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Parent Express for 17-Mar-2010
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March
2010 It's a beautiful time in the Seattle area. The trees are in bloom and we've been experiencing blue skies more often than we would normally at this time of year. The PCI Office has "Spring Fever" and we are energized to bring you new information and events in the next few months. This beautiful weather has definitely allowed Seattle-area children to get outdoors and move! The need to play outdoors and the link between screen time and childhood obesity are issues which the Parent Coaching Institute has been highlighting for many years, through its articles, such as this month's "Screen Time and Obesity," and its outreach. Most importantly, these issues are highlighted through the individual relationships PCI Certified Parent Coaches® have with their parent coaching clients: the parents. United States First Lady Michelle Obama also brings the issue of childhood obesity to our attention through the Let's Move campaign which has an ambitious but important goal: to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation. The PCI is glad to see the Let's Move campaign include screen time as an obstacle to ending childhood obesity. Reducing or eliminating screen time is a vital piece of the "health puzzle." Also this month, Mary Wills Funari, PCI Certified Parent Coach®, reviews the movie Temple Grandin, showing on HBO through March. This movie provides a thought-provoking look into the mind of a highly-functional autistic adult. I hope to see you soon at an upcoming event! Gloria DeGaetano, Founder and CEO
"Going through the PCI training was a transformational process for me. I discovered new ways of solving problems that opened up a host of possibilities for me and my clients. I now have the skills to help parents discover what has worked in their past and use that knowledge to bring hope to their future."
—Sally Kidder Davis, PCI Certified Parent Coach®
Bainbridge Island, Washington 
Apply now to receive a $900.00 tuition discount for June start! The PCI offers a $900 tuition discount to the first 20 applicants. Claim one of the 17 remaining spaces today. Thank you to all those who are calling to apply to The PCI™! Our phones are very busy these days. We are now accepting applications for Summer Quarter. Review our program dates here, including information on early application discounts. Word is getting out about our innovative, energizing, and highly practical Parent Coach Certification® Training. Because of the overwhelming response, we highly encourage you not to delay in submitting your application for summer start. By planning ahead, you will be assured of a spot if accepted into the program, after the enrollment process is complete. Please send in the basic application as the first step. Download the application here. Once we receive this document, we will contact you for a phone interview. Transcripts and reference letters can follow the basic application by a few weeks. Questions? Please call (425) 401-1519 or email info@thepci.org. Please Note: Phone classes are in the evening time, usually at 5PM or 6PM (Pacific Time) to accommodate the work schedules of our students. Listen to an audio message from Gloria DeGaetano to learn about the five advantages of Parent Coach Certification®.
"I just got off the phone with a new coaching client of mine and felt that I needed to let you know that I am so impressed and grateful for this incredible and amazing curriculum that you have developed. I am able to be and do what I have always dreamed of because of the PCI and what you've created. I feel so blessed, inspired, and in awe…"
—Raelee E. Peirce, PCI Certified Parent Coach®,
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 
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 Certified Parent Coaches® help you re-discover your dreams and design your life for more joy and satisfaction. To find a PCI Certified Parent Coach® in your area, please click here or call (425) 401-1519 for a referral to a PCI Certified 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 access them via the iTunes podcast directory. iTunes subscribers will automatically pick up new episodes as they become available!  Screen Time and Obesity 
by Gloria DeGaetano,
As an overweight child, I experienced living in the shadows—the shadows of my "friends" choosing sides on the playground for basketball games, and never picking me—the shadows behind the opened gym locker doors where girls would snicker and boys would make rude comments—the shadow side of myself, never allowing my light to shine; who would want to call attention to this mass of flesh? The emotional pain of being the "fat girl" far outweighed my physical limitations. But by high school I had grown tall, lost baby fat and played on the girls' basketball team fairly proficiently. The boys still make rude comments about my body—but now they were of a different nature. I was at a normal weight, feeling energetic and healthy—for a while at least. Adulthood brought back the battle of the bulge and ushered in a depth of physical pain and discomfort. I am not sure how I got through as I look back on those years. Two decades of serious illnesses followed the birth of my sons. Healing took lots of focused attention, competing for time with my precious boys, and of course healing and recovery time with alternative therapies because traditional methods weren't working—what was wrong with me? A lot. Gallbladder problems—it had to be removed. Liver problems; poor digestion; insulin resistance. Childhood obesity does increase the risk for adult health problems. I know this first-hand. My mother showed she loved her kids by feeding them too many Polish and Italian rich foods; too many desserts. But we always played for hours outside—by day walking in the woods collecting