Great Start Family Connect Newsletter for May 2022

 

Family Connect Update:

What We're Up To Lately

Hi everyone!  Hope you're doing well!  Here is the Family Connect Newsletter for May! This will be a good way for you to stay in the loop about what we're doing at the Gratiot-Isabella Great Start Family Connect, any upcoming family events, resources in the community, and helpful parenting things I've found online.  And if you haven't done so yet, follow us on Facebook to get awesome content every few days!

We've had three Parent Cafés in our five-part Parent Café series, and they have been so much fun!  Parents who have attended have gotten to dig in and discuss Pandemic Parenting, Work/Life/Family/Self Balance, and our children's "Problem" Behaviors at the three Cafés we've already had, and the topic for our upcoming Café is Parent Shaming/ Parent Guilt. If you'd like to participate in the next Parent Café on May 23rd, you can sign up using this link!  More details are below in the section on upcoming events!

We'll be hosting our 3rd Annual Community Baby Shower this month!  The Community Baby Shower is an awesome opportunity for expectant moms or moms who just had a baby within the last couple months to learn more about how to be the best parents they can and to get some much-needed free baby stuff!  Most of the moms we have registered to participate are first-time parents, teenage moms, or moms on very tight budgets, so we're thrilled to be able to help make the transition to parenthood easier.  There's an educational component, where moms who are participating watch videos on various topics related to the care and keeping of babies.  Then there's a zoom meeting where moms meet folks from organizations around the community and learn about resources they might be interested in, such as Head Start programs, home visiting, or Family Connect.  And finally, each mom gets a fancy diaper bag stuffed with diapers, wipes, onesies, and other great stuff, and she also gets to choose either a car seat or a Pack N' Play for her baby!  (The diaper bags from last year's Community Baby Shower are pictured above, and let me tell you, I really wanted one even though my youngest kid is 6!  They were just so cool!)  

If you know any expectant or new moms, let them know about this opportunity!  We already have the number of moms registered that we can support with the diaper bags, car seats, and Pack N' Plays, but we can always help out more moms with the educational content and the community resources.  If anyone is interested in watching the educational videos or attending the zoom meeting (May 19th at 3:00 PM), have her send me an email at mmonroe@giresd.net, and I'll get her hooked up!

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, May 17th, 9-10 AM:  Family Connect Meeting!  We're having the meeting in person again, and we'll be meeting at the Winding Brook Conference Center in Shepherd.  This month, we'll be talking about what Family Connect is and how it differs from other stuff we do (like the Parent Cafés and the Great Start Collaborative Board), and we'll be choosing questions for our upcoming Parent Café on Parent Shaming/Parent Guilt!  Bonus:  We're offering reimbursement for your mileage to get there and any childcare you might need to line up in order to attend!

Tuesday, April 19th, 10 AM-12 PM: Great Start Collaborative Board Meeting.  After the Family Connect meeting, the full Great Start Collaborative Board gets together to learn more about what's happening in programs that affect families with young kids and work on projects.  It's super important for the board to get insights from real families and parents so we can make sure we're focusing our efforts where they're the most valuable.  That's where the Family Connect folks come in!  And because it's so important to have family representation at the board meetings, we're offering a $30 stipend for any parent or caregiver who attends the board meeting.  That meeting is also at Winding Brook Conference Center, right after the Family Connect meeting.  PS:  We're also serving lunch! 

Monday, May 23, 11 AM- 1 PM:  Great Start Parent Café!  The topic for the upcoming Parent Café is Parent Shaming/ Parent Guilt.  Parent Cafés are safe spaces for parents and caregivers to relax, reflect, and talk about the joys and challenges of raising a family.  They're judgement-free zones where we share experiences and resources while learning from one another.  We'll also be providing lunch, a reimbursement for any childcare you might have to line up in order to attend, and there will be chances to win gift cards to Walmart and Meijer.  And it's all FREE!  So if you're interested in participating, just fill out this registration form!  We'd love to have you there! 

