Parents for Change

Lot of fun stuff happening around Parents for Change in March and early April.  First off, we are having an AMAZING membership drive.  Through April 15th, you can test-drive Parents for Change for 30 days for FREE. Wait, did I really say FREE - Yep!

Plus, through the end of March, we are having a great contest! Enjoy a FREE dinner on us!  How? Just contribute to Parents for Change! You must be a member to participate and win the contest! So Join Now!

If you are a member of Parents for Change, you may have noticed a number of emails from the Parents for Change website in the last weeks. What's up with that? Well, as many of you know, I am a great networker... connecting people, resources, you name it! But when it comes to follow through...keeping people connected with my projects... not so good. Thank goodness there are a number of great resources to do the job for me!

The emails, updates and newsletters you have received and will continue to receive are courtesy of a great online resource called, AWeber. Aweber makes it fairly easy to create both newsletters and auto-responders.  What is an auto-responder? It is a message that goes out within x number of days of someone signing up. For example, after confirming that you wanted to be included in the Parents for Change mailing list, you received an auto-responder welcome message. Then again, 5 days later, you have or will receive a message about our March content contest.  You can schedule an unlimited number of auto-responder messages. Don't worry, I have no intention of overloading you mailbox!  From Parents for Change, you'll get a newsletter twice a month and an occasional auto-responder message to remind you of the great resources and opportunities to get involved.  But think about what this could mean for your passion or business!

I'm writing this blog for all of my friends, family and colleagues who want to jump into the tech-sphere: blogs, text messaging, message boards, etc. but are totally lost on the shorthand. The fact is that if you want to have a presence in these areas, you have to understand the crazy acronyms and shorthand that are prevalent  (and trust me fellow parents, our children are heading there so we best follow, if for no other reason than to keep an eye on them!)

Here is some of the common techie shorthand I use and read on a daily basis. You can also view a more comprehesive list here.

As parents, we quickly realize that it is a waste of time and energy to parent from scratch. Why recreate the parenting wheel of wisdom, when we could simply connect with older, wiser parents and compare notes? This, of course, doesn't mean that we don't occasionally incorporate new and innovative techniques into our day but on a whole, it is wise to follow the paths already taken by parents we respect.  The same can be said for changing the world. Yes, we need innovation! But, we also need to know what others have tried before us, what hasn't worked and why, and who who could team up with us now to more effectively achieve our goals.

Where to start?  I came across an amazing blog post recently that catalogued "Top 100 Networks for People Who Want to Change the World."  Here you will find networks for:

As Parents for Change, you must balance your time between many important endeavors: your partner, your kids, your community, your passion, YOU.  How do you do it when we all ONLY have 24 hours a day?  Any successful Parent for Change is always on the lookout for new time-saving tips and ideas. Here are a few of my favorites.... I hope you'll add to the list in the comments:)

1) Regularly brainstorm and write down your weekly, monthly, and yearly goals and priorities. On the surface, this may seem like an unnecessary use of your time, but I promise you will be more productive if you prioritize what needs to get done! The frequency necessary to do this will vary greatly from person to person but generally you should plan on visiting your goals and priorities at least monthly. Some parents find planners and pdas helpful. As a homeschooling mom, my favorite weekly and monthly planner is from Five in A Row. A great online goal tool can be found at Goal For It. Also, I find my best goal-setting and prioritizing occurs outside of my day-to-day life. At least yearly, my DH sends me off for a night or two to recharge and refocus!

Guest Blog by LaSara Firefox, MPNLP,

Even when funds are tight, giving reminds us of how much we have, and how fortunate we are.

Business executives and pharmaceuticals representatives spend thousands (probably tens of thousands) of dollars wining and dining clients. Why?  Because intimate meals offer opportunities for fostering REAL, authentic relationships with potential clients.  What does this have to to with working with and for parents?

I was thinking about this very question last night after returning from a fabulous park day with 12-15 families yesterday (my birthday park day, to be exact!) When we lived in California, we had a regular Friday park day that served roughly 30-40 families in any given month and was my salvation as a harried homeschooling, business-woman.  I've been meaning to get something similar going here in Houston for a while and finally got around to starting one last week.  So yesterday was our second Peaceful Beginnings park day and it was amazing.  Families flowed in and out, kids played happily, and parents got a chance to talk, really talk, with a variety of other parents.  Park days are a perfect activity for fostering REAL, authentic relationships with a variety of families in your area.  As an educator, they offer access to potential clients; As an advocate, they give you a glimpse of the real-life problems facing parents and potential solutions; and as a community-builder, they offer you the opportunity to connect with and build potential leaders for your community.  Other benefits to regular occurring park days are that they are FREE, recurring (which makes it easy for you to share the activity with new contacts - same time, same place, etc.), and you can bring your kids with you (its actually best if you do:))

The internet has become a powerful tool for community organizing and disseminating your message, in part because of the growth of online social networking sites.  The question is, where do you start?  Here are five resources that parents, like YOU, have used to create CHANGE in this world!

I'm reading a great book right now, by Bill Shore, The Cathedral Within: Transforming Your Life by Giving Something Back. Although the book focuses on the growth and plight of the non-profit sector, much of its insight can be applied to any endeavor, especially those aimed at creating change. 

Bill Shore founded a non-profit called Share Our Strength that aims at fighting hunger globally.  They host hundreds of "Taste the Nation" events that take place in cities across the nation. He claims that part of the power of Share Our Strength and Taste the Nation is that is is "decentralized by design"....

I'm realizing that unless you are actively involved in a natural parenting community where you and your friends frequently purchase handmade or resale items, you may be completely unaware of an act that takes affect February 10th that will seriously affect your consumer choices.  More than that, as a Parent for Change, it will seriously limit your options if you were hoping to create an income stream by making or selling handmade or resale items to other parents. Please take the time to read this blog and explore some of the links attached to protect your consumer choices and current and future Parents of Change who would like to create or sell handmade and/or resale items!