A Literary Life

Local grandparents reminisce about holiday traditions past and present
By Kate Jonuska

Tickle Me Elmos, video games, gift cards, batteries not included: The holiday season of today is hardly recognizable to generations before. We reminisced with visitors at the Colorado Springs Senior Center about Christmases past, what has changed, what will never change and their favorite childhood memories.

Maynard “Bud” Gallentine, age 90, five generations give him great-great-grandchildren

What kind of activities did you do when off school for the holidays?
Especially on the farm, because in the morning and in the afternoon you’d have chores, you’d only have a small window in the middle of the day … We used to find places where the snow melted and then froze and go skating. Then it would melt again and the kids would get soaking wet. We played basketball in the winter time. The cold didn’t stop activities on the farm, or anybody for that matter. We just piled on clothes. We didn’t think we had to be fashionable.

Did your family have a tree at home?
My grandfather had some evergreens, and you cut your own. It might only have been the top of the tree or even a limb. Nobody bought trees in those days. You had to know someone who had them. In those days, we never had electricity. We strung popcorn at school and then made garlands. That’s what you decorated your tree with.

Do you remember any of your favorite presents?
When I was 12, I got a shot gun. Of course, we lived on the farm. I got an erector set, too. It came with an electric motor by we didn’t have electricity, so we got a little crank to make it work.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the December 2009 Pikes Peak Parent magazine.

By Kate Jonuska

Anyone who thinks running a smooth household or organizing a family is easy, or that it’s not “real” work, has obviously never attempted the task. In reality, family management is a full-time, 24-7-365 job, one that many parents ― especially moms ― struggle to pull off with aplomb and their sanity intact.

“I struggle with the clutter everywhere, the toys everywhere. I struggle with meals, the act of cooking them with the baby crying. I struggle with time management. A lot of our time goes into just driving,” explains Sarah Matos, the mother of two small boys, a part-time student and part-time nurse. “I need some help.”

Thankfully for Matos, she found her lifeline when she was introduced to Cari Pemberton, a certified Family Manager Coach who hosts workshops around town and offers one-on-one consultation. Matos has taken advantage of both, breathing a sigh of relief that there is someone out there professionally trained to help. Laundry, grocery shopping, birthday parties, homework, school activities: Permberton’s business, The Clutter Cutters, takes every facet of a family manager’s work seriously and offers real-world systems to make the home run smoothly.

“Absolutely, it’s work. The family manager creed that states this is the most important job in the world,” says Pemberton. The Clutter Cutters is based on the work of renown author Kathy Peel, who first recognized that the principles of running a business also apply to running a family. Coaches are job trainers, helping family managers create happy and efficient systems in each of seven categories, including organization, finances, family and friend relationships, self care and more.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the September 2009 edition of Pikes Peak Parent magazine.

By Kate Jonuska

Anyone who thinks running a smooth household or organizing a family is easy, or that it’s not “real” work, has obviously never attempted the task. In reality, family management is a full-time, 24-7-365 job, one that many parents ― especially moms ― struggle to pull off with aplomb and their sanity intact.

“I struggle with the clutter everywhere, the toys everywhere. I struggle with meals, the act of cooking them with the baby crying. I struggle with time management. A lot of our time goes into just driving,” explains Sarah Matos, the mother of two small boys, a part-time student and part-time nurse. “I need some help.”

Thankfully for Matos, she found her lifeline when she was introduced to Cari Pemberton, a certified Family Manager Coach who hosts workshops around town and offers one-on-one consultation. Matos has taken advantage of both, breathing a sigh of relief that there is someone out there professionally trained to help. Laundry, grocery shopping, birthday parties, homework, school activities: Permberton’s business, The Clutter Cutters, takes every facet of a family manager’s work seriously and offers real-world systems to make the home run smoothly.

“Absolutely, it’s work. The family manager creed that states this is the most important job in the world,” says Pemberton. The Clutter Cutters is based on the work of renown author Kathy Peel, who first recognized that the principles of running a business also apply to running a family. Coaches are job trainers, helping family managers create happy and efficient systems in each of seven categories, including organization, finances, family and friend relationships, self care and more.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the September issue of Pikes Peak Parent magazine.

