Many know and participate in pink clad festivities during October to raise awareness around breast cancer. It’s staggering to know that one in eight women will develop invasive breast cancer during her lifetime. Did you also know that October is domestic violence awareness month and that one in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime? Unfortunately both cancer and abuse can be silent killers, one because of detection and the other because of fear.
Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior used to establish power and control over another person through fear and intimidation, often including the threat or use of violence. We should all be concerned about domestic violence, domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence and intimate partner violence because it creates violence in our communities and negatively impacts our children. You may be surprised to know that children are present during nine of out ten domestic disputes. They are more likely to have health problems, including becoming sick more often, having frequent headaches or stomachaches, and being more tired and lethargic. Thirty to sixty percent of children raised in violent homes are also abused or neglected, especially those who intervene to protect the parent being attacked. More often than not help is not received because the abuse goes undetected or unreported, which invites the cycle of violence to continue into the next generation. Female children who do not receive help are more likely to experience abuse as teenagers and adults, while male children are far more likely to become abusers of their partners and/or children as adults.
Domestic violence and abuse can happen to anyone, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, income, or other factors. There may be people you chat with everyday that are experiencing abuse or are survivors of abuse and you wouldn’t even know. As members of the Cayman Islands community we need to be informed and address what we see to schools or RCIPS in order to make the change. You can find more information at www.nnedv.org.
I read an article recently that suggested that September proves to be a stressful time for many, even those who do not attend school. I agreed with this on numerous levels because, as an adult, I was sad that my opportunity to live life as it as it came was ending. Gone where my days of rising to the day refreshed and full of energy, frolicking outside with my kids all day and consuming chapters of a novel like a kid eating cake. I’m sure you experienced the same during your Mary Poppins-like holiday.
Let’s stick with this imagery of sun falling through the window on your smiling face as you stretch in your perfectly rumpled bed in the morning. It’s September… you continue to awaken refreshed, and breeze through your own morning preparation before skipping into the kitchen to prepare a breakfast your children happily gobble up. They wash their own dishes, grab their healthy, picture perfect lunches and head to the car. As you pull onto the road you notice no other vehicles and peacefully arrive at school. Your children give you a kiss and hug before gliding off with beams radiating from their smiling face and you drive off with a sense of pride and appreciation for life. I know that is not reality for most, but what if we kept those images in our minds so there was the possibility of it happening three out of five weekdays?
Sometimes preparing oneself is the best way to glide through the scenarios of life so here are a few:
Have a comeback.
- “I am so happy to see your face this morning,” even if he/she is grumpy.
- Let him/her do something you don’t always allow (i.e. pour his/her own milk).
- Tell a “when you were little,” story.
- Give a hug. (I know I could use one most mornings.)
- Take a breath and move on.
- Ask how he/she would do it.
- Just be with him/her for two minutes.
- Ask “can we start over?”
- See him/her as a human…like you.
- Think about how being rigid, screaming, or critical can make the morning worse…then don’t do it.
Have a plan for breakfast and lunch the night before.
- Make easy to freeze foods (i.e. muffins, breads, pancakes, waffles) on the weekend and simply pop into the toaster oven the morning of.
- Have cut up fruit and veggies available in the fridge to just grab.
- Pack left over dinner into smaller, easy to pack containers.
- Distribute large containers of food into smaller containers (i.e. 32 oz. Yogurt into four 1 cup containers).
Get them to bed.
Don’t forget to do the same for yourself because you’re back to school (and work) too.
Education is defined as the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life. As parents, we send our children to educational institutions with the ultimate goal of them being provided with the necessary tools for a successful life. As teachers, we take on the role of directing students in their mental and social expansion so they can be a successful member of society.
As a society, we are learning something new on a daily basis whether through personal experience, conversation with family and friends or the media. Montessori By The Sea makes every effort to remain informed as well so we can best implement educational policies posed by the Cayman Islands government or consider new advances in child development.
As a member of our learning community, please feel free to look through any of these recent child development articles.
Happy Christmas Breeze,
‘Why Our Boys Are Falling Behind in School and What We Do About it’
‘Does My Kid Need Therapy?’
‘Preschoolers and Sleep: What Parents Should Know’
‘Understanding THAT Kid-The One Who Hits, Kicks and Disrupts the Class’