RTV #17 Unite Families with a Group Garage Sale

Mothers United Community Garage Sale

A Year of Raising the Village: Week #17.  Baby gear for sale!


Recycling baby stuff is good for our environment. Recycling ideas is great for building community!

A mother from a local parent 'n' tot group attended a "Mothers United"Garage Sale in a much larger, neighbouring community. It was an event filled with great bargains for new parents and a way to pass along perfectly good, but no longer necessary, baby "gear" to those who needed it. It also was an opportunity steeped in sharing, connecting, supporting and celebrating parenthood.

This mom returned to town thinking that - if they can do it, we can do it too! Committed to sharing the experience with her local friends, she recruited vendors (parents with stuff to sell) and worked with the local Community School to arrange space with tables and chairs. The first year was a HUGE success - so much so that the Community School saw the garage sale as an effective vehicle to support local families and build community. It is now an event that is held twice a year.

Cathy Cross, the Community School coordinator says, "I am amazed by the number of pregnant women and women with young babies that I see. Young parents with young families; grandparents shopping for and with grandchildren; it's a promise for the future of our community. It is community building in a literal sense of the word. But there is also community building in the sense that a mom is a mom is a mom: no matter what the circumstance. Everyone in the room has a common starting point. Children and babies bring out the best in us and we work from there. I hear people exchanging information on programs, people, where to find this or that. We are not only recycling baby clothes (and money) but we are sharing information. Most exciting is the buzz in the room as everyone is talking and sharing."

Is there baby gear that could be recycled in your community? Are there some great community building ideas that can be recycled too?

Village Raising Tip: Here are a few tips from Cathy to help your version of a Mothers United Garage Sale work well:

• Be clear and confirm with vendors who are interested in setting up a table
• Always have a waiting list because there are always people who end up cancelling (life happens)
• Advertise, advertise, advertise - and enlist the vendors to spread the word (and posters) among their friends and connections

RTV# 16 Balance Screen Time!

A Year of Raising the Village: Week #16. How Balanced is our Screen Time? Who is sitting in front of a screen right now? Chances are, if you are reading this, you are! Have you ever tracked the number of hours you spend face to face with a screen (TV's, cell's, iPod's, iPad's, computers etc.)? The number might surprise you and send a message about what kind of balance you currently hold between face to face screen time and face to face connecting-with-the-rest-of-the-world time. Why not set a challenge and see if you can reduce the time spent in front of the screen and encourage the children and families you know to do the same?!

Call it a celebration... that is what one initiative is doing this very week. April 18th to 24th is Screen Free Week. Turn off screens and Turn on Life! Check out http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/screenfreeweek/why.htm Technology is not all bad - but it takes a balanced and informed approach to reap the benefits while leaving behind the rest (for children, teens AND adults!) Here are a few more bits and pieces that ring the "pay attention bell" to how much plugged in time we take in:

• Based on an analysis of brain development literature during early childhood, research concludes that heavy computer use prior to age seven may generate in diminished language skills, interpersonal difficulties and an inability to play symbolically. (Jane Healy, 1998, Failure to Connect: How computers affect our children's mind - and what we can do about it.)

• Check out this is a fascinating TED Talk by Patricia Kuhl looking at linguistic abilities of babies. There is one part of the research that compares learning from a person (live) and learning from the same person but on a screen. Guess what the result was? Nothing from a screen and significant from person to person interaction. http://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_kuhl_the_linguistic_genius_of_babies.html

Village Raising Question: What does your screen balance look like? (and what are you going to do about it?)

RTV #15 Blitz a family friendly business crusade!

• A Year of Raising the Village. Week #15. What makes a business child & family friendly?




• When do you know that you’ve stepped into a child and family friendly business? What signs do you look for? Is it the children’s clothing displayed around the room or toy area in the corner? (Maybe) Is it the age appropriate products or services? (Perhaps) Or do you look deeper?




• What makes a child and family friendly business?