Registered dietitian explains how to pack a healthful lunch for success at school
By Kate Jonuska

In the morning rush of busy back-to-school families, it’s easy for important things to get lost in the shuffle. Things like matching socks, freshly brushed hair and where the car keys are. But while they save time, processed and plastic-wrapped faux food or a few bucks for hot lunch ― which might wind up in the vending machine for all you know ― are never a substitute for a healthy lunch packed at home.

“A healthy lunch is so important because their minds are learning a lot of new things. Feeding the body with nutrients can help them stay alert,” says Marissa Cuevas, a registered dietitian with Colorado Springs Health Partners and the mother of one school age son. “Good nutrition and learning are linked.”

She assures busy parents that a few easy tips can make packing a lunch for your child quick and relatively painless.

No food group left behind
A believer in the dietary guidelines for Americans, called My Pyramid by the USDA, Cuevas makes sure that her son’s lunch contains at least three of the five food groups. (Those five are grains, vegetables, fruit, dairy and protein.)

“The goal is to consume for school lunches nutrient-dense foods. Nutrient-dense foods are the foods that provide a considerable amount of vitamins and minerals but with fewer calories,” she says. Nutrient-dense foods are usually the least processed food possible, the closest to what is was in nature. What nutrient-dense foods aren’t are most snack food products ― soda, potato chips, cookies ― which are both low on nutrients and high in calories.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the August 2009 Pikes Peak Parent magazine.

By Kate Jonuska

Whether it’s mowing lawns, babysitting or selling lemonade, summer break has always offered school-free children the exciting opportunity to have their first small jobs, making a little money and getting their first taste of responsibility. And for many animal-loving kids, summer vacation is the perfect time to spark up a career in pet sitting, specializing in taking care of friend’s or neighbor’s animals and homes while they’re out of town.

“I love animals, and since I love them so much, I don’t mind taking care of them, feeding them, taking them for walks,” says 12-year-old Zoe Schaefer, an incoming eighth grader who a has pet sit — mostly for dogs — for the past two years. “Even with the extra money, I don’t really go for the money. I just want to spend more time with animals.”

Leta McWilliams, an 11-year-old going into sixth grade who regularly cat sits, agrees that the appeal is mostly in the pets themselves. “I thought it would be kind of fun because I like cats and Itchy is really sweet,” she says, stroking her neighbor’s cat, Itchy’s, head. “Sometimes I have to come over once a day or twice a day, and it wasn’t that hard because I got to play with him, too.”

“For Itchy, it’s a treat for him to have Leta over here because Leta babies him,” explains cat owner Gerry Weiss. “It’s a big peace of mind knowing that someone is there because he gets lonesome.”

“It’s a lot like earning money mowing lawns or other small businesses kids manage,” says Ann Davenport, director of community relations for the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region. “Certainly when you’re looking for a pet sitter, someone you know and can be confident with when you’re not around is a good option for you. But very importantly, you want to find someone who can come over first and spend time getting to know your animal while you are there.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the July 2009 Pikes Peak Parent magazine.

Summer job as camp counselor offers financial and emotional rewards
By Kate Jonuska

While other kids were flipping burgers and mowing lawns over summer break, Jordan Brooks was busy playing volleyball, hiding and seeking, hiking and being adored by a group of younger campers at Blue Mountain Ranch near Florissant, the same camp that he went to every summer as a boy.

“Camp was always the highlight of the year for me … I had always just assumed that I would be a counselor,” says Brooks, who is originally from Dallas and is currently a student at Colorado College. “You get to go to camp and get paid for it!  You get to play sports or hike in the woods all day, and you make some of the best friends you’ll ever have.”

“Honestly, I had just as much fun when I was working as a counselor than when I was a camper,” says Abigail Tudor, who will be spending her tenth summer at the YMCA’s Camp Shady Brook near Deckers in 2009, her second year as a counselor after two years of being a counselor in training.

“It has been such an important and influential part of my life,” she continues. “Meeting different kids from all different walks of life gave me a totally new perspective. It was so amazing and touching to see all the kids throughout the summer change, just like I had when I was a kid.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the March 2009 edition of Pikes Peak Parent magazine.

