Meet the Child Care Council Staff

Introducing Scot W.

Robin @ Kids Matter

Scot is originally from Colliers, West Virginia. He came to Kentucky to be near his fiancée who was going to school at UK.  Scot was the sports editor, for two years, at a newspaper in Harrodsburg, so it’s no surprise that he loves sports!   Football is his favorite sport, both to watch and to play.  He says he quickly became a UK fan after moving here because he really liked the love that people in the Lexington area had for sports.  I asked Scot what he has done that people wouldn’t guess about him.  He stated that several years ago, he entered a singing contest and won! 

After coming to live and work in Lexington, Scot’s workplace was very near the Fayette County Eligibility Office.  He had always had the desire to help people, and was not feeling fulfilled on a personal level in his current job.  So, after some time of seeing the signs and people coming and going, he asked more about the CCC, and applied for a job.  He’s very glad that it all worked out.  Scot is now a Claims Specialist working at Central Office.

Scot, and his wife April, are very involved in fundraising for the American Cancer Society.  They both volunteer at the Relay for Life event every year.  Part of his motivation for this is from his maternal grandmother being a breast cancer survivor and an aunt who passed away from cancer.  Several members of his wife’s family have been struck by the disease also, so it’s rewarding to be able to work toward a cure. 

The accomplishment Scot is most proud of in life is his son, Owen.   You can easily tell how excited Scot is about being a parent.  He said, “New parenthood is a combination of learning as you go and relying on what your parents taught you.”   He’s very thankful for the good upbringing that he had, as it has helped him a lot in learning how to be a parent himself.  Scot said that he has learned compassion and trust from Owen.  “Owen automatically trusts that you’re going to take care of him. He depends on you for everything.”    Before Owen was born, Scot could often be heard planning pre-schools, schools, sports, and other such things for his son and worrying about doing things the best way for him.  He said ultimately now, “What matters is that Owen is healthy, happy with himself, and happy with his life.  None of the other plans or ‘what ifs’ in life matter.”   10 years into the future, Scot sees himself happily transporting Owen to sporting events, watching him play, and grow.  Scot is very happy with life and where things have gone both in family and career.

A Father’s Tips for Raising a Toddler Girl

A Father’s Tips for Raising a Toddler Girl

Eamonn @ Kids Matter

Full disclosure, here is a bit about me:

·       I am 33 years old.

·       Married for soon to be six years.

·       I am a first time father of a little girl.

·       Not much scares me outside of clowns (not really I just think they’re creepy).

·       Raising a little girl SCARES me to death.

·       I don’t have all the answers, let alone the bulk of them.

·       I am a bit of a feminist.

·       I chose a profession, Early Childhood Education, that is roughly 97% female and I have funny and horrific stories to boot.

·       I was blessed with a very understanding and supportive wife.

When we found out that we were having a child, I was ecstatic. When we found out we were having a girl, I was terrified (but still ecstatic). People would tell me, “With your early childhood background, you’ll be a great father. What they failed to tell me, was that all the literature and quotes from the Piaget’s and Gardner’s did nothing to help my lack of sleep from trying to rock a crying little girl back to sleep at 3 A.M. (In order for my wife to get at least two solid hours of sleep). What did help was listening to Howlin’ Wolf on our iPod. Mozart, Bach, even Sarah McLaughlin didn’t help, Howlin’ Wolf did the trick. It worked for me, but I can’t guarantee it will work for you.

Here is a short list of tips for raising a toddler girl adapted from Rules For Dads Raising Daughters: The Good Men Project's List.

1. Tell her she’s beautiful, but tell her other good things about herself MORE.

It’s not that telling a girl she’s pretty or beautiful is bad. It’s not. Trust me; if you don’t say this to your significant other they will remind you that you didn’t. It just doesn’t need to be the only kind of compliment your daughter gets. She needs to understand that appearance isn’t the only thing that matters.  Compliment her intelligence, resourcefulness, imagination, hard work, and strength. I compliment her when she outsmarts or outthinks me. Trust me; kids will do this to you every now and then. Don’t pretend that her looks will never matter, but teach her not to judge herself or let herself be judged only on looks.

2. Teach her that handymen don’t have to be men.

I am happy to fix things, but if she notices something is broken and automatically says, “Daddy fix”, I reply with, “Mommy and/or Daddy can/will fix that”.  If Mommy fixed her broken night light or fixed a toy by replacing the batteries I let our daughter know.

3. I feel fat.

Let’s be honest, body image is an issue that both males and females go through. Our current society however, is more critical on female’s age, weight, and appearance. When we are full or overindulge in front of our daughter, we never say, “Gosh, I feel fat after that meal,” or “These clothes make me look/feel fat,” even if we think/feel that way. We try to be very aware of our own self-esteem and self-confidence and try not letting that be a negative influence on our daughter. Our problem should not be hers.

4. Remember that the way you talk about and treat women will have a lasting impact.

Your daughter will pick up on generalizations you make about women, whether positive or negative. Intentionally or not, you shape her identity about what it is to be a woman and how to expect to be treated for being one. Say positive things about women without pedestalizing. If you can’t be nice, at least be respectful and steer clear of the derogatory terms, and other words that may put down her entire gender. “All this goes double for talking about her mother.” -Williams and Schroeder

5. Indulge her imagination.

While it felt a little emasculating at first, when my daughter handed me two baby dolls and said, “Daddy nurse… its yummy, yummy right”. While I sat ‘crisscross applesauce’ on the floor in my Steelers t-shirt and ripped jeans, I realized it wasn’t because she was trying to take my “Man Card” or emasculate me,  she wanted to me to take part in one of the most loving experiences between her and my wife, breastfeeding.

