Posts filed under ‘Parenting’
Is Bill Cosby Our Sacred Cow?
reprinted from Black Woman Unleashed magazine 1/19/2015
When I was growing up, my mother said “Stay away from strangers.” What she didn’t tell me was to also be careful of people I knew. I know she was right about strangers because on a bus ride home one evening while in high school, a man exposed himself to me. I was horrified and told the bus driver. Why would someone do that? Mom could only say “He was sick.”
When my daughter started growing up, my words to her were “Don’t get into the car with anybody except me, your dad or your grandmother”. We kept her list very short. You could count the people on one hand.
Which brings me to the Bill Cosby controversy. Last year when I began hearing the reports that Dr. Cosby was accused of sexually assaulting multiple woman (more than 20 years ago), I decided he had either stopped paying off his blackmailer or someone was out to malign the gentle, friendly Dr. Huxtable. Who would want to do that to lovable Bill Cosby?
C. Lynn Williams, #MsParentguru
Author & Mentor
In Loving Memory of KATHRYN CHASTAIN-TREAT
Kathryn C. Treat passed away on Sunday, December 21, 2014 @ 2:20 am (California time). On Friday, Dec. 19, after having a wonderful time at our virtual Christmas party, in a virtual chat room with her fellow RRBC VIP Lounge members, Kathryn informed us that she was not feeling well and that she was going to leave. Shortly thereafter, she suffered a hemorrhagic stroke and then lapsed into a coma.
Kathryn was an honorary board member of the Rave Reviews Book Club, where she served as Membership Director from Dec. 2013, until September, 2014. Kathryn is the author of “ALLERGIC TO LIFE: MY BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL, COURAGE AND HOPE” . She inspired and encouraged many with this book so if you have not had the pleasure of reading it, please head to Amazon and get your copy.
TAKE A LOOK AT HER AWESOME BOOK TRAILER
Kathryn was a dedicated member of RRBC until her passing and she was one of the most supportive members we had…not just to one, but to all. Kathryn leaves to mourn her husband, her mother, her two daughters, a son-in-law and three grand-kids (who she adored more than life), as well as her entire RRBC family. We will have more information to add to this page in the coming days. I have been informed by her husband that there will not be any services until after the holiday.
Let us remember Kathryn and honor her memory by always being kind to one another and by always offering your support to another. It’s what she did. It’s how she lived. It’s who she was. In honor, on the day of Kathryn’s funeral, I would like to ask each of you to please post a page for Kathryn, her bio and book on your site. If you’re interested in participating in this grand show of honor, please email RaveReviewsSecretary@gmail.com, and her photos and bio will be sent to you in advance. (You do not have to be a member of the club to participate). If Kathryn touched your life in anyway, please share your memories and comments below.
Best Wishes,
C. Lynn Williams
Author & Rave Reviews Book Club member
Is There a War Going on Between Fathers & Sons?
Ms. Parent Guru wants to know what is going on with the violence between fathers and sons. I get it when dads say “You can’t let your son get away with anything….If you give an inch, he will take a mile.” I realize that there is
a level of respect that every man wants his son to have for him. What is hard to understand is the aggression that seems to go along with the level of respect that fathers require from their sons.
Thinking back, my dad required respect from all of us, not just my brother. He hugged my sister and I, but I don’t remember seeing him hug my brother. He was from the school of hard knocks for boys. That’s the idea that some fathers tell me – “If I am not hard on him, he will not grow up and become a Man!”
Does that type of thinking push sons over the edge? I mean what could possibly be the reason that Thomas Gilbert Jr would kill his father over a decrease in allowance. What would cause Duffy Grogan to shoot his father? And what type of relationship existed between a father and his son would cause Marvin Gaye Sr. to shoot his own flesh and blood? 
There are probably a number of reasons like greed, drug usage, mental illness. However, as a society, the fact that we start removing any trace of love and nurture in young boys by telling them “Stop crying, you’re acting like a girl” or telling mothers (and fathers) “If you keep hugging him (your son), he won’t become a strong man.” All of that is hogwash! Boys need nurturing just like girls. Dads: please shower lots of love and attention on your son, so that he will grow up into a wonderful man that loves himself and is able to love others as well. Hopefully we can eliminate the aggression that exists.
If you want to understand more of what makes your son tick, invest in a copy of my book, ‘The Pampered Prince: Moms Create a GREAT Relationship with Your Son’. http://amzn.to/1l6PUcv If you would like to ask questions or dialogue with me about how tough adult issues affect our sons, reach out to me on Twitter @MsParentguru or on my Facebook author page www.Facebook.com/CGWWBooks. Use hashtag #WarBetweenFathersnSons
C. Lynn Williams, #MsParentguru
Author & Parent Coach
www.clynnwilliams.com
Trying to Stay Sane While Raising Your Teen (St. Paul Press, 2010)
The Pampered Prince: Moms Create a GREAT Relationship with Your Son (St. Paul Press, 2012)
Raising Your Daughter Through the Joys, Tears & HORMONES! (220 Publishing, 2013)
MEMBER OF THE MONTH!
