Shady Pines Parents Wrestle with Sending Kids Back to School

by Mary Jane | Jul 27, 2020 | Breaking News, The Kindness Connection Blog

What are you gonna do? If you’re raising children, you have a really tough decision to make. Should you send your kids back to school next month?

Hi everyone, I’m Scoop the Cub Reporter here in The Shady Pines Gazette news office. That’s the big question we’re hearing all over Shady Pines Story Town. But, it’s not the only one. Breaking News

The numbers of Coronavirus cases are going up fast in so many places in this country. It’s even happening here in our small Southern town. We’ve seen more people than ever before get Covid 19 and have to go to nearby River City Hospital to get better. COVID -19 And, some of the folks are REALLY bad off. One of my friends got that darn virus. His family is worried sick.

How do you know your child will be safe in a classroom? Oh, yea, and what if your child brings this scary disease home to you? Another question we get is from teachers and other adults who work at Shady Pines Elementary. Are they safe to go back to their jobs?

Here is a list of some of some of the top questions we find parents are asking themselves right now.

How will the health of students and teachers be checked? Does Shady Pines Elementary have good airflow and will it be capable of proper sanitizing? Is there a school nurse or nurses on site and prepared? school nurses

Will masks be provided for students and teachers?

What about some sort three-days-off, three-days-on combination of remote and in-person learning?

Are buses and drivers ready for social distancing? Will Shady Pines Elelmentary help students who don’t have access to strong internet meet the requirements for remote learning?

How will the classrooms be set up for proper distancing? Will desks be six feet apart?

I’ve been making calls to to other school systems around our area. And you know what? Everyone is in the same boat. They’re heading for choppy water. Here’s why:

Do parents risk exposing their kids to the coronavirus at school, or risk losing critical educational and social ground by keeping them home?

Experts I check with say there’s no risk-free answer. The right one for your family should be a combination of your kid’s age and health status, and the way they learn best. You should consider the impact any choice could have on your family’s mental and physical health. You also have to ask if your job allows you to keep the kids home.

It’s our responsibility as reporters to keep you up to date on this important topic. GO HERE for more information from the Today Show on whether medical experts are sending their kids to school. This story will continue to change and we’ll be back with more updates soon.

Let us know what you’re thinking about back to school for you kids in the comments below.

– Scoop, out!

High Flying Kindness

by Mary Jane | Feb 17, 2020 | Breaking News, The Kindness Connection Blog

Oh, happy day! I have some good news to report. I’m Zulah Talmadge, editor of The Shady Pines Gazette. I can’t wait to tell you about a sky high gesture of kindness that will warm your heart. Let’s face it, flying can be stressful, especially if you have young children. What might be a bit of a nightmare for some, turned into the most memorable event you could imagine for these unsuspecting parents.

THIS IS THE SHADY PINES WAY

On a recent Southwest Airline flight, a young couple got the biggest, sweetest gift from people they’d never met. It started with one person, then another and before you knew it, all the passengers on board got involved.

It’s easy these days to see and hear so many things that don’t make us feel good. That’s why when a story like this comes around it reminds us of the goodness in people. It’s the kind of thing we like to feature in our Shady Pines Story Town site. I’m going to include a link to this wonderful tale that I found on the TODAY SHOW website so you can read all about it for yourself.

I hope this story about Dustin and Carin Moore, along with their newly adopted, newborn baby girl will brighten your day. Maybe it’ll even inspire you to do a random act of kindness yourself! GO HERE

Please let us know in the Comments section below what this story meant to you.

Help Your Child make New Year’s Resolutions

by Mary Jane | Dec 27, 2018 | Offline Activities

The year is winding down and the folks in Shady Pines Story Town are looking ahead. They’re turning their attention to New Year’s resolutions. These first-of-the-year goals are fun to discuss and write down, but often hard to follow all year long.

