So Many Pagan Parents!

The Pagan Census reports that 41.3% of all pagans answering the Census have children, and only .02% did not respond to the question on whether they had kids- so this is a fairly accurate number. There are so many of us!

It's about time we started organizing ourselves and demanding accomodation from our communities, too.

Going to a gathering or conference? Where's the childcare, damn it?

While I am taking initiative and running an independent co-op model childcare at an annual gathering that I regularly attend, it is only because I have been forced to do it myself. The organizers have failed to meet the needs of the community, and in order for my family to participate, I've needed to fill in the gap myself. It should not have to be this way.

We need to start building infrastructure that supports us- co-op childcare, group homeschooling communities, spiral scouts groups, playdates, and so much more. A place to start are the new Witch Mom forums. Join, introduce yourself, and start the discussion about parent inclusion in the pagan community!

Links Every Pagan Parent Should Have

As a new parent, I really appreciated getting tips from other more experienced parents about resources, items, and ideas.

As a pagan parent, There are precious few resources out there for us. There are more online and in books than in real life, to be sure. I have compiled a list of links (current as of today's post date) and a couple to help you create a real-world community of pagan parents offline as well!
 So I keep looking for places to gather with other pagan parents, resources that fit into a pagan philosophy of child rearing (whether or not it was targeted to us), and compiling them.

Magazines:

Broomstix Online Magazine: an online magazine for pagan kids with activities and articles, kind of like Highlights.
New Moon Magazine for Girls: Not pagan per se, but it may as well be! An empowering, ad free place for girls to express themselves, read other girls' perspectives, and reach towards their goddess-selves.
Pagan Moonbeams Online Magazine: a magazine for pagan families.
The Blessed Bee: Sadly, only one issue was printed, but it is available online.
The Pooka Pages Magazine: An online magazine for pagan kids

Websites and Online Resources:

Proud to be Pagan KIDS!
Mystic Moon Coven's Wiccan/Pagan Parenting pages
A Pagan Kid's Grove (includes coloring pages)- Warning! Annoying embedded sound
The Pooka Pages
Gingerbread Grandma's Cauldron
The Pagan and Wiccan Parenting Page
Teen Witch: Not in any way affiliated with Silver Ravenwolf, I promise.
Witchvox Articles by pagan teens
Witchvox Articles on Pagan Parenting
Covenant of the Goddess Teen Articles
Attachment Parenting International While not a pagan philosophy per se, most pagans I know practice attachment parenting, whether they realize it or not. Having support on positive discipline especially can be very helpful and comforting.
Pagan Babies (and Kids and Parents!) I have created a group on the pagan social networking site, The Cauldron Network (TCN). To join, you have to belong to The Cauldron message boards first. Join the message board, then join TCN, then join the group. A multiple step process, but it will be so worth it!
Grandma, Tell Me A Story is a great storytelling website designed for homeschoolers and kids who love stories and fairy tales. They are pagan friendly, too!

Resource Articles:
Religious Tolerance page on Teens and Wicca (Legal Family, and Safety Issues)
Rights of Wiccan and Pagan Teens in Schools
You Have a Pagan Student at Your School (A Guide for Educators)
Your Rights as Pagan Parent
Pagan Parenting Podcast: Developing Spiritual Parenting Skills


I hear you saying to yourself, "OK, great. There are umpteen million online resources for pagan parents, and a few choice books. What about finding other pagan parents in my area? How do I do that? Huh, Witch Mom?"

WitchVox Parenting Real-Life Links are far more disappointing. A search on WitchVox for groups with the term "parent" returned a mere 10 listings for pagan parenting groups WORLDWIDE. Surely, we can do better than this! We do not need to do this job alone! Build your tribe, people! When you build it, list it here! Which brings me to:

Meetup.com This website allows a simple way for people to organize themselves. Many pagan adults use it for social gatherings to meet other pagans in their areas already. You too can start a pagan playgroup, a parent support group for witches, or a heathen baby gathering!

Spiral Scouts is an organization that does scouting activities for kids of all genders. It is pagan centric, but not exclusively so- all children age 3 and up are welcome to join. The caveat? We need 2 pagan adults (one female identified, one male) to apply to create a Hearth (family unit) or circle (troop extending beyond their own family). If there is not a circle in your area, they will help you create one.

And JUST STARTED, folks: Pagan Playdate! A resource for pagan parents of all stripes to create playgroups in their areas, and a strong group of folks (including Witch Mom herself!) in the Bay Area of California offering outings, a co-op childcare at PantheaCon, and more!

Pagan Playdate!

I have been involved in the beginning stages of a pagan playgroup with local folks here for a few months now. Our group gets together every Wednesday to get our kids together and to give us pagan parents a place to commune.

Sometimes, we just meet a member's home- toys are shared, snacks are eaten, and songs are sung. Other times, we go to free museum days or play cafes or events. We also try and invite one another to kid friendly events that happen at other times during the week.

Although Rowan is just now excited to be with other kids (although he is still a little small to actively play with anyone yet), I started going months ago. Why? To find a community of like-minded parents for support and tribe-building, of course! The playgroup is as much for me as it is for Rowan, and hence, we have a win-win on our hands!

Besides having fun, I have other aspirations for my/Rowan's participation as well:

• I hope to group school Rowan and I hope to meet like-minded pagan parents who wish to do the same. I like the idea of homeschooling, but I worry that I will do a less than adequate job of teaching my son if I am the sole person responsible for curriculum. After all, we all have our weak points, and mine happens to be math. Having a group of parents contributing to the education of our children makes sense and will mean a better education, to my mind. I also want Rowan to have the main advantage of a school environment- that is, exposure to other kids and the ability to learn social skills. So while homeschooling is appealing, group schooling is even more so. So I hope to meet parents that want this for their kids, too.
• I want to start a spiral scouts chapter for my area.
• I want to start a co-op child care group so that we can go on dates, go to adult rituals, and other things without breaking the bank.

 Anyone out there part of a pagan playgroup? A spiral scouts hearth or circle? A co-op childcare group? A group schooler or part of a co-op school? Tell me about it!