Parent Express for 10-Dec-2008

This issue brings greetings for a happy, relaxing winter holiday season, from all of us at the Parent Coaching Institute.

Our featured article, "Disney Plans" by PCI Certified Parent Coach®, Cathy Adams from Chicago, tells a tale all parents can relate to at one time or another. Cathy's experience with making plans, holding expectations, and taking charge—all fall by the wayside. Our children teach us well to let go and enjoy the moment. You will enjoy each moment reading Cathy's wise and inspiring article!

May we all take enough moments to slow down and enjoy our precious children and family this holiday season!

Gloria DeGaetano, Founder and CEO

"I have found my calling was the greatest compliment you could have given me! I am thrilled and touched. Thank you so much. Leaving educational administration was the right thing for me to do. Being a parent coach is my path and I love it!"

Apply Now for Spring Term Start!

Applications are now being accepted for entrance Spring Term for the Parent Coach Certification® Training Program with phone classes for Course 1 beginning the week of March 23, 2009. Phone classes are in the evening time to accommodate the work schedules of our students, usually after 5 pm Pacific Time. Apply before February 1 and receive $500.00 off tuition.

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. Applications can be faxed to (425) 646-7569 or sent via email to gloria@thepci.org. Questions? Please call: (425) 753-8822.

Application deadline for Spring Term start is March 1, 2009.

Spaces are limited. Early applications receive first consideration.

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.

"I very much appreciate the PCI and the thorough training program we have been provided with. I can't imagine how any other training program could be any better. The PCI systems approach, along with the use of AI, presents a solid guideline for successful coaching."

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!

Disney Plans

by Cathy Cassani Adams
LCSW, PCI Certified Parent Coach®
www.intentionalparent.net

No, I don't want to go. It's too dark. My husband and I glance at each other, puzzled. Our oldest daughter refuses to go on the Winnie the Pooh ride at Disney World. I remind her that she happily went on the ride two years ago, but she shakes her head and calmly tells us that she would rather wait outside with her aunt and infant sister.

My middle child is ready and raring to go. She follows her older sister everywhere, but today she wants to go on the ride without her. She doesn't want to go to bed without her, she doesn't want to play without her, she doesn't even like to ride in the car without her, but at this moment she is willing to have this experience on her own. We are confused by this turn of events.

I know my husband wants to talk the older one into going on the ride. He wants to convince her that she will like it. He might even try to change her mind by telling her that her little sister is not afraid to go. I know he wants to do this because I am contemplating the same thing. While I am processing what to do my middle daughter pulls at my sleeve because she wants to go stand in line. We are torn. This is not what we planned.

At home we read the Disney Guidebook over and over. We talked about the rides we would go on and how the girls would sit together. My oldest daughter shared her memories of her past Disney experience and promised her sister that she would hold her hand and keep her safe. We created a vision for the day, but now we are struggling to adjust to the unexpected.

The pattern continues as our oldest daughter passes on Peter Pan and Snow White while her younger sister begs for Pirates of the Caribbean. Doesn't our oldest know that this is a tremendous opportunity? Doesn't she know that the rides are the best part? We are also confused by our middle daughter's sudden desire for independence. Is she really ready for these rides? Is it OK to let her go without her sister?

Read the Rest of the Article…

TRUCE 2008/2009 Toy Guide Now Available
TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment) releases a toy guide each year with the lists of appropriate toys, along with "toys and trends to avoid," fun activities for creative play, and outstanding resources you can refer to now and for future holidays and birthdays. Please click here for a printer-friendly PDF version. Pass it on to a friend!

Study Links Violent Video Games with Increased Hostility
Children and teenagers who play violent video games show increased physical aggression months afterward, according to new research by Craig A. Anderson, a psychology professor at Iowa State University and director of its Center for the Study of Violence. The research, published recently in the journal Pediatrics, brings together three longitudinal studies, one from the United States and two from Japan, examining the content of games, how often they are played and aggressive behaviors later in a school year. Dr. Anderson has been researching violent video games for over a decade. Gloria DeGaetano wrote a review of Dr. Anderson's latest book, Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy ( Craig A. Anderson, Douglas A. Gentile, Katherine E. Buckley, Oxford University Press, 2007) that explains a very useful concept—the General Aggression Model—which has many practical applications for those working to support optimal development of children and teens. The General Aggression Model is a powerful tool because, like our work at the PCI, it takes into account multiple environmental factors when attempting to determine causality.

Study Shows Unhappy People More Likely to Watch TV
A new study by sociologists at the University of Maryland concludes that unhappy people watch more TV, while people who describe themselves as "very happy" spend more time reading and socializing. The study appears in the December issue of the journal Social Indicators Research. Analyzing 30 years worth of national data from time use studies and a continuing series of social attitude surveys, the Maryland researchers report that spending time watching television may contribute to viewers' happiness in the moment, with less positive effects in the long run.

Today's High School Students Less Likely to Graduate Than Parents Were
A study by the Education Trust (PDF) indicates that American students today are less likely than their parents to graduate from high school, making the United States the only industrialized nation where that is the case. Among minority students, more than one in three drops out of school.

The Vital Five: Parenting Well in a Screen-Machine World

A Saturday Conversation with Gloria DeGaetano, Founder and CEO, the Parent Coaching Institute
Especially For Parents and Professionals Working with Families

When: Saturday, January 10, 2009
1 pm to 4 pm
Where: Bellefield Office Park
Conference Center
1150 114th Avenue SE
Bellevue, WA 98004
(directions provided after registration)

Fee: $35.00 for individuals;
$50.00 per couple
To register: Call (425) 401-1519 or contact gloria@thepci.org

Begin the new year with innovative ideas for Parenting Well in a Media Age!

• Learn creative ways to amplify The Vital Five—the five most important developmental needs that often get shortchanged in our hectic, mass media society.
• Explore how to give yourself more of The Vital Five—so you are taking good care of yourself to better care for your kids.
• Examine the most challenging time ever to be a parent and discover new ways to affirm yourself and appreciate your children.
• Enjoy stimulating conversations with parents like yourself.
• Take home a copy of Gloria DeGaetano's new book, The Vital Five: Parenting Well in a Screen Machine World, plus practical handouts for maximum parental creativity for dealing with all the tough issues from DVDs for babies to social networking and text messaging by teens and…everything in between.

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.