By Kate Jonuska

Leaving your precious child in the hands of someone else is the most painful and difficult ordeal a parent can experience, some would say more painful than the birth itself. But seeing that two-thirds of Colorado families require child care in order to work full-time, it’s an ordeal that must be faced by most families.

While the decision of in whose hands to place your bundle of joy will never be simple, local experts in the field offer a remedy for this common parental pain in the form of tips on how to choose a quality provider for your child at any age.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the January edition of Pikes Peak Parent magazine.

Share the love: Local chef brings kids into the kitchen to teach nutrition, inspire confidence
By Kate Jonuska

The cliché that “food is love” is especially prevalent through the holiday season, when everything from candy canes and cookies to mashed potatoes and gravy conjures thoughts of family, thankfulness and joy. But in the spirit of “it’s better to give than to receive,” why should the adults be the only ones doling out the love?

While parents may consider cooking large holiday meals a stressful chore, many kids think being in the kitchen is exciting, fun and a chance to give back.

“At home, I like to cook treats and cookies for my mom and for my teachers,” says 10-year-old Ashlee Heinrich, who I met at a recent holiday-themed cooking workshop for kids. “I really like to make breakfast for my family: scrambled eggs or pancakes.”

Ashlee was participating in a class led by Lauren Stuart, who hosts cooking camps for kids ages 10-14 in addition to classes for adults.

“Parents may think that their kids are going to get hurt and that they may not be able to trust them in the kitchen. When you’re a busy parent, you actually often want them out of the way so you can just get dinner on the table,” Stuart explains. “But here, they’re allowed to do whatever they want and be loud and get messy, and they go home confident.”

The confidence, in addition to the food tasted at the end of each session, is definitely nourishing to aspiring cooks.

“It’s been a great experience. I think cooking has become a real hobby for me,” says 13-year-old Lee Pelton. “I’ve learned more than a recipe, but also how bread rises and about food from all different cultures.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in Pikes Peak Parent on Dec. 1, 2008

Election fever: Presidential campaign offers opportunity to expand kids’ political awareness and teach the responsibilities of citizenship
By Kate Jonuska
Pikes Peak Parent magazine

It’s a subject that’s usually complex, often passionate and always controversial. It’s a topic that you probably don’t want your child to learn about on the street or from TV. No, we’re not talking about birds and bees, but something almost as volatile and important in your child’s social education: politics.

In this election year, when the presidential campaign invades our daily lives, more families are finding political issues cropping up at home and are using that opportunity to broaden their kids’ political awareness.

“It’s extremely important for them to know about the election,” says Arienne Middlebrooks, mother of two. “As a military family, the election is a crucial part of what happens to our family. My husband may have a shorter deployment, he may not get a big enough raise. Many issues affect us.”

To that end, the Middlebrooks family has done research on the candidates together on the Internet, discussed current events the kids read or see on TV, and have even included them in the voting process in the past, bringing them to the polling place on election day.

For many families, talking about politics and government is an important way to shape a child’s moral character and their perspective of the world.

“It’s our personal belief that just as you pass down your faith, you should help inform your children’s political outlook, explain why we believe what we do,” says Cari Pemberton, mother of this month’s cover models Bethany Salgado, age 12, and Erin Pemberton, age 6.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of this article, which published in the October 2008 Pikes Peak Parent magazine

Grocery 101: A parent’s guide to shopping the supermarket like a nutritionist
By Kate Jonuska
Photos by Bill Sommer, special to Pikes Peak Parent

Most parents pay attention to news about nutrition and can draw a mental picture of the food pyramid. But out in the real world — hacking your way through the consumer jungle that is the modern supermarket —  translating that nutritional knowledge into healthy shopping takes more than just best intentions.

Sometimes, it takes a professional like Mary Peet, a registered dietician with Memorial Health System. At a local King Soopers recently, Peet showed me how to chart a course through that labyrinth of high-fat pitfalls and nutritionally empty black holes.

“How we’re setting up kids now as kids gives them the foundation for being a healthy adult,” says Peet, who assures me even busy parents, with a few tips, can stock their carts for healthy family eating.

CLICK HERE to read more of this article, which published in the October 2008 Pikes Peak Parent magazine.