Re: Children's involvement
From: Fred H. Olson (fholsoncohousing.org)
Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1999 11:16:54 -0600 (MDT)
"Sharon Villines" <sharonvillines [at] prodigy.net>
is the author of the message below but due to a problem it was posted
by the Fred the list manager:  fholson@cohousing org

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> it would be useful to hold parents meetings, where ideas of how to involve
> the kids in community activities can be informally swapped. Some parents are
> resistant to such notions while others insist on it. Parenting differences
> is one of the primary conflict issues.

This is a major stumbling block to having children involved. I recently
experienced a situation where the parents did want the children to have
rights to vote in the community because they didn't want to be upstaged or
out voted by their "own" children.

Some parents also feel that children should not have chores. They go out of
their way to ensure that their childhood is chore free--Peter Pan is the
ideal.

I would also suggest meetings of the children, and joint meetings of the
parents and children. This could overcome some of the parents resistance.
Children love to participate and be "just like grown-ups". I also find it
much easier to form a relationship with a child while we are doing a chore
like drying the dishes or weeding he garden than when playing in the
playroom--which can become the children's ghetto.

--

Sharon Villines
MacGuffin Guide to Detective Fiction
http://www.macguffin.net
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington, DC
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~takomavillag/

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