6. Have a dance and jam session.

Children can be taught rhythm and dancing, they only need the opportunity. They need the freedom to experiment with sound from banging on pots and pans to playing a kazoo. It’s the same with dancing. For children to learn control of their body they need to practice. So, dance to any type of music. Change it up from time to time, something fast, like Caribbean or Afro-Cuban music, to something slow like classical or twangy country music. The catch is… you have to dance also.  Don’t worry about looking goofy. The bulk of us look goofy dancing anyway. Children appreciate the effort as much as we appreciate the children’s effort.

7. If she’s still little enough, hold her until she falls asleep sometimes.

Williams and Schroeder said, “You’ll miss it when you can’t”. I honestly tear up thinking about this.  Don’t skimp on those tender moments. Children are only small for a very short period of time so remember, what works for me may not work for you, but keep trying. Don’t be afraid to try new things.

Monday Meanderings - Father's Day

Father's Day is this weekend so here are some great ideas to make the Dads in your life happy.

First from Martha Stewart we have several great ideas. I love the decorated paper cube!

Next is, Me and My Pink Mixer, with one of my favorite photo props. We have done this before for several holidays. You can buy the wooden letters like Me & My Pink Mixer, or make them out of paper, or even make paper signs.

I Can Teach My Child made this adorable shadowbox using old ties. I love it and think it would look great on any Dad's wall!

Lastly, we have I Heart Crafty Things, with another cute photo prop. I must admit that the reason I love this one so much is that I do it with my son each year and have done it each year since he could stand. I just use the same frame each year and change out the picture. It is a great way to see the growth each year.

Do something nice for the Dads in your life!

Monday Meanderings - Father's Day

Father's Day will be celebrated on Sunday so this week is a great time to put together a few activities for all the great men in your life.

First we have Anything But Perfect with a "wheelie" cute candy bar wrapper for the Dads in your life. This is a great gift for someone that loves cycling or if he is teaching a little one to ride a bike.

Next we have While He Was Napping with a personalized "Daddy's Six Pack". It is a cute idea and an even cuter blog name. We have all tried to get everythign completed while the babies are napping.

Lastly, we have Sugar Bee Crafts with a great shirt for Dad. It would be a nice gift for Grandpa too. You have to go to her blog to see the completed shirt. The front is only the beginning!

Happy Father's Day to all the great Dads out there. Enjoy time with them!

Teaching Compassion

My son's daycare center used to do this little project where they would "feature" a child a month in each class. When you were chosen to be featured, then the child and/or the parents would make a poster to hang beside the classroom door.

I really enjoyed this project. My son spends most of the day with these kids and I know most of their names but that is about all I knew about them. When they were featured and a poster was done it would always have pictures of their life outside of school and pictures of them with their families. It would include their likes and dislikes, their pets and favorite toys or any other thing the parent wanted to include. This was always lots of fun to see what the other kids did and the classes could discuss the posters during the days and maybe even try out some of the favorite foods or activities that were featured on the poster.

We are very fortunate that our daycare center has a diverse background of families. Everyone does not look the same, everyone does not speak the same and everyone certainly has not developed and met milestones the same. This adds a degree of humanity to my child's life that I may not be able to add on my own. I am appreciative of the families that have embraced my child and are bringing knowledge of other cultures to his life.

We use daycare as both my spouse and I work full time but you do not have to use a daycare to find diversity in your child's life. If you are a stay at home parent there are still ways to meet other parents that may not be just like you. Go to story time at the library or local bookstores, go to the children's museum, go to the local playground or even to an indoor playground in the mall or fast food restaurant. Try not to be shy about introducing yourself to other parents but if that is not something you can do then think about joining a local parenting group. In this area there are several groups that get together during the day for play dates and they are almost always looking to add new members. You can go to Google and do a search for playgroups in your city.

It is important for kids to know that not everyone will look like them or have the same amount of money as them. Kids need to learn that being different is not a bad thing. The sooner a child learns humanity and compassion for people that are different than he is, the more likely we can battle playground bullying together. Compassion begins at home and it is one of the most important lessons you can teach your children. They learn by watching you so before you are rude to a cashier or scream at a driver that cut you off, remember that your child is learning how to interact with people by watching you. We all want our kid's lives to be better than our own but in order to achieve this we must first improve our outlook on our own lives.

Father's Day

This Sunday, June 20th will be Father's Day. I wanted to write a post to discuss the past of Father's Day and how it came to be. I did some research and was saddened by many of the things that I discovered.

Mother's Day was first recognized in 1909 but Father's Day was not nationally recognized until 1966. I find it disheartening that it took 57 years between the holidays being recognized. There were numerous attempts prior to 1966 to recognize Father's Day but it was often met with satire and jokes. People felt it was not "important" and it was just another way to add unimportant dates to the calendar. The campaign to recognize Father's Day was spearheaded by Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane Washington. Her father was a single father after her mother died giving birth to her sixth child.

Ms. Dodd campaigned for years and approached ministers, the YMCA and YWCA to help her cause. Finally in 1966, President Lyndon Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation to honor fathers. Six years later, in 1972 President Richard Nixon signed it into law to declare the third Sunday of June as Father's Day.

I am thankful for all of Ms. Dodd's tireless efforts to recognize fathers. There are many great Dads in the world and they are worthy of celebration. The third Sunday of June is Father's Day but we should be taking time throughout our year to show our fathers exactly how much we appreciate them.

I hope you will all take some time this weekend to spend with your fathers.