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Workshop teaches
parenting
By CINDY
KLINGER
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: April 11, 2004)
Children aggravate
their parents. It goes hand-in-hand with parental pride.
Offering help to parents who want to better relate
to their children, a small, intimate Pebbleworks Parenting Workshop
titled Child Sense has been meeting weekly at the Stonewater Sanctuary in
Croton-on-Hudson. Four local moms and parenting coach Laurie DeCicco have
spent three hours together one night each week in a dimly lit,
comfortable room talking about their own childhood memories, beliefs and
stories of their offspring's worst tantrums.
One recent session was the "nuts and
bolts," said DeCicco, addressing how to react to specific actions
children take and how to prevent disruptive behavior. Other sessions
involved the women talking about how they were raised, setting boundaries,
and exploring discipline, values and children's roles.
Some members said they already have seen results.
"Just the few tools that Laurie's given us ...
a few terms, just really changed the whole home environment," said
Mary Crowley, 42, of Buchanan. She has four children, ranging in age from
2 to 14.
The $165 Pebbleworks Parenting Workshop course,
which meets for the last time Thursday, is one of many workshops and
seminars offered by Stonewater, a for-profit wellness and spirituality
center at 2055 Albany Post Road that opened in 1999.
Peekskill resident Mary Schiavo
thinks the class will help her children among their peers as well, not
just in the family setting.
"It helps develop a strong sense of their
self, so they're not prone to peer pressure and stuff as they get older,
and there's a lot of temptation out there," she said of her three
children, ages 8, 5 and 2. "They feel more, they're behaving better,
they're more cooperative."
DeCicco, 37, discussed common behavior in children,
including avoidance and power struggles. The ways to interact with
children depend on their behavior, she said, but the loving, positive
message remains constant.
DeCicco, a Verplanck mother of two, left her job as
an interior designer in 1998 and began working as a parenting coach in
2001. Through her company, Pebbleworks Inc., she is developing seminars
and CDs to guide parents.
As a parent, it's all about how to handle those
tough moments, she said.
"You can't control what other people are
doing, including your children," said the mother of Isabella, 2 1/2,
and Samantha, 6. "What you can control is how you react to what
they're doing."
Reach Cindy
Klinger at cklinger@thejournalnews.com or 845-228-2270.Reach Cindy
Klinger at cklinger@thejournalnews.com or 845-228-2270.
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