Community Resource of the Month

Check out this new website that the State of Michigan just created for families of kids!  It's actually super user-friendly and beautiful, and it has great information, no matter the age of your child or child-to-be!  Check it out to browse topics by age, and learn about everything from how to find good childcare, what you need to know as a first-time parent of an infant, or what to expect from your child's development even through the teen years.  True confession:  I normally find state websites unwieldy and frustrating, but this one is actually a joy to visit, and full of good information.  So go check it out at www.mikidsmatter.gov!

Great Start Family Connect Newsletter for April 2022

 

Family Connect Update:

What We're Up To Lately

Hi everyone!  Hope you're doing well!  Here is the Family Connect Newsletter for April! This will be a good way for you to stay in the loop about what we're doing at the Gratiot-Isabella Great Start Family Connect, any upcoming family events, resources in the community, and helpful parenting things I've found online.  And if you haven't done so yet, follow us on Facebook to get awesome content daily!

We had the first Parent Café last Monday in our five-part Parent Café series, and it was awesome!  I was really pleased with the turnout, and I heard tons of great conversations parents and caregivers were having around the topic of Pandemic Parenting.  The feedback I heard from participants who attended was that they felt really connected and empowered after the event, which is awesome!  If you'd like to participate in the next Parent Café on April 28th, you can sign up using this link!  More details are below in the section on upcoming events!

The Gratiot-Isabella Great Start Collaborative/ Family Connect are working on a project along with a bunch of other community organizations called Coordinated Enrollment and Eligibility, which will make it way easier for families to get hooked up with services in the community in a more streamlined manner.  Often various organizations don't really know what the other ones are doing or what the eligibility requirements are for services, which can be really frustrating for families.  

The CEE project is continuous work to improve our 0-5 early childhood system in order to make it easily accessible, easy to navigate, and includes a relationship-based component to it.

It's very important for us to understand what experiences people are having within this system, whether you are receiving services OR providing services.

If you receive services such as home visits, food assistance, cash assistance, counseling, therapy, preschool, daycare, WIC, educational classes, or you have involvement with CPS or Friend of the Court, please help us out by filling out this Caregiver Survey!

If you work or volunteer for an organization that provides any of these services, or you refer people to one of these organizations in a professional capacity, please fill out this Provider Survey!

Thank you so much to everyone who fills out one of these surveys!  This helps us gather the information we need to make sure our CEE project is awesome and helps make people's lives easier!

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, April 19th, 9-10 AM:  Family Connect Meeting!  This is our first in-person Family Connect meeting in quite a while, and we'll be meeting at the Winding Brook Conference Center in Shepherd.

Tuesday, April 19th, 10 AM-12 PM: Great Start Collaborative Board Meeting.  After the Family Connect meeting, the full Great Start Collaborative Board gets together to learn more about what's happening in programs that affect families with young kids and work on projects.  It's super important for the board to get insights from real families and parents so we can make sure we're focusing our efforts where they're the most valuable.  That's where the Family Connect folks come in!  And because it's so important to have family representation at the board meetings, we're offering a $30 stipend for any parent or caregiver who attends the board meeting.  That meeting is also at Winding Brook Conference Center, right after the Family Connect meeting.

Thursday, April 28, 11 AM- 1 PM:  Great Start Parent Café!  The topic for the upcoming Parent Café is Balancing Work, Home, Family, and Self.  Parent Cafés are safe spaces for parents and caregivers to relax, reflect, and talk about the joys and challenges of raising a family.  They're judgement-free zones where we share experiences and resources while learning from one another.  We'll also be providing lunch, a reimbursement for any childcare you might have to line up in order to attend, and there will be chances to win gift cards to Walmart and Meijer.  And it's all FREE!  So if you're interested in participating, just fill out this registration form!  We'd love to have you there! 

Community Resource of the Month

"What's Next?" Child Development kits:  These are free kits for families with kids from birth to age 5 1/2, and they include a packet of goodies (children’s books, tip sheets, activities, self care strategies for parents and caregivers), sent right to families' home every six months.  The kits will give them great information about what to expect from their children over the next six months, and it has activities and books to help them bond with their children and support their social-emotional development.  If you're interested in getting these kits for your kids, Sign up here!

