Jeanie Davis Pullen

 

Jeanie Davis Pullen is an educator, consultant, and speaker with an advanced degree in gifted education. She created and teaches a mentoring program for gifted high school seniors and also teaches graduate courses at the university level. For the past seventeen years, Jeanie has been the director of a large summer institute for gifted children in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

Jeanie and her husband, Michael, have two adult children. Aspects of the children's childhood are depicted in Life Teachings: Raising a Child. Visit Jeanie online at http://www.lifeteachings.com

 

"Life Teachings: Raising a Child" ... an extraordinary little book filled with vision and patient wisdom, exactly the sort of mindset needed to raise a child.
Laura Pickford Ramierz
Family Matters!

 

 

Pageonelit.com: Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?

Jeanie Davis Pullen: I grew up in a small southern town that was my Daddy's childhood area. He was one of 13 children of a tobacco farmer. Boxing, education and war took most of the children away during their early adult years, but most of the children returned to live and raise their families. My Daddy and our house seemed to be the hub of contact for his brothers and sisters and they would stop by regularly to gather in the evening in the living room and tell stories of their childhood. Such laughing and giggling - those were favorite times and would go on for over two hours.

As far as reading and writing when I was a child, I remember liking the Nancy Drew books best. I was happy when I was taken to a variety-type of store and told that I could buy a Nancy Drew! I also remember how disappointed I was when the read was quick and that was that! So, I liked the library best, for there was no end to the books there.

But, by far, those family stories told by my parents and their siblings were the biggest influence on me.

 

Pageonelit.com: Why did you write Life Teachings: Raising a Child? Tell us about this book --- How long did it take to write?

Jeanie Davis Pullen: From my late twenties, I lived in California, Washington, D.C. and now Minnesota since 1974. For many years I have made talks to groups of people. Regardless of the topic, it seemed that questions to me afterwards involved either raising children, living graciously or forming a life plan for oneself. People would tell me that what I said about these three broad topics made sense to them.

I always talked about a person knowing where one was going and who one is and it was no different when I responded to questions about parenting. I felt that parents should know themselves and what they valued and what they wanted to instill in their children - what they wanted their parenting results to look like after twenty years.

Many people started asking me if I had written a book and after a while of my being asked that, I decided that I would. There were thousands and thousands of books about parenting on the market, but I didn't let that deter me, for I felt that I had something to say. The writing itself, once I decided to do it, took about two years.

 

Pageonelit.com: You say, "Life Teachings: Raising a Child can remind us of a higher path of life and one that is quite doable, if we are mindful and conscious of our choices." Please explain...

Jeanie Davis Pullen: The process of forming a game plan gives the parents powerful pieces of information that produce a sense of purpose and understanding. Choices are made with a large degree of ease if a parent has a sense of the path and an understanding why he is on the path. Choices can then be made intentionally and the 'why' is known.

The fact that the game plan that I write about asks for abstract qualities allows each of us to create and implement our game plans according to what we value and want as individuals for our children and ourselves.

 

Pageonelit.com: From your experiences, what are a couple of the most common/everyday mistakes parents make raising small children?

Jeanie Davis Pullen: I do believe that not having a parenting game plan is one of the biggest mistakes that parents make especially when parents tend to make detailed ones for almost all other events in their personal and work lives.

I see so many times that parents give tacit approval to a child's behavior that two or three years from now they will not approve. Right now it seems 'cute' but later it won't be acceptable. Why confuse the child later and use all the energy that it will take to adjust the behavior? Just adjust it now.

 

Pageonelit.com: What has been your feedback from readers? What do they say to you about their interpretations of your book? What do they like about the book?

Jeanie Davis Pullen: People have considered Life Teachings: Raising a Child as one of those few books that they will keep and reread. Many have said that it has had a profound effect on their lives and that there is so very much more to the book than the title. They tend to like that each chapter is brief and brings forth much reflection.

There is a chapter in the book where I told of teaching my children how to respectfully interrupt an adult conversation by quietly slipping their hand in mine when I was talking and this seems to be a favorite of many readers.

Couples have read chapters of the book to each other and then talked about it and examine how each was raised and what they value. Other readers have gathered a small group of people and they have read chapters out loud and discussed them.

 

 

 

Pageonelit.com: Are you working on a follow up? Or something totally different?

Jeanie Davis Pullen: When I began writing Life Teachings: Raising a Child I saw it as the beginning of a set of four books. They would each have Life Teachings: in the front of the title. The others would be - Communicating; Preparing to Work, and Leadership. I'm working on both the Communicating and Preparing to Work ones and it is a toss-up as to which one will be the second book.

 

Pageonelit.com: What was the last book you read?

Jeanie Davis Pullen: I've always gravitated toward non-fiction and I'm attracted to biography and metaphysics for I like reading how another person is figuring out life, the patterns another sees and the systems that another perceives. I've recently enjoyed The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America by David Whyte. I have studied feng shui with a teacher for nearly four years so I'm usually reading one of the many newly published feng shui books.

 

Pageonelit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they enhance your writing.

Jeanie Davis Pullen: I love to travel. My favorite countries have been Morocco, Bali, Thailand, Tahiti and Singapore.

My traveling does not outwardly enhance my writing for one couldn't read any of my things and say oh, yes, she was here and saw that. But traveling so enhances my life and fills my curiosity, that I'd say my writing is influenced, even though it doesn't readily show.