DFWChild August 2020

SPLASH PADS FOR COOLING OFF A U G U S T 2020

SAYING NO TO PLAYTIME

MEET MOM NEXT DOOR NATALIE LOPEZ

LESSONS LEARNED CREATING FAIR, JUST SCHOOLS

TEACH YOUR KIDS ASTRONOMY

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pages / A U G U S T

2020

DEPARTMENTS NOTED 11 Play With Me!

Should you feel guilty about asking your child to play independently?

REAL MOMS 17 Mom Next Door / Natalie Lopez

This mama is raising three boys while helping shape the future of a major North Texas school district 20

17 ABOVE // Educator Natalie Lopez talks about the challenges of virtual learning for her family—and how it may affect kids long-term.

61

FEATURE

22 Routines / Juliana Oliveira Her interior design business and two boys have this Dallas mom’s full attention

INFLUENCER 33 Smart Girls

Learn about this STEM organization from its young founder

KID CULTURE 49 Seeing Stars

Take your kids to outer space, right in your own backyard

PEOPLE + PLACES 57 #GirlDad

24 School Colors

An honest conversation about racism in

education and what we can do about it words Heather Vance Devers

ON THE COVER

LOPEZ FAMILY: NICK PRENDERGAST; SPLASH PARK: FORT WORTH ZOO; ILLUSTRATION: MARY DUNN

Briefs / Live & Learn

Our Mom Next Door’s favorite app for kids and the book she thought we couldn’t mention

Decorated cornerback and North Texas resident Chris Harris Jr. on raising four daughters in today’s world 61 Splash Town 14 local spray grounds guaranteed to make a splash

SPECIAL PROMOTION 36 Mom Approved / Wellness Professionals

Facts on your little’s well-being and the providers our readers recommend

COLUMNS

Cover Kid: Sophie, 9 Photography: Cindy James / Alyssa Pizer Management Art Direction/Styling: Lesley Busby

24

6 Hello / An Impossible Decision

The choice to send kids back to school is a personal one words Heather Vance Devers 8 dfwchild.com / Off the Pages

Check out our brand-new podcast

66 Confessions / Mom Truths

Unique utensils, a child cookie monster and more memorable moments dfwchild.com / august 2020

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hello / E D I T O R ’ S

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J

an impossible decision

UST THIS WEEK WE WERE TOLD that all students in our district will be learning virtually until at least Labor Day. But when (or if) campuses reopen, we’ve been given a choice: Do we want our 6-year-old to learn virtually or in person? I’ve spoken to people on both sides of the fence, and when you break down the pros and cons, most parents are left with a stalemate.

My husband and I have gone around and around on what we think is best for both our children. We are lucky that neither is immunocompromised or has respiratory issues. With our first grader, Betty, we have tentatively decided on school in person. When she is in front of a screen all day, her behavior suffers—staying seated in a chair while staring at a screen for four hours a day is a lot to ask of a 6-year-old. She is also very social and has struggled being isolated from her peers.

So has my 2-year-old. Since March, he has been asking to go to school and see his friends and teachers. It’s funny—he struggled at first with the transition of going to school while I went to work, but soon I began hearing his excited stories about a craft they did or a firetruck that paid a visit. His teachers would send me pictures of his tired chubby cheeks resting on his nap mat after a fun morning, and stories of him falling in love with a book about Frosty the Snowman (something he still talks about). He adores his school, and for that reason we have decided that he will also go back when it opens in September.

Our decision for our children may not look like yours. My husband and I both work, and it is very difficult to manage our jobs and two young children if they are home. We’ve been doing it for five months, and to be very honest, we are pushed to the brink. Voices have been raised more than I would like to admit; tears have been shed by our children and ourselves. The choice to send our children back to school is about their needs, but also about ours. We need help shaping these young minds.

There is a ton of mom-shaming and finger pointing going on.

Honestly, I don’t think it’s really all about the school issue—everyone is worn out and lashing out. We’re all exhausted, stressed and begging for clear answers when there are none. We don’t know what the next year is going to look like, so I implore you above all else to be kind.

Give your fellow parents the benefit of the doubt that they are doing what is best for their families. We have to support each other if we’re going to make it through this crazy season of life.

Be well,

Heather Vance Devers 6

august 2020 / dfwchild.com

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KORENA SINNETT

ABOVE // Heather Vance Devers in her home with her daughter, Betty, and son, Jude.

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online / D F W C H I L D . C O M WORDS

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OFF THE PAGES

what’s in store this month on dfwchild.com

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SUMMER IS COMING TO A CLOSE, and we’re getting ready (such as we can) for the new school year—is it just us, or did summer race by? It seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating the end of crisis homeschooling. And while we know this school year is still going to be a bit funky, we also know that we can make the best of it. There’s always a silver lining, right? While the kids enjoy the end of summer, take a moment for yourself and check out what’s available on our website—from weekly news on The Scoop to home decor ideas and our new podcast! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter while you’re there too.

DFWChild Podcast

It’s here! We now have a podcast available for all your listening needs. Check it out on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts. You can expect to see a new episode added every other Wednesday. Some of our upcoming topics include expanding your family mid-pandemic, school options and more.

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The Texas Education Agency has released guidelines for this upcoming school year as the pandemic continues. There’s a lot to digest—so we put together an overview and compiled key points to know.

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noted.

PLAY WITH ME! when your kid asks to play with you—again WORDS

ALEXIS PATTERSON

“Y

OUR WORK TAKES TOO LONG,” my 6-year-old son informed me recently.

I looked up at him from my laptop, where I was editing content for the upcoming DFWChild issue. I knew where this was going.

“You need a job that takes less time so you can play with me more,” he continued, going on to suggest alternate occupations—home remodeling, perhaps?—that he thought would give me more time for Nerf battles and space wars. If he had his way, I’d be a full-time playmate. Truth be told, I try to be as close to that as possible. But it can be exhausting.

A lot of moms deal with the “Play with me!” refrain. It became even more common during social distancing, with kids cooped up in the house and friends confined to theirs.

First things first: We adore our kids and want them to be happy. But sometimes, child’s play dfwchild.com / august 2020

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noted / P L A Y

WITH ME!

is the opposite of what you want to do at that given moment. Maybe you’ve had a full day of work or have been running endless errands.

Perhaps you were anxious to sit down with a book or watch your favorite show to regain a little sanity. Answering your child’s “Will you play with me?” affirmatively might push you past your limit. Answering, “No, not now,” may fill you with guilt. So what’s the right answer?

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NOT NOW, BUT LATER So, fellow moms, you get the experts’ blessing to say no—but not every time. “If at all possible, the best response isn’t really ‘no’; it’s ‘Not now, but later,’” suggests Holland. “And

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LET GO OF GUILT I’m a single mom of an only child. I don’t have my son 100% of the time, so I feel like I should save all my “me time” for days he is with his dad. And he doesn’t have another kid at home to play with. But in chatting with experts, I was reminded that my kiddo doesn’t benefit if I’m completely burned out.

“It’s important to model self-care, the idea that I need down time and to relax,” says Dr. Kim Mangham, a pediatrician at Cook Children’s Pediatrics – Keller Parkway. “Parents need to understand that they don’t have to do it all.”

As it turns out, saying no from time to time is beneficial not only for parents but also for their offspring.

“It’s good for kids to have downtime and even be bored,” says Dr. Alice Ann Holland, a pediatric neuropsychologist who practices in Dallas and is affiliated with Children’s Health and UT Southwestern.

“Boredom develops frustration tolerance, emotional regulation—the ability to manage and work through a negative feeling—and opportunities for imagination and creativity.

Children will have to think to themselves, Mom can’t play. How do I deal with that?

What do I do?”

Parents can facilitate play without participating themselves; it’s all about creating the right environment and opportunities.

“Especially in the current situation, when perhaps children are doing virtual learning or forgoing their regular playdates, you want to create a space conducive to free

play,” Holland says. “Maybe move all your furniture to the side in one room so kids can run around, hula hoop, build cushion forts and so on.”

As she indicates, the tools for play don’t need to be complicated—high-tech toys and apps are not required. That’s not to say some screen time isn’t OK. “It’s absolutely fine to say, ‘I want you to play on your iPad for an hour while I watch my show,’” says Mangham.

But hour-after-hour, nonstop screen time in place of free play? Not a good idea.

“Just because we’re still social distancing doesn’t mean children’s brains stop growing and developing,” points out Holland. “There’s literature showing increased screen time can have negative effects on cognitive skills, language and academic performance.”

That means children should, as often as possible, go back to that seemingly archaic world before everyone had a smartphone in hand. “Kids need puzzles, blocks, sidewalk chalk, pots and pans, everyday household things,” notes Mangham.

“These days, elementary kids are coming into school with fine motor delays because they’ve been spending so much time on devices. They just need the basics, and they’ll use their imaginations.”

Mangham recalls hearing her own children laughing and getting along while they were upstairs on their own. She found them building towers and a moat, complete with pretend alligators, out of sheets. “They were entertaining themselves,” she says. “It’s not our job as parents to constantly entertain our children.”

And when we do?

“It sends kids a message that the world revolves around them,” says Holland, “and that can lead to poor adjustment.”

Rules of Engagement Expert tips for getting the most out of playtime—and managing your child’s expectations If you can’t play now, set a time when you can. When you need to delay playing with your child, it helps for them to be aware that there’s a defined end to their wait. You might set a timer and ask your child to play on her own until it goes off, and then you’ll play blocks together.

Be engaged in a way that works for your child. “Some kids like you to ask if you can play with them, because it shows you’re really interested in being part of it,” says pediatric neuropsychologist Dr. Alice Ann Holland. “Other children may prefer you to ask questions about what they’re doing and wait for an invitation to join—just show your openness to that by joining them on the floor, for example.”

TIMER: THE NOUN PROJECT

Give your child tools to express their emotions. “When you can’t play with your child, it makes for a good opportunity to engage about their feelings,” says Dr. Kim Mangham, a pediatrician. “Ask them, ‘Did it make you sad when Mom couldn’t play earlier?’

Give them the words and help them know it’s a safe environment to share their feelings.”

then follow through.”

Like many things, playing with your kid is about quality over quantity. Experts say when you’re giving your child time, also give them your full attention. Mangham advises parents to leave their cell phones in another room. You should also give your child wide latitude in choosing what to play. “They do well when you give them control,” reveals Mangham, “and they don’t have control over much.”

That means going along even when you find the activity tedious. For me, that’s playing video games with my son. (Holland told me I was “a saint” for doing this.

That’s all the parenting validation I need in life.) Of course, some gentle redirecting is allowed, but for the most part, let your child have his say as long as the activity is appropriate.

“If your child has waited patiently, they’ve been playing quietly, then it’s their dfwchild.com / august 2020

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noted / P L A Y

FROM VIRTUAL REALITY TO VIRTUAL LEARNING

WITH ME!

time,” says Mangham. “Focus 100% on them. And you’re modeling good behavior. They sacrificed; now you’re sacrificing. So you do it, even if you’d rather pull your eyes out than play that board game or read that book again.”

TVS PREPARES OUR STUDENTS TO ADAPT AND GROW IN A CHANGING WORLD

(PLAY)TIME MANAGEMENT Even if it is quality over quantity, the quantity question remains. How often should we be playing with our kids, and for how long? As you might expect, there aren’t universal answers.

“Even a brief play session can be impactful if you’re really engaged,” shares Holland. “It really depends on the child and the situation. I’d be especially aware of this, though, with children who don’t have siblings—which means fewer opportunities for collaborative play.

Some only children are fine playing on their own all day, but particularly during this time when playdates may be limited, parents should try to make up for the lack of a built-in playmate as best they can.”

Holland suggests a loose schedule for joint play to manage young expectations. Typically, two short play sessions a day work well, she says. “Maybe you do 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon. At the end, you can tell your child, ‘Now Mommy has to work, but we’ll do it again later.’ Whatever you do, try to stick to the schedule. Things come up, but when they do, reschedule the playtime.

And add more minutes to the rescheduled time if you can. It’s letting your child know, ‘I’m setting aside time for you. You are important to me.’”

T R I N I T Y

VA L L E Y

S C H O O L

PK-12, CO-ED, INDEPENDENT SCHOOL EST. 1959 | TVS.ORG

KIDS ARE CAPABLE For the average child, there’s not a risk of emotional damage when you have to deny their request to play. “The disappointment of Mom saying no every now and then will not be harmful to their long-term mental health,” says Holland. “It can build character, resilience and healthy independence and resourcefulness.”

And you might be surprised at what your kid is already able to accomplish behind the frequent badgering for you to “come here.”

“You really can just talk to them and explain that they have to be patient,” Mangham says. “Give them a standard to rise to. Kids will resist what they’re not used to or what they don’t want, but they will step up and do it. Children are a heck of a lot smarter and more capable than society gives them credit for.”

PLAYING SOLO

Here are suggestions to encourage independent play: Put half or a third of your child’s toys away at a time. “Novelty can be exciting for kids,” says pediatric neuropsychologist Dr. Alice Ann Holland. “If the toy is gone for a while and then comes back, it’s suddenly more fun to play with that toy again.”

Send them outside (safely, of course). “Kids thrive outside. It calms moods, improves behaviors and gives them physical and socialemotional benefits,” shares pediatrician Dr. Kim Mangham.

Get natural. “A lot of kids, especially those who live in apartments, are missing interaction with the natural environment,” says Holland.

“Give them the opportunity to play with water and sand. It’s messy but great for cognitive development and creativity.”

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august 2020 / dfwchild.com

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real moms.

RÉSUMÉ AGE 38 HAILS FROM Dallas and Grapevine LIVES IN Colleyville CAREER Arlington ISD’s director of research and analysis ALMA MATERS University of Texas at Austin for undergraduate (“That’s why my first child is named Austin”); University of Texas at Arlington for master’s and Ph.D. studies SIGNIFICANT OTHER Husband Matt, recruiting manager at Daybreak Solar CHILDREN Austin, 6, Dylan, 3 ½, and Connor, 12 months

Natalie Lopez says boys run in her husband's family—so having three sons came as no surprise.

BOOKS: NOUN PROJECT

mom next door /

NATALIE LOPEZ

raising kids & helping students WORDS

ALEXIS PATTERSON

PHOTOGRAPHY

NICK PRENDERGAST

N

ATALIE LOPEZ HAS A PASSION FOR STATISTICS AND STUDENT SUCCESS. And she’s one of the coolest chicks you’ll ever meet. The school administrator loves classic rock and running. She’s a perennial Cowboys season-ticket holder and lets her boys get mohawks in the summer. And she doesn’t hide that raising three young sons can get a little crazy. “When schools closed in the spring, I was working from home and doing kindergarten lessons with my oldest, while also taking care of the two younger kids,” she says. “Trust me, there were days when I was thinking, I don’t know what I’m doing!” Take it from us: Whatever Lopez is doing, she’s clearly doing something right.

Did you always know you’d work in education? When I started undergrad, I was in business school; I was going to be an accountant. And then I changed my mind. I dfwchild.com / august 2020

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real moms

/ MOM NEXT DOOR

actually got my degree in history. I had a really influential history teacher, and she kind of made me think, Am I going to be happy being an accountant for the rest of my life, or am I just doing that because I think I’m supposed to?—because one of my relatives was an accountant. I decided I wanted to be in the classroom. Most secondary-level history jobs go to coaches, and since I had enough math courses, I went ahead and took the math certification test. So I ended up getting a job teaching high school math. And I loved it!

How long did you stay in the classroom before transitioning to administration? For 11 years—one year in Oak Cliff and then 10 years in HurstEuless-Bedford.

My husband Matt and I were renting a house across from Trinity High School at the time, and a job opened up there.

