Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Sharing Children

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On 11/21/02 6:47 AM, "Elizabeth Stevenson" <tamgoddess [at] attbi.com> wrote:

>It started with one
> child, when we found the need for people other than his parents (me and my
> husband) to know how to deal with his special needs. I gave a presentation,
> and the outpouring of support was overwhelming. It turns out many people had
> misperceptions and everyone appreciated the new information. It went so well
> that we decided to do it for every child. The parents talk about how the
> child reacts to different situations, how they parent the child, what they
> want you to do when their child is doing something you don't want them to
> do, etc. This allows for all the parents to feel that their parenting style
> is being respected, and the children can then expect a certain degree of
> consistency from the adults. It's not all about problems, it focuses on
> strengths as well. "My child would love to do gardening with someone, since
> I hate it, and he loves it." That sort of thing

This is a wonderful idea. So helpful to everyone who deals with the children
as well as to the children.

We have recently become aware of how little the people without children know
about children and how uncomfortable they are with them. They don't know
what to say or do so they pretend they aren't there. And the noise drives
them crazy in meetings. The parents are so used to it, they don¹t even
notice.

It would also be nice to hear if there is something I can teach a child that
the parents can't. Would the child like to go to dance concerts with other
members of the community? Play with babies? One of our members is planning
to teach chemistry to one of our bright children who needs more stimulation
to keep out of trouble, for example.

Sharon
-- 
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org

_______________________________________________
Cohousing-L mailing list
Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org  Unsubscribe  and other info:
http://www.communityforum.net/mailman/listinfo/cohousing-l