Being a parent is one of the most intricate and important relationships that we’ll ever have.  That the other end of the relationship are people who are constantly evolving and changing makes it even more challenging.  What if there was a philosophy that could guide us through the evolutions in a way that fosters connection and trust while building independence? We’re going to explore the answers to these questions and more with Cassandra Doran of Provident Financial Consultants and Jen DiMatteo of Parent Connection, a program of Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin!

Supplemental articles and resources mentioned in this podcast can be found on gooshkoshkids.com

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Meet our Guests

Jen DiMatteo
Parent Education Program Coordinator with Parent Connection, a program of Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin. 

Passionate about supporting parents, Jen has been working with families in the Fox Valley and Oshkosh for the last decade. From poverty and addiction to child protection and family strengthening, she feels passionate about building knowledge, skills, and connection with parents for their families. Jen plans parent education workshops and presentations, offering research and evidence-based curriculum that is relevant to the needs of families. She is a certified trainer through the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and trained to lead Love and Logic, Positive Parenting, and Cooperative Co-Parenting curriculum.  

She is also a mom of two sons. She understands the challenges other parents face, and can relate to the same questions and concerns many in our community have.  

Cassandra Dorn, CFP

Financial Consultant, Provident Financial Consultants

Cassandra is a certified financial planner professional. With a love for finance and helping others, Cassandra knew at a young age that she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a financial consultant. Cassandra is passionate about and deeply involved in the Oshkosh community. She is actively involved in the Women’s Fund Grant Committee of the Oshkosh Area, the Paine Art Center and Gardens, Women in Management, and the Oshkosh West Side Association.

Meet our Hosts

Amanda Chavez, Owner & Creative Director, WiscoFam / Go Valley Kids / Go Oshkosh Kids
Born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin, Amanda Chavez has a deep love for her community. As a busy mom of 2 little girls, she and her husband are always on the lookout for fun things to do and share with others. Her work combines all of her passions – motherhood, design, and community. Some of her other interests also peak through as well, including baking, photography, and sewing!

Karlene Grabner, Executive Director, Women’s Fund of the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation
Karlene Grabner is a graduate of Lourdes Academy and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, where she studied finance and economics. She has shared her knowledge and passion for improving the Oshkosh community for the past 20 years through her work at the Oshkosh Community Foundation and Women’s Fund of Oshkosh. Karlene loves playing board games with her family, and when the weather is right, you’ll find them enjoying boating, wakeboarding, and kayaking with their dog, Bago.

Special Thanks

Liz Schultz, Producer, WiscoFam / Go Valley Kids / Go Oshkosh Kids

Marlo Ambas, Audio & Video Engineer, Ambas Creative

Transcript

Amanda Chavez  00:00

Hello and welcome to Let’s Talk, the show that connects families in Oshkosh with local experts to talk about your parenting questions. I’m Amanda Chavez here with my co-host, Carlene Grabner. And today, we’re talking about raising kids with love, logic, and a scoop of financial literacy.

Being a parent is one of the most intricate and important relationships that we’ll ever have. On the other end of the relationship are people who are constantly evolving and changing and making it even more challenging. What if there was a philosophy that could guide us through the evolutions in a way that fosters connection and trust while building independence? How do we build that relationship and transition our kids to independence with a solid foundation to manage their adult lives and money successfully? We’re talking about it today with Jen Dimatteo and Cassandra Dorn.

Karlene Grabner  00:48

Well, thank you for joining us today. Cassandra and Jen. Jen, would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself?

Jen DiMatteo  00:54

Absolutely. I work with Parent Connection, which is a program of Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin. I run their parent education program. But I’m also a mom, I have two kids. I live in the Appleton area. And I really love working in the community and with people and families.

Karlene Grabner  01:16

Wonderful. And Cassandra?

Cassandra Dorn  01:18

I am a Certified Financial Planner with Provident Financial Consultants in Oshkosh. I love my job, I help people reach their goals, hopefully, right. That’s everybody, they come and see me and we talk about you know, where they are financially and where they want to be or where they want to go. I’m also a mother of three, which keeps me equally busy. I feel like all I do is run around. But it brings me great enjoyment. And I was once told that you will miss spending time in the car, because that’s when you have the best conversations. And as my kids are growing up, I’m finding that’s very true.

Karlene Grabner  01:54

I echo that I went part-time, not really part-time, but reduced hours five years ago, because people call it windshield time. And it was like when I picked my kids up from school, it’s when everything came out like that first 10 to 15 minutes.

Amanda Chavez  02:06

We also like when they were little laid down with them in bed. And I remember some people being like, “Don’t lay down with your kids.” But that’s where everything came out, the lights are out. And then all of a sudden to shift like all sudden you’re done with that stage. And I miss it a little bit, even though in those days where it’s like, oh, I need to stay up and work longer, and I fall asleep with them in bed. But I do miss those days. Send me on to the next chapter. But thanks for joining us today. Jen and Cassandra. We’ll take a quick break and then we’ll be back to talk about love logic, money and the huge job of parenting with Jen and Cassandra.

Karlene Grabner  02:42

Let’s Talk is brought to you through Go Oshkosh Kids partnership with the Women’s Fund of Oshkosh. The Women’s Fund of Oshkosh works to improve the lives of women, girls and families of the communities in Winnebago County through philanthropy grant making and education.

Amanda Chavez  03:00

Jen, can you give us the nutshell version of the ideas behind the philosophy of Parenting with Love and Logic?

Jen DiMatteo  03:07

Absolutely. In a nutshell, Love and Logic is a parenting approach. That is teaching through role modeling, responsibility, respect, dignity, for our children, with the idea that they’re not always going to live with us someday they’re going to be on their own. And we want to make sure that they have the skill set and capability to to manage it without hitting too many challenges.

Karlene Grabner  03:39

One of the I did take Love and Logic, like 10 years ago, and we sponsored Love and Logic through the Women’s Fund multiple times, because we thought it was really important to parenting class. But one of the things I found fascinating was the conversation about family contributions, as opposed to allowances or chores of using the word family contribution. And that’s kind of how I come into the money aspect of working with my kids. What are your thoughts on that? Cassandra, have you heard that term? Or Jen, like, have you? You know, what are your thoughts behind family contribution as opposed to allowances or chores?

Cassandra Dorn  04:16

It’s a topic in every household. You know, how do you do this? It was a big topic of conversation with my husband and I grew up with, you know, family contributions versus men allowance and he grew up the other way he got paid to do his chores. So when we had kids and decided which way we were going to go, he was adamant for them to have an allowance and I was adamant that they shouldn’t. And so after many discussio