It was great. I was very sad to leave. Packing up my classroom was harder than packing up the first house we owned!

Why did you go into administration? I got my master’s in educational administration and quickly learned I didn’t want to be a campus administrator.

I didn’t want to just deal with textbooks and disciplinary issues.

At the same time, I wanted to know about the system I was in and get as much knowledge as I could. After I graduated, UTA sent me an email saying they were starting a new cohort in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies doctoral program.

I applied, and I was actually in the hospital giving birth to Austin, and the advisor was emailing me saying he needed this or that to finish my application. I started the program when Austin was 5 months old. I finished when our second son, Dylan, was 5 months old.

That’s a lot to manage! Yes, and I was teaching full time, too. I said to myself, I have to get this done quickly. Because I didn’t want the kids to be like, “Oh man, my mom’s doing her homework. She doesn’t have time for me.” Of course, I think it’s good for kids to see their parents continually learning and pursuing education. But I didn’t want it to take away from their time.

So I took a full load each semester. I would get out of teaching school at 4pm, drive over to the UTA campus, pump in my car. Then go to class, get back in the car, pump again driving home. I was just trying to make the best use of time. It took a village— Matt and our parents, especially—but I got my Ph.D. done in three years.

Tell us about your current role with Arlington ISD. We look at student data and use it to shape efforts and initiatives that will help students succeed. You start out thinking there’s this whole meritocracy: If a student just works hard, then he or she will be successful. And that’s not the case.

There are barriers and microaggressions that make it difficult for some people. And if you don’t have someone in your family who went to college, then you don’t have this pathway you’re directed toward.

And so all those things impact a lot of people’s educational choices and outcomes. My eyes were opened to that when I got my Ph.D. And I thought, I’m a good teacher, I have a good rapport with my students, but I can’t stop there. I feel like I’m making a difference in a different way now.

How do you think COVID-19 will impact students beyond virtual learning? There’s always a “summer burn,” where kids don’t get any instruction for a couple of months. And they may not have any expectations at home that they’re doing anything educational. They may forget how to read to some degree, or they’re not practicing multiplication. That’s why teachers spend six weeks catching them back up at the beginning of the year. And of course different families had different standards for what they did in

“I THINK IT’S GOOD FOR KIDS TO SEE THEIR PARENTS CONTINUALLY LEARNING AND PURSUING EDUCATION. BUT I DIDN’T WANT [MY STUDIES] TO TAKE AWAY FROM THEIR TIME.”

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august 2020 / dfwchild.com

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terms of education in the spring. So we are very concerned, thinking, What is the impact on these kids of the last 10 weeks of school being done at home?

And now school districts aren’t even necessarily starting in August. They’re going to do more virtual. And I’m very worried that the education gaps that were already there are going to widen. For students who have a parent who can stay home and teach them, it’s not as big of a deal. But what about kids whose parents are essential workers? In Arlington ISD, 75% of our students are socioeconomically disadvantaged. A lot of those kids have parents who are working two jobs. My parents worked two jobs when I was growing up. They wouldn’t have been able to help me and my siblings.

So there are those kids who don’t have somebody there to keep them on track and help them get a better understanding. Not all parents who are at home are good at teaching, but they can at least help their child try and figure it out. But if there’s nobody there, or if it’s a grandparent—you know, my mom doesn’t know how to use any of this technology. She wouldn’t be able to help my kids. There are a lot of factors that will have an impact.

How did your family make homeschooling work in the spring? It was pretty stressful. I was working from home, but after the first few weeks, Matt was going back to the office. So it was up to me to manage Austin’s homeschooling. I didn’t want to baby him, and I didn’t want to do it for him. I thought, Even if this is really crappy, it needs to be Austin’s really crappy work. It wasn’t just about turning Austin’s assignments in for the sake of turning them in. I was like, I don’t want Austin to fall behind. I have to do a good job on this homeschooling thing for Austin.

It was just constant juggling. Because I’d get Austin started on something, and then I would try to distract Dylan with an activity for him. And I was still pumping for Connor, so I’d have to stop every three hours and do that for 30 minutes. Connor is a really good napper, so the baby was actually my least high-maintenance child during the pandemic! But we got through spring by the skin of our teeth. There were days Matt would get home and I would just hand him Connor and be like, “I’m going to go for a run.”

What does running do for you? It’s very freeing. I may still think about things that are stressful, but I recognize that I can’t do anything about them at that time. I ran through all my pregnancies. Of course, in the last trimester, I couldn’t, because I’d be like, I think I’m peeing right now.

I used to be an endurance runner. I did the marathon at White Rock Lake before kids. I was training for another marathon when I hurt my hip. Now I run 5 or 6 miles at a time and mix it up with other workouts to give my body a break.

What’s something else you enjoy? I love concerts. I’ve seen Paul McCartney three times. I saw Robert Plant. I like classic rock; Matt and I both do, so that’s kind of nice. I do have some guilty pleasures though. I’ve seen Lady Gaga in concert and Britney Spears. I give Matt a pass on those!

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BRIEFS

natalie lopez shares picks for learning technology, halloween costumes (you’re already behind) and more INTERVIEW

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B E S T MOM PU RCH A S E

ALEXIS PATTERSON

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B E S T FA M I LY H A LLOWE E N COS TUM E

g “We love Halloween! We have been characters from Ace Ventura and Ninja Turtles, a superhero family—Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman and Robin, as well as The Incredibles—and a monster family. That was my favorite. I was a vampiress, Matt was wolfman, Austin was Count Dracula, Dylan was Frankenstein’s monster and Connor was a mummy. This year, we are leaning toward Super Mario Brothers characters or an all-Batman theme. We start planning in May.”

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august 2020 / dfwchild.com

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/ ROUTINES

a monday in the life of

JULIANA OLIVEIRA Brazilian-born Juliana Oliveira is the founder and principal designer of Beyond Interior Design, where she designs spaces with international influence. When she’s not running her business, she’s running around after her stepson Ian, 9, and baby Benjamin, 1—her children with husband Randy, a trained chef who is now helping with Beyond Interior Design. The family makes their home in Dallas.

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AM I hear Ian upstairs moving around and asking his Google Home, “Google, what time is it?”

6:30AM My husband and I wake up.

Randy goes downstairs to make Ian’s breakfast and get his morning started. Shortly after, Benjamin lets us know he’s up and ready to get out of his crib. That’s my cue to take him downstairs to enjoy some quality Mommy-andBenjamin time.

7:15AM Since COVID-19, Ian has been spending more time at home. My husband and I talk about Ian’s day to make sure he’ll be busy with outdoor activities and interactive toys.

7:25AM Ian and Randy head out for a quick walk-run around the neighborhood while I make sure Ian’s lunch is good to go.

7:30AM Now it’s time to make Benjamin his breakfast. He loves eggs with avocado or oatmeal with bananas!

8AM Benjamin and I head upstairs so I can start getting ready for work, now that I am going back into the office.

8:30AM Our nanny Josie arrives at the house and takes Benjamin to get him changed and ready for the day—so I can actually finish getting ready for work.

8:50AM As I ease back to working at the office,

the hardest part of the day is having to say goodbye to Benjamin. It was a lot easier when he was younger since he was a social baby, but now he cries when he knows I’m leaving. Each morning, I have to do a little dance when I tell him I have to go to work and that he’s going to have so much fun with Josie.

9AM I grab my work must-haves (including my mask) and head for our newly expanded office.

We decided to create an additional studio space to provide our team with ample room for health purposes.

9:05AM First things first: In the car, I get caught up on the latest episode of one of my favorite podcasts, usually full of inspiration, design ideas, and ideas on how I can run a better operation and be a better boss.

9:15AM I make a pit stop at Snap Kitchen to pick up my breakfast curbside. I’ll eat at the office.

9:30AM I arrive at the office and say hi to the team as I log into all apps and portals, briefly check emails—and just like that, it’s time for my first meeting.

10AM I begin a virtual meeting with my incredibly talented publicist Ingrid and my compliance officer (and sister) Sara. We touch base on all ongoing projects, from media opportunities to video content ideas.

11AM I meet with Jonathan, my senior designer, to discuss each project’s progress, client updates, team tasks and administrative to-do’s. This is also the time we allocate to resolve any potential issues with contractors or project timelines.

12PM It’s time to get to those unanswered emails.

Before I start, I heat up my leftovers from last night’s dinner so I can have a working lunch.

1PM One of the fun parts of my day—I get to check in with Abbey, my junior designer. She develops our models and brings the design concepts I conceptualize to life. I advise on revisions, troubleshoot any issues and make sure we are on schedule.

3PM I check in with the rest of the team— virtually or in person—to ensure all finance, operations and compliance efforts are running smoothly.

3:45PM I create a running list of items that I will get started on tomorrow morning.

4PM Randy sends me a text that he’s home and gives me a couple of updates on the project he was checking in on.

6PM After a long day, I walk across the courtyard and head to my car. Running a little late, but away I go.

6:30PM I finally arrive home and check in with Josie to see how their day was. She tells me Ian had a great day and then hands me Benjamin. He has the biggest smile on his face and is pointing at the front door to signal, “Mom, let’s go outside!”

6:45PM I walk Josie out to her car and get ready to have dinner outside in our newly remodeled backyard! I let the boys play together while I

Diaries are penned by moms (and dads) in the North Texas area. The authors volunteer to share a day of their choosing and are not paid or endorsed by DFWChild. Send your diary to editorial@dfwchild.com. All submissions are subject to editing and may be cut for space.

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OLIVEIRA FAMILY: BEYOND INTERIOR DESIGN

real moms

the fine

print

WHAT SHE’S WATCHING Locke & Key on Netflix FAVORITE DESTINATION Seabrook Island, South Carolina. We have a family home there and go every year. WHERE SHE GOES FOR RETAIL THERAPY

Luxury consignment stores. My favorites are TBC in Inwood Village and Luxury Garage Sale in Snider Plaza. MOM BAG Celine Mini Luggage handbag. I can fit everything in it: mom, baby and business things.

GREAT FAMILY RESTAURANT Mariano’s Hacienda DATE NIGHT SPOT Tei Tei. Always start with the lychee martini. CAN’T-MISS PODCAST I listen to quite a few, but I really enjoy Radiolab. WORKOUT SHE SQUEEZES IN Peloton ride GIFT TO GIVE FRIENDS Coffee table books HOW SHE INDULGES Kate Weiser chocolate CELEBRITY MOM SHE ADMIRES Kristen Bell IF SHE HAD TO CHANGE CAREERS, SHE’D BE A scientist SHE’S REALLY GOOD AT

Analogies. I’m always trying to put things into perspective. SHE’S REALLY BAD AT Answering my phone FAVORITE THING ABOUT DALLAS

HANDBAG: CELINE; BOOK: ASSOULINE

This city has the perfect balance of art, culture and culinary experiences without feeling too big or overpopulated (yet). SOMETHING SHE LEARNED THIS WEEK We all can benefit from slowing down every once in a while.

prepare dinner. Tonight I’m making salmon, which I portioned out so I can have leftovers to take to work for the rest of the week. I am definitely a seafood lover, but don’t think I would pass up a Hopdoddy burger with fries!

7:30PM Dinner is served. On tonight’s menu: seared salmon, salad and roasted potatoes. While Benjamin sits on my lap, I watch him try the food. He loves it. Ian’s favorite food is medium-rare salmon. He’s a great eater!

8:05PM We send Ian off to shower while I clean up Benjamin.

8:30PM The boys get in their pajamas. We read a book with Ian while Benjamin listens and dozes off.

9:15PM Randy and I get glasses of wine and put on Netflix as we catch up on our day.

We call it a night shortly after. dfwchild.com / august 2020

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School

COL ORS

An honest conversation about racism in education and what we can do about it WORDS HEATHER VANCE DEVERS

ILLUSTRATIONS MARY DUNN

dfw d fc w hc i l hd i. lcdo. cmo m / a/u g j uuns et 2 0 2 0

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If the

last few months have taught us anything, it’s that

we can’t treat racism like a distant memory. White parents may believe that racism doesn’t exist in schools today, but if you ask a Black or Latino parent, you’ll hear a different story. While said racism might not be as blatant as Jim Crow, it’s evident in white-washed reading materials and the assumptions made about students of color—and it’s taking a toll on kids.

Three moms of color gathered with us (via Zoom, of course) to shed light on the difficulties they and their kids have experienced in the classroom, and what they say all moms can do to make school a welcoming place.

Frances Cudjoe Waters, who is African American, lives in Dallas with her three teenage sons and her husband of 24 years. The Stanford and Harvard Law alum is now the CEO and founder of The Dallas Renaissance, whose goal is to celebrate African American culture and change the narrative for Black children.

Shonn Brown, also African American, lives in Dallas with her three children and her husband. She attended Southern Methodist

University, where she now serves on the executive board for the Dedman School of Law. She is also vice president and deputy general counsel at Kimberly-Clark.

Suleyka Scribner, who is Latina, lives in Fort Worth with her 11-year-old son and her husband Kent Scribner, the superintendent of Fort Worth Independent School District. Education is a family affair—Suleyka, a Northern Arizona University grad, is an instructional coach for Castleberry ISD in Fort Worth.

Could you tell me a situation that sticks out in your mind when race affected your education?

Frances Cudjoe Waters: My parents are both

first-generation college students, and we moved to Massachusetts when I was about 6, from New York. There were three Black children in a white suburban school, and they assumed all three of us should be in special ed. They didn’t test us or anything—just put us in the special education class. Fortunately, my parents knew how to be advocates. They said, “Well, just test her. Let’s just be sure.” They found I could skip second and third grade. So the bias was just there from the beginning. I learned at the age of 6 [or] 7 years old we have to learn how to be an advocate in education for yourself. My parents modeled that for me. Had they not done that

for me, my life would’ve been very different.

Instead of ending up at Stanford and Harvard Law School, I would’ve gotten bored, and I loved to talk, so it would have been a behavior problem, right? I might’ve ended up in a very different place.

How did your experience affect the way that you molded your kids’ education? Frances Cudjoe Waters: My husband and I have been very

deliberate about making sure that we monitor our children’s education. We don’t just have to think about, What’s the best place academically? We have to think about, Where’s my son or daughter going to be treated fairly? Do they have diversity in their staff, and do they embrace diversity? Even if they have it in their statement, will my child be comfortable here?

The journey for finding the right school as a Black mother has been much more complicated. I certainly have had situations where our children have had great experiences, but others where we knew there were some issues around race that came up. Our [non-Black] friends have no idea what we as African American moms are dealing with. I was petrified about my boys starting to drive because I know what’s happening. One of them already has had a situation where he’s been profiled. It shaped my education as a child, and it certainly has shaped my experience as a mom.

How do you feel like racism in schools affects your children? Shonn Brown: It’s not just them

being treated a certain way in a particular environment. It’s the mental toll that environments take on these kids because the curriculum and the experience are not really set up for a diverse educational environment. They don’t see people who look like them. They don’t read about people who are successful who look like them.

Every example that they have, in many instances, are of white people, and so it kind of creates this vision in your head as a Black child that the successful person is white, and everybody else who looks like me is not successful.

As a Latina, did you experience racism or implicit bias growing up? Are you still seeing it today as an educator? Suleyka Scribner: I grew

ABOVE // Shonn Brown, a Southern Methodist University alumna, is vice president and deputy general counsel for Kimberly-Clark. She is also a mom of three.

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august 2020 / dfwchild.com

up in a border town as a Latina girl, but one thing that I knew growing up was that there are different classes of Latinos. We have all the social classes, and so that was basically all I saw growing up. Then, when [I went] into urban cities such as Phoenix, Arizona, or even coming here to Fort Worth, I was taken aback to think that when you’re Latino, it equates [to] poverty.

