The Children’s Room Parents Council, a group of program alumni who are dedicated to our mission and to the support of peers, is offering a Sunday Night Discussion Series to create a forum for these conversations.  These discussions are open to the public, and there is no fee to attend.  We just ask that you RSVP.

All discussion groups will meet from 6:30-8:00 at our house in Arlington.  The next 2 topics in the series are:

Getting Through the Holidays After the Loss of a Loved One: November 8th
Holding on to traditions or letting go? How about creating “new” traditions? Come hear how others have found ways to get through some of the most difficult days and situations.

Dating and/or Remarriage After the Loss of a Spouse: January 10th
Listen to and discuss with others the complex issues around this decision — from finding the time to date, to bringing the children into the new relationship, to merging households.

Upcoming Discussions:
Helping Your Teenagers Through the Loss of  a Loved One: March 7
Your Changing Relationship to Your In-Laws After the Loss of Your Spouse: May 2

Please visit our calendar for a complete schedule.
For more information or to RSVP for a Discussion, please send email to info@childrensroom.org.

We share and embrace the Massachusetts 9/11 Fund’s themes of service, remembrance, and volunteerism, and are deeply grateful to have had our Annual Memories Walk selected as one of this year’s local “United We Serve” volunteer projects.

Anyone who would like to donate to the Mass 9/11 Fund can find their Memories Walk team at Firstgiving.com/childrensroom.

These handmade bags are an important part of our “Rock Ceremony,” a ritual shared by every grieving family in our program. Whenever families gather at The Children’s Room, we end the visit holding hands in a big closing circle. Sometimes during closing circle we have a Rock Ceremony, marking a sendoff to a family ready to leave their bi-monthly support group.

A family is invited into the center of the closing circle, and each person picks a handmade bag to fill with rocks. One by one, each family member chooses a rough rock with sharp edges: this rock symbolizes the corner of their heart that feels painful because someone in their family has died. Then they each choose three smooth stones, to symbolize the enduring beauty of life and the parts of them that are shiny and whole, and perhaps stronger than before.

We recite the Rock Ceremony reading, which includes the words, “Because of what’s happened to you, you may always be stronger, more gentle, and more tender with all the people in your life. These stones were chosen just for you, and have special meaning.”

Many caring hands have collected rocks and sewn the handmade bags for our ceremony, and we welcome contributions!

We can all appreciate comforting rituals in the face of changes and challenges. Against a backdrop of uncertainty or difficulty, a ritual helps us pause and re-center our outlook. The Rock Ceremony at The Children’s Room is just one way to connect to our past and to each other, as we honor important feelings and memories together.

Sewing bags is a wonderful, hands-on volunteer activity.  For more information, contact us.

“This was my great grandmother’s memory string,” Laura told Whiskers in a loud voice. “Then it was my grandmother’s, then my mother’s, and now it’s mine.”

Making a memory string is a way to remember family history, and that’s just what kids at The Children’s Room can do when they make one of their own.  Listening to the book being read aloud to them is just one way to get ideas for how to make a memory string. Children in our groups can also choose from a large donation of beads that have been collected for the launch of this special project, where kids can paint wooden beads or make beads out of clay, then add them to beads or buttons from home.