Do you know what grooming behavior is? In the skeevy, underbelly, predatory sense of the word? During body safety assemblies when I speak to school kids about grooming, I say, “I’m not talking about brushing your Golden Retriever’s fur.” To me, Grooming is the process a sexual predator uses to gain the trust of a potential
In my effort to gain more expertise in the area of child safety, I recently went through two trainings from the national organization, Darkness to Light. Darkness to Light is a non-profit committed to empowering adults to prevent child sexual abuse. The first training was the 30-minute program, “Protecting Children During a Crisis,” created with
My first book ever—a children’s book—is here! At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the founder of the nonprofit Shield Task Force asked a favor. “Will you please write a children’s book, that in a non-threatening way, shows kids what “grooming” is? “Grooming” is the process by which a sexual predator gains the trust of
As a body safety educator in the state of West Virginia, my job is keeping kids safe. From situations like sexual abuse, bullying, neglect, and more. So far this year, I’ve taught 1,800 K-8th graders how to stop the bad guys (or gals) in their lives. The keeping kids safe process can be distilled down
Your story is your glory. My boss, Karen Haring—founder and executive director at the nonprofit Libera—loves that saying. Personally I’m fond of an offshoot of this idea: “Your mess is your message.” These two sayings took on new meaning for me recently when… I volunteered as a “Listener” at a body safety assembly in a
Question: How are you protecting your children during the pandemic situation we’re currently experiencing? During the pandemic, child abuse statistics have fallen. In West Virginia, and no doubt, all 50 states. You may think that’s a good thing. I did. But it’s not a good thing. Over half of all reports of child abuse are
So this week, in the interest of protecting children from sexual abuse, I did a thing. I told my story—you know, the icky one—to a group of community care providers, many of them practicing counselors. My co-presenter was Robert Peters, founder of SHIELD Task Force, Senior Cyber and Economic Crime Attorney with the National White
Have you established a chore system for kids in your house? If not, you should consider it. Years ago I attended a Mother of Middle Schoolers meeting led by Marya, a fabulous gal slightly further down the parenting path than me. That morning I learned that I stood alone in the I-do-every-single-thing-for-my-kids camp. “When did
Do you want your kids to grow into excellent humans? If so, today’s post with parenting tips is for you. Tony Bear and I have raised three kids that we think are pretty great. Lots of people have assured us this is true. So how did we do it? By the grace of God. And
A meandering stream-of-consciousness-and-crowdsourced-mothering-advice. Childhood 101: Things every child should know To kick off my massive list of mothering advice, here are nine things every child should know how/why to do. Read (and hopefully love books) Swim Ride a bike Drive a car Shake hands firmly Speak clearly while making eye contact Do laundry Put 10%