“Oh, you’re Latino. You’re really good at making tacos. That’s great that you might be bilingual, but you probably mostly speak Spanish, poor child.”

As an educator, when I come into a classroom, I do see that a lot of our teachers have these implicit biases of our Latino students and our African American students. They really have not addressed it, even though they are thinking, We’re having Cinco de Mayo, or We’re celebrating African American month—that

checks the box off to say that they are culturally relevant in our schools. Those things are important, but it is not the full picture, by any means, of what it means for educators to really step into the shoes or really understand their students.

Shonn Brown: I feel like a lot of that is rooted in the fact that a lot of our teachers don’t have a diverse experience themselves. The only Latino people that they know and the only Black people that they really think they know are tangential, because they maybe have worked with them, or they see them on TV. They assume that the people that they meet that are Latino or African American are like the folks they see on TV or like the images that are portrayed on the news, and they haven’t taken time to develop true relationship with anybody who’s not like them.

My kids go to private school. They assume my son plays football or basketball when he walks through the door. They don’t assume he’s there because of his educational ability.

They don’t assume that his parents are paying full freight for him to be there. They are very pleased to say, “Look at the diversity of our school. We’ve got these Black people here and we’ve set aside one month to talk about their history. Aren’t we doing a good job?” Absolutely not, but they’ve been sort of ingrained to think that I’m not a racist because I’m a good person, and they haven’t really done the deep work to actually create relationship with people that aren’t like them.

Frances Cudjoe Waters: We have to, as moms, do that deep work. We work hard to make sure our children don’t judge people based on their color, right? We teach them to engage and to not stereotype. I know as a boy mom, I spend a lot of time making sure there are no gender stereotypes here. We do that work, and our friends, our white mom friends—we need you to do that work. When all three of my boys got into Greenhill the same year, I had some white friends that were like, “Wow, how’d that happen?” I wanted to say, “Well, top scores, top grades.” But there’s an assumption. The kids get it from hearing it from their parents oftentimes.

We really have a chance to model behavior

ABOVE // Frances Cudjoe Waters is a mother of three and a graduate of Stanford and Harvard Law. She founded The Dallas Renaissance, dedicated to celebrating Black culture and shifting its narrative.

that’s different.

I remember when there was a horrible experience with a fraternity a few years ago where they were caught on videos with that very racist language talking about possibly stringing up Black people. I remember being here in Dallas at the Town North Y and hearing white mom friends saying that, “Yes, I told my kid, ‘Be really careful because things get caught on camera.’” I remember thinking, No, no, no. It’s not, “Be careful because you might get caught on camera.” The parent message has to be, “These

“It kind of creates this vision in your head as a Black child that the successful person is white, and everybody else who looks like me is not successful.”

are not our values. We don’t believe this as your parents, and we don’t expect you to believe this about Latinos, about African Americans or any other group.”

When you mentioned the deep work that’s being done, we’re doing it every day to help our children with the daily trauma that they’re going through to make sure they still treat people well. And we just need all to be doing that deep work, so that you’re not assuming that everyone who’s Latina is from a certain background, or Black, and that we all start to see each other as human beings. That’s work that parents can and need to do.

Suleyka Scribner: I agree with you, Frances. I think that one of the main things we should do is remove the stigma from having an implicit bias. We all have them. I have them. We’ve been taught to make assumptions that way, and we need to allow all of us to have those brave and safe spaces to say, “This is what I have believed all along,” but through education, through connecting with others, just like Shonn mentioned earlier, it starts to change your mind. Biases aren’t with you forever. It’s not part of your genetics. You can change a bias, and so how do you do that? You begin with yourself. From there, we make those connections, and it isn’t until then that we can start to change systems.

Some people think, Oh, well, I’m not racdfwchild.com / august 2020

27

ABOVE // Suleyka Scribner, a Northern Arizona University grad, is an instructional coach for Castleberry ISD. She is the mom of an 11-year-old son and wife of Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Kent Scribner.

ist. And then they shut the doors [on further change] because they don’t want that label slapped on them. But it’s not enough. Like I said, no shame, and then we need to commit to continuing to do anti-racism work.

How can we make our schools more conducive to unbiased learning for all races? Suleyka Scribner:

We can’t re-create our society, but we can create equity and opportunity for every single child.

I mean just now, with COVID-19, we see the

racial disparities—that there is no equity with even just hotspots. There are pockets in the city where they have no internet. So how do we get on board with bringing those issues to light and making sure that it is equitable across our cities?

We begin with that.

We have to be very intentional about instructional practices, as well, even looking at the material, our curriculum. What are they looking at? Who are the authors of the materi-

“There is brilliance in every culture.

There are worthwhile works of literature in every culture. There’s something that we can all gain by learning about each other.”

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august 2020 / dfwchild.com

als that we are teaching? We always talk about this “text connection”: Connect with your text, connect with the author—those are some of our reading standards. As a Latino or Black child, how are you going to connect with the blond, blue-eyed little children in your storybook that don’t share the same story? Maybe they don’t have an abuela at home, or whatever it is. We need to start to think what is culturally and linguistically relevant for our students. We have students that have family members from Puerto Rico, or Argentina, or Spain. We just need to be truly multicultural.

Frances Cudjoe Waters: The curriculum piece is key. I realized there was not one Black author on the reading list in my children’s middle school, so we actually moved our two older children to public school situations for high school. In [the middle school] curriculum, they actually did every other culture except African Americans for the entire middle school.

Four years is a long time to have no African American input.

I created an organization called The Dallas Renaissance. In January, before COVID, we had an African American STEM excellence night at the Perot Museum. One of the things I think you can do is try to engage the cultural and other resources in the community and ask them to help highlight our culture in ways that the schools or curriculum may not be. We highlighted African Americans in STEM because they weren’t seeing African Americans in STEM anywhere in the curriculum or in their schools.

If you don’t see yourself anywhere, then it’s hard for you to imagine how you can overcome that. I think we have to also push our educational institutions to be inclusive and to realize there is brilliance in every culture. There are worthwhile works of literature in every culture.

There’s something that we can all gain by learning about each other.

Shonn Brown: It’s just as important for the white kids to see that there are [non-white] scientists and doctors and people of great influence on our country, because they too need to see that they don’t own the patent for success, and that people that don’t look like them have contributed to the fabric of this country—not just as slaves who built buildings, but as inventors, as people who built business, who created economy. And that’s not being taught.

If you took babies and children, they are unencumbered and they get it right. There is no judgment. It is not until we, as adults, start teaching them, and putting these images before them, and giving them things to read, or programs—it’s not until we start layering that on that they start creating these discriminatory beliefs. If we could—and it’s idyllic, I get it—approach education with the blankness of a child, we [wouldn’t have] preconceived [ideas]. There are things that we need to teach, but we don’t have to pull them from the same resources. Everybody has a place in that particular conversation.

dfwchild.com / august 2020

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

CHILD CARE & PRESCHOOL DIRECTORY

Feeling overwhelmed by all the local child care and preschool options?

It’s tough to find the right people to care for your child when you’re not around. Here’s a handy guide to make that important decision easier.

Academy Christian School

501 Academy Blvd.

Fort Worth, TX 76108 chapelcreeklife.com Hours: 7am–6pm Ages (Primary Care): 6wks–12yrs Capacity: 136 Before School Program: No After School Program: Yes We are a Christian preschool and afterschool program that strives to show the love of God to our families. See ad on page 58.

Adventure Kids Playcare

Multiple locations, DFW area adventurekidsplaycare.com Hours: Varies Ages (Primary Care): 6wks–12yrs Capacity: Varies Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes Adventure Kids University provides children a supportive environment to learn, play, explore, and grow. Flexibility for parents, fun for children! See ad on page 35.

Ashford Rise School of Dallas, The

6000 Preston Rd. Dallas, TX 75205 risedallas.org Hours: 8am–2:30pm Ages (Primary Care): 6mos–6yrs Capacity: 60 Before School Program: No After School Program: Yes The Rise School provides a comprehensive educational program to children with and without developmental disabilities.

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august 2020 / dfwchild.com

Camden Hill Montessori 2020 E. Hebron Pkwy., #130 Carrollton, TX 75007 camdenhill.com Hours: 6:30am–6pm Ages (Primary Care): 6wks–6yrs Capacity: 100 Before School Program: No After School Program: No We create a rich, stimulating school environment for students, families, and staff to support the optimum development of the child. See ad on page 59.

Challenger School

6700 Communications Pkwy.

Plano, TX 75024 challengerschool.com Hours: 8am–5pm Ages (Primary Care): 2yrs 9mos–K Capacity: TBD Before School Program: No After School Program: No Challenger’s first private school campus in the Dallas area, Legacy is located right off the Dallas North Tollway in Plano.

See ad on page 3.

College Nannies, Sitters and Tutors

Multiple locations, DFW area collegenanniesandtutors.com Hours: Varies Ages (Primary Care): 0–12yrs Capacity: N/A Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes We provide customized in-home child care in the safety of your home based on your needs and schedule. See ad on page 53.

Dallas ISD Pre-K

Multiple locations, Dallas area prekdallas.org Hours: Varies Ages (Primary Care): 3–4yrs Capacity: Varies Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes Give your child the gift of a brighter future and register for Dallas ISD Pre-K today! See ad on page 29.

Day School at Highland Park Presbyterian, The

3821 University Blvd.

Dallas, TX 75225 thedayschool.org Hours: 8-am–3pm Ages (Primary Care): 1yr–K Capacity: 280 After School Program: Yes The Day School partners with families to educate the whole child within a nurturing Christian environment. See ad on page 18.

Faith Lutheran Day School

fortworthzoo.org Hours: Varies Ages (Primary Care): 3–5yrs Capacity: 210 Before School Program: No After School Program: No Early education meets big-time fun at Zoo Preschool where we bring your little ones up close to their favorite animals. See ad on page 9.

Grace Academy of Dallas

11306 A Inwood Rd. Dallas, TX 75229 graceacademy.com Hours: 7:30am– 6pm Ages (Primary Care): 3–12 yrs Capacity: 200 Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes Grace Academy offers challenging academics within a nurturing Christ-Centered environment. Preschool and Kindergarten students are equipped for future success!

See ad on page 14.

Hockaday School, The

6000 Morriss Rd. Flower Mound, TX 75028 shapingyounghearts.org Hours: 9:30am–1:30pm Ages (Primary Care): 18mos–K Capacity: 110 Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes A quality Christian early childhood setting where each child is encouraged to grow and learn as a child of God. See ad on page 12.

11600 Welch Rd. Dallas, TX 75229 hockaday.org Hours: 7:30am– 4:30pm Ages (Primary Care): 4–18 yrs Capacity: 1089 Before School Program: No After School Program: Yes Hockaday develops resilient, confident women who are educated and inspired to lead lives of purpose and impact. See ad on page 52.

Fort Worth Zoo

Holy Trinity Academy

1989 Colonial Pkwy.

Fort Worth, TX 76110

13555 Hillcrest Rd. Dallas, TX 75240

CHILD CARE & PRESCHOOL DIRECTORY // htadallas.com Hours: 7:30am–6pm Ages (Primary Care): 2–6yrs Capacity: 153 Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes Holy Trinity Academy puts children first and nurtures excellence in academics, integrity of character and faith in God.

Kessler School, The

1215 Turner Ave. Dallas, TX 75208 thekesslerschool.com Hours: 7:30am–5:45pm Ages (Primary Care): 3–4yrs Capacity: Varies Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes Days are filled through journaling, circle time, centers, play, small group and individual teaching.

Daily Spanish, music and library time. See ad on page 64.

KidsPark

309 Curtis Mathes Way 191 Arlington, TX 76018 kidspark.com/arlington Hours: Varies Ages (Primary Care): 2–12yrs Capacity: 56 Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes Uniquely flexible for modern families. Pick your schedule each week. Pay only when you attend.

Extended hours 7 days a week.

See ad on page 15.

Lamplighter School, The

11611 Inwood Rd. Dallas, TX 75229 thelamplighterschool.org Hours: 8:15am–3:15pm Ages (Primary Care): PK3–4th Grade Capacity: 450 Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes Engaging children in the joy of learning through intellectual discovery in a creative, inclusive, and collaborative environment. See ad on page 9.

Merryhill Preschool & Elementary School

711 West Arbrook Blvd.

Arlington, TX 76015 merryhillschool.com/elementary/ dallas/arlington Hours: 7am–5:30pm Ages (Primary Care): 6wks–6th grade Capacity: Varies Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes Merryhill Preschool & Elementary School creates a safe, supportive learning environment in which children of all ages can learn. See ad on page 63.

Oakridge School, The 5900 W. Pioneer Pkwy.

Arlington, TX 76013 theoakridgeschool.org

Hours: 8am–4pm Ages (Primary Care): 3yrs–12th grade Capacity: 720 Before School Program: No After School Program: Yes The Oakridge School provides children, age 3–grade 12, enriching curricular and extracurricular opportunities in student-centered environments that feel like family.

See ad on page 29.

Our Redeemer Lutheran School of Dallas

7611 Park Ln. Dallas, TX 75238 ordallas.org Hours: 6:45am–6:45pm Ages (Primary Care): 1yr– 6th grade Capacity: 175 Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes Opening August 12th for inperson, virtual or hybrid learning options! Our Redeemer: academically focused, joy-filled, and spiritually rich. See ad on page 50.

Pediatrics Plus

6025 Sports Village Rd. Frisco, TX 75033 pediatricsplus.com Hours: 7am– 6pm Ages (Primary Care): 6wks– 6yrs Capacity: 110 Before School Program: No After School Program: Yes Pediatrics Plus offers a Developmental Preschool and therapy services for children with special needs including speech, OT, PT and ABA. See ad on page 15.

Primrose Schools of Frisco West & Plano at Preston Meadow

Multiple locations, Dallas area primrosefriscowest.com Hours: 6:30am–6:30pm Ages (Primary Care): 6wks–10yrs Capacity: Varies Before School Program: No After School Program: Yes We are also offering a support classroom for students 5–10yrs who are enrolled in remote learning through their ISD. See ad on page 55.

Providence Christian School of Texas

5002 West Lovers Ln. Dallas, TX 75209 pcstx.org Hours: 7:30am–4pm Ages (Primary Care): 4–14yrs Capacity: 450+ Before School Program: No After School Program: No We develop students of character through a classical, Christ-centered education. See ad on page 12.

River Legacy Living Science Center Nature School

703 NW Green Oaks Blvd.

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Arlington, TX 76006 riverlegacy.org Hours: 9am–5pm Ages (Primary Care): 3–5yrs Capacity: Varies Before School Program: No After School Program: Yes River Legacy Nature School encourages a child’s inborn sense of wonder and curiosity to flourish with indoor and outdoor explorations! See ad on page 18.

Small Miracles Academy

Multiple locations, DFW area smallmiraclesacademy.org Hours: 6am– 6:30pm Ages (Primary Care): 3mos–12yrs Capacity: Varies Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes SMA is a family of licensed childcare centers where children learn and grow in a safe, warm, secure environment. See ad on page 35.

Capacity: 20 Before School Program: No After School Program: No We provide a unique school program that offers a one of a kind transitional experience for children with developmental differences. See ad on page 59.

Trinity Lutheran Children’s Center

3621 Tulsa Way Fort Worth, TX 76107 tlcfw.org Hours: 6:30am–6pm Ages (Primary Care): 6wks–5yrs Capacity: 130 Before School Program: No After School Program: No We have Chapel once a week beginning at age 2–basic Bible stories and prayer! See ad on page 58.

Spanish Schoolhouse

Westwood School Montessori Lower School Community, The

Multiple locations, DFW area spanishschoolhouse.com Hours: Varies Ages (Primary Care): 18mos–5yrs Capacity: Varies Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes Spanish Schoolhouse offers an excellent early childhood education combined with the benefits of language immersion in a warm, loving environment.

