Parent Express for 18-Jan-2008

Welcome to Parent Express, the PCI e-zine! Here you will find updates on the Parent Coaching Institute, along with ideas and practical tips for the parenting journey.

"As slow as molasses in January" used to be a truism when I was a child—but no longer. It seems that 2008 has entered furiously with a lot happening at once. How about for you? Has life slowed down after the holidays?

My personal mascot and model for 2008 is the tortoise who finished the race in time at her own pace. But slow and steady can be challenging with all the demands in our hurried, high tech world—even for our kids. The article below shares recent research and parental ideas for effectively addressing Media Multi-Tasking, a growing practice among tweens and teens. Hence, a growing concern among moms, dads, and parent coaches.

Our Parenting Tip this month briefly describes the latest book by Daniel Siegel, The Mindful Brain that has wonderful insights and important research for developing mindfulness that he frames as a deepening relationship to self. The book was recommended to me by PCI Grad and Instructor Bridgid Normand who specializes in helping parents slow down and enjoy each precious moment as fully as possible. Bridgid will be doing a Mindfulness Workshop on March 7 at the PCI in Bellevue. Look for more information about it in next month's e-zine. Bridgid can be reached at imaginefamily@gmail.net.

PCI Grad, Lori Goff, founder of Parenting with Mindfulness also specializes in helping parents slow down in order to be more present to their children. Lori will be facilitating a Mindful Parenting Workshop on Tuesdays, Jan. 22–Feb. 26. For more information, please see http://www.pwmweb.org/education.htm or contact lori@goff.com.

If you are in the greater Seattle area, I hope you can find time to attend one of these workshops. May be one of the most important things you did for yourself this year!

And please help me remember: In the long run (from the tortoise's perspective, no doubt) no matter how hectic life, there is always a choice, only a moment away, to return to center and hopefully lasso some peace.

To a peaceful and fulfilling New Year!

Gloria DeGaetano, Founder and CEO

PCI Now Taking Applications for March Start Date

If you feel a calling to work with moms and dads in an innovative way; or if you are already working with parents and want to discover exciting ideas, fresh approaches, and new tools to add to your experience, contact us at (425) 401-1519.

Apply for March ’08 Start Date

Applications are now being accepted for entrance Spring Quarter for the Parent Coach Certification® Training Program with phone classes for Course 1 beginning March 27, 2008. Phone classes are in the evening time to accommodate work schedules of our students. Receive $500 off your tuition by sending in your basic application before February 15. Application deadline for Spring Quarter is March 1, 2008. Early applications receive first consideration.

Please send in the basic application as your first step. Transcripts and letters of reference can follow the basic application by a few weeks. Download the application here. Send to the PCI at: 1400-112th Ave. SE, Bellevue, WA 98004. Questions? Please call: (425) 401-1519.

Learn more about our acclaimed, graduate-level, distance-learning Parent Coach Certification® Program by clicking here for more information.

Check out our Video About the PCI Parent Coach Training Program and see what professionals think about their training with the PCI.

"When I found the PCI it was as if I had found a secret path that would serve to connect my educational background, work experiences, community involvements and parenting beliefs. Little did I know that this path would also lead me on a transformative journey of my own; connecting me with others who shared a desire to create a cultural shift toward more mindful parenting, launching my own parent coaching business and inspiring me to apply parent coaching techniques and principles to my work in higher education. My PCI training was both practical and inspiring and it is perhaps the single best educational experience that one could ever have."
—Kay Kimball Gruder, Providence, RI
www.nextstepparentcoaching.com

Working with a parent coach who has received Parent Coach Certification® through the PCI is giving yourself a valuable gift as well as a sound investment in your family's future. PCI Certified Parent Coaches® are caring, thoughtful professionals with years of experience working with parents. They have successfully completed the PCI Parent Coach Certification® Training Program—a comprehensive academic one-year, graduate-level program in collaboration with Seattle Pacific University. Through a series of coaching conversations that can be either by telephone or in person, PCI Parent Coaches help you re-discover your dreams and design your life for more joy and satisfaction.

To find a PCI Parent Coach in your area, please click here or call (425) 401-1519 for a referral to a PCI Parent Coach selected especially for you.

Visit www.parentappreciationradio.com to listen to programs featuring PCI Certified Parent Coaches® and other experts from around the country discussing topics of interest to moms and dads.

