Hooray For Parenting: Workbook & Discussion Guide
by Jackie Michel
Look ahead fifteen or twenty years. Just imagine what the world will be like, the world our chil- dren will inherit. Given the changes happening right now in the culture, the social values, tech- nology, and the environment, how do you think about your role in guiding and contributing to your children?
Do you have an idea of what your kids are thinking about? Are they sharing their hopes, dreams, and worries with you?
Hooray for each and every one of you who has chosen to explore more deeply the connection and impact you have on your kids and the pathway you are creating for their future. A core premise of Hooray for Parenting: Your Guide to Raising Great Kids is that parents are, in fact, leaders, even heroes and heroines, who have been given lots of advice about what to do with little focus on their own gifts, their vision, their strengths, or who they are being in their role as parents.
It is my sense that parents receive little support, preparation, or acknowledgment for the critical role they play in raising the next generation. As one woman said to me, “You need a license to catch a fish, but not to raise a human being. Most of us just make it up as we go along.”
What if parents in our culture were supported?
What if they discovered that through learning from the inside out, growing and gaining mastery, their sense of effectiveness and well-being would expand enormously?
As a companion to the book Hooray for Parenting, this workbook is designed to contribute to each of you who takes the time to a) explore the questions in depth, b) examine the personal relevance of the core distinctions, and c) understand how your own individual narratives play a role in your interactions with your children.
The practice of examining one’s own mindset provides a pathway to a transformed way of being as a parent, so you react less and bring more thought and care to every decision, action, and communication you have with your children.
As you ponder the workbook questions, you will be engaging in a journey of self-discovery. You will experience being challenged yet empowered and validated in your most demanding, multifaceted, and meaningful role: being a parent.
This workbook also includes a guide to running a parent discussion group to facilitate a positive connection with others. Sharing feelings, insights, and ideas along with the stresses, strains, and successes with other parents is a wonderful source of support, perspective, affirmation, and friendship.
Thank you for caring and contributing to your kids growing up in a culture of goodness, kindness, respect for others, and for Mother Earth. And also, thank you for your commitment to their future and the future of all children that they may live in a just and sustainable world—a world that works for everyone.– Jackie
Ready to Learn More?
Jackie Michel
Author
Jackie Michel was born in New York City and grew up in Flushing, NY. After attending Oberlin College, and graduating with a Master’s Degree from Simmons School of Social Work in Boston, she has had an exciting and varied career as a psychotherapist, executive coach, consultant and trainer.
No matter where she has been – Boston, Houston or New York – in her office with individuals or families, the executive office with business and not-for-profit leaders, consulting with teachers, psychotherapists, or entrepreneurs, the issue of parenting is always humming in the background. All the insight and wisdom she has gained from so many has inspired her down to earth approach.
In addition, her breadth of experience as a mother of two, grandmother of six and volunteer has contributed to her optimistic, realistic approach to writing about parenting.
As a volunteer in the early days of The Hunger Project, she started the committee in Houston, and created unique programs involving hundreds of people. In New York, she was a Rotary Youth Exchange Host mother and served as the Japan Country Contact on the Rotary District Youth Exchange Committee. Later, she co-created Breakthrough Central New York in Utica, NY and now serves as a volunteer for the Onondaga Earth Corps in Syracuse, NY.
Her husband, Peter Michel is a nationally known sculptor with public art work in Upstate, NY, Springfield, Mass, Urbana. Ill, Houston, Dallas and Washington, D.C.