14340 Proton Rd. Dallas, TX 75244 westwoodschool.org Hours: 7:15am–6pm Ages (Primary Care): 18 mos–6yrs Capacity: Varies Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes We help children grow into caring young adults who are inquisitive, informed and inspired to succeed in an ever-changing world.

St. Rita Catholic School

White Rock North School

12525 Inwood Rd. Dallas, TX 75244 strita.net Hours: Varies Ages (Primary Care): 4yrs Capacity: 68 Before School Program: No After School Program: Yes We offer both full day and half day options. Small class sizes. Full day 16:2. Half day 10:2. See ad on page 55.

STEAMspark Montessori Experience

1400 Valley View Ln. Farmers Branch, TX 75234 steamspark.com Hours: 6:30am–6:30pm Ages (Primary Care): 6wks–6yrs Capacity: 170 Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes STEAMspark Montessori Experience ignites curiosity and imagination through an enhanced STEAM curriculum, that promotes a lifelong love of learning. See ad on page 7.

9727 White Rock Trl. Dallas, TX 75238 whiterocknorthschool.com Hours: 7am–6pm Ages (Primary Care): Infants–6th Grade Capacity: 350 Before School Program: No After School Program: Yes No more than 10 per class. Temperature checks throughout the day. All staff and students wearing masks. Employing social distancing.

See ad on page 6.

Xplor Preschool & School-Age Care

Multiple locations, DFW area xplorpreschool.com Hours: 6:30am–6:30pm Ages (Primary Care): 6wks–12mos Capacity: Varies Before School Program: Yes After School Program: Yes Xplor provides excellence in preschool and school-age programs by helping children develop important academic, social and emotional skills. See ad on page 21.

Teach Me Academy

2020 E. Hebron Pkwy., #110 Carrollton, TX 75007 teachme-academy.com Hours: 9am–3:30pm Ages (Primary Care): 2–13yrs

For more options, visit our Childcare and Education Directory at dfwchild.com/directory. dfwchild.com / august 2020

31

influencer.

GIRLS: LORI VINSON AND ANN DARBY; STEM: THE NOUN PROJECT

SMARTgirls participants get plenty of hands-on experience in a variety of STEM fields.

SMART GIRLS engaging kids in stem fields

WORDS

SYDNEY BLALOCK RITCHIE

W

E’VE SEEN THE STATS: As girls get older and progress in school, many turn away from STEM courses and career paths. Quite a few initiatives have popped up over the years to keep girls engaged—and one local organization is having a unique impact. SMARTgirls was started by a smart girl herself. We chatted with 17-year-old Kate Vinson (who created the Wylie-based organization while she was in elementary school), her mom and club coordinator Cristy, and group director Ann Darby, about the difficulty of finding women in STEM, the changing dialogue and how kids outside Wylie can get involved.

What’s the goal of SMARTgirls? Cristy Vinson: The intent was to bring awareness and offer a solution to the fact that many times, girls lose interest in STEM. The group was designed to offer interesting and hands-on opportunities for girls in a local and low-cost environment. Our dfwchild.com / august 2020

33

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august 2020 / dfwchild.com

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GIRLS

goal has always been primarily getting girls involved and inspired.

Why do you think girls tend to lose interest in STEM? CV: We attribute it to lack of confidence. The classes start getting harder; the math seems daunting. I think the classes are there—it’s just really tough to get girls to stick with it.

How did you get the idea for SMARTgirls?

Kate Vinson: When I was in fifth grade, I was really interested in becoming an engineer, but some of the boys said that girls couldn’t do that. My dad said I could! So I thought, What if girls didn’t have a dad like mine who told them they could do things if they worked hard and studied? I had attended some summer camps, but they were in Addison and Dallas and cost a lot of money—it was hard for my mom to get me there, but she did. I was part of Texas Future Problem Solvers, and I talked to my sponsor, Ann Darby, about the idea of starting an engineering camp just for girls that was in Wylie and didn’t cost too much.

She thought it was a great project and signed up to help me.

Was it challenging to get started? KV: It was hard!

We didn’t have any money to start with, so we had to charge enough for the girls to attend so that we could afford the supplies.

We wanted to make it really fun and hands-on so they could learn about different kinds of engineering. That first year, 2014, our teachers were all volunteers. We talked about aerospace engineering, telecommunications, robotics, chemistry, electronics and lots of other things. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work to decide what kits and supplies to order and what to teach. Ms. Darby and my mom helped me, and we worked all summer to put it on. We had to create a website and registration information and work with the school district to allow us to take payments and hold the camps on campus. We did lots of research on cost and invited a lot of professional engineering women to come speak. It was actually sometimes hard to find women, so we also had some men come speak.

Was it frustrating to have a hard time finding women in STEM careers? KV: When we first started, [that] kind of made me mad. But then I remembered that’s why we’re doing this. It’s become easier to find women in STEM since though.

Who are some of the engineers you were able to find to come speak? KV: We had a Ph.D. student from UT Arlington who had just received a National Science Foundation grant for her airplane engine design. We had the CEO of a portable telecom company, who had created the business on her own. We had the dad of one of our girls who worked for SpaceX. What does your programming look like now?

CV: [In addition to serving Wylie students,] we welcome kids from neighboring districts and home school. In a normal summer, we hold a TechTitans SMARTgirls STEM Camp for beginners (fifth and sixth grade girls), STEM Xtreme (seventh through ninth grade girls), Pre-biology (for ninth grade) at each of the high schools, and Robotics (for fifth through eighth grades). During the school year, we have SMARTgirls clubs at all our Wylie ISD intermediate and junior highs—six campuses. One year, Texas A&M and Paragon Engineering in Richardson invited us to a weeklong summer STEM camp for girls. So we took 20 girls down to College Station on a bus; it was so fun! My favorite camp is our Xtreme camp; we alternate activities each year so that girls can come two to three times, but we do welding, robotics, 3D printing, drones, cooking chemistry, forensics, pre-medicine and more. And we do sell some of our curriculum to other schools and groups.

How many girls are participating now? Ann Darby: [After that first year], 75 fifth and sixth grade girls attended after-school club meetings each month.

We continued to dive into other types of engineering and medical careers too.

Now we have after-school clubs at all three intermediate schools, 50–75 girls per school, and we also offer Saturday workshops each month for the seventh and eighth grade girls and have 50–75 participants.

Has COVID impacted the group? AD: We canceled club meetings in April and May, and had to cancel camps in June. In past summers, we have had four different camps with up to 200 campers. We were given permission by the district to hold two of our camps in July.

We were able to have only 40 campers this summer, [and those slots] filled up quickly with a waitlist. Robotics Camp was held in July; campers built and programmed robots to complete multiple challenges. STEM Xtreme was also in July. Campers rotated through experiences [such as] welding, robotics, forensics, computer-aided design and 3D printing.

We also highlighted real-world connections and careers in each field.

Do you feel like the dialogue about girls in STEM has shifted? CV: Yeah, we think the dialogue has changed a lot with girls. [They’re now] super interested and even proud to be in STEM—not embarrassed. When Kate was in fifth grade, it was embarrassing for her to say she wanted to be an engineer because of the reception she got. Now it’s a much more common thing. For instance, Kate was one of the first welders at her high school and now there are quite a few girls in welding—and most attended SMARTgirls or volunteered with SMARTgirls at some point.

GIRLS AT WORK: LORI VINSON AND ANN DARBY

influencer / S M A R T

U N I V E R S I T Y

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Twin Coves Park & Campground

Plan a stay-cation at the picturesque Twin Coves Park in Flower Mound!

The park boasts 19 furnished cabins and 22 RV slips, in addition to a variety of other amenities including a small craft launch boat ramp, and much more.

Families and can enjoy a variety of features including office/camp store, playground, two large pavilions, grass volleyball court, horseshoes and washer game sets, four-hole disc golf course, nature trails, and a lake overlook area with a fire pit and seating. Online reservations for cabin, RV, and tent site rentals can be made through the park website or by phone.

5001 Wichita Trail Flower Mound, TX 75022 twincoves@flower-mound.com 972.874.6399 / twincovespark.com

dfwchild.com / august 2020

35

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION

Mom Approved 2020

WELLNESS PROFESSIONALS WORDS

THE EDITORS

REFRESH YOUR KNOWLEDGE ON KIDS’ WELL-BEING WITH THESE TIPS AND TRUTHS FROM HEALTH PROFESSIONALS. THE DOCTOR IS IN! (THAT’LL BE 5 CENTS, PLEASE.)

SPORTS-RELATED SPORTS-RELATED INJURIES INJURIES BIG TOE HYPEREXTENSION DISLOCATED SHOULDER, OTHER SHOULDER INJURIES HAND OR WRIST FRACTURES, SPRAINS OR TENDONITIS DEHYDRATION CONCUSSION TORN ACL TORN MENISCUS

HOW MANY HOURS SHOULD YOUR KID SLEEP PER DAY? AGES 6–12 YEARS:

9–12

HOURS OF SLEEP PER DAY. AGES 13–18 YEARS:

8–10

HOURS OF SLEEP PER DAY.

HEALTH PROFESSIONALS RECOMMEND AN EVALUATION IF A CHILD HAS 3-6 MONTHS STUTTERED FOR 3–6 MONTHS, EXHIBITS STRUGGLE BEHAVIORS ASSOCIATED WITH STUTTERING OR IF THERE IS A FAMILY HISTORY OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS. DISORDERS OVER 17% OF CHILDREN AGES About 130,226 North Texas children suffer from emotional disturbance or addictive disorder.

36

august 2020 / dfwchild.com

6–17

EXPERIENCE A MENTAL HEALTH DISORDER.

W

e asked readers to share their favorite wellness professionals—and you delivered! Providers were in good standing at press time.

Visit dfwchild.com to find all Mom Approved pros.

ABA THERAPY

ALLEN/DALLAS/LEWISVILLE Feldman, Sara PhD, BCBA, LBA The Helm ABA See ad on page 40

Sanders, Alexandria BCBA, LABA The Helm ABA See ad on page 45

ARLINGTON

Skelton, Evan BCBA, LBA Shine Behavioral See ad on page 45

DALLAS

McKie, Shannon MEd, BCBA, LBA Light Up the Spectrum

FORT WORTH

Bledsoe, Angelica RBT PediaPlex Sharp, Audra RBT Concept Connections Wood, Mercedes BCBA Concept Connections

FRISCO

Juma, Shamim MEd, BCBA, LBA Pediatrics Plus See ad on page 41

SOURCES: TEXAS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL; CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION; NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS; CHILDREN’S HEALTH; NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS

MOST COMMON

mom approved

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION

MCKINNEY

Coffey, Amanda PhD, BCBA-D, LBA Autism Treatment Center & Day Program Behavior Network See ad on page 42

PLANO

Conte, Jayden MSEd, BCBA, LBA The Behavior Exchange Keese, Jenny BCBA Concept Connections Moses, Nikki MEd, LBA-BCBA Consulting 4 the Spectrum See ad on page 46

SOUTHLAKE

Wilshire, Tayla BCBA PediaPlex

DALLAS

Berry, Stephanie DC, Webster Certified Mother Me Chiropractic Carlin, Maxwell DC Vibrant Life Chiropractic Gore, Tom DC Cafe of Life Chiropractic Katz, Brianne DC Uprise Chiropractic Kramer, Jason DC Revolution Chiropractic Meleski, Lexi DC Our Wellness Community Miller, Meier DC Restoration Dallas Chiropractic

Loughridge, Shelby DC Illumin8 Chiropractic Osterman, Lacey DC Invigorate Chiropractic

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS

PLANO

Ridley, Jennifer DC LiveWell Chiropractic & Wellness

Dominguez, Priscilla RBT Concept Connections

PLANO

COGNITIVE TRAINING

Collett, Paul DC Dallas Spinal Care Elder, Shelby DC North Texas Brain & Spine Institute Farrar, Kevin DC Farrar Family Chiropractic

Seibold, Andi AuD Little Ears Audiology

Wuistinger, Jamie DC Pro Motion Chiropractic

BIOFEEDBACK

DESOTO

Zinn, Savanna DC Farrar Family Chiropractic

Osarollor, JaNair DC, CD (DONA) Sow Graceful Chiropractic

PROSPER

FLOWER MOUND

Schumann, Jake DC Restoration Chiropractic

Ilushin, Dasha DC Forever Young Chiropractic

ROCKWALL

FORT WORTH

Marzluff, Cassidie DC T3 Chiropractic

Lozano, Rusty LPC, BCB, IMC Center for Biofeedback & Behavior Therapy

CHIROPRACTIC ALEDO

Goode, Darcy DC The Chiropractic Place for Mommy & Me Parker, Michelle DC, CACCP, IBCLC The Chiropractic Place for Mommy & Me

ALLEN Harrison, Jonathon DC New Directions Chiropractic

ARLINGTON Cardwell, Katrina DC Restoring Life Chiropractic Colopy, Joe DC Colopy Chiropractic & Wellness Center

BURLESON Hosaka, Kristen DC Turning Point Wellness Center

CROWLEY Whaley, Rachel DC Chiropractic Wellness Cafe Winn, Hannah DC, EMT-B Chiropractic Wellness Cafe

Salazar, Ashley DC Path to Wellness Integrated Health See ad on page 46

FRISCO Jackson, Nicole DC Grounded Wellness

GRAPEVINE Moulton, Kael DC Moulton Chiropractic

IRVING Price, Jamienne DC Mindful Chiropractic & Wellness

KELLER Moore, Rachel DC Align My Spine

MCKINNEY Galipp, Amber DC Legacy Family Chiropractic Irwin, Meghan DC Invigorate Chiropractic

Romanies, Jackie DC Dr. Jackie Romanies, DC

Vogt, Jennifer DC T3 Chiropractic

ROANOKE Beck, Jenna DC Bridlewood Chiropractic

SOUTHLAKE Porteus, Nikki DC Renew & Restore Wellness

FRISCO

Chambers, Julie MCT LearningRx

COUNSELING ADDISON

Scott, Ashley LPC, RPT North Dallas Counseling Group

ALLEN

Burson, Jackie MS, NCC, LPC-S, RPT-S North Texas Counselors Nietert, Michelle MA, LPC-S Community Counseling Associates Ojeda Frey, Heather MA, LPC Community Counseling Associates Sessums, Kyle LMFT Envisions Counseling

ARGYLE Trimmier, Serena LPC Redeemed Life Counseling

ARLINGTON Lewis, Rose LPC New Horizon Counseling Center Southall, Lindsey LCSW Office of Lindsey Southall

York, Meghan DC, CACCP Loving Life Chiropractic

BURLESON

WYLIE

Johnson, Erin LPC Mid Cities Counseling Center

Blankenship, Meghan DC Whole Life Chiropractic

COLLEYVILLE

COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY ALLEN

Lambert, Allison LPC-S Original Intent Counseling

DALLAS Jones, Stephanie DC Elite Performance Chiropractic See ad on page 46

FRISCO

Rodgers Watson, Anne “Kip” LPC-S, CHPC BrainCode Corp

Weber, Denisa DC Serving Life Chiropractic

ADDISON

Cravey, Barbara ABC Pediatrics

Turner, Justin DC Expressing Life Chiropractic

AUDIOLOGY DFW AREA

FLOWER MOUND

Kumar, Roshini LPC RK Counseling, LLC and Children’s Health

Martinez, Susan LMFT-S Susan Martinez, MA, LMFT-S & Associates McAdams, Bailey MEd, LPC North Texas Counseling Associates See ad on page 44

