Parents have to remember to HALT when they are Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired before interacting with their children, as the wrong message can be conveyed during these times.

This was just one of the messages shared by Jo-Ann Taylor-Smith and her husband Richard, Family Life Unit (FLU) co-ordinators for South Oropouche, as they facilitated the interactive workshop, ‘Children are Gift’.

The Smiths were joined by their son Ricardo and together they made a formidable team sharing openly and comprehensively from the perspectives of mother, father and child.

The workshop, which took place on Saturday, May 18 was hosted by the Faith Formation teams and Family Life Units of the Holy Cross/Bourg Mulatresse Cluster in Santa Cruz in conjunction with the Archdiocesan Family Life Commission through the generosity of Republic Bank Limited.

The workshop was attended by approximately 50 people who were mainly parents and guardians of the First Communion children in the two parishes, as well as eager parents from different areas of Trinidad who saw the advertisement in the Catholic News. It was great to see the number of men in attendance and even more heartening to observe their active participation in the session.

At the beginning of the workshop, participants confessed to attending because it was mandatory but by the end, there were wonderful words of praise for the knowledge and insights gained into children’s minds and how parental reactions could make or break trust and emotional well-being in children.

One parent shared that, “I wish you present this workshop to preschool teachers and daycare staff. The importance emphasised each parent playing their roles”.

“The real-life experiences shared (were interesting). It was interactive and improved my understanding of family life” were comments of another participant.

“The different stages of child development were explained, and I now know how I am going to approach my three-year-old” were remarks from yet another parent. It was a day well spent and parents were enthusiastic about recommending the course to others.

Please contact the AFLC via its website – aflcrc.org or on Facebook and Instagram – @familylifecommission or call 299-1047 for more information on the Children Are Gift programme.