Message to Parents from CPTCSA
Each day brings both challenges and blessings. How we handle these is what makes us who we are and who we will become. At present, the global challenge is COVID-19. We not only have to deal with physical safety from this virus, but also emotional safety. Stress interferes with our ability to control our emotions and to make good decisions, especially with respect to our personal relationships. Reports reveal that there has been an increase in the number of parents hurting their children, physically and emotionally. This book confronts the dual concern of physical and emotional safety during the pandemic.
While facing challenges often brings out the worst in us, it can, and does more often, bring out the best in us. As we struggle with the boredom of staying at home, at the least, or loneliness, hunger, and death at the worst, we are still blessed with who we are. We are loving families and communities filled with people who care about each other.
This book hopes to teach you and your family about how to protect yourself from the coronavirus and about other simple hygiene concerns. It will also remind us that we all face stress, and we all make mistakes as we face difficult situations. We overcome these difficulties with help from each other and with the love of our families.
As you read the book, take time to stop often and talk about what the pages and the illustrations say to you. Explore the issues presented. What other health concerns could affect your family, for example, cancer or sudden death? What about issues such as poverty, unemployment, crime, school absences, or peer bullying? How do these affect you personally? How can you use the experience of Manuel and his family to help you in times of crisis and stress? How can you help others who are experiencing difficult times?
We are all in this together. We have been in crisis situations before and we will be in crisis situations again. But we are a family and a community and together we can survive, learn from the crisis, and grow.
Download the whole book for free here. Listen to the Audio Book here.