Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk. This week, we asked our smart city parents:How have you discussed the tragic events of 9/11/01 with your children? For parents with older children, do you remember how your children reacted and what questions they had? How did you navigate them? For parents with younger children is this a topic you've tackled at all? If not, do you plan to and if so how? Jason Duclos, (father of 4) With my oldest being a little over 8 ½ this past Sunday, I have no children that were alive when this happened. I wasn’t even married at the time. …
Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk! We hope you use this forum to build a community of city parents and discuss important topics that face those trying to raise a child in Woonsocket. Have a topic you'd like to discuss? Email me at sandra.phaneuf@patch.com and we'll address it in a future column. Our council gets the conversation started this week by answering the question: How do you help your children to deal with fears? As children get older, their fears change, but as parents, you are often their first line of defense in helping kids to address all of them…
Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk! We hope you use this forum to build a community of city parents and discuss important topics that face those trying to raise a child in Woonsocket. Have a topic you'd like to discuss? Email me at sandra.phaneuf@patch.com and we'll address it in a future column. Our council gets the conversation started this week by answering the question: What are your expectations for your children regarding school grades and have your kids always lived up to your ideal? For parents of older children, did you find yourself becoming more or …
Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk! We hope you use this forum to build a community of city parents and discuss important topics that face those trying to raise a child in Woonsocket. Have a topic you'd like to discuss? Email me at sandra.phaneuf@patch.com and we'll address it in a future column. Our council gets the conversation started this week by answering the question: How do you or have you disciplined your children in the past? Do you focus on rewards, punishments, or both and which forms of discipline have you found most effective? Susan Pawlina (mother …
Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk! We hope you use this forum to build a community of city parents and discuss important topics that face those trying to raise a child in Woonsocket. Have a topic you'd like to discuss? Email me at sandra.phaneuf@patch.com and we'll address it in a future column. Our council gets the conversation started this week by answering the question: Do your children have chores and if so, what kind? Have you adapted the tasks to keep them age appropriate as your children grow or do you plan to? Do you feel they have helped your kids to …
Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk, a forum to discuss parenting topics. Our council gets the conversation started every week by answering a question facing Woonsocket parents. Share your opinion and advice in the comments below. This week, we asked our smart city parents: With summer here, how much video game time are you allowing your kids. Do you limit it or have you given in just so the kids are busy and let them have free reign to the gaming systems. If your kids game, do you follow the ratings on the boxes? Michelle Higgins, (mother of three) Currently I …
Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk, a forum to discuss parenting topics. Our council gets the conversation started every week by answering a question facing Woonsocket parents. Share your opinion and advice in the comments below. This week, we asked our smart city parents: As a parent, especially during the long summer months, do you take time to replenish yourself ? Do you take the occasional break from the kids and recharge your motor? Do you have regular scheduled 'me' or 'us' time, or is there no end in sight? If you do get away for a bit, what is the your …
Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk. This forum is a great place to share your knowledge and experience as a Woonsocket parent. Every week, we start the conversation by asking a group of city parents to answer a question. Share your opinion in the comments below or let us know if there's a question you'd like the group to answer. This week, we asked members of our Parents Council: What are the "words of wisdom" your parents taught you that you most want your own children to learn? What life lesson have you found to be the most important/true and how do you make …
Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk. This week, we asked our smart city parents: How do you talk to your children about money? Whether it's things that their classmates might have that just aren't in the budget or things they might have that other families can't afford, what is your technique for explaining the haves and the have nots. Have you ever had to handle a child who sees financial issues as unfair? Share your thoughts and advice in the comments section below. Michelle Couchon, (mother of two) On the topic of money, I've always tried to teach my children …
Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk. This week, we asked our smart city parents how they feel about the proposed changes to the Woonsocket Public School uniform. The committee has discussed adding capris pants for girls and black shirts to the current policy. Do you think this will help to increase the amount of compliance? As parents of kids in the school system, are you glad to have more options? Susan Pawlina (mother of two) I do think the school committee needed to revisit the uniform policy because the way it stood this year, it was a complete and utter …
