FOR some families,
Christmas is a wonderful
time. But for others, it’s a
chaotic mix of happy and
sad feelings bumping into
each other,

“Parent support circles
were created to help parents
prevent those ex
Bella Cenezero, acting ¢
tive director of BC Parents in
Cc Scciety. The group

"Operates the parent support
circle program in 50 commu-
nities throughout B.C.

Perhaps a couple devastated
by employment losses can find
no way to exphin to cheir
young children that Santa’s

sack will be light: this vear.
Mavbe a single parent: strug:
ding te cope with the cit
departure of a partner is strug:
gling even harder to handle ter
child's feelings of abandon-
Perhaps parents who
do’t observe Christmas are
feeling frustrated by children
who want them to start doing
so. Or maybe a family that’s
recently arrived in Canada is
astounded to find how quickly
their children have begun
expecting the things thar
Canadian chiidren expect,
whether they fit in with the
family’s traditional v
not.

B.C. prefers malls

" A new poil reveals that
despite the rapid growth
of online shopping, the
overwhelming majority
of British Columbians
will be visiting their
local merchants to make
their Christmas purchas-
es this year.

A Melatyre & Mustel
Research poll conducted for
the. Retail Merchants’
Association of B.C. shows that
about 88% of 504 British
Columbians interviewed do
not intend to use the Internet

_for any of their Christmas
shopping this year.

Only 4.7% said they will be
making a holiday purchase
online, while another 6.8% said
they might.

‘Mark Startup, president and
CEO of RMABC, said this is
the first tme the association

has polled the public on this
question.

“Given the tremendous
attention being paid to online
shopping, these numbers come
as a bit of a surprise,” Startup
said.

“Ir seems that British
Columbians still prefer the per-
sonal touch as part of their hol-
iday shopping experience. It
will be interesting to look at
the numbers next year as the
Internet continues to become a
part of how retailers and cus-
tomers interact,” Startup said.

Of those indicating they
would be making an online
Christmas purchase, roughly
seven out of ten were male.
People living alone or with
friends and individuals niking
$45,000 or more also ranked
high as online Santas.

The poll is correct within
4.4 percentage points 19 times
vut of 20.

for parents,” said

©. “A certain amount

of stress is a. normal part of par-

enting because, even under the
best conditions, it’s a demand-

ing job. But every parent has a
ng point.” That point

or each parent depend-

2 ors like age, person:
ality, childhood experiences.

Wednesday. December 15, 1999 ~ North Shore News - 27

for famili

child-rearing knowledge, cur-
rent situation, and support sys-
rem.

When too many stress fae-
tors are at play at any one time,
parerns can find themselves at
tisk of lashing our at their
dren, and children can be at
tisk of being physically or emo-
tionally hurt. “Parents lov
their children,” said Cenezero.

’ king with
fimili . BCPIC staff and voi
unteers have found that to be
truce almost all the time. Parent
Support Circles can help par-
ents learn how to show their
love, instead of their frustra-
tion or anger.”

Parent Support Circles are
groups of parents who meet
Weekly for pve hours to talk

abour their experiences, share
support. and learn to parent
the th like to. Each
Cirele is facihtated by two
trained volunteers,

For more intormation, call
Bella Cenezero, Acting
Executive Director of BC
Parents in Crisis Sociery at
669-1616 or 1-800-665-
6880.

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