Question of the Month

I would love to hear from you all and learn more about what's going on in your lives, so each month, I'll post a fun little question for you to answer!  You don't have to put your name on it unless you want to, and I'm not going to collect your contact information.  This is just your space to reflect, muse, vent, or whatever you need right now.  So here's this month's question:  What message about parenting/ family life do you hear all the time in the community or on social media  that you're completely over?

Great Start Family Connect Newsletter for March 2022

 

Family Connect Update:  

What We're Up To Lately

Hi everyone!  Hope you're doing well!  Here is the Family Connect Newsletter for March! This will be a good way for you to stay in the loop about what we're doing at the Gratiot-Isabella Great Start Family Connect, any upcoming family events, resources in the community, and helpful parenting things I've found online.  And if you haven't followed us on Facebook yet, hop on over there and like us to get awesome content daily!

We're still working on our five-part series of Parent Cafés.  The one scheduled for March 7th had to be cancelled because several of our local school districts had snow days, and I was so bummed about that!  But the upside is that if you missed signing up for the March Parent Café but are still interested in the discussion on "Pandemic Parenting:  How has the pandemic affected your parenting life?", we're going to be discussing that topic in April instead!  If you're interested in the free Parent Café on April 4th, you can sign up here!

We're also currently putting together our "What's Next?" Child Development kits!  These are free kits for families with kids from birth to age 5 1/2, and they include a packet of goodies (children’s books, tip sheets, activities, self care strategies for parents and caregivers), sent right to families' home every six months.  The kits will give them great information about what to expect from their children over the next six months, and it has activities and books to help them bond with their children and support their social-emotional development.  If you're interested in getting these kits for your kids, Sign up here!  There are a number of items going into the kits, and we're in the process of getting all of our materials together. The books have been ordered and should be arriving this week, I'm going to be putting in a big order for the rest of the supplies on Monday, and there's also a bunch of stuff to print. We should be ready to assemble the kits themselves very soon, so I'm going to schedule a day to put them together sometime after spring break. If you're interested in helping out, just fill out this poll and let me know when works for you, and we'll get the date scheduled! I'll get some snacks for the kit assembling party, and we can also give you a $30 stipend for helping out!

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, March 15th, 9-10 AM:  Family Connect Meeting!  We're going to be choosing the topics for the rest of the Parent Cafés, so let us know what you want to talk about! Here's the zoom link for the meeting! 

Tuesday, March 15th, 10 AM-12 PM: Great Start Collaborative Board Meeting.  After the Family Connect meeting, the full Great Start Collaborative Board gets together to learn more about what's happening in programs that affect families with young kids and work on projects.  It's super important for the board to get insights from real families and parents so we can make sure we're focusing our efforts where they're the most valuable.  That's where the Family Connect folks come in!  And because it's so important to have family representation at the board meetings, we're offering a $30 stipend for any parent or caregiver who attends the board meeting.  Here's the link for that meeting!

Saturday, March 19, 12-3 PM:  Health Fair.  The CMU medical students are teaming up with MyMichigan Medical Center in Mt. Pleasant (formarly MidMichigan Medical Center) to put on a free health fair/clinic.  It's at MyMichigan Medical Center, and there will be booths of information, family activities, and you'll get a chance to ask medical professionals (and future medical professionals) your health questions.  Also, I'll be there representing Family Connect, so stop by, say hi, and get signed up for our great free programs and resources!  Here's some more information!

Monday, April 4, 11 AM- 1 PM:  Great Start Parent Café!  Since our Parent Café on March 7 had to be cancelled because a bunch of our local school districts had snow days, we're going to be having our Parent Café discussion about Pandemic Parenting on April 4 instead!  Parent Cafés are safe spaces for parents and caregivers to relax, reflect, and talk about the joys and challenges of raising a family.  They're judgement-free zones where we share experiences and resources while learning from one another.  We'll also be providing lunch, a reimbursement for any childcare you might have to line up in order to attend, and there will be chances to win gift cards to Walmart and Meijer.  And it's all FREE!  So if you're interested in participating, just fill out this registration form!  We'd love to have you there! 

