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Our words of wisdom
Last year, I attended “Keeping Families Together,” a one-day event put on by Our Sister Our Brother. We had the good fortune of having Aysha Schomburg, Associate Commissioner of the Children’s Bureau, give a welcome address. Associate Commissioner Schomburg spoke of the urgent need to provide supports and resources to keep families safely together, and prevent family separation. She called on us – all of us – to see ourselves in those that we seek to serve. To resist seeing ourselves as separate. To observe the systems we are within and to examine the parts causing harm to our communities… View Article Read More
CONTENT WARNING: This post discusses topics – including suicidal thoughts, mental illness, and weapons – that some readers may find distressing. Continue reading at your own discretion. There is a common belief that childbirth is a magical time for mothers, and that when a baby is born, beautiful maternal feelings magically appear. For many women, this isn’t the case. They battle feelings of anxiety, depression, sadness, powerlessness, and the inability to care for their infant. Below, three Candelen employees – Ashleigh, Ruth, and Kerrie – tell the stories of their battles with postpartum depression and anxiety. Photo by Jenna Norman… View Article Read More
I once had a parent look at me and say “I’d rather clean toilets than run my own child care business.” I had to tell her, tongue in cheek, that cleaning toilets was definitely part of my job. And while my job can be difficult and frustrating, there’s something indescribably beautiful about caring for children. I “fell” into family child care at the ripe age of 37 after my youngest daughter was born. I had every intention of going back to work as a preschool director after a 2-month leave, but when she was born, I realized I just couldn’t… View Article Read More
Young children are inquisitive by nature. This curiosity is fundamental for a child’s overall development, and plays a major role in learning, discovery, and creativity. But as curiosity flourishes amidst new challenges, learning opportunities, and people, parents play a pivotal role in making sure it is nurtured. Fortunately, there are countless ways you can encourage children to think creatively and critically. This includes introducing fields of study that exercise their natural sense of curiosity and talent. Below, we have piled together some of our favorite topics to spark wonder in your young learner. Photo by Joseph Rosales Archeology Many children… View Article Read More
Parenting is a roller coaster of things to remember. From soccer practice and dentist appointments to field trips and monthly PTA meetings, the lists can seem never-ending. Whether you are a family of 2 or 12, keeping an organized family calendar can sometimes feel overwhelming. So how can you make it easier? What’s the best way to ensure you don’t overschedule? How can everyone get on the same page? We’ve put together some of our favorite tips to help keep everyone – including you – on task, on time, and happy. Photo by Carl Heyerdahl Technology Can Save You Time… View Article Read More
CONTENT WARNING: This post discusses pregnancy loss. Continue reading at your own discretion. I will never forget it. It’s like it happened yesterday. I was 20 weeks pregnant in the doctor’s office with cold jelly all over my slightly protruding abdomen. Voices faded in and out as I heard, for the first time, that things didn’t look good with the placement of my baby’s placenta. Sheer panic pulsated through my body as I flashed back to just six months earlier when I learned that my child Cameron had a condition that was incompatible with life. And there was no way… View Article Read More
Domestic violence has many forms. These include physical abuse, sexual violence, reproductive coercion, economic abuse, and emotional abuse. Relationships begin on a good note without any red flags to detect. One thing that remains constant that all perpetrators of domestic violence maintain is power and control. These patterns include controlling choices on how to dress or relationships with family members and friends. An abusive partner may stop or prevent a survivor from going to work, control how they spend their money, and even ruin their credit. Tactics of abuse specifically against LGBTQ+ survivors of intimate partner violence include threatening to… View Article Read More
-What does it feel like to give birth? -Is it safe to have sex while I’m pregnant? -My body is changing in ways I didn’t expect. Is that normal? -I don’t feel anything for my newborn. Will I be a bad mother? -How can I shift my mindset in the event that my birth plan fails? -What happens if I poop while I’m giving birth? Being a new mother, or preparing to become one, raises a million new questions. And sometimes we’re just too nervous or embarrassed to ask them. On September 7, 2022, Candelen presented a live, open dialog… View Article Read More
What comes to mind when you think about culture? Food? Art? Language? Values? Mental health is not often included in this list, but it is very important to consider how culture can influence mental health. Cultural influences affect our behaviors, how we cope with mental health issues, the support that we have, the decision to seek support if needed, and even how it impacts our loved ones. As a Mexican first-generation woman, it was earth-shattering to realize how long it took me to begin therapy. Don’t get me wrong, I fully believe in the benefits of therapy. I even obtained… View Article Read More