leaves, twigs, and flowers to make things with; by evening running wildly, catching fireflies in the summer or playing tag after dinner on school nights. We went outside, rain or shine, no matter how cold or hot, there was always some time moving in the backyard, even if it was only five minutes, to throw dry bread to sparrows looking for food in the five feet of an unexpected spring snowstorm. I am so thankful now that exercise was in my childhood equation. As an adult, I don't loathe physical movement like many of my friends do. I look forward to it. It's what saved me. Through my own tenacity and the good fortune to find the appropriate health care providers, I am now blessed with great health. Although I will never be a size 8, I can at least walk/jog two-three miles daily, lift weights, do Yoga and Pilates and go on the occasional five-mile hike. I can even bend down and touch my toes, something some kindergartners can't even do. That's right. I was shocked when a colleague told me that 22 of her 27 kindergartners could not touch their toes. Imagine little five year-old bodies struggling and failing to do this simple act—tragic. Many of today's children have too much of the wrong foods as a factor for their out-of-shape condition—fast food packed with calories and lacking nutrition is one distressing example. But another significant factor in the current alarming rise of childhood obesity is the time youngsters spend sitting in front of a TV, video game or computer. They are not moving enough throughout their day. The average modern child spends nearly 45 hours a week with television, movies, the Internet, cell phones and video games. By comparison, children spend 17 hours a week with their parents on average and 30 hours a week in school. (1) Probing childhood obesity, researchers found that in 173 studies over the past three decades, 86% found a statistically significant relationship between increased media exposure and an increase in childhood obesity. 82% of the studies concluded that more hours of media predicted increased weight over time. A longitudinal study of 5,493 children reported that those who spent more than eight hours watching TV per week at age three were significantly more likely to be obese at age seven. (2) Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel of the National Institutes of Health, one of the participating agencies in the study, points out that "this review is the first ever comprehensive evaluation of the many ways that media impacts children's physical health. The results clearly show that there is a strong correlation between media exposure and long-term negative health effects to children." (3) You can download the Executive Summary of the report (PDF) and read all the specifics. It is an extremely important study for parents, educators, and policy makers to know about. |
Follow The PCI™ on Twitter!
Doris Bowman, PCI Certified Parent Coach®, is interviewed for an article in Oregon's Gresham Outlook newspaper, titled "AAUUGGHH! My kids are driving me crazy" which focuses on Doris' work as a parent coach and why she chose The Parent Coaching Institute.
Sign Up for Successful College Parenting's Monthly Newsletter
Cathy Cassani Adams, PCI Certified Parent Coach®, is quoted in the Crain's Chicago Business article "Parents Find New Ways to Teach Children Fighting Skills: Discipline, Martial Arts," which discusses parents teaching their kids fighting skills.
PCI™ Launches House Talks
Pediatricians Can Focus More on Children's Physical Health when PCI Certified Parent Coaches® Work with the Parents
"The PCI training boosts me with energy, passion, and knowledge. I feel privileged to be part of the PCI."
May 15, 2010
June 24–27, 2010
The Parent Coaching Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and welcomes donations from individuals, organizations, and corporations who want to support its mission To transform the world by revitalizing parenting through prevention and possibility.™ For more information, please click here or contact The PCI™ at info@thepci.org or (425) 401-1519. Visa and MasterCard are accepted. 
Back issues of Parent Express are available on the PCI Web site. There you can read articles by Gloria DeGaetano and PCI Certified Parent Coaches®, and easily send past issues to friends and colleagues via e-mail.
Movie Review: Temple Grandin
by Mary Wills Funari, MBA
I highly recommend the new HBO Film Temple Grandin which was released February 6, 2010. My entire family sat down to watch it, and we were completely captivated by the story of this amazing woman with autism. In case her name is new to you, Temple Grandin is a highly accomplished woman with a Ph.D. in animal science who has designed over 50% of the livestock handling systems in our country. She has a quirky, high pitched voice and odd mannerisms as well as a photographic memory and exceptional visual perceptual skills. While a graduate student, she invented a unique, humane approach to cattle dipping and transport to slaughter based on her intimate understanding of animal behavior. As she says, we raise cattle for our use as food and they deserve to be treated with respect and dignity up until their deaths. Her system revolutionized the cattle industry by keeping the cattle calm and cooperative and decreasing handler costs, cattle injuries and accidental deaths. Temple's story is unique in that she offers the world an inside look to the mind of a highly-functional autistic adult. […] |
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Jane Healy photo credit: Brent Bingham, www.photofxvail.com |
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This issue of Parent Express was originally published March 17, 2010. Some content, contact information, and links may be out of date, and the conversion from the original email edition may introduce formatting inconsistencies.
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