Parent: Profile of a special-needs camper
By Kate Jonuska • Pikes Peak Parent
Colorado-Springs resident Ben Roina has six words to describe his camping experiences at Rocky Mountain Village: “Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun.” The 33-year-old Roina, who is developmentally disabled, has escaped the city for the weeklong, Easter Seals’ summer camp for the last three years.
It’s a welcome break for Ben, who works for Goodwill Industries and recently moved into his own apartment in Manitou Springs. “Part of going to camp is to get away from, to get away and have a good time and meet friends,” says Ben. “There’s a view of the mountains up there. It’s different scenery. They got cabins and a lake and a swimming pool and a hot tub.”
While his favorite activities include fishing, swimming and the dances the camp hosts, Ben also gets to play sports, interact with horses, do arts and crafts, go on occasional fieldtrips and more.
“Also, I help out with flag-raising in the mornings,” Ben explains. “We meet at the campfire and get to know everyone up there … There’s lots of nighttime activities. They’re very fun.”
And Ben participates in all this fun with the friendship and guidance of his personal counselor. Last year, that was R.J. — aka “Rompin’ R.J.” due to 2007’s rodeo theme.
“I really liked it because it was oneon-one, and that’s really unique. They shower him with attention,” says mother Darlene. At first, “I didn’t know if he would like it, but once he started, there was no stopping him.”
With the help of a scholarship, Ben pays for his summer camp with his own money, and he looks forward to the trip to Rocky Mountain Village for months in advance.
“I’m going to meet a couple new friends this year,” says Ben. He also hopes his team will win the award for the fastest cabin cleaning, which just escaped him last summer. “I was second place this year and the winner gets a special surprise.”
Darlene knows the real prize for her son is that Rocky Mountain Village is there to offer Ben such a great escape. “I think it’s good just to get away and break routine, and it’s special for Ben,” she notes. “It’s not a family vacation. It’s not something to share. It’s just for himself.”
CLICK HERE to view a PDF of this article, which was published in the April 2008 Pikes Peak Parent.
Parent, Portfolio | Comment (0)Parent: April Fresh Perspectives
By Kate Jonuska • Pikes Peak Parent
Parent: Tackling the birds-and-bees talk
It takes more than one conversation — and a little courage — to discuss sex with your child
By Kate Jonuska • Pikes Peak Parent
New emotions well up in your stomach, and the heat of embarrassment f lushes your cheeks red. You feel unsure, unprepared and slightly unwell, standing in front of someone you’re afraid will judge you — someone you’re not quite sure you can relate to as an equal, sexual being.
And you’re the parent, right? Um, right?
There’s nothing like talking about sex with your child to make a parent devolve into an uncertain, uncomfortable person. And of course, while talking about sex is the exact wrong time to dissolve in such a way.
“The research tells us that youth who have access to accurate information about sexuality — especially those able to talk to their parents about sex — are more likely to delay the onset of sexual activity and are also less likely to have an unintended pregnancy or an STD,” explains Rebecca Koon, educational program manager for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains.
But knowing that it’s necessary doesn’t make it easy. Sexuality is simply so fraught with moral, emotional and physical meanings that a parent might not know where to begin. Koon and Peggy Vegil, physical education and health curriculum facilitator for School District 11 in Colorado Springs, offer some advice.
Know when
The differences between boys and girls, where babies come from — these are questions children begin to ask as early as their toddler years, which is when a parent needs to start crafting a conversation about sexuality.
“Don’t wait until your child is an adolescent,” advises Vegil. “Start talking about reproduction as early as possible.” But don’t feel you need to reveal everything from the start: Smaller bits of information are appropriate for smaller kids. “You don’t have to give them the big picture, but small bits of information often.”
Pluralize the talk
“In an ideal world, it would be an ongoing conversation. It wouldn’t be one talk,” says Koon, who advises looking for “teachable moments” in everyday life.
“Certainly within that, there might be a couple of really intentional talks where you sit down with your child and say ‘these are the facts of life’ or ‘let’s have a conversation about contraception.’ But really, it should be an ongoing dialog.”
Use the media
While many bemoan the media’s ability to bombard kids with sexual content from an early age, parents can f lip the tables and use the media as a stepping stone to conversation.
“Parents need to take advantage of little opportunities to build into bigger topics,” says Vegil. “When a parent is watching TV or a movie with a child, that would be a great time to maybe address something the child seems to be confused about.”
