Childcare & Family Practice

Saturday Morning Childcare
Childcare is offered free of charge on Saturday mornings for zazen from 9:30 to 10:15, then families are welcome to listen to the lecture on the sound system in the community room. It’s helpful for planning if you can let us know that you’re hoping to attend; phone or email Laurie Senauke, 845-2215, or lauries@kushiki.org. Childcare for 8:45 zazen instruction and beginner orientation may be offered by special arrangement.

Kidzendo
A program for young ones three and up is offered on the third Saturday morning of each month (or the fourth if a sesshin is scheduled on the third). We meet in the community room at about 9:40 for a meet and greet, then sojourn to the zendo for the first ten minutes of lecture starting at 10:15. Afterwards, families reconvene in the community room for more activities, possibly including formal tea and one minute of meditation (if we didn't do these earlier) and/or free play, depending on the realities of the moment.

Zazen & Discussion for Parents
BZC is no longer offering a potluck for families on the third Friday of the month. However, we have started a new dharma group for parents, and we welcome parents in all stages to join us. The meetings will include zazen, check-in, and study. Childcare will be provided for those who need it. We are meeting at 10:00 am on the 2nd Sunday of each month; the group is led by BZC parents/senior students Laurie Senauke and Greg Denny, and the meeting and childcare are at Chez Hopper-Denny. This is not a drop-in group - we would like folks to commit to attending for this current school year. Of course we know that not everyone will be able to make every meeting. RSVP, including your childcare needs, to Laurie (lauries@kushiki.org), Greg (greg@techsperience.org) or Marie Hopper (marie_hopper@sbcglobal.net).

Family Practice Email Group
To make it easier to publicize, announce and remind ourselves about family practice activities at BZC, we have a Yahoo group. We’d love to have you join this list if you have children in your life, even if you don’t typically attend family practice events. We promise to only send, at most, ONE email per week, just a short reminder of upcoming events. To join, just email Laurie (lauries@kushiki.org) or Marie (marie_hopper@sbcglobal.net).

Dear Sangha and Especially Families,
We are excited that the shuso (head student) for BZC spring practice period is going to be a parent, Marie Hopper. We want to encourage any parents who would like to participate. Generally the requirements are to come to three periods of zazen a week and attend as many practice period events (classes, ceremonies, sesshins, etc.) as you can (see details in this issue and on the practice period registration form). In order to assist families to attend, we are planning to offer childcare and dinner for one evening zazen per week, probably Fridays, and perhaps for the class as well (Friday evenings). Childcare will continue on Saturdays. Note that Marie will be giving the talk for Kidzendo on May 19. Please let this year’s benji, Sue Oehser (soehser@earthlink.net), know what would enable you to join the practice period, and don't be afraid to think outside the box!

Family Sitting New for 2012! Save the Date!
IT-TAKES-A-SANGHA: Announcing a new concept for BZC, a one-day FAMILY SITTING, to be held October 7, for families and friends of families—a day when partners won’t have to choose which one sits zazen while the other sits the children; single parents won’t have to skip sesshin for lack of childcare; and best of all, children of all ages will get to experience Zen Center as a special place to be and to belong.

All are invited to join this sitting in support of family practice. Sitting and working together, our grandparent generation and the “aunts and uncles” of the sangha will connect with parents we’ve missed and get acquainted with the next generation.

The 9:00 am-4:00 pm schedule will allow full- or half-day sign-ups, with thirty-minute sittings (including ten minutes of zazen in one period for interested older children), plus kinhin, lecture, lunch, work period (involving children), and tea with discussion. Childcare for appropriate age groups will include activities led by sangha members, yet to be identified! Planners Marie Hopper, Laurie Senauke, and Catharine Lucas are looking for volunteers to lead art, music, story-telling, or movement activities.

We are still in the planning stages and eager for your input. E-mail questions, suggestions, or offers of help to Marie Hopper at marie_hopper@sbcglobal.net.

A NEED, A PLAN, A HAPPENING
Laurie Senauke interviews Marie Hopper about her inspiration for this event, its purpose, its format, and what the sangha can do to help.

Laurie: What was the original impetus for having a family sitting?
Marie: BZC has been a very important part of my life for 14 years now, and naturally, I would like to share it with my children. Also, being a parent really restricts the amount of time I can spend in the zendo and at BZC. It’s always painful to ask, Where do I want to be today, with my family or at sesshin? The Family Sitting solves the problem. I know just where I want to be: Right here at BZC with my boys!
Laurie: What are you hoping for?
Marie: Recently I've had a growing curiosity about family practice - what that might look like. Part of my fantasy with this sitting is to explore ways we could offer to the kids and the parents the relaxed alertness that we develop during zazen, as well as the sense of community and the feeling of taking care of something special.
Laurie: What kinds of things are you planning to do?
Marie: A mix of being together and apart, for kids and adults. Like zazen for adults while the kids are being taken care of nearby, but with older kids joining in for short sittings. We can expose the children to chanting and bowing and kinhin – the forms. And I look forward to eating mindfully together and working together – I’d love to have my son alongside in the kitchen! And I see activities like art or drama that could let older kids begin to develop a community with each other.
Laurie: What kind of support do you need from the sangha?
Marie: We would love to have sangha members who are not currently in the midst of raising children to join us. They could share in leading activities for different age groups of children as well as help with the various sesshin roles - be models and extra hands and eyes, along with the paid childcare we plan to provide.
Laurie: Any final thoughts?
Marie: We are very excited about opening up a new way for BZC to support the many sangha members who are currently balancing practice and family life. I’ve wanted to find a way parents can be here more without having to exclude our children from the experience. And we think the sangha as a whole will be strengthened by not “losing” our parents while they are tied down by family and childcare responsibilities.

Upcoming Dates

May 5
Childcare


May 12
Sesshin - no program


May 19
Kidzendo

May 26
Childcare

June 2
Childcare


June 9
Childcare


June 16
Kidzendo

June 23
Sesshin- no program

June 30
Childcare



Note: Childcare for July and August by appointment (lauries@kushiki.org)

Note that the family activities are subject to change. Please feel free to email Laurie Senauke to confirm.