Programs are available as podcasts. Listeners can download individual episodes directly, listen to them from this site using a Web browser, or via the iTunes podcast directory. iTunes subscribers will automatically pick up new episodes as they become available!

Your Teen and Screen Machine Multi-Tasking

by Glora DeGaetano, CEO and Founder, The Parent Coaching Institute

As a single, working mother, I brushed my teeth while taking a shower; and fixed dinner while playing referee to two rambunctious tots. My sons, 21 months apart, were preschoolers at the height of my post-divorce stress. Doing more than two things at once was a given. But that was over 20 years ago and it wasn't termed multi-tasking then. It was called survival.

Today parents still consider multi-tasking a necessity, but now in our high-tech society, small screen devices have made multi-tasking a must in the workplace, too.

In fact, if you're a working adult who doesn't prefer to multi-task or who refuses to, expect peer pressure or even a pink slip. The 30-something gentleman I sat next to on an Amtrak ride from New York City to Philadelphia couldn't tell his boss, "No, I can't be at the meeting, I'm traveling at the time." Instead, in the comfort of his Amtrak business-class seat, he opened his laptop, plugged himself into headphones on his cell/BlackBerry and he was "there," speaking to at least eight people from what I could tell. Since we sat so close we shared mutual lint on our coat sleeves, I was dragged into this meeting whether I liked it or not.

Read the Rest of the Article…

PCI Graduates Featured in Lifestyles Article
Sound Parent LLC and PCI graduates Jennifer Watanabe and Michelle Golingo were featured in a recent article about Parent Coaching in the Seattle P-I.

Sheila Shares Her Wisdom
PCI Grad Sheila Gaquin, who is an accomplished writer in addition to being a certified parent coach, has recently posted articles of interest on parent coaching and school success, plus a review of Parenting Well in a Media Age.

A Wild Ride Gives Voice to White-Knuckled Parents
PCI Coach, Registered Nurse, and mother Mary Scribner—along with her colleague Elizabeth Coplan—developed the Web site A Wild Ride out of necessity. The site helps and supports parents whose child/ren require more than "normal" children. These white-knuckled parents are forced to deal with stress that most people can't comprehend. They are stretched to their limits of patience, endurance, ability, and sometimes resources and they feel anxious, afraid, isolated and confused. Their days are unpredictable at every turn. For them, parenting is a wild ride, where they experience extreme ups and downs as they hold on tight.

Mary and Elizabeth invite parents: When you feel you can't take one more meltdown, sit back, relax, and click on www.awildride.net where we:

• Share Stories
• Offer Strategies
• Provide Resources
• Answer Questions

Mary and Elizabeth also welcome Parent Coaches and other professionals working with moms and dads to be guest bloggers. PCI Grad and parent educator, Raelee Peirce, founder of www.noblemother.com posted a wonderful essay about her daughter, My Sprite in Tights. For more information about A Wild Ride please contact Elizabeth at (206) 780-0585 or Elizabeth@awildride.net.

Lori Launches Parent Chat on Blog Talk Radio
Innovative PCI Coach Lori Jo Kemper, founder of www.theParentingPath.com offers this helpful opportunity for parents to talk to a parenting coach and listen in on many interesting parenting questions. Parents may ask about any topic, which drives the show. In addition, Lori gives insights, ideas on a wide-range of issues. Check in at BlogTalkRadio.com or contact Lori@theparentingpath.com for the date of the next live show.

12th Annual MediaWise® Video Game Report Card
In case you missed this comprehensive report on the state of video games by the National Institute on Media and the Family, you can access the report here as a PDF file. It is well worth downloading and sharing with every parent and colleague you know.

New Book Inspires Slowing Down Brain scientist Daniel Siegel has gifted us with yet another gem of a book. You may be familiar with his other titles: The Developing Mind and Parenting from the Inside Out. In his latest, The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being (W.W. Norton and Company, 2007), we find succinct explanations of complex research and practical application ideas many have come to expect from Siegel. In The Mindful Brain he offers compelling personal stories about his journeys to and adventures with mindfulness, aptly describing the frustrations, challenges, and elusiveness of practicing mindfulness. The book can be dense in places, but I suggest you take your time with it, reading slowly, savoring each word. Both your brain and mind will thank you for it!