Page 56 - Sonoma County Gazette February 2017

Love...Chocolate and Parenting Fails
Feb 11 ~ 13th Annual Saralee McClelland Kunde Memorial Sonoma County Youth Pruning Contest and Viticulture Challenge -Judged on skill, speed and safety. Pruning contest is open to all Sonoma County Youth, Free. 9:00am. at: SRJC Shone Farm, 7450 Steve Olson Ln,Submit their registration forms no later than Feb 4 Contact Taylor Serres at 707- 695-9144 or TaylorSerres@gmail.com.
Feb 11 ~ Bring the kids and grandkids for an fun afternoon of printmaking and making handbills or valentines. Make your own psychedelic artwork, a macrame key chain, a tie-dye tile coaster, and get your face painted. Free with admission. Pre-registration is not required. Donations welcome to defray cost of materials. Children 12 and under are free but must be accompanied by an adult. 2-4p History Museum of Sonoma County, 425 Seventh Street Santa Rosa
Feb 18 ~ Masquerade Ball - Put on your mask and dance the night away! This whimsical event is sure to delight and create lasting memories. Chaperones and kids will create a special memory with a masquerade theme as they dance to fun music! $30 per Couple $10 per child - 3p-8:30p - Finley Community Center 2060 W. College Ave., Santa Rosa, 3-5pm Ages 3-6 | 6:30-8:30pm Ages 6-12 Pre-registration is required, 707-543- 3737
Feb 16 ~ Sean Marshall & Sonoma Country Day School Students: Circuit Bench -Sonoma Country Day School elementary students, led by Network Administrator and Maker Extraordinaire Sean Marshall, built a musical/light up bench as part of their science curriculum and donated the finished product to the CMOSC. Join them on this special evening to hear more about the inspiration that lit up students and adults alike, and the process of bringing the bench, and plenty of learning, to life. - Free - 6-7p - Dow Event Center at CMOSC 1835 W Steele Lane
Feb 26 ~ SSU Symphony Orchestra: “Carnival of the Animals” -The Sonoma State Symphony Orchestra presents its first-ever family concert, Bay Area’s premiere marionette group, will enact stories and dances inspired by the music. Stay for the post-concert instrument petting zoo! Tickets: $8. Children Free- 2p -Weill Hall at the Green Music Center 1801 E. Cotati Ave. Rohnert Park
Feb 27 ~ Dealing with Disobedience Discussion Group - This group gives positive parenting suggestions to help you understand why children disobey and strategies to set appropriate limits. Free to all parents with children under six years-old and not in kindergarten. 6-8p - at The Children’s Museum of Sonoma County, 1835 W. Steele Ln., Santa Rosa. Sign up online: cmosc.org/ triple-p-parenting-sessions
By Anya Conco
In my family, the physical embodiment of love is chocolate. I didn’t mean for this
to happen. I know all about the psychological damage done when food is used as reward and punishment. There were extenuating circumstances, I swear! A toddler that would not eat to the point of losing weight and doctor who told us to try chocolate ice cream... It worked and resulted in a kid who is addicted to, motivated by and planning to
Call for Entries
By Feb 15 ~ The Sonoma West Medical Foundation is sponsoring a “Name The Robot” contest for elementary school students in Palm Drive Health Care District. Each school is encouraged to submit a winning name from their entries to:info@sonomawestfoundation. org *To arrange a field trip to the hospital in advance please call 707-823-8312. There will be a celebration with a robot- naming ceremony for the winner and prizes awarded.
