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Wednesday, November 25, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
O
P
I
N I
O
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Editorial…
Your
kids
are
looking
Thanksgiving is a date on a calendar
to you for leadership
Many people9s Thanksgiving plans have
been disrupted by the surge in COVID-19
cases. Sisters9 traditional holiday kickoff
events this weekend will be sorely missed. So
much has been canceled and so much that the
Sisters community values has been put at risk
this year.
We9re all fatigued and most all of us have
suffered losses of one kind or another.
And yet&
There remains much to be thankful for
and much to appreciate. The stalwart vol-
unteers who stage the Sisters Community
Thanksgiving Dinner have found a way to
make it happen 4 even if it9s not the same
as gathering with friends. Teachers continue
to find ways to give Sisters students a version
of the remarkable educational opportunities
that make Sisters schools stand out (see story,
page 1).
Shopkeepers and restaurant owners keep
finding ways to persevere, and neighbors con-
tinue to reach out a helping hand.
A friend who has had a particularly brutal
2020 noted that, <Thanksgiving is a date on
a calendar.= If you can9t celebrate with loved
ones this Thursday, you can defer the celebra-
tion to another day, as my own family will do.
But there9s no need to defer giving thanks.
The tradition arises out of adversity, from the
arduous early settlement of America through
the Revolution, the Civil War, the Great
Depression and world wars. The purpose of
a day of Thanksgiving is not to eat till we9re
stuffed, nor even to enjoy the fellowship of
family and friends: It is to remind ourselves
that even in dark times, there is much good in
our world, much to be thankful for.
Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer9s name, address and
phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions
not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a
response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items
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To the Editor:
We are heartbroken that all of the Sisters
community events have been canceled this
year. The Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce
has spent many thousands of dollars on our
shop-local advertising campaign, given out
thousands of pieces of PPE and tens of thou-
sand of dollars in grant funding to our busi-
ness community.
We appreciate the community support and
your willingness to step up and support our
local businesses during the COVID-19 crisis.
As you may know, the Chamber has can-
celed our community events. Again, we are
heartbroken not to be able to have our com-
munity trick or treating, tree lighting, parade
and visit with Santa where we have 200 chil-
dren fill our chamber and give their Christmas
wishes to our very own Sisters Santa Claus.
Given that, we request our community
members resist the urge to organize events
on their own. We understand the need to help
our local business by organizing events. Our
concern is if there is an outbreak in Sisters,
we will not be able to reopen and that will
have long-term economic consequences for
our local businesses.
Everywhere I go the community has really
stepped up to the plate and is following all
the rules laid out by the state government.
Whether we agree or not with mandates, most
of us are following the restrictions. I also do
not agree with some of the mandates. As an
example, the gyms have purchased thousands
of dollars9 worth of sanitizing equipment, the
equipment is sanitized by every person using
the facilities9 equipment, face masks are being
used, social distancing is in place and guards
have been put up to separate gym employ-
ees from the public. Also, due to the safety
requirements, restaurants are also some of the
safest places, as well.
So, while we don9t agree with all of the
mandates, we do agree we must follow the
protocols in place so we can stay open and
stay safe. We are in this for the long haul and
See LETTERS on page 20
Sisters Weather Forecast
Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Rain/Snow
Partly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy
AM Snow Showers
42/31
44/26
49/27
49/23
45/26
44/24
The Nugget Newspaper, LLC
Website: www.nuggetnews.com
442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759
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By Kathy Nagel Hood
Guest Columnist
Observations from a
counselor:
The stress your children
are experiencing isn9t just
coming from online learn-
ing or lack of contact with
friends. Please remember
that your kids hear every-
thing. They hear your stress
over finances. They hear
your anger over schools
opening 4 or not. They hear
your frustration with your
employers. They hear your
anguish over the inconve-
nience of not going out to
eat or living a <normal= life.
They hear your fear 4 or
disdain 4 over COVID.
They love you and want
you to be happy. A great deal
of their stress is generated
from feeling responsible
for your happiness, while
also feeling helpless around
being able to do anything
about it. They don9t know
how to take care of you, or
how to <fix it.= As a result,
they may distract, act out,
or fall into depression. As
one little girl in my practice
put it, <I don9t know how to
make mommy not sad, and it
makes me feel sad, too. Then
I get mad and be bad.=
I know that parents are
handling a LOT these days:
scary finances and world
outlook, juggling job and
kids, facing loneliness with
the quarantine, and miss-
ing your friends and family
among other things 4 but,
somehow, some way, you9ve
got to make current life OK
for your kids, no matter what
that looks like. This doesn9t
mean buying them things
or figuring out playdates 4
your kids are looking to you
for leadership on how to feel
and how to learn that <nor-
mal= can be a fluid paradigm.
So...what to do. Top of
the list: making <it= (what-
ever <it= is) OK for yourself
will, in turn, make <it= OK
for your kids. Online learn-
ing is OK. Going to school
is okay. Staying home is OK.
Everything, no matter what
it is, is OK 3 no matter how
you feel about it. Naturally,
you9ll want to let them talk
to you about their frustra-
tions over whatever situation
they are facing; the point is
that it9s important to protect
them from your projections.
Give them the space to be
happy with whatever they
are experiencing without
having to worry about how
you feel about it.
Re-word/redirect/reduce
your anger. I see my clients
and friends digging deep in
the trenches with anger and
militant attitudes, not allow-
ing for any kind of pleasure
in their lives. Children don9t
know how to navigate this.
Adopting anger as a way of
life with the current state of
affairs can be both emotion-
ally and physically addicting
4 not a good lesson for your
kidlets. One remedy? It takes
work, but a shift in seman-
tics can make all the dif-
ference in the world. Teach
yourself (and your kids) to
say things like <this is just a
weird year,= or <this is only
temporary.=
Changing your wording
changes your wiring.
Leave unnecessary drama
behind as you create your
new normal. I see folks
gaining a lot of energy and
traction from complaining.
Look instead to the second-
ary gains created by staying
close to home. How many
times in your life will you
have this opportunity to
explore family in this man-
ner? If you do have to com-
plain, do it outside of your
kids9 earshot. Walk to a park
or sit in your car to phone a
friend. Email with a family
member. Do what you need
to do to keep the airspace
clear of complaints in your
children9s lives.
Show appreciation for the
thoughtful things your kids
do. Most importantly, do it
without a <but= statement
after. Example: <I appreci-
ate it when you are kind to
your teachers,= or <I appre-
ciate it when you do the
dishes.= Studies have shown
that appreciative statements
help to positively rewire the
thoughts of both the sender
and the receiver.
Create adventure.
Thanksgiving is the per-
fect example this year. I see
two choices: either to suffer
from the lack of family and
normalcy, or to create cool
memories for your children.
Do something a little wicked
that feels outside the rules.
Eat pie for breakfast. Let
everyone choose a movie
and watch them one after
another. Wear pajamas all
day. Have popcorn for din-
ner. Do whatever you can
that feels a little naughty
or conspiratorial, some-
thing only your family will
understand.
Again, I know how
stressful this is for all of you
4 my daily job is to listen
to the stories. This message
is about your kids. Do what
you can to make this OK
for them. This is a wonder-
ful opportunity to help them
develop resilience.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.