DALLAS Anderson, Amy PsyD Preston Center Psych dfwchild.com / august 2020

37

mom approved Beckloff, Dean PhD, LPC-S Beckloff Pediatric Behavioral Center See ad on page 43 Blazek, Jennifer LPC-S Office of Jennifer Blazek LPC-S Cagle, Mark LPC Mindful Life Counseling Campbell, Kittie LPC Center for Social Success Engberg, Kristin LPC Park Cities Child & Family Counseling Fedro, Holly LCSW Center for Social Success Grisham, Zac MS, LPC-S, ADHD-CCSP Clear View Counseling

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION

EULESS

Kearney, Cynthia LPC Cinnamon Tree Counseling

FLOWER MOUND Quinn, Dore LPC Kaleidoscope Behavioral Health See ad on page 43 Trotter, Kay PhD, LPC-S, RPT-S Kaleidoscope Behavioral Health See ad on page 43

FORT WORTH Barrett, Kelsey LPC Intern Beth Lewis Therapy Group Booher, Erin LPC-S, NCC Erin Booher Counseling Carlock, Angel LPC Portrait Health Centers

HURST

RICHARDSON

Shepard, Jessica LPC Little Love Counseling

Butts, Courtney LMSW Realistic Expectations

KELLER

ROCKWALL

Bigham, Diana LMFT-S, RPT-S Redefine Missimo, Christopher LPC, NCC Missimo Motivation LLC Shelby, Len LPC The Oak Inside: Center for Psychological Assessment & Counseling Willis, Jennifer LPC Jennifer Willis Counseling

MCKINNEY

Johannsen, Ellen LPC Center for Social Success

Haight, Penny LPC-S Counseling by Penny Haight

Jones, Chris LPC-S Lifeologie

Hastings, Meagan LPC Edify Counseling Services

Kern, Emily LCSW Office of Emily Kern, LCSW

Jones, Chris LPC-S Lifeologie

Morris, Yvette LPC Professional Counseling Center

Lin, Yu-Fen PhD, LPC-S Flourish Counseling & Consultation

Lewis, Beth MA, LPC-S Beth Lewis Therapy Group See ad on page 44

Taylor, Anastasia MSSW, LCSW-S Alliance Child & Family Solutions

Sewell, Erica LCSW, RPT, CAS Full Circle Counseling & Family Services

FRISCO

Shotwell, Jennifer LPC, LCDC, CS, NCC Prime Counseling

Fischer, Lizelle LPC Intentional Counseling

Whitcomb, Michal Anne MA, LPC Dallas Counseling Group Wicks, Tiffany LPC, NCC Push Counseling & Coaching

DENTON

McCoy, Jason LMSW, LCSW-S, RPT-S TREEfort Child & Family Therapy See ad on page 44 38

august 2020 / dfwchild.com

Downey, Becky LPC-S, LMFT Advocate Christian Counseling

Jung, Sarah LPC Frisco Counseling & Wellness Kazemi-Mohammadi, Leza (Reza) PhD, LPC Kazmo Brain Center Lockett, Holly LPC-S Frisco Counseling & Wellness Moein, Tannaz PhD, LPC Kazmo Brain Center

DALLAS

Munson, Eleanor PhD Office of Eleanor Munson PhD LLC

ENERGY HEALING DALLAS

HOLISTIC MEDICINE

Hackler, Rachael LPC True Self Counseling

Silva, Brianna LPC, NCC Cancer Care Services

EDUCATION CONSULTING

Grandjean, Brian PhD, LPC Emerald Palace Practice

Istre, Susan LPC-S, BCPC Center for Social Success

Scott Griffis, Leslie LPC Bent Tree Counseling

Hughes, Jennifer LPC Jennifer Hughes Counseling See ad on page 46

Gachelin, Lorraine VSTCLP My Chakra Center See ad on page 46

Contreras, Ricardo LPC, EMDR-Trained Counseling by Penny Haight

Reed, Matthew LCSW, BCB Cook Children’s Psychiatry

SACHSE

Abbasi, Fariba LPC New Horizons Center for Healing

Hahn, Heather PhD, LPC-S, TIYT Aspen Consulting Services

Near, Savannah LPC Park Cities Child & Family Counseling

Shepherd, Natalie MS, LPC-S, LMFT, RPT-S Office of Natalie Shepherd

Lo, Ardis LPC Therapy on the Square Miller Nguyen, Monica LPC Therapy on the Square

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS

PLANO Harvey, Heather LPC HopeWorks Counseling Kouser, Shannon LPC, EMDR-Trained Connect to Thrive See ad on page 43 Lewis Kaplan, Debra LCSW, LMFT, BCPC, FAPA Office of Debra Lewis Kaplan McCracken, Lynn LPC-S, LMFT-S, LCDC Thriiive Practices

ADDISON

Perry Braun, Robin MPsy, CECP, ILPP Integrated Life Strategies

FRISCO

Bain, Deborah MD, FAAP, ABIHM, IFMCP Healthy Kids Pediatrics

GRAND PRAIRIE Métoyer, Melissa MRC My Resurrection Fern

MEDICAL MASSAGE

PLANO

Frank, Victoria ALMT Amazing Therapeutic Touch of Eden

MUSIC THERAPY FORT WORTH

Diaz-Negron, Jean-Michael MT-BC Heart & Harmony Music Therapy Graham, Samantha MT-BC Heart & Harmony Music Therapy Michel, Madison MT-BC Heart & Harmony Music Therapy

PROSPER

Roberson, Annie MT-BC Heart & Harmony Music Therapy

Anderson, Jennifer LPC-S Apple Counseling

NEURO INTEGRATION FORT WORTH

Feuerbacher, Sarah PhD, LCSW-S Counseling CARE Prosper

Rae, Leanna MSSW, SPT, TEB Kid’s Brain Tree Fort Worth See ad on page 41

mom approved

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY

Lozano, Erin LPC-S, RPT-S Center for Social Success

Burget, Frankie OTR/LC, LMT/MI, BCIM/P, CST, CNDT, SEP, CWE, CWD Windsong Therapy & Wellness See ad on page 42

McLaughlin, Laura LPC, RPT HeadFirst Counseling

BEDFORD

DALLAS

Freeman, Candice OTD, MOT, OTR Tears To Cheers Handwriting Clinic McBride, Elizabeth OT, CWC North Texas Therapy Innovations Pfiffner, Dalton MOT, OTL Therapeutic Movements See ad on page 45 Reneau, Keelie MOT, OTR Theraplay Associates

FORT WORTH Bryant, JaNae OTR Goodwin Therapy Khammar, Sue OTR Cowtown Pediatrix Clinic Mendoza, Lindsey OT PediaPlex

SOUTHLAKE Johnson, Monica OT Pediaplex

PHYSICAL THERAPY DALLAS

Allen, Becky PT, DPT Genesis PT & Wellness Hall, Renita LPTA, RMT Therapeutic Movements See ad on page 45

FORT WORTH Ball, Allison PT, DPT Woerner Physical Therapy Woerner, Marie PT, DPT, WCS, CLT Woerner Physical Therapy

PLAY THERAPY CORINTH

Graham, Christy LPC-S, RPT-S Acorn Counseling Education Services See ad on page 44

DALLAS

Balint-Bravo, Sarah LPC-S, RPT-S, NCC Park Cities Child & Family Counseling

Mullins, Kimberly LPC, RPT HOPE Child & Family Center of Texas West, Brooke PhD, LPC-S, RPT-S HOPE Child & Family Center of Texas

FORT WORTH

Colatriano, Jaime LPC-S, RPT-S, EMDR-Trained Center for Counseling & Family Relationships See ad on page 21 Dorough, Chelsea LCSW, EMDR-Trained Center for Counseling & Family Relationships See ad on page 21 Fescenmeyer, Alison LPC, EMDR-Trained Center for Counseling & Family Relationships See ad on page 21 Guhl, Courtney LPC-S, RPT-S, NCC Terra Therapies See ad on page 42 Hensley, Dawn LPC, AutPlay Certified Center for Counseling & Family Relationships Johnson, Rhonda LPC-S, LMFT-S, RPT-S, CEAP, EMDR Consultant in Training Center for Counseling & Family Relationships See ad on page 21 Oakes, Emily LPC Intern Center for Counseling & Family Relationships See ad on page 21

MCKINNEY

Schumann, Brandy LPC-S, NCC, RPT-S Therapy on the Square

FORT WORTH Mortimer, Jordana PhD, LP, LSSP Brainstorm Learning See ad on page 45

MIDLOTHIAN

MANSFIELD

Carr, Amy LCSW-S Paws for Reflection Ranch

Brenner, Caroline PhD The Jones Center for Children’s Therapy & Assessment

PLANO

SLEEP TRAINING

D’Amore, Kelsey LPC, RPT, EMDR-Trained Connect to Thrive See ad on page 43 Rees, Sarah MS, LPC, RPT, NCC Brave Space Counseling See ad on page 46

RICHARDSON Hawkins, Joshua LPC, RPT Bright Spot Counseling Moss, Bethany LPC, RPT, EMDR-Trained Aspen Haus Associates Ritzi, Rochelle PhD, LPC-S, NCC, RPT-S, CCPT-S, CPRT-S Bright Spot Counseling

DFW AREA

Jones, Pam RN Sweet Dreams Little Ones

SPEECH THERAPY DALLAS

Friedman, Laura CCC-SLP Bloom Speech & Language Therapy Jackson, McKenna CCC-SLP Dallas Reading & Language Services Lawson, Kelsey MS, CCC-SLP Callier Center for Communication Disorders McFarlin, Michelle MS, CCC-SLP The Social Communication Connection

PSYCHIATRY

Sorokwasz, Meredith CCC-SLP Let’s Talk Speech Therapy

Reid, Shauna MD North Texas Child Psychiatry

Waldrup, Breanna MS, CCC-SLP Apraxia Dallas

ALLEN

DALLAS Yeamans, Gabriel MD Child & Family Guidance Center

FORT WORTH Dixon, Brian MD Progressive Psychiatry

IRVING Torres-Roca, Ilianai MD DFW Child Psychiatry

PLANO Khalid, Humaira MD Psymed Solutions & Aesthetics

PSYCHOLOGY

FORT WORTH Broom, Krista MS, CCC-SLP Beelieve Pediatric Therapy Goehring, Caitlin SLP PediaPlex Goodwin, Gabriela CCC-SLP Goodwin Therapy Holt, Shelby CCC-SLP Goodwin Therapy

FRISCO Stoneman, Katie CCC-SLP Frisco Speech & Language Therapy

MCKINNEY

Cantu, Sara PhD, LPC-S, LMFT, CEDS-S, RPT-S Play Therapy with Sara Cantu

DALLAS

Hancock, Christian CCC-SLP Heart & Soul Speech

Crossley, Tia LSSP, LP, HSP Crossley Psychological Services

SOUTHLAKE

Heath, Robi LPC-S Kid Talk

Miltenberger, Paula PhD Women’s Mental Wellness

KELLER

Strenger, Nathaniel PsyD The Center for Integrative Counseling & Psychology

FRISCO

Tailleur, Mariah MEd, LPC, RPT Keller Child & Family Therapy

McPhearson, Karen SLP PediaPlex

UMBILICAL CORD EDUCATION GRAND PRAIRIE

Purrington, Sheila NTX Cord Blood Educator dfwchild.com / august 2020

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Sara Feldman, PhD, BCBA, LBA ABA Therapy

Dr. Sara Feldman is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and co-owner of The Helm ABA. Dr. Feldman earned her Master’s in Special Education with an emphasis in applied behavior analysis from Texas State University and her Doctorate in Special Education with a concentration in autism from the University of North Texas.

Prior to starting The Helm ABA, Dr. Feldman worked in the public school system as a teacher, Instructional Specialist and Behavior Specialist. It was during this time that Dr. Feldman realized her passion for uniting parents and service providers to create individualized support plans that generalize across all settings of life. She believes with the right level of collaboration between teachers, parents, and support specialists all children can be successful at home and at school.

Currently, Dr. Feldman owns and operates The Helm ABA with her business partner LeeAnn Jones. The Helm ABA was founded in 2015 with a mission to provide exceptional, collaborative behavior therapy that improves the quality of life for children and families affected by autism. Since its start as a solely in-home ABA provider, The Helm ABA has expanded to include both in-home and center-based ABA therapy in Lewisville, Allen, and Dallas. The Helm ABA also supports over 15 local school districts with the implementation of evidence-based teaching strategies for children with autism and other behavior disorders.

With a team of over 60 BCBAs and therapists, The Helm ABA is dedicated to providing not only the highest quality therapy in Texas, but creating an environment that inspires hope.

Dr. Feldman shared that “many families join The Helm ABA after a series of rejections or setbacks. It is important to us to make sure that our families know that they are in the right place.

They are welcome, and this is a safe space to share not only their worries and fears but their hopes and dreams for their child. With the science of ABA, we are able to create an individualized, evidence-based plan that focuses on what is important to our families, not just a one size fits all approach.”

Dr. Feldman is both humbled and honored to celebrate this distinct honor with the hundreds of families The Helm ABA has served over the past five years. The success of The Helm ABA is a direct result of the support and love of the North Texas autism community.

The Helm ABA team is so grateful for the countless families that have allowed them to be part of their journey.

For more information on The Helm ABA please visit us online at TheHelmABA.com.

The Helm ABA Allen. Lewisville. Dallas.

469-730-0925 Info@TheHelmABA.com TheHelmABA.com

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Leanna Rae, MSSW, SPT, TEB Neuro Integration 2x Mom Approved Leanna Rae, MSSW and Cara Soto, BCBA have developed an integrative Empowered Caregiving Model and partnerships that support children and families through all stages of growth and development.

Leanna understands that how we live life is greatly influenced by factors below the level of conscious awareness. Through somatic practices that she has amalgamated from leading experts in the field, she facilitates an organic and natural process of transformation.

Cara has trained parents, pediatricians, and other care professionals in the best practices that support parents in creating caring and compassionate approaches to parenting.

KBT is partnered with Restore + Revive Wellness Center. Dabney Poorter, RN and nutritionist and Taylor Dukes, Family Nurse Practitioner have expertise in health and wellness that supports children and families in their desire to live healthier lives.

We believe that we all have the innate capacity to heal and change from the inside out. Our team comes along side you to help identify targeted areas of growth. Together, we create a plan that will increase resilience, creativity and well-being.

Kid’s Brain Tree 5001 Byers Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76107 817-720-6220 kidsbraintreefortworth.com

Shamim Juma, MEd, BCBA, LBA ABA Therapy Our vision at Pediatrics Plus is “Empowering Children to Conquer Their World” and Sham Juma is a crucial part for how we execute this vision.

Sham is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and oversees a team of BCBAs and RBTs (Registered Behavior Technicians) at our Frisco clinic. Sham is an incredible leader who values her team’s input. Sham is always encouraging and willing to offer advice or direction to her staff. She exudes a quiet confidence and a positive attitude that elicits calmness within her team and fosters a great working environment. She encourages collaboration to foster a multidisciplinary approach for the children that we serve at Pediatrics Plus.

As a clinician, Sham seeks to ensure that treatment strategies are evidencebased. She loves to brainstorm out-of-the-box ideas with the team of BCBAs that she supervises. Her passion for empowering parents is evident and an area in which she excels clinically. She works diligently with the goal to help our clients achieve the most success. They are her top priority and she fights for them every day!

Pediatrics Plus 6025 Sports Village Rd., Frisco, TX 75033 214-687-9385 pediatricsplus.com

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Courtney Guhl, LPC-S, RPT-S, NCC Play Therapy Courtney Guhl is a Texas native and proud Texas Christian University double alumnus! Courtney is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor, Registered Play Therapist Supervisor and National Certified Counselor. She has a passion for supporting the Fort Worth community and encouraging others.

