How to raise children, American (Indian)-style

Author Laura Ramirez is comparing raising children to living among wild animals. But it's not one's own offspring she's teaching parents to be wary of.

"In the wild you learn to see the difference between what an animal does, and how it presents itself. I think it's important to teach children to be able to discern the same difference in people, whether they're peers or adults."

While someone might seem cool on the outside, Ramirez says, teaching children to look deeper - at what they're really about - is an invaluable preservation tool.

One that helps reach the goals of bringing out the natural strengths and abilities in children.

In her book "Keepers of the Children: Native American Wisdom and Parenting," the Reno-based Ramirez combines little-known American Indian wisdom gleaned from her marriage to a Pascua Yaqui man, with her degree in psychology and her experiences raising her two boys to create a spiritually based, well-grounded tome on parenting.

"As a white woman married to a Native American man, I wanted my children to grow up and embrace both sides of their cultural heritage," she said. "In Native tradition, the woman is seen as the keeper of the culture." Taking the most resourceful ideas from both worlds, "Keepers of the Children" was born.

But one needn't be a parent to get something out of it, said Ramirez.

"A lot of people without kids are reading it," she said. "It's a resource that helps people reflect on their upbringing, examine their childhood.

"I see parenting as a path of becoming for both child and parent. Each interaction is a chance for you to grow as well as your child."

The book maps out human development from birth to death, in part to remind parents to develop reasonable expectations for child behavior.

"You can't expect a 2-year-old to clean a room like an adult," she said. "Yet some people do."

But the map is also for the parent, to understand where they are in their own personal development.

"Raising kids is a parent-child mutuality," she says. "Each is constantly teaching the other."

"Keepers of the Children" is the first part of a planned trilogy of parenting books, designed to evolve with the parent-child relationship.

Ramirez will sign copies of "Keepers of the Children: Native American Wisdom and Parenting" from noon-2 p.m. Saturday at Costco in Carson City.

Contact reporter Peter Thompson at pthompson@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1215.

IF YOU GO

What: Signing of "Keepers of the Children: Native American Wisdom and

Parenting"

When: noon-2 p.m.

Saturday

Where: Costco Wholesale, 700 Old Clear Creek Road