Charlie Designs a Whole New World, a local nonprofit organization, brought parents and other community members together to celebrate National Parents Day on Sunday at the Old Town Newhall Library.
The afternoon included an awards ceremony for parents, a social hour and steel band music.
Jamie LeRoy, mother of Charlie, 11, who is the founder of Charlie Designs, said she and Charlie decided to create the awards ceremony to raise awareness and because Jamie was awarded the same reignition in Pasadena last year.
“No one even knows National Parents Day exists. And without recognizing what parents do, that’s creating our future generation,” LeRoy said.
LeRoy said a pillar for her on being a good parent is to just sit and listen. She said she has four daughters – Ciara, 31, Sam, 25, Natalie, 17, and Charlie.
“Listening because that’s how you’re learning from each of them. And they’ve each taught me something. You know, I think Charlie’s, she was a born leader, but there’s times where even she helps me,” LeRoy said.
Laurene Weste, mayor of the city of Santa Clarita, gave a speech and applauded the parents in the room.
“Being a parent is perhaps the role that is most important for any of us. There is no handbook and (with) that you can truly prepare for. No job carries more responsibility, nor requires more sacrifice, or asks more for your heart,” Weste said.
Weste added that parents assume the roles of many things like teachers, counselors, cheerleaders and problem solvers.
“They celebrate every success; they comfort every disappointment and spend countless sleepless nights worrying about the wellbeing of the people that they love,” Weste said. “This work of parenting is often done quietly without recognition or applause. Yet it impacts and shapes our world tomorrow of families, communities, and all future generations.”
Tara Rice, one of the honorees, has two sons – Weston, 8, and Ryder, 11.
She said because of her job in pageantry, she felt like God gave her boys for a reason.
“I work with hundreds of girls and women every single year … and they do feel like my children, they have become my daughters and part of our family. We call it our pageant family, but a lot of these girls want me to feel, like, my daughters, because I don’t just teach them the skill set to prepare for a pageant,” Rice said.
When asked if she sees similarities or differences in the way she parents her children compared to her parents, she said both households have unconditional love and support.
“They were also parents that were there for all my special events. They showed up, and I think showing up is important. They were there at all my dance competitions because I was on a dance team in high school,” Rice said. “You know, when I first competed in pageants, they were very supportive. They were there to cheer me on.”
Rice said the pillars to be a good parent are faith, compassion, unconditional love, encouragement, support, integrity and kindness.
Justin Dean, another honoree and a chiropractor in Brentwood, has two daughters, June, 7, and Athena, 4.
Dean said receiving the award was a meaningful moment for him after publicly dealing with a legal battle with his ex-wife.
He added that he was honored to see many fathers in the room who were being recognized as good parents, too, and said he hopes people would remove the stigma that men cannot raise young children and that his story shows it is possible.
“I thought that it was a huge step forward for just fathers everywhere, getting a little bit more, a little bit more than just a pat on the back or a ‘good job,’” Dean said.
Dean said the pillars for being a good parent to him are being present and instilling as much confidence in his daughters as he can.
When asked if he uses a different approach when parenting his children because he has a neuroscience and early childhood development background, he said he tries to help his daughters understand the limits of their bodies and the limits of their emotions.
“So, you let them work these things out through experience versus trying to police every little thing, which then makes them afraid of the world,” Dean said. “And if you’re afraid of the world when you’re young, that’s a seed that’s planted into adulthood, and there’s no advantage of being afraid of everything — you’re overly cautious.”
For the youtube video, visit: https://youtu.be/zudG77uFXxQ
