Hi, CV!

It’s T-minus 14 days until winter break; our daughter is stressed. She has a ton of homework because each teacher thinks her/his class is the most important even though it is not. The annoying kid in her class won’t stop talking. The choir kids won’t stop singing. For the first time, teachers who don’t like her are letting her know by their indifference. Another teacher puts her class down for not learning the lessons as quickly as her other class does. And final exams loom large.

Working at CV Alliance has taught me not to step in and fix all of her problems. I’m not going to tell teachers to teach, be nice or at least hide their distain. I won’t give her directives, like “You should tell the teacher to quiet annoying girl.” I’m going to listen, hug her, feed her, drive her and love her unconditionally. I remind her she’s brilliant and she’s going to college.

That’s me. What about you? Please attend our last parent session this year on ways to communicate with your child and bolster their self-esteem. Julia Rabago, my colleague, has taught me many of the things you’ve seen listed in paragraph two of this article, and she is speaking! Parents matter and we all want to be the best we can be in this role. We’re meeting at CV High in the library from 7:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 9.  The address is 2900 Community Ave. Adults only!

December can be the season of stress. And December has risks. Roads may be wet and drivers inebriated. Progeny return from college and entice younger siblings and friends to experience new things. Let us promise to take a deep breath, think kindly of others, to get out and have fun instead of sitting home watching reruns and drinking ourselves into slumber, and to keep things in perspective. Don’t over-spend, over-eat, over-party, over-criticize or make it easy for our children to make bad choices by making alcohol and drugs accessible.

Now, make happy memories!

Suzy Jacobs
is the executive director of

CV Alliance located at 

3131 Foothill Blvd. Suite D

La Crescenta, CA 91214

(818) 646-7867  http://cv-alliance.org/