Dr. Otis with her grandchildren Natalie and Amanda Formosa - and dog Sady
Dr. Otis’s Top Parenting Tips…
• Have an adult-centered household, not a childcentered
one. YOU are the authority.
• Do not do for a child what they can do for themselves.
Help them to set their own alarm for school and learn to
self-regulate. Teach them early to make a meal – or at
least get their own cereal.
• Do not yell. (I know I might as well say “Do not breathe,”
but yelling does not change behavior.)
• Love their other parent, even if you do not live together.
A child who hears bad things about their parent will not
say “there is something wrong with them,” they will say
“there is something wrong with me.”
• Children need structure. Their body does not know
the difference between a weekday and the weekend. Do
not allow bedtime to suffer more than an hour or so on
weekends.
Currently the Chairman of the Board for Youth For Christ, Dr. Otis
has worked with the Boards of eight community organizations
over the course of her career. She looks forward to continuing
to work with Youth For Christ, though no longer in the leadership
role. She also plans to continue her work on the Early Learning
Coalition of Manatee County Board of Directors, while rolling
off of the Boards of several other organizations she is currently
involved with.
In addition to all the work she still plans to do, her retirement
will also include some fun. In her leisure time, Dr. Otis enjoys
“boating, beaching, and reading.” She is a member of four book
clubs. She and her husband, Dennis Jagdmann, have traveled
to more than 60 countries in their 32 years together. Each year,
they choose a different U.S. city and a different foreign country
to visit. In the next year, they plan to visit Lexington, Kentucky
and Iceland.
Summarizing her plans for retirement, Dr. Otis says: “I’ll be doing
things that I love; I’ll still be working for my causes. I love working
for my community… and working for kids and animals. So that
won’t change.”
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