Community Resource of the Month

If you'd like to get good information and resources specifically tailored to your child's age sent directly to your phone, sign up for Bright by Text!  They'll text you twice a week with tips, educational tidbits, activities to do with your child, and things happening around the community that might interest you.  Just text YouGotThis to 274448 to sign up!

Question of the Month

I would love to hear from you all and learn more about what's going on in your lives, so each month, I'll post a fun little question for you to answer!  You don't have to put your name on it unless you want to, and I'm not going to collect your contact information.  This is just your space to reflect, muse, vent, or whatever you need right now.  So here's this month's question:  What are you most looking forward to doing when the weather gets warmer?

Great Start Family Connect Newsletter for February 2022

Family Connect Update:  

What We're Up To Lately

Hi everyone!  I hope you're all doing well and surviving another cold Michigan winter!  It's been a while since I produced a newsletter, but I'm starting this back up!  This will be a good way for you to stay in the loop about what we're doing at the Gratiot-Isabella Great Start Family Connect, any upcoming family events, resources in the community, and helpful parenting things I've found online.  And if you haven't followed us on Facebook yet, hop on over there and like us to get awesome content daily!

There are a few big projects we're currently working on, but I especially want to spotlight our  Parent Café project!  Right now, we're in the planning process for a five-part series of Parent Cafés for the families of Gratiot and Isabella Counties.  The first one will be on March 7th, and the last one will wrap up just before the end of the school year.  Parent Cafés are safe spaces for parents and caregivers to relax, reflect, and talk about the joys and challenges of raising a family.  They're judgement-free zones where we share experiences and resources while learning from one another.  We'll also be providing lunch, a reimbursement for any childcare you might have to line up in order to attend, and there will be chances to win gift cards to Walmart and Meijer.  We're really excited about our topic, which is "Pandemic Parenting:  How Has the Pandemic Affected Your Parenting Life?", and I'm really excited to be holding Parent Cafés in person again!

Incidentally, the reason I'm even here in this position was because of a Parent Café.  A few years ago, I saw a flyer that came home in my daughter's backpack advertising a Parent Café that the Great Start Collaborative was putting on.  I had never heard of Great Start, but the topic (Parent Shaming) sounded compelling, there was going to be a lunch, and I happened to be free that day, so I signed up to participate.  The Parent Café was so much fun and the discussion was so good that I signed up to join the Parent Coalition (the same lovely group that we now call Family Connect, which is more inclusive of all types of families with kids).  The information I learned at the meetings each month was so interesting and impactful that I kept coming month after month, and a year or so later when the previous parent liaison moved on, I started thinking about how what it would look like if I stepped into this role.  After really thinking about it, making sure I would be able to do this simultaneously with my other roles and my other job (I'm also an organic vegetable farmer with a busy family business), and getting the blessing from my in-laws (who would be watching my kids even more than they already were), I jumped in!  And I'm so glad I did.  I love helping parents and caregivers grow their confidence and resilience, learn how to really enjoy their relationships with their kids, and just generally experience more joy in life.  I get to be involved with projects in the community that support and strengthen kids, parents, and families.  And I know for sure that I am a better mom because of what I have learned through this process.  Because we're all just figuring this parenting thing out as we go along, and we need a community around us as we walk down this path.  If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, definitely sign up to attend our Parent Café on March 7th, and get connected!

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, February 15th, 9-10 AM:  Family Connect Meeting!  We're going to be choosing the topics for the rest of the Parent Cafés, so let us know what you want to talk about! Here's the zoom link for the meeting! 