We’ve all been in situations where we’ve been asked to do something, given advice we didn’t ask for, or in a conversation with someone who is trying to wear us down. In these situations, “no” can be a complete sentence, but setting up boundaries (and knowing how to articulate them) can allow you to be in more authentic and sustainable relationships. While boundaries can sound like something complicated or serious, the simplest definition is what you are okay and not okay with. When we let people do or say things that we are not okay with, we can become resentful… View Article Read More
Often when we dream of having multiple children, we imagine them holding hands, sharing their toys and secrets, and playing together beautifully. Then reality hits. At one point or another, sibling rivalry will rear its ugly head and parents will feel like the referee at a national debate… or worse, an MMA match. But why? Why won’t your kids just get along? There are many causes of sibling rivalry that can range from lack of social language and inability to self-regulate to difficulty empathizing and different temperament styles. Additionally, these issues can sometimes be intensified by family culture, especially around… View Article Read More
We often assume that if our children are in distress or experiencing mental health difficulties that they would be obvious, vocalized, and noticeable. Unfortunately, they can often be hard to see or symptoms might show up in ways that you don’t expect. Below are a few of the more common signs of mental distress that show up in children, what they may be signs of, and what you can do about it. Anger One of the most commonly missed signs is anger. If a child is feeling overwhelmed with their emotions, they’re more likely to be emotionally reactive. For a… View Article Read More
Históricamente, los inmigrantes que vienen a este país con un idioma nativo que no sea el inglés tienen que decidir entre 1) adoptar el inglés como el primer y único idioma de sus hijos o 2) instruir a sus hijos para que adopten dos idiomas. Cuando pregunté a familiares, amigos y vecinos sobre sus decisiones, descubrí que a menudo estaban influenciadas por las experiencias personales de cada persona, así como por las historias compartidas en sus comunidades por quienes llegaron a este país cuando eran niños en los años 60, 70 y 80. Muchas familias han decidido enseñar solo inglés… View Article Read More
Two words that can strike fear and panic in any parent, both new and seasoned… POTTY. TRAINING. *cue shudder* For parents who have done this before, those words might trigger a highlight reel that revisits all of the accidents, meltdowns, tears, and unsolicited advice. And that’s not even including what my children did… For new parents, it means their baby is growing up, and it can be overwhelming to figure out where to start or what advice to consider. I’m here to give you some tried and true advice that not only worked on my own children, but the hundreds… View Article Read More
Springtime is the perfect time to get inspired by fresh food, favorite critters, fragrant flowers, and more! Lakeshore Learning Materials has great ways to celebrate the season with hands-on crafts kids will love using a lot of materials you probably have around the house! Best of all, each craft offers plenty of opportunities for learning while bringing out kids’ creativity. Take a look at the five spring crafts below and get started today! Craft 1: 3-D Spring Scenes Spring is here! Get ready for the warmer weather with Lakeshore’s seasonal 3-D craft. Click here for instructions. Note: This activity is… View Article Read More
I have been fortunate to have many friends and family members who have experienced pregnancy. And, inevitably, in the conversation leading up to their expected due date, I ask if I may share a piece of advice. That advice is this: It’s okay to not love your baby right away. I always get a blank look, coupled with a brief moment of silence, followed by sentiments similar to “nobody has told me that yet.” But think through what we’re subconsciously taught about the birthing experience through movies, television, the news, and social media. Right after a baby is born, the… View Article Read More
Congrats, you had a baby! I know you’re nervous. Maybe even a little scared. I get it-you don’t want to mess it up. And no matter what I say to you, you’re going to feel that inevitable uncertainty of the future. But I can give you a few tips on what personally helped me during this new stage in life… Chance, his wife Sumaiya, and their son Caleb Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today. My wife and I made a cross-country move while she was 7 months pregnant with our first child. Then, due to… View Article Read More
What is the most important place on the planet for children? Is it the Amazon Rain Forest? The Pacific Ocean? The Himalayan Mountains? As adults, we may think of lofty places of great natural importance as the most important place for children to learn and grow, and yet, the most important place on the planet for young children is right outside your door. That’s right. The place that children visit every day is actually the most important place in the world… CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING This blog, written by Rusty Keeler, is in partnership with Kaplan Early Learning Materials…. View Article Read More
I’m a proud mom, okay? So let’s take a moment to list a few things that my preschooler, Grayson, can do that blow my mind. 1. He can complete a United States puzzle (that doesn’t have any outlines!) and then name a vast majority of the states. 2. He plays Monopoly! We’re talking adding/subtracting most of the money and even asking for change. 3. He can read the calorie intake on the back of the mustard and ketchup jars. 4. He reads the directions for Lego books over and over and over again… 5. He even reads me books that… View Article Read More
Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature’s delight. Marcus Aurelius Candelen is losing our Vice President of Programs, Trish Robinson, as she moves into the next chapter of her professional career and tries her talented hand at the private sector. While change may indeed by Nature’s delight, it is bittersweet to us mere mortals. Trish joined our ranks almost exactly four years ago and has been a transformative leader and an incredible thought partner to me as we have pivoted, heck, fully overhauled the organization. New vision, new programs, new strategies, even a new name and logo… View Article Read More
If someone told me 18 months ago that I would be introducing my baby, Penny, into childcare after 15 months in lockdown due to a global pandemic, I would have laughed in their face and told them that they were the biggest liar I’d ever met. Well, well, well… look who’s laughing now! Spoiler alert: NOT ME. I was actually sobbing when this became my reality. Let’s set the stage for August 2021, shall we? It’s time. Penny’s Big World Adventure has arrived. As a mom three times over, I knew separating for the first time was going to be… View Article Read More
As I sit here, mere hours after announcing our new name and brand identity, it strikes me that Candelen is embarking upon its own heroic journey. More accurately, its next heroic journey! In our history, we’ve had a few leading these Calls to Adventure. Our founder, Charlotte Hughes. The OG. Our Luke Skywalker. Our longest serving Executive Director, Susan Jacobs. Our General Leia. Over the last 45 years of existence, there were many Calls to Adventure on behalf of working families and children. In those Calls, there were lots of fits and starts, trials and failures. Many mentors and revelations…. View Article Read More
Take a minute to stop and think of your favorite childhood game or pastime. What was it? More importantly, where did it take place? Was it an outdoor game? Was it jumping in mud puddles, skipping rocks in a creek, catching fireflies, running in the sprinklers, exploring in the woods, or learning to swim in the ocean? For many of us, it was. We see children today spending more and more time exposed to screens and technology and less and less time exposed to sunshine and nature. Personally, I think that’s sad. When they shooed us out the back door,… View Article Read More
I gave birth to my third child in late February. Unlike my first two children, I felt a sense of calm and happiness taking care of my newborn. I wasn’t a first time mother anymore. I knew what to expect and I wanted to enjoy this last moment of baby joy in my life. Thank goodness I had some calm built up for my newborn, Hayden. He has colic, a cow’s milk sensitivity through my breastfeeding, and will not take a bottle. You’d think the colic and a dairy-free diet for me would be the biggest issue, but nope! I… View Article Read More
I held my first baby when I was 22. Seriously! I went 22 years of my life purposefully avoiding the opportunity to hold an infant. -What if “it” slipped out of my hands? -What if I was somehow cutting off circulation and had no idea? -You have to hold their heads a certain way, right? I’ve heard that the top (or back???) is still a little squishy? -What if this sweet, innocent cherub instantly turned on me and blew out the diaper? Then my brother and his wife welcomed their daughter Charlie into our lives in March 2017. I was… View Article Read More
“Waste not, want not,” isn’t just something we tell our kids to get them to their dinner. We want them to learn the importance of sustainability. Protecting the environment and revitalizing the Earth is essential for their future. Teaching kids to protect the Earth’s resources also helps them to learn responsibility. From recycling to gardening, here are some tips for introducing kids to sustainability. Place separate bins (cans, bottles, plastics, and paper) out for recycling. Then help your children create signs and pictures with construction paper, crayons or markers, glue and glitter, and anything else you can find in your… View Article Read More
It’s no secret that children are more receptive to learning than adults. In fact, a study from the Developmental Psychology journal notes that children tend to distribute their attention widely, unlike adults who are likely to selectively focus on information that they think is more important. Because of this, kids are better at noticing things and picking up new skills. This is why you should teach your kids valuable life lessons that they can use throughout their life while they are still young. Doing so raises your child’s chances of becoming an independent, successful, and self-sufficient adult. Below are some… View Article Read More
I want to paint a picture of idealism vs. reality and motherhood. I know anyone who has children, whether you have one or five kids, knows that there is a big difference between what you want to do as a mom and what you actually do. Even though I consider myself a modern mother and working woman, I somehow automatically revert to June Cleaver status occasionally when it comes to how I view myself and my capabilities of being a mom. This was just as true when I envisioned having my second daughter recently. For months leading up to my… View Article Read More