This week in Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk, we asked our smart city parents how they plan to keep the family busy this summer. Share your plans for vacations, camps, day trips and more in the comments below. Michelle Couchon, (mother of two) As the mother of a teenager, I've come to realize that the days of "planning his day" for him are long gone. My son will be 15 years old this September, and more and more I've become aware of the fact that he has his own life, his own friends and his own plans. There are certain family events and trips, however, that we do take …
Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk. This week, we asked our smart city parents: What is your greatest strength as a parent? What parenting skill are you just good at? What do you feel is your greatest weakness? Is there a particular parenting skill you struggle with? Carrie Porder (mother of two) As a parent, I know there are many things I should work on when it comes to my parenting skills. One of my biggest weaknesses, if not the main one, is my lack of patience. I want to say that I haven’t always been this way, but I can say for sure it’s been at least …
Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk. This week, we asked our smart city parents: How do you deal with other adults who don't have the best parenting skills or, worse yet, don't have any at all? We've all seen it: the mother swearing at her child in the grocery store or even letting the child knock things off the shelves. We've heard the screaming toddler at the movie theater and the child that is allowed to behave rudely towards adults. We've seen messy homes, messy children and a million little things that we may feel amounts to bad parenting. Is there any "bad …
As the school year draws to a close, we at Woonsocket Patch thought it would be a good time to reflect on the school year. In this week's opinion column, we asked our smart city parents: What was the greatest education-related success and biggest let-down for your family during the school year? Michelle Higgins, (mother of three) Wow what a question! Looking back, I can't pinpoint any one particular success during this school year, but there have been so many small ones. I can say that the highlight of the school year for me has been the times I was fortunate enough to be able to volunteer …
In this week's opinion column, Parents Talk, our council addresses the topic of fighting. Last week, as part of a police log, Woonsocket Patch posted a link to a YouTube video of Woonsocket youth engaging in violent behavior. In the video, the mother of one young girl cheers her on as she fights another girl rather than breaking up the fight. We asked our smart group of Woonsocket parents: What would you do if you saw this happening? Fighting can be physically dangerous and should be stopped immediately. What should you, as parents, do if you witness a physical altercation between teens, be …
In this week's opinion column, Parents Talk, our council addresses the topic of drugs. We ask our smart city parents: How worried are you about your children encountering drugs? Have you talked to them about drugs or, if your children are younger, do you plan to? Have your children spoken to you about their encounters with or feelings about illegal drugs? Share your experience in the comments below. Michelle Couchon, (mother of two) As a recovered drug addict, I am well aware of the dangers of drugs and alcohol. I was introduced to the program of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1992 at the age of 26…
In this week's opinion column, Parents Talk, our council addresses the topic of television. Do you limit the amount of television that your children watch? If so, about how much time do you allow? Is this a source of conflict in your home or have you been able to find creative ways to steer them away? Share your opinion and tips in the comments below. Jason Duclos, (father of 4) Yes, we limit it to 30 minutes a day, if they ask to watch a show. We feel that there are just so many better ways for them to spend their time: reading, playing a game or doing a project/craft. Once our two oldest …
Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk! We invite you and your circle of friends to help build a community of support for families right here in Woonsocket. Each week in Parents Talk, our council of smart local parents take your questions, give advice and share solutions. Share your opinions and tips in the comments below. This week, our council addresses the topic of children's health. How do you decide who to trust with your child's health? Do you take all of your doctor's recommendations and when do you seek a second opinion? Have you ever disregarded your child'…
Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk! We invite you and your circle of friends to help build a community of support for families right here in Woonsocket. Each week in Parents Talk, our council of smart local parents take your questions, give advice and share solutions. Share your opinions and tips in the comments below. This week, our council addresses the topic of secrets. How much of your personal history do you share with your children? Do you try to practice a policy of 110% honesty, age appropriate honesty, or do you believe that some lessons are better …
Welcome to Woonsocket Patch's weekly opinion column, Parents Talk! We invite you and your circle of friends to help build a community of support for families right here in Woonsocket. Each week in Parents Talk, our council of smart local parents take your questions, give advice and share solutions. Share your opinions and tips in the comments below. This week, our council addresses the topic of "The Talk." How old should a child be before you talk about "the birds and the bees?" Have you had "the talk" with your children and if not, how do you plan to broach the subject? Or, do you hope to …
