I am in the northeast corner of Vermont, near the Canadian border. We are the largest, yet the least populated, county of Vermont. There are few stores, few jobs, and bitter winters. And every child grows up knowing about bears in the woods. They are frequently sighted. Behind my house is Barton Mountain with cliffs and caves where bears, bobcats, and even lynx will stay. I am extremely careful about the bears and never go deep into the woods alone.
Black cherry trees are the most populous tree in the northeast of the US, and I have plenty. I also have chokecherry, pin cherry, and an apple orchard. These are all the fruits bears love to fatten up on for their winter hibernation. Here are photos of bears enjoying cherries. They often just plop down on their rear, like in cartoons, with their big bellies popping out, and just pull the tree branches down to them and strip them of fruit.
What does this all do with Monday Sparks?
Every year we are required to read up-to-date research on social emotional health for our children at school. We are a trauma-centered day treatment private school that works closely with the public school districts. We have been doing trauma-centered care for at least ten years. In fact, all Vermont schools now train for trauma-centered care and are more or less familiar with this information. But we have to repeat and repeat for it to become internalized and second nature to us all and to be better for our kids. This year, we are watching for the bear not being in the woods, but coming inside with the children and with us. Monday Sparks allows me to review and digest the information and to hear feedback from you.
"Living with the Bear: The Long-Term Impact of Childhood Difficulties" is an article that I can refer to when days overwhelm me and I need to renew. Perhaps you can use it, too.
Thank you and have a blessed week.
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I would be careful being out in the forest. You never know when you're run into something bigger than we are and it's their home, not ours.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day and week. ♥
THANK you for the visit. I hope we see one another often and I will watch the videos as soon as I finish this comment.
ReplyDeleteOh! I'd rather deal with the black bear in the cherry trees than the allegorical bears in the room that you are helping your "kids" learn to handle. (It's dangerous out here in the woods these days!)....
ReplyDeleteI loved the movie and mental picture of that real bear eating -- he does look just like a cartoon!
Bravo for your article, and your analogy to the bears in the woods. It strikes me they are both dangerous and absolutely unbearable as time goes on. I am one of the people you are talking about. Have been on anti-depressants for around 30 years. My psychiatrist said he thinks I was depressed from a very young age. My mother was a narcissist and I her scapegoat. It's funny because I've been saying that since I was a teenager, scapegoat. Now it seems to be a big topic of interest with the younger generations. I appreciate your attention to the subject because it's become an epidemic.
ReplyDeleteMy score would be up there. As much as i would love to see bears from a distance, i'm wary enough to stay at that distance.
ReplyDeleteFirst I will not complain about northern Ohio winter weather knowing where you live and the winters you have. I do not have bears near me and would not really want to, even as a nature lover. I watched the video and never dreamed bad childhood could lead to such issues even later in life. We chose not to have children so we would not be likely to follow in our parents style of rearing us with such anger and punishment. The least of our issues today is total introverts.
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