Events
~ Hands-on fun focused on science, arts and nature. Mon, Wed & Fri 10am - Story Time (English), Thurs 10am Music, Fri 2pm, Sat 10am Science. Admission: $10; members and children 12 months and under free.: 707-546-4069. cmosc.org. Children’s Museum of Sonoma County, 1835 W Steele Ln, Santa Rosa
Program is free for qualifying families. A 2 thru 5 day program is also available for a fee. Families are not required to live in Bodega Bay to particiate. Sessions are from 8:30a - noon daily. Bodega Bay School 1200 Canon St. Bodega Bay - Contact Nancy Wolf707-875-2724
Feb 2 ~ Thursday Night Magic Show - Evening of comedy & magic at Shuffle’s Magical Ice Cream Shoppe. for kids 10 and up.Tickets include a scoop of ice cream. $10. 8p - 8:30p - Shuffle’s Magical Ice Cream Shoppe 123 4th St. Santa Rosa
Feb3&4-GiveKidsaSmile-more than 200 dental professionals will provide free dental services at 11 sites. Contact Cory Spencer 707-544-6911x1083 scooper@capsonoma.org capsonoma. org/givekidsasmile
Feb 4 ~ Family Art Day - Join us at The Healdsburg School for: Live Mural, Hands on art projects, Student art Gallery, Live Music and Children’s Theater performances, Video/Film Workshop. 1-4pm The Healdsburg School 33 Healdsburg Ave H, Healdsburg
- Moms, Dads, and daycare providers – bring yourlittle ones out to Shell Beach for a look inside theSteward Ship and a day of tidepooling, puppets,and story time adventures! Free - 11:30a - 2p Low Tide 12:40 PM(+0.3). at Shell Beach off Hwy 1
Feb 8 ~ Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters - The splendor of Zimbabwe bursts onto stage in this beautiful African tale that has been compared to the story of Cinderella. Arrive early for Free Fun with Art projects for the whole family, and pizza and drinks at our concessions stand, all starting one-hour before the show! $12 - $17 - 6:30p - 8p - Luther Burbank Center For The Arts 50 Mark West Springs Rd, Santa Rosa, California
marry chocolate. This is a kid who, at, three, cried at someone else’s birthday party because the “cake’s not chocolate!”. Who will, without emotion, toss away stfuls of Skittles and Smarties from her Valentine’s bag, yet squeal with delight over one Hersey Kiss.
Due to a cruel mother
who refuses to o er an
uninterrupted supply
of chocolate (me) and
a smart, reasonable girl
who understands why
not (the now eight-year
old chocolate end)
and a tiny, ridiculous
toddler who wants
everything her sister has and goes nuclear ten minutes after a second cookie (the two-year old), we struggle to nd other ways to express love in our house, and leave chocolate for breakfast (Nutella on pancakes) and special treats (everytime she goes to Gramma’s house).
Children’s Museum of Sonoma County
Snuggles are a popular stand-in for sweets, but nothing is easy in my house. The biggirl only wants to cuddle when I am on the phone, nursing the baby or very short on patience after the third hour of bedtime. When I o er a spontaneous hug, she can’t be bothered. “Ack, stop squeezing me! I’m reading!” If she accepts
I fantasize about a bathtub of Sauvignon Blanc at 8:05 PM. I think about the chocolate brownies I made for dessert, unsure if I can serve them now. Is that rewarding bad behavior? If I put them away for tomorrow is it withholding food as punishment? My brain hurts.
Feb 5 ~ Toddler & Pre-K Tidepool Day
In truth, the reason not to use food as a reward is because when it feels like time to put limits on the junk-food madness, it feels like a sudden withholding of love. The children feel like they are being punished, rather than protected and nourished with good food in place of the junk. But what does one do when they have already gone down the rabbit hole?
It is possible and preferable to slowly shift things... Dessert happens occasionally, whether the plate is cleaned or not. A reward for good grades is a trip to the pottery painting studio. A treat for showing initiative is something from the new toy drawer... (I’ll teach you how to get rid of all those junky toys and chipped, half-painted kittens in my next article, Minimalism with Mini Me’s!) The point is, be consistent and take time to transition from sugary motivation to non-food rewards. Doing it in one fell swoop is sure to back re.
the hug, the toddler runs up and tries to pry us apart. “Mine Mama! Noooo!” You can’t win.
Preschool Program in Bodega Bay
So we try positive reinforcement. “I love the way you put your shoes away and helped your sister with her’s!” I said, last Tuesday. “Well, I knew you’d yell at me if I didn’t.” Um, Okay. At least she’s learning. Twenty-minutes later. “Stella, will you please wash your hands for dinner?” Her reply, “Oh my God, I was just going to watch Zombie Style on Youtube. You ruin all the fun! You’re always interrupting meeeeee!” She shouts, I shout. We all lose. She buries her nose in a book,
56 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 2/17