Parent Training

Last night the Little Brick House hosted another parent training for South Elementary.  Sharon, Amy and Jill were there to present again and did a fabulous job.  The topic of discussion was communication.  I find these trainings valuable and enjoy them very much.  These three ladies are also a few of my favorite people from South and have been such a help to our family and to Jack specifically.  They are not the only ones but certainly are very involved with Jack.  So yes there are some special people in my life over at South. 

One of the topics that came up in the lesson was that of effective nonverbal communication and how the words themselves only make up 7% of effective communication.  Considering that statistic Sharon brought up a parent that had sent her a rather agressive email and how, well hurtful it was.  As I listened and felt her frustration I thought about that parent some.  She has a kindergartener that is struggling and she was not happy with everything the school was doing or that she felt they were not doing.  It was easy to put myself in her shoes for a moment and consider the way a parent feels when they have a child that is different.  All you really want is for your child to be normal, to be treated normally, to fit in.  When they don't it is very hard to watch.  I chimed in for a moment and suggested that I think the parent is scared.   I can say from first hand experience that there is a certain amount of fear that exists when your child is a little different.  It is easy to get overwhelmed and to be a little scared. 

I don't know if this makes sense to anyone else or if any others have experienced this.  It is quite common to hear that as a parent you want what is best for your child and you want them to enjoy success and to be better then you are.  When you have a child that has struggles and disadvantages you feel a certain amount of sadness - well, I did.  Being a little fearful of what their future holds was also a very real thing for me personally.  I do remember though that FEAR is false evidence appearing real.  Because we don't know what is happening and we worry about our children we may FEAR their future.  It is hard not to project what is happening today on the rest of our lives. 

Well, I didn't get in to all of this with the ladies last night.  I simply mentioned that parents are sometimes scared for their children. 

This morning I was meeting with Mrs. Coonan for just a moment and she thanked me for the comments regarding parents being scared.  It helped her to refocuss and to approach the subject with a new perspective.

Well, I appreciate again the parent training and my wonderful friends - even when I am the only parent in attendansHH.