How about a business that maintains employee benefits and human resource policies that truly support a growing family: Check out Naples Alliance for Children http://www.napleschild.org/family_friendly.php This resource includes small and large business criteria. “The importance of family policies and benefits in the workplace is becoming crucial to men and women when they evaluate employment opportunities and also to employers who compete for working parents in the labor market. Employers are now called upon to create a work environment that meets the expanding and challenging role of the working parent. Family Friendly workplace programs payoff in dividends by attracting and retaining the best employees, increasing productivity, increasing employee morale, reducing turnover, absenteeism and tardiness, and reducing health costs related to stress.”

How about a business that evaluates their practices: The Family and Parenting Institute in UK http://www.familyandparenting.org/reportCard2010 has an excellent review of the multiple issues related to family friendly business practices including work/life balance, cost of raising a child, maternity and paternity benefits, transportation and housing costs, neighbourhoods and green spaces….. How does your community score? They also have a survey on family friendly services http://www.familyandparenting.org/familyFriendlyServices

How about a business that upholds ethical commerce & safety: Ethical commerce commits to the well being of children and families and considers design, manufacturing and sales (among a host of other important criteria). They follow the UN Convention of the Rights!

Ethical marketing: See: http://www.parentsforethicalmarketing.org/

Businesses Safety of children: This link celebrates business for installing seat belts on shopping carts: http://www.welcometowilliamslake.ca/index.php/business-profiles/2647-local-businesses-thanked-for-family-friendly-practices.html

Ethical Commerce is part of the foundational work that the Centre for Child Honouring upholds http://childhonouring.org/covenantprinciples.html or http://childhonouring.org/blog.html?item=108

So come on people, engage with business...start a family friendly business crusade! Talk about what attitudes, practices, policies and atmospheres affect you and send the message that children and families matter! Village Raising Question: What messages do your local businesses send to children and families?

RTV #14 Embrace Change. Spark Change

A Year of Raising the Village - Week #14. Be the change you wish to see!

Einstein said that we can't solve problems with the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. That means that if we want to see change we have to change ourselves. Change isn't easy for many people. (that is probably an understatement!) As a village raiser, we have the opportunity to set an example by being agents of change. Carla Rieger, a Vancouver based "creativity catalyst" (http://www.artistryofchange.com/) recently shared her top 3 practices in what she describes as the artistry of change.


Choose your attitude.
Fish! (by Stephen Lundin) also does a great job outlining how attitude is all about choice. Feelings are things we can't control, but when it comes to how we approach and respond to situations - we are in the driver's seat. Ask yourself: what attitude are you choosing right now? What attitude do you want in your life more often? What attitude do you want to model in your home, workplace, neighbourhood and community? What attitude will it take to raise the village?


Let go and lean into problems.
Rieger suggests that if the roller coaster of life starts to go downhill, act as if you are confident about dealing with the situation until you also feel confident. It's a "fake it until you make it" or "think it and you'll be it" scenario. Actions and feelings are intertwined. Psychology suggests that the brain tells the body how to feel and then the body acts accordingly. As the roller coaster starts going downhill, pry your white knuckles off the bar, lean into the rapid change in altitude and FEEL (don't resist) the thrill. Recently, a group of innovative village raisers came together getting ready for ACTION! They had talked and explored and researched and were narrowing in on a project that had some exciting potential. The closer the group got to making a decision, people resisted, hesitated and pulled back with increasing force, Rieger calls these folks change-challenged. Take her quiz to find out if you are change-challenged or a change artist - and LEAN in.

Think in possibilities.
Creative thinking can be learned and practiced. Books (and apps) are filled with brain games to generate ideas, create new opportunities and improve old products or processes. Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko is just one resource that we use to break out of traditional patterns of thinking and play around in the innovation sandbox. Gamestorming by Gray, Brown and Mucanufo is another one that has tools for groups. Ask "what if" more often.

Ghandi said be the change you want to see. Can't argue with that! Einstein and Ghandi were pretty smart and both changed the world!

Related blogs:
Take the Change-agent Challenge
Be a Mischief-maker


Village Raising Question: What's the change you are going to be?