Isabel Pietri – January MEMBER OF THE MONTH for Rave Reviews Book Club!
How to be a Committed 2015 Parent
As 2014 draws to a close, thank you for supporting me and reading my Staying Sane blog. 2014 was a tough year for parents. The news constantly reported assaults (or murders) on our kids whether from strangers, peers or adults. It’s enough to make you want to move to an uninhabited island until your child becomes an adult. However, we know that’s not going to happen! The best we can do is enjoy the time we have with our young people, and be awesome role models. As a parent, my goal in 2015 is to be a better listener and example setter. What are your parent goals for 2015?
Love between dads & daughters
It’s easy to be the type of parent that says “Do What I Say” instead of being the type of role model that you want your son or daughter to follow. God holds us accountable to be the best parents we can be. Fatherless or motherless kids are forced to raise themselves and we have seen the devastation that a kid trying to raise himself/herself brings.
Are you committed to being the best parent you can possibly be? Our kids spell L-O-V-E with T-I-M-E. Make 2015 special with the time, love and commitment that you share with your son or daughter. Dads talk to that pre-teen daughter about a pledge to wait before having sex. Moms help your son become the best man he can become by holding him accountable to complete tasks and responsibilities when you assign them.
Is parenting easy? Not at all, however you can do this. And I can help! Become a part of my new parent membership program called Parent Sense. Click here to give me your contact information so that I can notify you with more details.
Happy New Parenting Year!
C. Lynn Williams, Ms. Parent Guru
The Distance Between Us
The song Ooh, baby-baby by Smokey Robinson is a story about losing someone you love through an act of betrayal. The singer pours his soul out to the woman he loves in hopes she will take him back.
This story is a different interpretation of the song.
Picture a mother and daughter suffering from the experience of those teen year growing pains.
The communication between the two consists of arguments of whom or what may be right or wrong.
Finally the daughter feels it’s not worth the struggle anymore. She thinks -” Mom will never understand me and I don’t know what her problem is and furthermore I don’t care”.
Tired and feeling that she is not being heard or understood she decides that anywhere is better than home and runs away,leaving mom feeling helpless and with long sleepless nights. Not a waking moment pases without mom wondering where…
View original post 292 more words
The #Ferguson Experience
We are living through a time of dichotomies. What’s good for you & your family is not necessarily what’s good for me & mine. Clearly this is true for Michael Brown, his family and officer Darren Wilson.
As a Divine spirit living a human existence as an African-American mother, I do not know how to talk to my sons about their rights as African-American males in these United States. It is unfortunate that my sons who have been educated and raised in American schools, and lived a middle class life, can have their lives taken in cold blooded murder by a trigger-happy law enforcement officer. #TrayvonMartin
To make matters worse, yesterday the grand jury decided that Officer Wilson was justified in shooting an unarmed teen and voted not to indict. #MichaelBrown #Ferguson
It is at times like these that I understand and agree with the philosophies of H. Rap Brown versus those of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
This Ferguson experience is unexplainable to me. How do I continue to justify America’s social justice to my sons? A society that allows the killing of African-American males is not the answer to its’ problems. It’s just a matter of time, before my son becomes your son. #removethemaskoffear
If you want to continue this discussion about protecting our #sons, sign up for my Parenting Newsletter. Want to ask questions or dialogue with me about how tough adult issues affect our families; reach out to me on Twitter @MsParentguru or on my Facebook fan page www.Facebook.com/CGWWBooks. #parenting
C. Lynn Williams, #MsParentguru
Author & Generational Development Specialist
www.clynnwilliams.com
Trying to Stay Sane While Raising Your Teen (St. Paul Press, 2010)
The Pampered Prince: Moms Create a GREAT Relationship with Your Son (St. Paul Press, 2012)
Raising Your Daughter Through the Joys, Tears & HORMONES! (220 Publishing, 2013)
Queen Latifah & Her Mom… #SustainingtheBond
Mothers, we are always giving to our children right?
I found this wonderful article about one of my sheroes, (actress and talk show host Queen Latifah) and how she is helping her mother through a serious illness. The bond between a mother and her daughter is can be a good one, might need work or may not exist at all. Don’t you agree?
Below is a reprint of part of the People Magazine article dated May 1, 2014 by Monica Rizzo.