On January 21, 2021, Candelen presented a live, open dialog centered around race and raising kids via Facebook Live. Watch the recording below to hear honest reflections from a diverse panel on how they navigate differences, racism, and privilege with their kids. This event was facilitated by Mona Qafisheh, Candelen Director of Grants and Contracts. The panel of parents included: Candida Hunter, First Things First Senior Director of Tribal Affairs Aaliyah Samuel, NWEA Executive VP of Government Affairs & Partnerships Jorge Flores, Candelen Early Childhood Trainer Dawn Henry, Candelen Director of Human Resources Lindsay Olivarez, Candelen Board Chair, contributor to… View Article Read More
As a young boy, I spent hours and hours trying to imagine myself as the hero, the explorer, and the adventurer of great stories. I found it very difficult because I was never introduced to examples of African Americans as courageous contributors to the great story of America. In elementary school, I received my first Social Studies book and my teacher explained with great enthusiasm that this book contained the stories of people who made America great. I tore through the book searching chapter after chapter for a story that would finally affirm my place, my presence, in America’s great… View Article Read More
Raising a six-year-old active little girl in Arizona requires a lot of time and energy to ensure I’m hitting all the marks while keeping her happy and safe, especially during these times I have had the pleasure to be a rare Arizona native, and I recognize that by mid-May the heat index can feel like 120 by 9:00 am. Arizona natives know how important it is when this time of year happens to gravitate to any source of relief, often times finding our solace sitting in a nice pool with the family. We also know that every year we have… View Article Read More
Dr. Isela Garcia, of the Alesi Group, discusses how to handle behaviors and emotions of kids with Candelen Coach Supervisor, Amy Vanderjack. Read More
Join Nicole Newhouse, Candelen CEO, and Trish Robinson, Candelen VP of Programs, for a live discussion on Facebook as they explore the struggle that parents are facing as the State starts to open back up. Read More
Last week, as the announcement came for a slow re-opening of the state, parents of some of my daughter’s friends have started to text asking which families are comfortable allowing the kids to see each other, play and hang out. My first response was, ‘H*** yes!’ These kids need social interaction, and even more so now that it’s getting hot and the recharging benefits of outdoor play is limited. Plus, the opportunity to have them go somewhere else for a few hours, or even have a friend here that cancels out their need to continuously need me-or get on each… View Article Read More
It’s April and my oldest daughter, Ellary, turns seven at the end of the month. I know it sounds corny to say, but here it is: I literally do NOT know how we hit seven. Seven sounds so old. Riding bikes in the neighborhood old. Drop-off party old. Gaining independence old. My girl is a complicated jumble of contradictions. She can be so jealous of not being the center of attention, but, when left on her own on a Saturday morning, you’ll most likely find her reading to her baby sister. She rages and screams “you’re the worst mom ever!”… View Article Read More
Yesterday, my last virtual meeting ended with me holding Clorox wipes in one hand and shouting to my three-year-old son Grayson to stand in the bathroom so no one on the screen would see that he had stripped himself down to his birthday suit. I was fortunate enough to be with other teachers, but sometimes I am not sure how my new lifestyle of work-life integration will work for others. It’s not voluntary anymore for the whole world, but the new reality of how we will be working, living, and surviving. I have always known I have wanted to be… View Article Read More
My two daughters are accidentally-on-purpose 5 ½ years apart. We waited until our oldest was 3 before trying for a second, but it accidentally took 2 ½ years for her to arrive. Why? To be cliché about it, life happened. Specifically, “delay of game” orders due to Zika virus and surgery to repair a broken toe, unexpected infertility, a devastating miscarriage, and, finally, our rainbow pregnancy all happened. Our second daughter was 2 ½ years in the making but unquestionably worth the wait. Moving from one to two is hard. Moving from one to two with 5 ½ years in… View Article Read More
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the first week of my new job and my third week in Arizona. I sat in a conference with my new team listening to a keynote talk about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). She was rattling off the nine experiences most common, then it felt like a knife went right into my stomach, “…one of the most common ACEs in all 50 states is divorce or separation.” I had heard this a million times, but this time was different. My body started shaking, eyes began to well up, and I had to… View Article Read More
My first anxiety attack happened suddenly and unexpectedly. I was just leaving work as a preschool teacher when it happened right there in the school parking lot. My head began to spin, my heart raced, and I began to sweat. Soon after, I visited my doctor. The doctor asked, “Are you feeling stressed?” I reflected on this question… Here I am mother of two young children, husband away on a military deployment (again), preschool teacher with a few children with major behavior challenges… I said, “No, I’m not stressed.” He then assured me the attack was brought on by stress…. View Article Read More
The fab 5 are back and they have enthralled my whole family! Like all of us, the hubs included. I spied my youngest (9) talking to a friend about how to put on perfume, “spray, delay, and walk away!” I mean, #gorgeous! Read More
