New Parents

New Parents

Name of Program

City of Event

Providing Organization

Dates

Cost

Contact Name

Telephone Number

E-Mail Address

Bringing Baby Home Laguna Hills Saddleback Hospital	Fri May 16, 6:00pm - 9:30pm Sat May 17, 9:00am - 5:00pm $115 couple, includes workbook	Instructor: Melissa Essman, MSW Contact: Health Information Center (949) 452-7255
Bringing Baby Home Laguna Hills Saddleback Hospital	Fri June 13, 6:00pm - 9:30pm Sat June 14, 9:00am - 5:00pm $115 couple, includes workbook	Instructor: Melissa Essman, MSW Contact: Health Information Center (949) 452-7255
Family Wellness Orange Rancho Santiago CCS	Saturday August 2 8:30am - 5:30pm $99\Ind. $145\Couple	Ken Schaefer: Married4Keeps (714) 836-0718 Ken@Married4Keeps.org

Bringing Baby Home: Parenthood Prep for Expectant Parents and Parents of Newborns

This unique workshop teaches couples how to be the best parenting team possible, by maintaining the best couple relationship possible! First-time and experienced parents can learn valuable skills and strategies specific to the changes that accompany parenthood. Clarify expectations of what happens when you bring your first, second or multiple babies home. Learn how to maintain connection with each other, regulate inevitable conflict, increase positive interactions with your baby and understand infant development. Couples who attend the workshop say that it is “the best thing they can do to prepare for the arrival of their newborn!” Instructor: Melissa Essman, MSW

*Registration and payment are required to attend class. Please contact the Health Information Center at (949) 452-7255 for more details.

Family Wellness: Survival Skills for Healthy Families.

This quickly learned and easily adapted family education program has proven effective in a variety of communities, cultures, and languages. Learn how to communicate with each other, how to make rules that are positive and specific, effective discipline, how to develop self esteem in children and how to show your children that you love, encourage, and support them.

Date & Time: Saturday August 2 8:30am-5:30pm (hour lunch break)

Cost: $79\individual $125\couple

$20 material fee payable in class

Location: Rancho Santiago College Community Services

Street8045 E. Chapman Avenue #B-210

Orange, CA. 92869

Registration link: http://www.rsccd.org/default.asp?obj=S4100

Registration phone number 714-628-4960 (Event 43301)

Presenter: Ken Schaefer: Email: Ken@Married4Keeps.org or Ph: 714-836-0718

Additional Information for New Parents:

Why in the world don't new babies come with instructions? Fortunately, here in Orange County there are quite a few resources available to help. Here's how to find them:

1) Visit your local library and ask the Reference Librarian to direct you to the "Orange County Social Service Rainbow Resource Directory" by Glenda Riddick (often referred to as "the rainbow book".) It has an entire section devoted to "Parenting Resources / Education"; the 2002 edition has over a hundred entries in that section. Before looking through all the listings, spend a moment and read the introductory article written by Susan Johnson; it provides an informative perspective on the process of finding the right parenting resource for your particular needs.

2) In addition to the resources listed in "the rainbow book", parenting classes are also offered in a number of other settings throughout the county. Suggested places to look include: hospitals, local churches and synagogues, adult education centers and community colleges. With all of the resources available on this subject, you're bound to find what you are looking for if you take a little bit of time to look around.

3) Check out the Familyhood Education Foundation's website at www.familyhood.com for a wide selection of resources, including free parenting classes and seminars.

Besides the organized classes, there is one very important thing to remember. The most important thing you can give your child is a strong marriage for yourself. So don't neglect your marriage for the sake of your child; in the long run that approach will not pay off for you, your spouse, or your child. Studies show that the level of Marital Satisfaction often falls when a new child enters a household. Protect against this by acting proactively. One resource we strongly recommend is a book entiled "Becoming Parents - How to Strengthen Your Marriage as Your Family Grows", by Drs. Pamela Jordan, Scott Stanley, and Howard Markman. Here is a description of the book:

"Not just another parenting book - "Becoming Parents" teaches newborn parents to take good care of each other! Based on cutting-edge research on the experiences of men and women as they become parents and what makes happy healthy marriages, "Becoming Parents" is truly a survival course for couples. Within these pages expectant couples will discover the keys to taking care of themselves as individuals, taking care of their couple relationship, relating to their baby, and dealing with the many ways becoming parents impacts their lives".