Saturday, February 19th, 9 AM-2 PM:  Mom2Mom sale in Shepherd!  If you've never been to a Mom2Mom sale, definitely check this out!  It's basically like a bunch of garage sales all in one place, all with kid stuff.  When my kids were little, I used to outfit them stylishly on a dime by attending a Mom2Mom sale twice a year.  Check out their Facebook event for more information!  I'll also be there handing out resources and signing people up for our free What's Next? Child Development kits, so stop by and say hi!

Monday, February 21st, 7-8:30 PM:  Regional Parent Café!  This is a virtual Parent Café that we do in conjunction with the other Great Start Parent Coalition in the Great Lakes Bay Region.  Parents and caregivers from Gratiot, Isabella, Clare, Gladwin, Midland, Bay, and Saginaw counties come together on zoom to dig in to some great discussion questions!  This month's topic is Kindness and Compassion, so check out the Facebook event for more information!

Monday, March 7th, 11 AM-1 PM:  Gratiot-Isabella Family Connect Parent Café!  This is the one I was talking about above.  Fill out this form to sign up! 

Community Resource of the Month

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is an awesome program that sends free books to kids up to 4 years old each month!  You may have heard about how the legendary country singer, actress, and philanthropist has worked hard to promote early literacy and help kids become confident readers.  She started this program in her home county in Tennessee, and now it has spread to a bunch of different countries!  If you are interested in signing your child up to get a free book each month, check out this information about our local DPIL program here in Gratiot and Isabella Counties!  You can call or email Shelly Jones at the Gratiot-Isabella RESD, and she'll get you signed up!

Online Resource of the Month

If you've got very young kids (think babies, toddlers, or preschoolers), Zero to Three is a great resource for anything from setting limits for your kiddo to the role of grandparents and other family members in a child's life.  You can browse their parenting topics and learn more at their website!

Question of the Month

I would love to hear from you all and learn more about what's going on in your lives, so each month, I'll post a fun little question for you to answer!  You don't have to put your name on it unless you want to, and I'm not going to collect your contact information.  This is just your space to reflect, muse, vent, or whatever you need right now.  So here's this month's question:

If you could just snap your fingers and some problem in your life would be magically solved, what would it be?  Fill out this form to give me your answer and see other people's anonymous answers!  

How to Build Resilience for Yourself and Your Family: The Five Protective Factors

At the Great Start Parent Coalition, our mission is to help all families be as strong and resilient as they can, so their kids can grow up to be strong, resilient adults who go out and make the world a better place!  With a mission like that, it's easy to get stuck wondering, "Where do we start?  How do families build resilience, and what does that even mean?"  

Fortunately, we have this handy framework we use, called the Strengthening Families Protective Factors.  These five Protective Factors are all things that families can do to help build their resilience.  What is resilience?  It is the ability to be strong and flexible, to handle what life throws at you without breaking down.  It's the ability to bounce back (or better yet, bounce forward!) when life gets tough.  

As I write this, we are in the midst of a global pandemic that has gone on way too long.  Even the strongest, most resilient people are getting weary.  So we all need this right now, no matter where we are, or how much we normally have our lives together.  This is for all of us. 

So what are the Strengthening Families Protective Factors?  I'm glad you asked!  Here are the five things that families can focus on to be as resilient as possible:

Parental Resilience:  Parental resilience basically means managing stress and functioning well when facing adversity, challenges, and trauma.  We all face adversity in our lives.  So when that happens, how do you handle it?  Do you curl up in a ball, snap at your loved ones, or just try to check out of life as much as possible?  Or do to take a deep breath, make a plan of action, and take care of yourself and your people?  How we handle stress has a HUGE impact on those around us, and how we habitually handle stress sets the example for our kids on how to handle their stress as adults.

Social Connections: Having strong social connections means having positive relationships that help provide emotional, informational, instrumental, and spiritual support.  When we have strong social connections, we have friends and family we can be real with, who we can call on for advice and help with day-to-day life stuff, and just to talk and laugh with.  These are relationships where we help each other out, enjoy each other's company, and care about each other.

