I’m so thrilled. Last year, I attended this workshop of my parenting idol, Carrie Lupoli aka Chief Mum, which was presented by Fisher Price. Here is the link to that workshop: http://mommyginger.com/2013/06/how-we-spent-dads-day.html. But today, I really got the chance to sit down with her and to discuss a lot of things from parenting (of course!) to selfies to work-outs.
with Chief Mum Carrie Lupoli!
Carrie is a child development consultant who has more than 17 years of international experience as a special education teacher, school administrator, executive director and educational consultant. With her years of experience, it is but right that she’s the spokesperson and “Chief Mum” for Mattel Fisher Price and www.mumcentre.com. She also continues to work as an educational diagnostician, while overseeing Live and Learn, an organization in Singapore that provided essential services for children with learning challenges in their mainstream settings, from her home in the US.
With all of these impressive things about Carrie, I admire how she can still be so down to earth and so easy to talk to. Talking to her was like talking to a mom-friend whom I have known for years! This little session set up by Fisher Price (http://richwell.net/) came at a perfect time when I am actually at a lost at what to do with things happening with Zeeka, my daughter. Indeed, it is true that babies grow up so fast!
There were so many things that I asked for advice on and so many things that Carrie shed light to. For the past few days, I have been doubting my parenting style and she reminded me that it all boils down to what your parenting objective is. She reminded me of what she discussed during the last workshop and that put me back on track. With everything going on and with everything that you hear from other people, as a parent, you tend to doubt yourself, especially when you are uncertain about things happening to your child (a lot of milestones in such short span of time!). But being sure of what you want to achieve for your child will put you back on track. If you want to learn more about what this ‘parenting objective’ is, I suggest that you attend the Fisher Price Play IQ workshop on Saturday.
Another thing that I was reminded of was the power of play. She mentioned that there are three pillars of development, which were Physical, Cognitive and Social/Emotional aspect. From the ages 0-5, these are the most crucial years in child development. Each of these areas can be developed through play, and the great news that she shared was that Fisher Price came up with Play IQ.
Play IQ is a personalized measure of a child’s development through a series of simple questions that are answered or will be answered by the parents. By quantifying the child’s development and providing advice on what activities to do for your child to progress, it clearly links developmental milestones, styles of play and the kind of Fisher Price product that you can use.
Also, on June 7, this Saturday, Carrie will be conducting the Fisher Price Play IQ Workshop at the Glorietta Activity Center, Palm Drive. This will be from 11am to 1pm. Registration is free so parents can just drop by and attend the workshop.
Lovely afternoon that brought so much clarity!
In this day an age, we need all the help that we need when it comes to parenting. Carrie mentioned that it was actually only in the ’70s that “parenting” became a verb. To be honest with you, as a first time parent, “parenting” becomes so stressful at times especially if you don’t know what you’re doing, but Carrie says that being stressed about it is normal. Going through rough times is normal (in fact our ice breaker for todays session was sharing our worst and best parenting experience, where I learned that all of us moms really went through tough times). We just need to be the best parent that we can be and fill our boxes with the values that we want our children to have in the future.
If you have questions about your child’s development or questions about parenting, I highly suggest that you go to the Fisher Price Play IQ workshop and ask Carrie Lupoli. I hope to see you there!
