Parent Education

One of our program's goals is to empower parents with information and strategies they can use to parent their children. Each week every parent learns something new, from the small things; there is a music and movement class at the Library tonight, to the big things; never shake your baby. Earlier this month, while showing a video introducing our program - which included a warning to never shake a baby, a new Mom stopped me to ask; "What does this mean? I didn't know this about shaking my baby. What could it do?" I immediately paused the video and discussed the seriousness of shaking a baby or child, and what tragic outcomes can occur. The Mom was so surprised and told me that even though she had four children, she had never heard anything about shaking a baby, and she was horrified thinking about what could have happened. The next week she told me that she had told her family and friends, and that she didn't want anyone else to think that this was okay. It is impossible to know what every parent already knows, so this is a reminder to never assume anything.

JT