Quiz yourself
“Really think about what you’re going to say beforehand and practice how you might answer questions that come up,” says Koon, even if practicing in front of a mirror feels silly.
Besides, practicing beforehand will help you consolidate what issues are important to convey. In addition to scientific facts about eggs, sperm and menstruation, you need to be prepared with your values and opinions about the facts, too.
“One of the things that’s really important for parents to do is really sit down before they talk to their children about sex to really examine their own values,” Koon continues, “asking themselves, ‘What do I think about sex and marriage? What do I think about homosexuality? What do I think about unintended pregnancies? What do I think about teens having sex?’”
Broaden the discussion
Vegil, who knows School District 11’s sex-ed curriculum intimately, can testify that schools are required to provide medically accurate, science-based and age-appropriate information about reproduction, human sexuality and — thanks to a new law passed in early 2007 — contraception. (District 11 only brings the latter up at the eighth-grade level.)
But kids’ questions range far beyond the mechanics and dangers of sex to issues about puberty, relationships, peer pressure and what’s normal.
That’s why Vegil says schools broaden the discussion to emphasize life skills, which give children the ability to make healthy decisions in the future in sexual situations — and beyond. “Yes, we’re talking about human sexuality, but this also relates to taking drugs, or the consequences, for instance, of ditching a class to go off with a friend,” she continues.
What’s really valuable
But no matter how thoroughly or properly a school handles sex education, values “can’t be taught in school. That has to come from the parents,” says Vegil. “We hope as educators that parents have this talk with their kids way before they even get into school … When teaching life skills, we hope we are just giving booster lessons.”
“Kids might get information about sex from school,” Koon adds, “but really the values around sexuality should come from the home. Whether that’s religious values or cultural values or wherever those values come from, it’s the parents’ job to instill those values in their children.”
CLICK HERE to see a PDF of this article published in the March 2008 Pikes Peak Parent magazine.
Parent, Portfolio | Comment (0)Parent: Fondant 101
A cake decorated with fondant wows birthday party guests
By Kate Jonuska
When setting out to homemake your child’s birthday cake, remember that the power to wow is all in the presentation. A simple way to achieve a dazzling cake — with only minimal pastry bag training — is fondant.
“I think it’s a marvelous canvas,” says Nancy Johnson, owner of Like No Other Custom Designed Cakes at 412 S. Eighth St. “I definitely think it’s something that moms can do once they see the technique.” And don’t count Dad out either.
Johnson proves the material’s ease of use by demonstrating step-by-step how to cover a cake with fondant, then moves on to create monkeys, leaves and other jungle-themed components for the more ambitious.
“Something like this is completely within reach,” she assures readers. “If you have any artistic ability, you can pull this off.”
CLICK HERE to view a PDF of this article, which was published in the February Pikes Peak Parent magazine.
Parent, Portfolio | Comment (0)Parent: 2008 Child Care Guide
Child care: How we do it
Locals describe their family’s perfect solution
By Kate Jonuska • Photos by Bill Sommer
One size certainly doesn’t fit all in terms of child care. While the search for the perfect provider for you family may feel overwhelming due to the wide range of options — licensed in-home care, day care, Montessori schools, nannies, child care co-ops, church-based programs and more — local parents speak out about where they found the ideal match for their family’s needs.
Heather, Tom and Jacob Wallin
When their son Jacob was born in November of 2007, Heather and Tom were prepared to make a few sacrifices in addition to the luxury of a full night’s sleep and a disposable income. In fact, the family trimmed down to one car and Heather left her full-time job in order to care for Jacob at home.
“We decided to sacrifice work-wise and financially to stay at home with him,” says Heather, who will work some evenings and also runs a home-based business. “It wasn’t easy. We feel fortunate and blessed we’re able to do it.”
“We were both raised that way,” Tom explains. “It’s not the norm anymore … (but) from what I’ve seen and heard, most want to stay at home if they can.”
Heather hopes her small business will take off, allowing her to be home with Jacob full-time in the future, and has considered opening her own in-home child-care service. “That would be our ideal future: being able to work at home and have it both ways,” says Heather. “We want to see him grow up.”
Tom nods in agreement and adds, “At this age, changes happen overnight.”
CLICK HERE to view a PDF of the full article, which features the stories of four other families, published in the January 2008 Pikes Peak Parent magazine.
Parent, Portfolio | Comment (0)Parent: 2007 Archive
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