Parents Educated on Seasonal Stress, Commercialism and Family Traditions

Palo Alto Medical Foundation, San Carlos School District Present 'December Dilemma'

With the holidays just around the corner, San Carlos parents learned some strategies for "The December Dilemma" -– seasonal stress, dealing with materialism and children and establishing family traditions.

The presentation, attended by more than 90 parents, was the second in a series of six free parent education workshops.

The workshop, which was presented through a partnership between the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), the San Carlos School District and the San Carlos Educational Foundation, was held on Wednesday, November 10 at Heather Elementary School in San Carlos.

Speaker Jomary Hilliard, Ph.D., presented ideas for moving away from commercialism and materialism during the holiday season, managing parent and child expectations, identifying and living family values and establishing meaningful rituals and traditions.

"I’ve learned the enduring things we do during the holidays are what speak to our children eternally," said Dr. Hilliard, a parent educator from Parents Place, a local organization that specializes in parent education.

Dr. Hilliard began the workshop by sharing her personal experiences of raising three sons. She told the audience that what parents really need to give children during the holiday season, regardless of their family’s religion and celebrations, is a sense of closeness, values and traditions. She suggested putting as much emphasis in the giving as the getting.

"Put time and energy into teaching your children about the giving spirit," said Dr. Hilliard.

She also discussed the risks of giving children everything they ask for, which can make children become overly focused on themselves and have a sense of entitlement. Having a lot, or most of, your wishes met is counterproductive to children developing motivation and academic skills, said the licensed psychologist.

The parent education series will continue through April with speakers including licensed clinical social workers, registered dietitians, researchers and physicians from PAMF and Parents Place.

Karen Astrachan, R.D., CDE, a registered dietitian with PAMF’s Department of Nutrition Services, will present the third workshop, “A Recipe for Healthy Eating,” on Wednesday, January 11, from 7 to 9 p.m. Astrachan will discuss how to make eating fun and healthy, eating together as a family, dealing with power struggles around eating and coping with children’s body image issues.

All presentations will be held in the MultiUse Room at Heather Elementary School located at 2757 Melendy Drive. The complete schedule of parent education workshops is available online at www.pamf.org/preteen/parents/scsdclasses.html.

The Palo Alto Medical Foundation for Health Care, Research and Education is a not-for-profit health care organization that is a pioneer in both multispecialty group practice of medicine and outpatient medicine. The foundation has three health care divisions: the Palo Alto Division, the Camino Division and the Santa Cruz Division. The Palo Alto Division, staffed by 290 physicians of the Palo Alto Medical Clinic, has provided a full range of care for Peninsula residents since it was founded in 1930. It operates clinics in Fremont, Los Altos, Palo Alto, Portola Valley, Redwood City and Redwood Shores. PAMF is part of the Sutter Health family of not-for-profit physician organizations and hospitals that share resources and expertise to advance health care quality. Serving more than 100 communities in Northern California, Sutter Health is a regional leader in cardiac care as well as care of women and children, and is a pioneer in advanced patient safety technology. For more information, visit www.pamf.org.
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