Concrete Support in Times of Need:  Concrete support in times of need means being able to get help when we need it, so we can bounce back when life gets challenging.  This can include accessing programs and services in the community (like getting help for a child with special needs, or getting unemployment if you've lost your job), and it can also mean having social connections you can call on when you need help.  If have a friend or family member you can call if you need a last-minute babysitter in an emergency, or a ride to work when your car breaks down, that is also a concrete support in times of need.

Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development:  Knowledge of parenting and child development basically means understanding what kids normally do at each age, and having positive parenting strategies to support their development.  Sometimes our kids can do things that are annoying or don't make sense to us as adults.  But if we understand that our toddler throwing a tantrum at the grocery store is pretty developmentally normal, we can then handle it without blaming our child and thinking that he is the worst kid ever.  And having a positive, effective way to deal with it when the toddler throws a tantrum (instead of yelling at him and escalating the situation) will help us have happier, more loving relationships with our kids.

Social/Emotional Competence: It is important for both adults and children to be socially and emotionally competent, which means that we can communicate clearly, understand our emotions, and manage our feelings effectively.  For kids, that means being able to "use their words", to understand that is okay to feel what they're feeling, and to display age-appropriate self regulation.  For adults, it means understanding our emotions, being self-aware, and choosing a positive  and effective response to our feelings.

If these five protective factors are in place in your family, then you will be much better able to handle what life throws at you!  Most of us have areas in which we're really strong, and areas where we could use some work.  What would you say is your family's strongest protective factor, and which one would you like to improve?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments below!  And if you want more information about any of these protective factors, click on the links in each section above!

So Many Great Parenting Blogs! Here are Our Favorites!

The thing I love about blogs is that unlike books, they are not super long, but they can be super useful!  And if you follow a great blog for a while, the little bite-size posts you read once every week or two will give you a lot of great information over the long haul.  Not to mention, when you follow a particular blogger, you get to feel like you know her, so it's almost like having a new friend!  (Albeit, a friend who doesn't know you exist... but I digress. 😁)

There are blogs for everything you can imagine, including a bunch of really good ones for parents!  So if you're looking for some bite-size reads to help you figure out this parenting thing (or just how to be a happy, balanced person who is also a parent), check out these blogs!

The Mom Hour:  Some of my favorite podcasters, Meagan and Sarah of the Mom Hour podcast, also have a blog!  Their posts are smart, real, funny, and full of excellent information and advice about how to do this whole parent thing!  Reading their blog feels like talking to your wisest girlfriend who has already been there with her own kids and knows a thing or two about it. 

Must-Follow Facebook Pages for Parents!

Ah, social media!  It can be such a double-edged sword.  On the one hand, it can help us stay connected to friends and loved ones, keep up with what's going on in the world, and give us a much-needed break from housework, jobs, childcare, and all the rest of it.  But on the other hand, it can warp how we view the world and ourselves.  After all, it isn't hard to feel discontent with your kitchen or vacation when you're constantly seeing pictures of other people's perfect stuff.  And if you've seen 500 pictures of Martha Stewart-level kids' parties, it's a slippery slope to feeling like you're failing as a parent because your minion birthday cake came out looking a little wonky.  

So let's reclaim social media and make it a place of learning, connection, and growth, not discontent and feeling bad about ourselves!  If you're looking for some Facebook pages and groups that will empower, educate, and connect you with other parents who, like the rest of us, are figuring this whole thing out as we go along, check out these ones!

Gratiot-Isabella Great Start Collaborative:  Of course I have to make a plug for our Facebook page!  But it really is a good place to find out about community resources, kids' activities, really fun parent cafés, and educational stuff for kids and adults!

Positive Parenting Solutions:  You guys, I love this page!  I was scrolling through it, and I basically wanted to repost every. single. thing.  It's uplifting, funny, and full of really solid parenting advice for kids of all ages.  Go check it out!

Solros Positive Parent Community:  This is another fantastic facebook page I highly recommend following!  They have excellent articles, infographics, and quotes that really get you thinking.  If we all had facebook feeds full of parenting tidbits like these, the world would be full of intentional, kind, effective parents who raise happy, kind, effective kids.