Beacon 9-21

September 2021 THE BEACON Page 11A
Joe Miller, Abby Vendler, Chad Gress, Kylee Starost,
Emma Reatherford, Josie Hartman, Bradley Kolb, Lewis
Darringer, Evan Kuhn, and Brady Hornberger.
East Central FFA Conducts Member Retreat
The East Central FFA conducted the yearly member
retreat at the Indiana FFA Leadership Center in Trafalgar,
Indiana. While on the retreat, members completed
a service project for the Leadership Center, worked
on chapter planning for the 2021-2022 school year,
participated in team building exercises, and had time for
recreation and bonding with other members.
FROM
H ere
By
Ollie
Roehm
A lot of deer are in downtown
Harrison, especially in
our neighborhood.
We see them every day. In
fact, I just chased one about
ten minutes ago that was
headed toward my beloved
tomato plants. The deer have
already nailed two of them.
Our daily deer visits may
have something to do with
our neighbor Margaret, who
is known around our house as
“The Deer Whisperer.” We
can easily see The Deer Whisperer’s
backyard from ours,
and we watch almost every
day as she feeds them by hand
and talks to them. It’s really
something to see.
You might think that we
would be a bit perturbed by
The Deer Whisperer attracting
the big garden pilferers to the
neighborhood. Nah.
Margaret is a lovely
woman who has a way with
animals. We love to watch
Margaret work her magic and
it’s obvious that it brings her
a great deal of joy. A couple
of wounded tomato plants are
a small price to pay for all
that.
Even though we see a
considerable number of deer,
we’re not seeing much in the
way of birds this summer.
You probably heard about the
bird die-off that is occurring
throughout the Midwest.
Bird experts have recommended
that folks take down
their feeders until the die-off
event is over, so that’s what
we did.
Consequently, our backyard
is fairly birdless.
They are saying the die-off
could be related to a fungus
that hit the cicada population
hard this year. There is no
delicate way to put this – the
fungus made the cicadas’
butts fall off and killed them.
I saw the carnage first-hand
while sweeping cicada pieces
off our porch for a couple of
weeks. Most birds love to eat
cicadas and may have contracted
the fungus.
It has truly been an odd
summer, Mother Nature wise.
For about the past month we
have endured monsoons that
have taken their toll. Our
cucumber plants may not
make it. They have been hit
by a fungus that I’m pretty
sure was caused by all of the
water. The basement took on
water twice, but we saved the
rugs and furniture. Enough
already!
…….
Some folks are freaking
out over the construction of
a roundabout at the corner of
West and Dry Fork roads near
Harrison High School. The
Harrison Happenings Facebook
page is abuzz with those
who fear the roundabout will
be difficult to navigate and
will cause accidents and traffic
jams.
I must admit that I am not
a big fan of roundabouts.
But that’s probably because
I haven’t experienced them
very often. I have a feeling
those who are objecting so
vociferously are in my boat.
But I believe the experts
and engineers when they say
roundabouts are safer and
promote a better traffic flow.
They are used throughout the
world, and they work.
So let’s all relax and learn
how to use a roundabout. I
predict we will get used to it
and by this time next year, we
might even like it.
By Linda Hutchinson
Over our thirty-plus years
of working with families in
the school and church worlds,
we have seen our share
of guilty parenting. What
we mean by that is making
decisions for our children
(sometimes very unhealthy
ones) out of a pervasive feeling
of not measuring up or
doing enough. The practice of
parents comparing their children
and their family to those
they see on the internet, next
door, or in their ex-spouse’s
home and making decisions
out of the wrong motives is
very common. We see parents
making decisions to help their
child or family “measure up”
or “beat out” someone or
something.
One of the major causes
of guilty parenting is the pain
of divorce, something that so
many families are experiencing.
On almost a daily basis
in our office, we see a divorced
mom or dad, unknowingly
and unintentionally, who
plays a bad game of tug-ofwar
against an ex-spouse to
win the heart of their child.
They make moves that they
normally would not make if
someone else wasn’t there to
beat out. They compromise
and justify their actions to
others by saying things like,
“Everyone is doing it,” or “I
don’t want my child to feel
left out”.
You don’t have to be
divorced to be tempted by
guilty parenting. Just open
your phone or turn on the
TV. We are bombarded
by messages telling us we
need to buy our child “this”
or take them to do “that”
because, otherwise, they will
be “left behind”. If you have
teens as we do, they want
their lives to be “Instagram
worthy”. They want it to be
cool enough to snap, post, or
share.
One of the greatest sources
of guilty parenting we see
Guilty Parenting
in our office is the decision
around the phone and our
kids. We work with so many
parents who, out of guilt or
obligation, gave their child a
phone long before the child
was emotionally ready to
handle one. I cannot tell you
how many times I have heard
a parent in our office say, “I
didn’t want them to be the
only one in their class without
a phone.” The pressure
between divorced parents
exacerbates the situation even
more. For example, a tenyear-old
child of divorce asks
his mom for a phone, and she
says, “I don’t think you need
one yet,” or “You aren’t ready
to handle the responsibility.”
So what does the ten-year-old
do next? She goes and asks
dad. With a bat of those baby
blue eyes and a pretty please
to boot, dad feels the pressure
to grant her wish. After all,
he only sees her every other
weekend. He doesn’t want to
make her mad or crush her
dreams of that brand-new
phone. Not to mention she’s
been telling all her friends
that her daddy is going to
buy her a new phone for her
birthday because he loves her
so much.
Does that sound familiar?
This has happened in our
home too. Not the divorce
part, but the pressure from our
kids to give or do because that
would somehow make us the
215 E. Broadway St, P.O. Box 513
Harrison, Ohio 45030
(513)367-4545 Fax: (513)367-4546
www.jackmanhensley.com
We believe in going beyond what is
expected to offer each family a caring
compassionate service for
an affordable price.
215 E. Broadway St, P.O. Box 513
Harrison, Ohio 45030
(513)367-4545 Fax: (513)367-4546
www.jackmanhensley.com
“cool mom” or the “fun dad.”
Let’s face it- our kids are master
manipulators. They learn
how to manipulate very early
when they start to notice that
their cry gets them a cookie or
a piggyback ride. That’s when
we as parents have to step in
and help them understand.
They are the children, and we
are the parents. If we don’t
nip this master manipulation
in the bud early with our
kids and in our parenting, we
create what we lovingly call a
“monster.”
It’s never too late to make
healthy decisions that are
best for your kids and family
regardless of what others
say or do. Your children may
not like the “new you” at the
moment, but they will thank
you when they are adults and
maybe even parents themselves.
Take the time this
week to tune in to our Rock
Solid Radio podcast Episode
143 called Divorce and Guilty
Parenting. It’s a great show
for any parent trying to keep
those “monsters” from taking
over their home. You can find
this episode and so many
other great resources for your
marriage and family at rock
solidfamilies.org.
Linda Hutchinson is the
Executive Director of Rock
Solid Families, a faith-based
coaching organization in St.
Leon, IN.
“Providing funerals and cremations with dignity and compassion.”
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