So, how do the adults in our community guide children to make good resolutions? We turn to some parenting experts for their advice. They say it’s important to be upbeat, make it a fun activity, and try not to force ideas but let kids come up with their own. Here’s a way to start:

Lead by Example

If you want your family to make healthy eating a priority this year, explain what that a healthy diet means for you with examples like:

“You know how much your dad and I love pizza. This year we’re going to eat less pizza and have more fruits and vegetables instead.” “We want to have more family dinners. So, we’re going to limit the amount of fast food we eat, and instead make more meals together.”

Be Specific by Setting Goals

Start with some broad categories like personal, friendship, helping and school goals.

Asking questions can help you gauge which of these categories are most important to them. Some examples: “Can you think of some things you might do better or differently? Do you remember a time when you might have been nicer to someone at school? Or, treated your brother or sister better? Are there ways to share more with your friends? How about helping out more around the house?”

Attach Action to the Resolutions

Let’s say your child’s resolution is to keep his or her room clean. Have them write down six easy steps they can practice each week, like:

Week #1: I will put my shoes in the closet at night
Week #2: I will put my toys away after playing with them

Some other ideas:

I will help around the house – by doing the dishes
I will improve my reading – by reading 15 minutes before I go to bed
I will eat more healthy foods – by eating one fruit at breakfast and one vegetable at dinner

Build Upon Success

Experts agree it takes up to six weeks to create a habit so do this for a month and a half and see how things are going. You and the kids can always start adding things to build upon successes.

Here’s to a great 2019!!!

A Chat With a Parenting Expert

by Mary Jane | Sep 3, 2018 | Offline Activities

After I wrote my Post about parenting being “Inconvenient,” I turned to my buddy Elisabeth Stitt for some expert thoughts on the subject. Here is part of that conversation:

Mary Jane:

For someone who deals with parenting issues all the time, meet parenting coach Elisabeth Stitt of Joyful Parenting Coaching. Elisabeth, how do the parents you deal with describe parenting as inconvenient?

Elisabeth:

Boy, Mary Jane, the parents I deal with love their kids to pieces but it sure doesn’t take long for a parent to realize that a kid is inconvenient before the kid even gets here! From building the crib to setting up the room, it becomes real very fast. By the time a child hits preschool, parents will have cleaned poop from behind the couch, wiped crayon masterpieces off the walls and cleaned up messes they never even imagined. But like your friend Betty’s mom, the difference is in how parents respond.

Mary Jane:

I imagine, Elisabeth, inconvenience is just one of the many problems you deal with.

Elisabeth:

That’s for sure, Mary Jane. And today’s parenting challenges are greater than ever. In your Boomer and Halley books, I know that at first, Harold and Edna Sanders weren’t sure know what to do as parents, but that’s okay because parenting is a skill: It can be taught, learned and practiced. The great thing about Shady Pines Story Town is that Harold and Edna have a whole community of people ready to support and teach them.

Mary Jane:

That’s right, Elisabeth, and I know that is the kind of help you give parents. For more information on what Elisabeth does go to www.elisabethstitt.com or find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/joyfulparentingcoaching/.

A parenting note from Shady Pines Founder, Mary Jane McKittrick

by Mary Jane | Aug 31, 2018 | Breaking News

Hey Everyone,

Scoop here. Something’s always going on in Shady Pines Story Town. That’s why it’s so cool to be a reporter for The Shady Pines Gazette. Every day I get to find out stuff I didn’t know before.

Today, my editor Zulah Talmadge, has me talking to Mary Jane McKittrick. She’s the author of the award-winning series of books called, Boomer and Halley. They are the dog and cat who got lost and wound up in our town a while back. We all know that the stories Mary Jane tells about the Sanders family are a real hoot. Harold and Edna Sanders had no idea what they were getting into when they adopted those two critters.

Well, now Mary Jane has a fun take on parenting she wants to share. It’s something she learned when she was just a kid. Follow me. We’re going to find out what she has to say right now! Go HERE

To learn more about Mary Jane go to the bottom of the Boomer and Halley Books Page HERE