Courtney has been in private practice since 2012, however, in 2018, she took a leap of faith to grow her private practice and created Terra Therapies, PLLC. In June 2020, Terra Therapies moved to a new office located on the Trinity Trail and expanded services and staff to provide traditional talk therapy, play therapy, walkand-talk therapy as well as mindfulness and eco-therapy experiences to enhance the mental health healing process.

She is excited in the continued growth of Terra Therapies, with the mission to provide compassionate, professional and ethical mental health support to individuals, children, adolescents and families we serve. Her goal is to meet the unique needs of the Fort Worth community by utilizing the unique talents of her team at Terra Therapies, PLLC.

Terra Therapies, PLLC 3200 Riverfront Dr., Ste. 108 Fort Worth, TX 76107 817-887-9505 • Info@TerraTherapiesTX.com TerraTherapiesTX.com

Frankie L. Burget, OTR/LC, LMT/MI, BCIM/P, CST, CNDT, SEP, CWE, CWD Occupational Therapy 5x Mom Approved Frankie Burget, designated Mom Approved since 2014, is a licensed occupational therapist with lifetime certification, board certified in integrative medicine and pediatrics in the Dallas/FortWorth Metroplex practicing for over 35 years. Now in a new location to better serve our patients. Her vast experience enabled Frankie to develop a gentle hands-on method of treatment called Fascial Integrative Therapy™ which recognizes the importance of the fascial and craniosacral systems and all aspects of the body. Common diagnoses seen are lip/tongue tie, feeding problems, autism, ADD/ADHD, scoliosis, pre/post surgical pain, sensory processing disorders, fibromyalgia, infertility, pre/post pregnancy, TMJ, PTSD, torticollis, Plagiocephaly, among others.

Windsong Therapy and Wellness, Inc. 2725 Central Dr., Ste. A Bedford, TX 76021-4868 817-571-8135 • windsongtherapy.com

Amanda Coffey, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA ABA Therapy

2x Mom Approved Behavior Network was founded on the principle of providing evidence-based Applied Behavior Analysis for individuals of all ages. Dr. Coffey and her devoted team specialize in the treatment of severe challenging behavior. We recognize the challenges families face when navigating behavioral health services alone and work in collaboration with local agencies, school districts and other professionals to meet each family’s unique needs. Our program recently expanded services to offer residential treatment through Behavior Living. This facility will further the community impact of our mission statement, to “teach individuals to function and live as independently as possible.”

Behavior Network 4601 Medical Center Dr., Ste. F McKinney, TX 75069 469-731-0957 •behaviornetwork.net

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Dean Beckloff, PhD, LPC-S Counseling

4x Mom Approved

Dr. Beckloff currently maintains an active counseling practice in North Dallas, specializing in treatment for children and families. He is a trained play therapist for children, and specializes in family counseling and parenting, working with children with emotional or behavioral issues, as well as children with ADD, Asperger’s disorder, and others. Dr. Beckloff also works with families dealing with divorce issues, both during the divorce and postdivorce with parents and children.

A licensed professional counselor, Dr. Beckloff has worked extensively in individual and group therapy for children. Dr. Beckloff also specializes in filial play therapy treatment—a therapeutic approach to helping children through the use of play, with the parent as the person working with the child. Dr. Beckloff also served as an elementary school counselor in the Richardson ISD, consulting with administrators, teachers, and parents, conducting individual and group counseling, crisis counseling and coordinating special programs.

BPBC

Beckloff Behavioral Health Center

where kids become kids again

17210 Campbell Rd., Ste. 200 Dallas, TX 75252 972-250-1700 drbeckloff.com

Kay Trotter, PhD, LPC-S, RPT-S & Dore Quinn, LPC Counseling

We all want the best for our family and worry about how they are coping with the daily dynamics of life. Kaleidoscope Behavioral Health is here to help, whether it’s your child “playing out” their feelings and problems, or teens/adults “talking out” their difficulties. And, we do it with a special play/activity room designed to meet the emotional needs of children and tweens.

Kaleidoscope even has unique adult therapy, where parents can find peace and healing.

Dr. Kay Trotter, founder of Kaleidoscope, is a sought-after expert who is well aware of the anxiety we feel with navigating parenting, behavioral issues, and the emotional pitfalls of social media.

Dore Quinn, one of six Kaleidoscope counselors, specializes in adolescent/adult selfharming behaviors, depression/anxiety and couples. Her desire is to help clients learn how to use their own strengths to cope with life’s challenges.

kaleidoscope B E H AV I O R A L

H E A LT H

Kaleidoscope Behavioral Health 3535 Firewheel Dr., Ste. F Flower Mound, TX 75028 214-499-0396 kaleidoscopebehavioralhealth.com

Kelsey D’Amore, LPC, RPT, EMDR-Trained & Shannon Kouser, LPC, EMDR-Trained Play Therapy & Counseling 2x Mom Approved At Connect to Thrive, we believe all children, teens, and adults are capable of living happy, fulfilling lives. We utilize play therapy, animal assisted therapy, art therapy, sand tray therapy, therapeutic yoga, and EMDR to help children, teens, and parents cope with life’s struggles and heal. We know counseling is a collaborative process with parents, teachers, and all those involved in a client’s life. We offer parenting support to help parents feel confident and happy in their parenting abilities. Our work together will empower you or your child to live life confidently!

Connect to Thrive, LLC 6300 Stonewood Dr., Suite B and D Plano, TX 75024 972-872-8498 • thriveplano.com dfwchild.com / august 2020

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Christy Graham, MA, LPC-S, RPT-S Play Therapy

4x Mom Approved Acorn helps others—we can help you, too. Our skilled dedicated counselors guide families through rough transitions, from custody to behavior issues to helping with anxiety and depression. We work to bring the whole family onto the same team to tackle some of life’s toughest challenges. We teach co-parenting skills, provide supportive therapy throughout the most difficult times of your life, and at the end, we help you find your new normal. Our Christian clinicians teach you to use your worldview to support you, your child and your family. Mrs. Christy provides play therapy, EMDR, parent facilitation and reunification counseling.

Acorn Counseling Education Services 1430 Robinson Rd., #430, Corinth, TX 76210 940-222-8703 • christy@acorncounseling.services acorncounseling.services

Beth Lewis, MA, LPC-S Counseling

The Beth Lewis Therapy Group is a group of fully licensed and partially licensed family therapists working collectively and within the supervision of therapist and writer, Beth Lewis, MA, LPC-S. They are conveniently located in Fort Worth’s near Southside, and thanks to their HIPPA compliant Telehealth option, you can introduce your Great Aunt Myrtle located in West Texas to their therapy sessions.

Or maybe you only have a quick hour at lunch, or while you’re parked in your car while your children are with the sitter...any way you need to cut it, they’ve got your therapy covered. Did we mention they also have an award winning massage therapist in-house?

Self help doesn’t get better, or have more outside-of-the-box, original thinking than with the Beth Lewis therapists!

Beth Lewis Therapy Group 1814 8th Ave., Fort Worth, TX 76110 817-781-3735 voice/text • BethLewisTherapy.com FORT WORTH.TEXAS

Facebook.com/BethLTherapy • Instagram.com/BethLewisTherapyGroup

Bailey McAdams, MEd, LPC Counseling

Bailey has been practicing in Colleyville for 13 years as a Licensed Professional Counselor. As a family practitioner, Bailey offers services to children, adolescents, and adults in either face-to-face or virtual telehealth sessions. Bailey believes anyone that’s willing to ask for help—people of any age, of any socioeconomic status, in any station of life, and with any struggle—can have access to straightforward and healthy strategies for improving mental health in a supportive, unbiased, and non-judgmental way.

Her specialties include: help with anxiety and depression, play therapy, experiential and activity-based therapy, conversational therapy, and child-parent relationship training (CPRT).

North Texas Counseling Associates 8090 Precinct Line Rd., Suite 103 Colleyville, TX, 76034 817-281-6822 • ntxcounseling.com

Jason McCoy, LMSW, LCSW-S, RPT-S Counseling

6x Mom Approved I help families, kids and teens who feel anxious, frustrated and overwhelmed.

We look at what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what to do about it. This includes exploring how the brain works and how to use that knowledge to bring change. We also identify patterns of interaction in the family, how needs get expressed and met, and then create effective strategies to use at home. I love to help families bring out the best in each other, and get back to the family culture they always wanted.

TREEfort Child and Family Therapy 2548 Lillian Miller Pkwy., Ste. #110 Denton, TX 76210 469-200-2399 • treeforttherapy.com

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Jordana Mortimer, PhD, LP, LSSP Psychology

Brainstorm Learning is co-owned by Drs. Lowther and Mortimer, whom are both Licensed Psychologists, Licensed Specialists in School Psychology, and moms. Our practice specializes in assessments to determine accurate diagnosis across neuropsychological, psychological, and learning areas by viewing children holistically. This can include concerns related to Autism, ADHD, Traumatic Brain Injury, and emotional and behavioral difficulties. Our primary focus is to direct parents to evidence-based treatment and resources to support their child across all areas of functioning.

Congratulations to Mom Approved psychologist Dr. Mortimer!

Brainstorm Learning 1208 W. Magnolia Ave., Ste. 234 Fort Worth, TX 76104 817-989-6312 • brainstormlearningllc.com

Dalton Pfiffner, MOT, OTL & Renita Hall, LPTA, RMT Occupational Therapy & Physical Therapy Thank you to all of our families and therapists for your generous support! We strive to offer the best, most comprehensive pediatric therapy located in the heart of Lakewood/White Rock Lake area. We excel in developmental milestones, handwriting, coordination, sensory integration, strengthening, and more.

Contact us today to schedule for occupational or physical therapy and to learn of our new teletherapy options or in-person temporary outdoor COVID-19 safe options.

Therapeutic Movements 9330 Alta Mira Dr., Dallas, TX 75218 214-212-3048 therapeuticmovements.com

Alexandria Sanders, BCaBA, LABA ABA Therapy

Allie is a Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst at The Helm ABA. She has been in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis since 2014 when she began her undergraduate degree at The University of North Texas. Allie has been a part of The Helm ABA family since 2018 and has served as a therapist and Authorizations Coordinator.

During her time as an Authorizations Coordinator, Allie has help hundreds of families navigate the insurance authorizations process with her patience and attention to detail. In August 2020, Allie will graduate from Arizona State University with a Masters of Arts in Special Education with an emphasis in ABA. The Helm ABA Allen. Lewisville. Dallas.

469-730-0925 • Info@TheHelmABA.com TheHelmABA.com

Evan Skelton, BCBA, LBA ABA Therapy

The entire Shine team wants to congratulate Evan on her amazing designation as a Mom Approved healthcare professional in the field of ABA for 2020! That Evan’s passion to support individuals with Autism has been recognized in such an honored way by the mothers of our children truly touches us all.

Evan is a professional who combines a deep intellectual understanding of the principals of ABA with love and patience.

Evan Skelton is the Lead BCBA, LBA, and Clinical Director at Shine Behavioral. She holds both her Bachelor’s degree in psychology and her Masters’ in Applied Behavior Analysis from USF. She is certified by the national Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) as a BCBA and has over 10 years of experience.

Shine Behavioral 1205 B W. Green Oaks Blvd.

Arlington, TX 76013 817-457-3088 •shinebehavioral.com

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Lorraine Gachelin, VSTCLP Energy Healing

Vibrational Sound Therapy is a sound-based relaxation modality, shifting the receiver from an alert Beta state to an Alpha state of deep rest. Through Crystal Reiki and Chakra Balancing, negative energy blocks are released and replaced with positive life force energy. These modalities provide an “Energy-lift” and restore the body’s energy flow, reducing stress and boosting physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Relax and refocus with energy healing!

My Chakra Center 7331 Gaston Ave., #175, Dallas, TX 75214 Inside the Village Salons, Suite 220 214-587-0228 • mychakracenter.com

Jennifer Hughes, LPC Counseling

Jennifer Hughes is the owner and lead therapist of Jennifer Hughes Counseling in Sachse. She treats clients ranging from 10 years of age to adults. Jennifer specializes in trauma and is trained in both EMDR and Brainspotting, both of which can be used with adolescents. Jennifer also has extensive training in DBT, which she uses with the adolescent population only. With the growth of her practice, Jennifer will be opening Sage Minds Counseling this fall.

Jennifer Hughes Counseling 7214 Hwy. 78, Ste. 5, Sachse, TX 75048 • 972-989-7655 • jenniferhughescounseling.com

Stephanie Jones, DC Chiropractic Dr. Stephanie Jones has years of experience, with over 150 hours in postgraduate holistic clinical nutrition, is an Associate Professor at Collin College teaching Anatomy and Physiology, and a mother of four amazing kids. She is able to help all age ranges in a multitude of ways including, but not limited to, mood disorders, skin conditions, sleep disturbances, injuries, chronic disease, infertility, etc., as she provides the individualized tools patients need to heal from within.

Elite Performance Chiropractic

6220 Virginia Pkwy., Ste. 400, McKinney, TX 75071 972-542-2277 • epcmckinney.com

Nikki Moses, MEd, LBA-BCBA ABA Therapy 5x Mom Approved Nikki Moses is a Licensed and Board Certified Behavior Analyst with 20 years of experience. She started Consulting 4 the Spectrum in 2007. Our mission is to help children with autism attain a better quality of life through ABA treatment. We give parents a “Glimmer of Hope” and are passionate about increasing independence, communication, play, social skills and a love for learning. Our holistic approach includes: individual and group therapy, parent training and school guidance.

Consulting 4 the Spectrum, LLC

4865 Hedgecoxe Rd., Ste. 400, Plano, TX 75024 972-735-8080 • 4thespectrum.com

Sarah Rees, MS, LPC, RPT, NCC Play Therapy

2x Mom Approved Brave Space specializes in Play Therapy and Counseling for children ages 2–18. We help awesome kiddos develop coping skills and effective communication so they can succeed in their relationships and in life.

We also equip parents with tools to better respond and connect with their child, building confidence and making parenting easier. We collaborate amongst parents, schools, and providers to best support families.

We provide your family with a safe space for hope and healing!

Brave Space Counseling 6517 W. Plano Pkwy., Ste. C, Plano, TX 75093 469-215-2890 • bravespacecounseling.com

Ashley Salazar, DC Chiropractic

Path to Wellness Integrated Health bridges evidence-based medicine and holistic techniques to target patient-specific needs. Owner Lauren Letz, DC and her associates, Ashley Salazar, DC; Cagan Randall, DC; Dr. Russell Phillips, DO; Azarina Zayere, FNP-BC; Meagan Roberson, PT-DPT; Suzanne Jennings, PT; collaborate treatment plans to get patients on the path to wellness. Services include: • Chiropractic • Regenerative Medicine

• Physical Therapy • Family Medical

• IV Infusion Therapy • Prenatal + Pediatric Chiro/Massage

Path to Wellness Integrated Health

525 Bailiey Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76107 • 817-348-8488 • info@ptwhealth.com • ptwhealth.com

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HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS RECOMMENDED BY LOCAL MOMS PEDIATRICIANS | COUNSELORS | THERAPISTS WOMEN’S HEALTH | DENTISTS | ORTHODONTISTS WELLNESS PROFESSIONALS

DFWCHILD.COM/DIRECTORY

Sometimes teens get turned around.

We’ll help put the pieces back together.

Teens who struggle with mood changes, drug use or other behavior problems often have an underlying mental health issue like depression or anxiety. To make lasting change, they need tools and support for these core issues. Fort Behavioral Health offers residential programs led by master’s level therapists and a board certified psychiatrist that address all the issues standing between your teen and their healthy emotional development.

