Friday Giveaway: 30 minutes on the couch (without leaving it!)
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Are you wondering how to:
A) balance family and work
B) balance family and yourself
C) troubleshoot temper tantrums
D) get some general parenting advice
E) work on some personal stuff- like relationship, etc
OR how about all of the above?!
Parent Coach and Expert on this blog, Alice Kaltman, L.C.S.W, has been working with parents and kids since 1988 and she is offering a “30 for 30″ phone consult for our Friday Giveaway. “30 for 30″ are half-hour telephone parent-coaching consultations priced at $30. 30 for 30 provides affordable advice to parents who don’t have the time or financial resources for home or office visits, and for those who live outside the Tri-borough area. But, you can enter our giveaway, to get it for free!
I did a “30 for 30″ phone consult late one night with Alice when I was about to lose it. Our 3.5 year old son Birch was driving me crazy with temper tantrums, not listening to me…and being a general pain ($%#@!). I was totally reassured by Alice after the 30 minute conversation: yes- I had a normal son and yes- my reactions were normal. It was going to be okay! She helped me work out creative “action plans” that I implemented the next day. I so appreciated Alice’s words of support too: she let me know that my kid wasn’t the only difficult 3.5 year old and that this would pass. I loved being able to just call her up and get some satisfying help right then- and I never left my couch!
To enter:
Just post a comment below this post, telling me your *favorite* place to go in Brooklyn (can be anywhere). You don’t have to reveal full or real names in the comment and only emails are visible to me (so I can send you notice if you won). The winner will be picked by random.org and I will announce the winner after dinner on Thursday, May 6th.
More about Alice:
In 2006, she co-founded Family Matters NY. FMNY is a parenting coaching service for Brooklyn and Manhattan families. Alice Kaltman, L.C.S.W. has been a psychotherapist since 1988. She worked at Fair Oaks Hospital, The Miller Institute for the Performing Arts, and the Brooklyn Heights Center for Counseling before focusing exclusively on her private practice. Alice specializes in individual and family therapy, eating disorders counseling, child therapy, and group work with mothers and women in mid-life. She also has an extensive background as a professional modern dancer and fitness instructor, bringing a personal understanding of athletics and movement to her work with clients. Alice lives with her daughter and husband in Brooklyn. Alice has offices in Boerum Hill and also in the city (270 Lafayette Street).
And some great reading: all written by Alice Kaltman:
- iphones, blackberries? Why the parent in you should put them down
- The Parenting Res
- To Work or Not To Work?
- Regression Over the Holidays
- Should you lie to your kids?
- Can you get kids to do what you want?
- How can family rituals help?
- How to help siblings get along
- In defense of dads: roughhousing is good
- Know-it-all-mom and dad
It is hard to choose but I think my favorite place in Brooklyn is the Monument area of Fort Greene Park. I love the feeling of tranquility and peace I get from the space, the views are breath-taking no matter what season…looking down at Fort Greene park and the majestic trees… as well as across to the Manhattan skyline. I like the importance of the monument and its story and that you can find musicians playing instruments, people practicing yoga or forms of karate and even dance parties during the summer months.
My boys love running around it, climbing its few steps (great practice for early walkers) and trying to ‘open the door’ and their is a water fountain close by and the very friendly park staff in the building close by (and public toilets when they are open!). It is a place for me to feel centered and to let the boys run free as I can always easily locate them as the space is so wide and open and not as crowded as the playgrounds. It was a long time coming but it was more than worth the wait!
Our favorite place is the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens- we LOVE it there- and afterwards we stop in the Brooklyn Museum for some air-conditioning and a look at the art.