A few folks have asked me (thank you!) how The Wall Street Journal story turned out (I was interviewed earlier this week.) The story was by Sue Shellenbarger, who is the WSJ's work and family columnist, and it appeared yesterday. Sorry peeps, you have to have a subscription to read it. So here's a summary...
The article is called "Finding Day Care that Helps Kids Play Well With Others," and Sue offers three signs that parents should pay attention to if their child is in daycare. My quote appears in a section called "Disengaged Parents." During the interview, I told Sue that many parents, especially new parents with a first child in daycare, assume that if their son or daughter misbehaves, the daycare teacher will tell mom or dad. This is not necessarily the case. What is acceptable to the daycare teacher or considered "normal," like rampant potty talk or kids wrestling, won't even register as something to tell a parent picking up a child. Instead, you find out about it at home when your son calls you a "Poo-Poo-Pee-Pee Head." Am I right?
So I basically said that parents need to proactively ask their care providers about their kids on a routine basis. And if your kid is acting up and it seems to be something that was picked up at daycare, nip it. And nip it fast by partnering with the daycare provider and the teacher.
Long story short, our 30-minute conversation was summed up in one little graph:
"Parents also can team up with teachers to curb bad behavior. When Charlene Prince Birkeland's toddler started using "potty talk" picked up in child care, the San Francisco-area mother says, she decided not "to just let it slide." Instead, she met with his teachers and agreed on a plan to stop it."
If I were a PR coach, I'd say that was "on message."
Happy Friday!