Camp Worth

for teens with autism spectrum disorder • Applied behavior analysis therapy • Academic support • Parent training • Recreational therapy • Medication management and counseling

Evergreen Path

for teens with substance use and co-occurring disorders • Individual, group and family therapy led by Master Level Clinicians • Academic support • Parent training and support • Fitness, meditation and yoga • Relapse prevention • Weekly off-site outing

Treatment can help. Call today.

(855) 965-4280 | www.fortbehavioral.com 7140 Oakmont Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76132

COSMOS: ©I ©ISTOCK; TELESCOPE: NOUN PROJECT

kid culture.

SEEING STARS

teaching kids about the cosmos WORDS

CARRIE STEINGRUBER

“I

LOVE ASTRONOMY because it makes me feel small,” says Tiara Chapman. “Looking at the night sky just reminds me to keep things in perspective.”

As the nature programs coordinator at Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area (LLELA), Chapman shares her love for the cosmos with kids and families through events like Stars on the Prairie, where science mingles with creativity. She gets a kick out of the epic sagas spun by the youngest observers at LLELA’s programs. “For those 5-year-olds, asking them to make up their own stories [about the stars], sometimes it’s a battlestar fighting a battlestar—that’s pretty cool.”

In addition to the entertainment value, teaching kids about astronomy engages them in the scientific process—no laboratory needed. Sure, the stars at night aren’t as big and bright in the light-polluted heart of North Texas, but you can still experience outer space with your kids right outside your door. dfwchild.com / august 2020

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STARS

SHOOT FOR THE MOON You can also download an app like “If you only have two minutes to hold their SkyView Lite to help you identify celestial attention, you go out and look at the moon,” objects—as you sweep your phone across the recommends Morgan Rehnberg, Ph.D., chief sky, SkyView Lite will show you the names of scientist at the Fort Worth Museum of Science the stars, constellations and planets. and History. “What’s If you want to go really neat is that as the old-school, there’s a moon changes over the low-tech tool called course of a month, you’re a planisphere, or star going to see different wheel, which has a map things. Sometimes you’ll of the sky that you spin see the big lava plains; to match the date and other times you’ll be able time. Make sure you buy to see the craters on the or download one for moon.”

Three hands-on astronomy activities our latitude (about 33 Kids with early bedto make the stars more accessible degrees north). To read times can even look for to kids: your planisphere—and the moon during the day do anything else out(a good reminder that Marshmallow Constellations side—without totally celestial bodies are always LLELA nature programs coordinator killing your night vision, there, even when we Tiara Chapman says this makes for a you may want a red can’t see most of them). great camping activity, but you can do flashlight, which you Rehnberg suggests having it in your backyard too—just get a bag can hack by covering a your child draw a picture of marshmallows and some toothpicks, flashlight in layers of red of the moon each time and task the kids with assembling the cellophane. Creepy, perso they can see how it patterns they see in the sky above (or haps, but it won’t blind changes. creating their own constellations). you if you accidentally Another reason to look at it.

Construction Paper Stars focus on the moon: You Jacob Moldenhauer, Take it one step further and make don’t need any fancy Ph.D., chair of the physconstellations that actually glow. All equipment to see it. ics department at the you need is black construction paper, In fact, for any casual University of Dallas, toothpicks (or another sharp object you backyard stargazing, sometimes hosts casual trust your kids to use), chalk and your Rehnberg says it’s better star parties for his two phone. Have your kids poke holes in the to have no telescope at all kids, ages 9 and 7, and paper to re-create the stars they see than a cheap one. their neighbors. “A lot and use the chalk to connect the stars “Buy a nice pair of of times we look at the or draw pictures around them. Then binoculars instead, and moon because it’s very shine your phone’s flashlight through you will see so much easy for kids to spot, the paper to illuminate their astral more and have such a or if they accidentally masterpieces. better experience,” he bump the telescope it’s suggests. “It takes a lot of Solar System to Scale easy to find again,” he effort to get [a telescope] This spring, University of Dallas physics says. “As it gets later or pointed in the right professor Jacob Moldenhauer helped we get an older audidirection—it’s a lot of fid- his kids understand the size of the sun ence, we might (dependdling with the knobs and using a balloon. “You blow up a balloon ing on the night) be things—and that’s what to a normal size, and say, ‘OK, this is the able to see a few planets loses the attention of the sun. Then how big is the earth?’ And it’s through the telescope.” kids. But a 4-year-old can smaller than a lentil bean,” he says. To He adds that his pick up a small pair of illustrate the vast distances in our solar children tend to be more binoculars and manage system, you can expand your model— interested in planets to point it at the moon together, look up how far each planet is than stars. “They’re bigtotally on their own, and from the sun, and decide on a scale (say, ger and more dynamic, that’s such an empower50 million miles equals 1 foot). Then find and a lot of times you ing experience.” an object to represent each planet and can see colors associated measure out the distance. You may have with the planets,” he SEARCHING THE to grab your sidewalk chalk and take your explains.

SKIES solar system outside just to make room.

To keep kids To eliminate downtime engaged, Chapman and your kids’ ensuing encourages them to look restlessness, make a plan for asterisms, or groups before heading outside. of stars that aren’t offiUse NASA’s night sky planner or other local cial constellations. With younger ones especialresources (see sidebar on page 54) to figure ly, she’ll ask, “Can you see a heart in the sky? out what else besides the moon you want to Do you see a triangle? Do you see a square?” look at.

She mentions that the Perseid meteor 50

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COSMOS: NOUN PROJECT

Down to Earth

ABOVE // Kids should appreciate the sky’s beauty and get inspired intellectually, says Jacob Moldenhauer, chair of the physics department at the University of Dallas.

KEEP IT REAL Because nearly everything you’re looking at up there in the sky is literal light-years away, astronomy can “seem kind of imaginary,” says Rehnberg. “The lack of tactile-ness can be a challenge, and so I would encourage parents to make connections [to] things we have here on earth. If a kid asked a question like, ‘What is the moon made of?’ you might say, ‘I don’t what the moon is made of, but maybe it’s made of the same stuff that the earth is made of. Can you find something that the earth is made of?’”

Consider crafts or activities that require touch in order to make space more accessible. “With younger kids, it may be that you try and build a little model of Mars’ planetary surface out of Legos or something like that,” Moldenhauer says.

You can also compare what you see in the sky to something familiar on Earth. These real-world comparisons need not be elegant; look for illustrations in everyday objects or even the dinner menu. “When I talk about the sun and the sun’s features, I talk about the surface being like a pot of boiling spaghetti sauce—it bubbles and changes and is very dynamic,” Moldenhauer reveals. “The sun’s surface also bubbles and sometimes has these explosions off of it.”

Chapman adds: “Some stars pulsate, and we talk about how a star has hiccups.”

One exception to astronomy’s general otherworldliness are mete-

Ads with © are © of Lauren Publications, Inc. 2020.

OPEN SKY: ©I ©ISTOCK

shower peaks this month (Aug. 11–13). “It’s one of the most consistent and brightest meteor showers you can see with the naked eye,” she says.

“It usually happens late at night or early, early, early in the morning, so you may have to use some candy to bribe the kids—let’s be honest.”

As exciting as shooting stars might seem to kids, watching and waiting for meteors to streak across the sky will test their patience (and yours). The experience may be better for older kids who won’t get fidgety after five minutes of staring at the sky.

For the best views of meteors and stars, be sure to turn off all your outside lights; you could even politely ask neighbors to switch theirs off for a few minutes too.

If you want to voyage beyond your backyard, state parks (especially those outside the glow of the Metroplex) are ideal for stargazing—and generally, the further west you go in Texas, the brighter your views.

Use a light pollution map like the one at darksitefinder.com to help you escape the city lights.

Within DFW, our local lakes might be your best bet, reveals Moldenhauer. “Being out there on the water, or being close to the water, is a good spot. You just don’t have as many lights out there.”

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STARS

ABOVE // The Perot Museum of Nature and Science gives kids an opportunity to learn how scientists unlock secrets of the sky in the Expanding Universe Hall.

orites—actual pieces of space that have crashlanded on Earth. “We spend all our lives as astronomers trying to understand things we can’t touch,” Rehnberg says, “and then once in a while a piece of that stuff just falls out of the sky, and we can pick it up, and that’s amazing.”

He recommends a field trip to Texas Christian University’s Monig Meteorite Gallery (as soon as it reopens), where kids can see space rocks primarily found in Texas, including a Tarrant County specimen that weighs over 100 pounds.

knowing things and trying to figure out the answer,” Rehnberg says. “One of the best ways for the family to experience the universe together is to go out, look up, ask a question and then work together to find the answer.”

Besides consulting Google, your quest for answers might include emailing local experts such as astronomy professors—Moldenhauer says he welcomes queries from the community—and attending star parties.

The latter will give your family a chance to look through telescopes that are already pointed at interesting things and manned by knowledgeable, passionate astronomers.

Even then, you’ll likely hear some “I don’t knows,” which for Rehnberg is just part of the magic of astronomy.

“There’s not an astronomer in the world that knows the answer to all the things that a kid might ask,” he says.

“But all those answers are out there, and finding them is half the fun because you’re discovering something new—whether it’s new to your family or totally new in the world, and that’s just a really wonderful feeling.”

CURIOUSER & CURIOUSER For all the oohs and aahs that outer space inspires, it should ideally stir intellectual curiosity too, Moldenhauer says. “You want them to appreciate the beauty of it, but you also want them to be curious about what they’re looking at. That really can help [them] have an appreciation for science later on in their life.”

Prompt your kids to ask questions about what they see in the sky—and, Mom and Dad, it’s OK if you don’t have all the answers.

“Modeling the behavior of not knowing is a good thing, because all of science is not 52

august 2020 / dfwchild.com

KIDS: PEROT MUSEUM

“I TALK ABOUT THE SURFACE [OF THE SUN] BEING LIKE A POT OF BOILING SPAGHETTI SAUCE—IT BUBBLES AND CHANGES.”

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Parents are always welcome in treatment rooms

Dr. Michelle Lindsay & Dr. Shannon Cestari Pediatric Dentists in North Arlington

The dentists and their staff truly believe in the “care” in healthcare!

Our office uses large colorful murals of circus animals to create a fun and friendly atmosphere called the “Super Smile Circus.”

ABOVE // Kids can satisfy their astronomical curiosity with resources from the Fort Worth Museum of Science & History—virtually right now, and in person when the museum reopens.

STAR TREKS

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Where to go (virtually) to learn more about astronomy:

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The TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF DALLAS is hoping to resume its monthly star parties in Garland, Frisco, Cedar Hill and Rockwall. In the meantime, its website includes resources for beginning stargazers as well as a jaw-dropping gallery of space photos taken by members. texasastro.org Instead of its usual monthly star parties at Tandy Hills Natural Area, the FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY has been hosting virtual star parties via YouTube, where you can chat live with club members as they give you a peek into their telescopes. Look for the next event at facebook.com/fortworthastro The University of North Texas’ RAFES URBAN ASTRONOMY CENTER has also put its star parties on hold, but visit the Facebook page for two live weekly events: Weekly Sky Update every Saturday at 2pm and Ask an Astronomer Monday at 5pm. Bring your kids’ questions—and your own! facebook.com/RUACatUNT

While the Noble Planetarium remains closed, the FORT WORTH MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY has educational videos on its YouTube channel, and invites kids to send their questions about space to questions@fwmsh.org. For kids who want to go more in-depth, round up a few friends and book an hourlong, virtual field trip (themes include stars and civilizations, light pollution, animals in constellations, and what you can see over Texas), starting at $25. fwmuseum.org

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On the PEROT MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE website, click “Amaze Your Brain at Home” to find space-themed videos, printables and activities for kids. perotmuseum.org

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NASA’S NIGHT SKY NETWORK (nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov) has a night sky planner to help guide your backyard stargazing, plus month-by-month Universe Discovery Guides with fun facts and kid-friendly activities. For even more space-focused fun—and answers to some of your young astronomers’ many questions—head to SPACE PLACE (spaceplace.nasa.gov), a site geared specifically to kids.

MUSEUM: FORT WORTH MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

Join the UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON PLANETARIUM for weekly Facebook Live talks (come with questions) and Weekly Night Sky, a series of brief YouTube videos about what you can see in the sky right now. uta.edu/planetarium

Their first years. Our first priority.

Learn to water just enough.

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We are accredited early education and care schools that serve infants through private kindergarten, teacher-guided remote learning for ages 5-10, after-schoolers, their families, and our community. During their time with us each day, children participate in many activities such as language & literacy, social studies, and our character development program. Our students also enjoy healthy, freshly prepared breakfast, lunch and two snacks daily, prepared by our in-house chef.

The Primrose-exclusive approach, called Balanced Learning, is created from the best early education wisdom and early childhood education research, and balances purposeful play with nurturing guidance from teachers to encourage curiosity, creativity, confidence and compassion.

It is designed to meet the developmental needs of young children.

At Primrose, we believe who children become is as important as what they know, and we help empower children to reach their full potential each day.

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people+places.

HARRIS AND DAUGHTERS: COURTESY OF CHRIS HARRIS JR.; FOOTBALL: THE NOUN PROJECT

Chris Harris Jr. gets quality time (and manicure time) in with his girls off the field.

#GIRLDAD nfl champ chris harris jr. has scored big—in football and at home WORDS

CARRIE STEINGRUBER

O

N THE FIELD, Chris Harris Jr. is a decorated NFL cornerback; off the field, he’s a proud #girldad, raising four daughters (Aria, 5, Avianna, 4, Aliyah, 2, and Amaris, 9 months) with his wife, Leah, here in the DFW area. They split their time between Prosper and wherever Harris plays—for nine seasons, he was with the Denver Broncos; now the family is looking for a house in L.A. since Harris signed with the Chargers. For the four-time Pro Bowler and 2016 Super Bowl champ, it wasn’t a straight shot to success: He went undrafted and worked his way to stardom.

Harris pays it forward by mentoring and serving underprivileged kids through his foundation. The Chris Harris Jr. Foundation, launched in 2012, works to give underpriviled youth unique opportunities—such as free youth football camps, back-to-school events, winter clothing drives and holiday shopping experiences. The foundation’s work is often done in partnership dfwchild.com / august 2020

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people + places / # G I R L D A D

Offering support, education, and guidance for your breastfeeding family Michele Gaudette, RN, IBCLC-RLC 30 years experience

817-542-3554 • preciousmiracleslactation.com

Music Go Round

6006 Southwest Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76109 • 817-763-8188 musicgoround.com/locations/fort-worth-tx

with other organizations, such as the Salvation Army, Denver Children’s Home and Big Brothers Big Sisters. (To learn more, check out chrisharrisjr.com/foundation.)

Harris is hoping to pass his work ethic— and his love for helping people—on to his daughters. “I’ve been blessed to be able to give them anything they want, so [I hope they] do what interests them, as long as they’re doing it for the good. Hopefully, they find something that they love to do and have that drive to be great at it.”

He admits that he fears for his daughters too, especially knowing the perseverance it takes for Black women to succeed. He talked to us about being a girl dad—especially a Black girl dad—and how he’s trying to spread love in a turbulent world.

What does being a girl dad mean to you? Just being

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there, being in their lives. That’s really what they want is me being around and being able to talk to them and be interactive with them. Just being there anytime they need, as a friend too, and being able to guide them in life.

What do you hope they learn from you?

Dads often get a bad rap, especially Black dads. Do you ever feel judged or misrepresented?

I mean, there is a lot of Black fathers not involved in the kids’ lives. I’ve had to deal with divorce and things like that in my family, so that’s a curse that has always been a goal for me to break. That’s definitely what’s kept me pushing. It was something that God pretty much told me: that Leah was my wife, and we both had curses in our families that we had to break, and that’s something that he wanted me to do.