Despite her very public persona, Queen Latifah has long been private about her family life. But last spring as she was ramping up production for her syndicated daytime talk show, The Queen Latifah Show, the entertainer was taking on a personal commitment to take charge of her mother Rita Owens’s round-the-clock medical needs.
Owens, 64, was diagnosed last year with scleroderma, an incurable autoimmune disease that has caused scar tissue build up (pulmonary fibrosis) in her lungs. Owens also has pulmonary hypertension (blood pressure in the lungs), which impacts her ability to breathe.
“I wasn’t going to do the show unless she came here,” Latifah tells PEOPLE in its latest issue. “I knew she was dealing with her health issues sometimes and I would not be able to get to her as easily.”
Despite the challenges caring for someone who’s ill, Latifah, 44, says she can’t imagine anyone else looking after her mother.
“Anyone who has a job and then has a family member at home who is ill, it’s 24 hours. You have to be there. They need you,” says Latifah, who enlisted friends and family members to help out while she’s at work. “I try to be as in the moment and as present as possible. And then I try to get some sleep and go to work and be present there and then go home and be present there.”
“It’s not a day or night that she doesn’t peek her head in my room and make sure I’m okay,” says Owens, a former high school teacher. “If it’s medical she’ll go in and grill the doctors and make sure they are doing what they are supposed to do. She sacrifices her time, her resources. She genuinely loves me and I know that.”
For more from Latifah and her mother, including details on Owens’ condition and her treatment, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE magazine.
If you are taking care of an aging parent (and raising children) part of the sandwich generation. To learn more about loving and communicating with your mother, invest in a copy of my book, ‘Raising Your Daughter Through the Joys, Tears & HORMONES. http://bit.ly/Uzr9v6 If you would like to ask questions or dialogue with me about how tough adult issues affect our daughters, reach out to me on Twitter www.twitter.com/cgwwbook or on my Facebook fan page www.Facebook.com/CGWWBooks. Use hashtag #TellHerTheTruth
C. Lynn Williams, #MsParentguru
Author & Generational Development Strategist
Trying to Stay Sane While Raising Your Teen (St. Paul Press, 2010)
The Pampered Prince: Moms Create a GREAT Relationship with Your Son (St. Paul Press, 2012)
Raising Your Daughter Through the Joys, Tears & HORMONES! (220 Publishing, 2013)
P.S. If you have a daughter and live in the Chicago area, treat yourselves to a half-day retreat on Nov. 22nd to share stories, experiences, bond and renew your relationship with each other. Here’s the link to register: mymothermyself.eventbrite.com
3 Things You Want to Know…
(Reblogged from The Parenting Skill Daily)
Parenting Tips: My Teen Lost His Phone, What Do I Do?
By Olfa Turki
Looking for parenting tips on how to handle it when your teen loses his phone? Read my story to see how I handled it! My teen is in high school and commutes for one hour a day. To keep my sanity, my husband and I provided him with a cellphone for emergency calls. It was a long debate at our home, whether we can trust a 12 year old with a cellphone. But since I am a helicopter mom and since he is commuting for a long time, I wanted to feel safe and be able to reach him during his commute. I wanted him to be able to reach me in case something happens: a bus missed, a metro not working.
Substance Abuse – Does It Run In Families
By Eric Metcalf, MPH
@EricMetcalfMPH
Want to know if you’re likely to develop a health problem? Looking at your family history can often help you measure your level of risk.
For example, if a close family member has had type 2 diabetes, certain forms of cancer, or heart disease, you may also have a greater chance of developing the condition, too. The same is true for alcoholism and drug addiction. If a close family member has had a substance abuse problem, your risk is also higher.
Some of the extra risk that runs in families comes from the genes that one generation passes down to another. But other elements within your family can influence if you develop a problem with drugs or alcohol. For example, drinking too much or using drugs may have seemed normal to you from an early age because you saw family members do it.
What Kids Need to Know About EBOLA (Video)
Shared by Ann Morgan James
If you want to read more #parenting tips, follow My Blog and sign up for my Parenting Newsletter. Want to ask questions or dialogue with me about how tough adult issues affect our families; reach out to me on Twitter @cgwwbook or Like my Facebook fan page www.Facebook.com/CGWWBooks. #ParentTips
C. Lynn Williams, #MsParentguru
Author & Generational Development Specialist
www.clynnwilliams.com
Trying to Stay Sane While Raising Your Teen (St. Paul Press, 2010)
The Pampered Prince: Moms Create a GREAT Relationship with Your Son (St. Paul Press, 2012)
Raising Your Daughter Through the Joys, Tears & HORMONES! (220 Publishing, 2013)
P.S. Hey… I have a new book coming out soon about #BlendedFamilies. Get in touch w/me if you want to be one of the first to read a short excerpt…
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