathering the next week in Minneapolis. It doesn’t matter if you are a Democrat or Republican: your choice for President needs to make a commitment to ensuring quality early childhood opportunities for all of our children.

As you gather information and prepare to vote in November, you’ll have many opportunities for conversations with your child. We agree with the staff of the NYC Child Study Center, who encourages us to talk with children with understanding, patience and to invite their questions and own opinions. They’ve published a useful guide for talking to kids about politics based on your child’s age. This is a good time to start thinking about taking your child with you to vote in November – they'll love the “I Voted” sticker!

Our region supports US!

What an exciting time to live in the DC region! And you thought I was talking the election, right? Well, that too – I was born in DC and love an election season as much as anyone else – but this seems even more exciting to me. As reported in the Washington Business Journal today, a collection of charitable foundations are putting together a multi-million dollar fund. And you know what they want to do? Improve pre-kindergarten in our region. The ‘for now’ name is the Early Care and Education Collaborative – and it is going to try to raise a million dollars a year for the next four years (!) and use the money to improve our pre-k programs and encourage our local policy makers to get on board with their support. The fund is going to be managed by the Washington Area Women’s Foundation. Our region is certainly following the 2008 directive of the US Chamber of Commerce to make early childhood education a policy priority. What a great place to live…

Lifelong Marathon

That’s what we’re in – a lifelong parenting marathon. Not surprisingly, the good habits we build while parenting our young children will serve us well as they grow and the challenges change. Here's a compelling example of the power of good parenting. The August issue of Achieves of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine explains that when adolescent girls go through puberty early they are more likely to face a variety of problems (conduct problems, delinquency, substance abuse) and often react with problematic and aggressive behavior, like hitting, teasing, and spreading hurtful rumors. Any good news at all here? Yes. What helps these girls, and also those who develop at a more typical age, is parents who are nurturing, affectionate, and engage in positive and open communication. Given the amount of hormones in our food, aren’t you glad to have those skills in your back pocket?

Got Assets?

Some of you live in Arlington, VA and the rest of us covet your commitment to children, youth and families. For years, the county in general and the Arlington Partnership for Children, Youth and Families in particular have been national leaders– and I’m especially impressed with the school and county board’s adoption of the Search Institute’s Asset Framework. In very concrete terms, the institute outlines the things our kids need on the inside and outside – offering really clear guidance on what to nurture in them and what supports should surround them. Arlington has engaged the whole community – everyone from businesses, to schools, to individual community members have a role to play in supporting young children and youth. Whether you live in Arlington VA or Arlington TX, you can make sure kids get what they need.