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august 2020 / dfwchild.com

Do you have any fears for your daughters growing up in this environment? Oh yeah, I have

great fears for them. The world’s just changing at a rapid pace. And little girls, they’re getting kidnapped every day. [Editor’s note: According to the National Crime Information Center, Black children go missing at a higher rate than white children.]

And also for a Black woman, just understanding the extra work and perseverance that they have to do to be able to make it in this world.

Being a Black man, it’s hard for us, but it’s probably double time, triple times harder for a Black woman to make it.

Why do you say it’s even harder for a black woman?

You can just see it, the way the system is built. For me, I had to be perfect to make it here. I grew up in an all-white town. It was one of the last cities to still have segregation.

A lot of people in my family couldn’t even go to my school, so we have history right there where I’m from.

It’s something that I know from just living life. Women in general have it tough.

They have to balance it all: the marriage, the family, their job. They consistently sacrifice their wellbeing for others and are almost always underappreciated.

But then you add being a Black woman— it’s just another thing to balance, another obstacle they have to work to overcome.

“I TRY TO BE AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT THEY HOPEFULLY WILL MARRY WHEN THEY GET OLDER.”

Definitely hard work.

And the No. 1 thing is just how a man should treat his wife, so they know how, when they get older and they start dating, how a guy is supposed to treat them. So that’s what I try to do—I try to be an example of what they hopefully will marry when they get older.

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systems and in our governments and organizations, and that’s why they’re protesting. So I didn’t bring her all the way in, but gave her a little bit of what’s going on.

Have you talked to your girls about what’s going on with the Black Lives Matter protests? I haven’t

exposed them to any of that yet. The main thing I told [my oldest daughter] about the riots was that they’re just protesting to bring change. There’s a need for change for our

Do you have any strong women in mind when you say that, women who would be good examples for your daughters? My mom is definitely an

example of a strong Black woman. She was a single mother, raising two kids on her own, trying to give us the best life she could. I think I turned out OK! My mother, my wife, my sister—they are all amazing examples.

How does the state of the world right now affect your foundation’s work? For me, it’s just spread-

ing love. A lot of these kids are neglected— they don’t have family, they don’t have a support group, so that’s what I try to bring.

And hopefully from there, they see what we’re doing, how involved we are with them, that they want to spread that same love.

HARRIS FAMILY: COURTESY OF CHRIS HARRIS JR.

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people + places / G R E E N

SCENE

Safari Splash at Fort Worth Zoo is operating at limited capacity to allow social distancing.

SPLASH TOWN

14 local spray grounds guaranteed to make a splash SAFARI SPLASH: COURTESY OF FORT WORTH ZOO

WORDS

I

EMILY YEARWOOD

T’S NO SECRET that Texas summers are hot.

But you don’t have to brave crowds at a water park or have a backyard pool to get relief.

Here are some of DFW’s best splash pads that are open for visitors right now. (There are definitely great splash pads in other communities, but many are closed because of the pandemic.)

Before you head out, be sure to confirm each site’s open status, as things can change quickly

these days. If you visit, remember to social distance, avoid large groups and follow all COVIDrelated guidelines.

CALIFORNIA LANE PARK SPRAY GROUND // Arlington Location 1931 California Lane What to know Your kiddos will stay cool as they enjoy a spray tunnel and arch, water jets and a spinning play station. Access to the spray ground is free; splash the day away from 10am–8pm. You can rent the pavilion and its amenities—including grill and electricity access. Restrooms are on-site.

OAK HILLS SPLASH PARK // Carrollton Location 1225 Royal Palm Lane What to know In addition to dump buckets and sprayers, this splash park features small water slides. Cool down at no cost during the hours of 9am–8pm. A pavilion, tables and grills are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Restrooms are available on-site. Swim attire is required.

MCPHERSON PARK SPLASH PAD // Colleyville Location 240 W. McDonwell School Road What to know The splash pad at McPherson Park features tipping water buckets, a red windmill that sprays water, an archway in a frog design that sprays kids below, and more.

Take a snack and hydration break under the shaded pavilion. This splash pad is free and open 10am–8pm daily through the end of September.

Restrooms are on-site.

BICENTENNIAL PARK SPLASH PAD // Crowley Location 900 E. Glendale St. What to know Crowley’s Bicentennial Park offers a 2,000-square-foot splash pad for water fun.

This free park has a sea theme and is open daily from 10am–8pm through Labor Day. There are restrooms on-site.

DANIELDALE SPRAYGROUND // Dallas Location 300 W. Wheatland Road What to know With imaginative water play for the kids and shaded areas and tables for adults, this dfwchild.com / august 2020

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TOWN

PODCAST

ABOVE // Kids at the Frisco Commons Spray Park have fun with interactive sprayers and geysers.

BELOW// Dove Sprayground in Grapevine is part of the larger Dove Waterpark.

The first series is on Pandemic Parenting, featuring moms, dads, and local industry experts on relevant topics: working from home while parenting, staying sane in this challenging world, having a baby (or adopting) during a pandemic, and navigating the back-to-school realities.

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august 2020 / dfwchild.com

LAKE HIGHLANDS NORTH SPRAYGROUND

// Dallas Location 9940 White Rock Trail What to know Cool down in the spray ground at Lake Highlands North Park. It’s free and open through Labor Day (10am–8pm every day except Friday, when the spray area opens at 2pm). There’s not a bathroom onsite, but you can take advantage of benches, picnic tables, a pavilion and other shade. Kids will love the water features, including spray arches and in-ground jets.

FAIRVIEW FOUNTAIN // Fairview Location 329 Town Place, at Fairview Town Center What to know This interactive fountain features in-ground jets that shoot sprays of water into the air. Kids 12 and under are invited to enjoy fountain play at no charge. Swim diapers are required for the littlest visitors, and rubber footwear is encouraged for all kiddos.

Parents can watch from nearby tables and benches. Restrooms are available in Fairview Town Center.

SAFARI SPLASH // Fort Worth Location 1989 Colonial Parkway, at Fort Worth Zoo What to know If your kids need room to roam, give Safari Splash a go. It covers 14,000 square feet at the Fort Worth Zoo and features slides, a water dump tower, animal-shaped water cannons, a toddler area and more. It’s an additional $5 with zoo admission ($4 for zoo members and free for kids 2 and under).

Moms and dads can watch from a shaded lounge chair. Safari Splash opens at 10am; closing time is 5pm on weekdays and 6pm on weekends. There are nearby bathrooms.

FRISCO COMMONS SPRAY PARK // Frisco

Location 8000 McKinney Road What to know This spray ground, which runs on a recycled water system, includes a multitude of dumping buckets, interactive sprayers, geysers and more. Proper swimwear is required, including swim diapers if appropriate. The water features are visible from nearby tables, so parents can enjoy some shade while the kiddos play. Access the spray park for free from 8am–8pm daily, with restrooms on-site.

DOVE SPRAYGROUND // Grapevine Location 1509 Hood Lane, at Dove Park What to know This spray ground is part of the Dove Waterpark. With shaded areas, benches and a huge dump bucket, your kiddos will have no trouble keeping cool in the heat. For

FRISCO COMMONS: COURTESY OF FRISCO PARKS & RECREATION; DOVE WATERPARK: COURTESY OF GRAPEVINE PARKS AND RECREATION

INTRODUCING THE DFWCHILD PODCAST

free splash pad in South Dallas is sure to be a hit. Make hot sunny days a cool adventure during open hours of 10am–8pm daily (except Thursdays, when scheduled maintenance takes place and the spray ground opens at 2pm).

Go to the bathroom before you get there, but there are portable toilets on-site if needed.

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people + places / S P L A S H

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extra comfort, you can rent a cabana. Water shoes are encouraged but not required. It’s currently open 11am–9:30pm Monday through Thursday and 11am–7pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $3 for Grapevine residents and $6 for nonresidents. Restrooms are on-site.

DOUBLETREE RANCH PARK SPLASH PAD // Highland Village Location 310 Highland Village Road What to know The splash pad at Doubletree Ranch Park is perhaps the most scenic spray ground in North Texas. The modern design looks like a natural creek and features 15 water features (with 66 sprayers and a waterfall). It’s open from 10am–8pm every day except Tuesday.

There’s no charge to play. Restrooms are available on-site.

CLAYTON W. CHANDLER PARK SPLASH PAD // Mansfield Location 1540 N. Walnut Creek Drive What to know Littles can cool off safely with the non-slip surface at this splash pad. Play in the water sprayers at no charge 10am–8pm daily through Labor Day. Then your kiddos can dry off at the adjacent playground. The park has bathroom facilities.

FRONTIER PARK SPLASH PAD // Prosper Location 1551 Frontier Parkway What to know The splash pad at Frontier Park sits alongside the community-built Windmill Playground. The interactive water features are open through Oct. 1, and the fun is free. There are multiple restrooms throughout the park.

BICENTENNIAL PARK SPLASH PAD // Southlake Location 450 W. Southlake Blvd.

What to know This Southlake water play area is designed to look like a giant dragon. Kids splash around the dragon’s head, frolic in the green water fountains that twist up from the ground, and duck under small spraying archways. It’s currently open from 6am–11pm daily, with on-site restrooms.

ABOVE // The Splash Pad at Doubletree Ranch Park (Highland Village’s newest park) was designed with the look and flow of a natural creek.

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DOUBLETREE RANCH: COURTESY OF HIGHLAND VILLAGE PARKS & RECREATION

ACCEPTING NEW STUDENT APPLICATIONS

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AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES DIRECTORY

Another school year is here—and so is the question of how to keep kiddos busy (besides homework) when they finish for the day. Here are some ideas for your family.

AGES DESCRIPTION

Acting Studio, The Grapevine • 917/224-5877 actingstudiotx.com

5–18yrs

A studio for excellence in the theatrical arts. We foster an environment where excellence is the standard, not perfection with a reputation for a positive and professional environment in which artists can develop their craft. See ad on page 63.

Adventure Kids Playcare Multiple locations • 972/899-9332 adventurekidsplaycare.com

6wks–12yrs

School stress getting you down? Let Adventure Kids help! Each day will feature homework helpers, enrichment classes, hands on STEAM, gross motor games, free time, and so much more! See ad on page 35.

Challenge Island—West Plano/ North Dallas Dallas • 469/779-7844 challenge-island.com/westplano-northdallas

4–12yrs

We will be offering in person STEAM classes for public registration or your own private groups . Kids innovate, collaborate and solve problems like engineers, using creativity and imagination all with a STEAM twist. See ad on page 58.

D1 Training—Colleyville Colleyville • 817/761-5012 d1training.com/colleyville

7yrs–adults

A 5-Star Training System designed to enhance sports performance for both scholastic and adult training. Flexible schedule and packages in a world class facility with expert coaches! Call/text us for a free trial 817/761-5012. See ad on page 23.

Dallas International School Dallas • 972/991-6379 dallasinternationalschool.org/languageinstitute

3yrs+

DIS Language Institute offers enrichment programs for everyone. Whether you want to study a new language, take piano lessons or learn how to draw, check us out. Learn a skill in one hour a day! See ad on page 8.

Gray School of Music Dallas • 214/369-7772 grayschoolofmusic.com

5–99yrs

Private music lessons in piano, voice, violin, guitar, ukelele, drums, and percussion.

Online and live lessons offered after school and on weekends. Fun recitals and festivals offered several times a year. Teachers have graduate degrees. See ad on page 34.

J’s Art Studio, Inc. Dallas • 972/931-1933 jsartstudio.com

4yrs+

Creative art classes in person and online! J’s introduces students to different art media—clay, drawing, painting and sculpture! Experienced, nurturing teachers and small classes for all ages. Call to enroll. See ad on page 52.

Margo Dean School of Ballet Fort Worth • 8177387915 margodeanballet.com

3yrs–adult

Offering ballet for all ages and levels starting at age 3, flamenco dance, jazz/ contemporary, adult ballet, and the real barre fitness class. Home of Ballet Concerto, inspiring dance since 1950. See ad on page 34.

Marina Almayeva School of Classical Ballet Hurst • 817/788-0818 ma-balletschool.com

3–19yrs

Classical ballet and dance classes for kids of all ages in a safe and friendly environment from a former Russian professional ballerina, Nutcracker, competitions. World class ballet education in the heart of Texas. See ad on page 58.

River Legacy Living Science Center Arlington • 8078606752 riverlegacy.org

K–6th grade

Students have the unique experience of exploring a riparian forest in the middle of the Metroplex. From frogs to trees to weather, children learn about a new topic each month, then go outside to explore! See ad on page 18.

TCU Music Preparatory Division Fort Worth • 817/257-7604 musicprep.tcu.edu

Infant–adult

TCU’s Music Preparatory Program offers music lessons on the TCU campus and online. Offerings include: Music Together for infants to age 8, private piano, voice, instrumental and string lessons for all levels. See ad on page 59.

Texas Ballet Theater School Dallas & Fort Worth • 877/828-9200 texasballettheater.org/tbt-school

3–18yrs

TBT School offers classes that range from beginner ballet to elite professional training, with studios in Dallas County and Fort Worth. Virtual and in-person classes available this fall. See ad on page 35.

YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas Multiple locations • 469/348-9622 ymcadallas.org/afterschool

PreK–8th grade

YMCA Afterschool programs are conveniently located at your child’s school, a neighboring school, or a YMCA branch. With over 90 locations throughout the Dallas Metro, we are committed to supporting the whole child. See ad on page 13.

dfwchild.com / august 2020

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confessions

MOM TRUTHS ILLUSTRATION MARY DUNN

LAST YEAR, I FORGOT IT WAS PICTURE DAY AT MY SON’S SCHOOL, SO I LET HIM DRESS HIMSELF. HE’S USUALLY BEST DRESSED FOR PICTURE DAY— BUT IN HIS CLASS PHOTO, HE HAS ON A SLIGHTLY-TOOSMALL NINJA TURTLE SHIRT WITH WACKY HAIR.” —YASMEEN, PLANO 66

august 2020 / dfwchild.com

CO M P I L E D BY E M I LY Y E A R W O O D

“I showed up to work one day and looked in my purse for a document my coworker needed. When I pulled the document out, the box of raisins I keep for my kids had exploded and was stuck to the paper.” —KRISTY, LAS COLINAS

“We picked up barbecue for dinner and planned on eating at the park.

When we got there, I realized we had no utensils. I looked everywhere in my car for some. We ended up using some jumbo Popsicle sticks to eat our dinner.”

—MEREDITH, THE COLONY

“After dinner, we gave our daughter a sugar cookie. She took a bite and said she didn’t like it, so we gave her a chocolate cookie instead. The next thing we knew, she finished her chocolate cookie and picked up her sugar cookie to finish it off too! She tricked us!”

—SABRINA, LANTANA

EVERY TIME I MAKE MY SON A SANDWICH, I THINK IT’S THE MOST GOURMET THING I’VE EVER SEEN. BUT HE ALWAYS TAKES A BITE AND SAYS, ‘EW, MOM! I DON’T LIKE IT!’” —ALISON, SOUTHLAKE

Got a funny parenting moment you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you. Send it to editorial@dfwchild.com.

I have girl-boy twins. When I’m not putting cereal boxes in the fridge and milk in the pantry, I’m placing bows on my boy and not realizing until we show up to our destination!” —ALISSA, LITTLE ELM

THE RESOURCES OF A TOP PEDIATRIC HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. THE RESILIENCE OF A CHILD. Children’s Health works with families to face the tough stuff head on. This time is no different.

We’re taking every precaution to keep your family safe.

You can help your community too by wearing a mask, washing your hands and practicing social distancing.

See how we’re keeping your family safe at childrens.com/covid19.