Fredericksburg Parent

6 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • July 2020 PUBLISHER Leigh Anne Van Doren Tabitha & Jamie Nelle's mom EDITOR Chris Jones Quincy, Hayden & Olive's dad MEDIA & ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Megan Walsh: Mia, Noelle & Adelaide's mom DESIGN & PRODUCTION Cheryl Carter, Owner, Carter Creations Alex, Kate & Jackie's mom WEBMASTER Karen Charney: Joshua & Spencer's mom, and Abby's mother-in-law SOCIAL MEDIA AND MARKETING MANAGER Lovedy Carroll: Meredith's mom CALENDAR & COOL THINGS TO DO ELETTER Leigha Pecher: Jake & Luke's mom EDUCATION AND INFANT ELETTERS Debra Caffrey: Aidan's mom parent fredericksburg & family Entrepreneur of the Year PROUD FOUNDING MEMBER ADVERTISING PHONE 540-429-3572 EMAIL leighanne@fredericksburgparent.net CALENDAR & SOCIAL MEDIA E-MAIL webmaster@fredericksburgparent.net EDITORIAL PHONE 540-429-3572 E-MAIL fredparenteditor@gmail.com SNAIL MAIL P.O. Box 7884, F'burg, VA 22404 www.fredericksburgparent.net The publishers reserve the right to reject any advertisement, editorial or listing that does not meet the publication's stan- dards. No part of this magazine may be reproduced with out permission. Listing and advertising rates are available upon request. Every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of the information con- tained herein, however, the publisher cannot guarantee such accuracy. Listings and advertisements are sub- ject to typographical errors, ommissions and/or change without notice. For terms and conditions please visit our website at www.fredericksburgparent.net © Copyright 2019 Nurture, Inc. All rights reserved. LIKE facebook.com/ FredericksburgParent SIGN UP www.FredParent.net TWEET twitter.com/fredparent PIN www.pinterest.com/ fredparent FOLLOW @fredparentmagazine Over the past 30 days, our timelines have been flooded with #blacklivesmatter, #blue- livesmatter, #alllivesmatter and many more hashtags denoting activism both proactive and reactive in a climate that seem- ingly grows more turbulent by the week. And while people may debate President Trump's claim to have made Juneteenth famous, I found some level of merit to it (no, he didn't make it famous, but indirectly he made you recognize it). If you're honest with yourself, did you know the signifi- cance of Juneteenth? Did you know about Black Wall Street? And herein lies the crux of my letter to you this month: stay open. Wise parents seize every opportunity for learning and teaching. The teacher is of no consequence if you can glean something true and reasonable from what's being said—hence President Trump in this scenario. Unfortunately, we marry our opinions and tune out anything conflicting or uncomfortable, and for that reason, we are here today. Learning to adapt is what President Lincoln was getting at when he penned his letter to Greenley when he said, "I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views." As parents, our first and foremost job is to lead our families. We're at a crossroads where it's an injustice to our children if we fail to educate them about the world beyond our white picket fences. We need to raise kids with higher social IQs. This means not only teaching them our own culture, but fully participating in the cultures of others all year long. Not sure how to approach that? We've provided access points in the forms of books and films you can read and watch with your kids on page 13. I'd even take it a step further and bring friends together to watch and discuss the themes found within the movies. Allow your kids to participate, ask questions and share their observation. You might be surprised (and humbled) by what they have to say. Another simple way is to celebrate cultural holidays and attend worship with your ethnic friends and their kids (this goes both ways). These activities are deeply per- sonal and can boost your understanding and empathy along the way. These experi- ences will shape you and your kids, and you'll likely find out we're not so different after all. So, let's turn off the news, stop scrolling through Facebook and have some conversations and experiences in real time. Let's challenge ourselves to be open not only for ourselves, but for the sake of our children. Then and only the will we go from judging people by the color of skin to the content of character. And as we do, we'll find like President Lincoln did that we will do less of what hurts, more of what helps, and our views will evolve as we gain new information about and appreciation for other people. WRITTEN BY CHRIS JONES letter to readers Stay OPEN "I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more when- ever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views." - Abraham Lincoln (in a letter to Horace Greeley)

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