Give your children the gift of your time
Kids
do better in school when families schedule fun time together, says
Marissa Gehley, founder of Kids Need Our Wisdom. "Time when families can
just enjoy each other in the moment, when parents aren't asking, 'Did
you do your homework, clean your room, clean your cleats for soccer,
study for your spelling test?' It's during those times that you learn
what's going on in kids' lives." The following gifts will last a
lifetime, says Gehley.
• Schedule family dates. Plan a weekly or monthly activity such as a hike, geo-cache search, bike ride or movie. "It may seem obvious, but if you don't plan it and make it a priority, it won't happen. Set up an event everyone can look forward to," says Gehley "TGIF means something special when you ask kids on Friday morning, 'Tonight is family movie night. Which one shall we watch?' "
• Plan memory makers. Get kids to talk about things they've always wanted to do around town or within a day's drive. Encourage brainstorming. Make a budget, a list and an action plan. "These memory makers don't have to be long, expensive trips," Gehley says.
• Get your green on. There's evidence that we're becoming a nation that lives indoors. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids ages 8 to 18 spend more than seven hours a day indoors using electronic media and very little time in outdoor unstructured play. "Some parents worry about safety, so make getting into the great outdoors a family affair," Gehley suggests. The National Wildlife Federation's campaign, Be Out There, promotes an hour of outdoor play a day. Parents can find activities at the federation's Web site, nwf.org.
• Eat meals together. Research from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University shows that teens who have five or more family dinners per week are less likely to abuse prescription drugs, use marijuana or drink alcohol than teens who have two or fewer family dinners per week.
• Everyone in the family will benefit when you give each other the gift of time. Time magazine essayist Nancy Gibbs says we all need to reinvent free time. "One thing technology can't give us is time for serendipitous discovery."
• Schedule family dates. Plan a weekly or monthly activity such as a hike, geo-cache search, bike ride or movie. "It may seem obvious, but if you don't plan it and make it a priority, it won't happen. Set up an event everyone can look forward to," says Gehley "TGIF means something special when you ask kids on Friday morning, 'Tonight is family movie night. Which one shall we watch?' "
• Plan memory makers. Get kids to talk about things they've always wanted to do around town or within a day's drive. Encourage brainstorming. Make a budget, a list and an action plan. "These memory makers don't have to be long, expensive trips," Gehley says.
• Get your green on. There's evidence that we're becoming a nation that lives indoors. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids ages 8 to 18 spend more than seven hours a day indoors using electronic media and very little time in outdoor unstructured play. "Some parents worry about safety, so make getting into the great outdoors a family affair," Gehley suggests. The National Wildlife Federation's campaign, Be Out There, promotes an hour of outdoor play a day. Parents can find activities at the federation's Web site, nwf.org.
• Eat meals together. Research from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University shows that teens who have five or more family dinners per week are less likely to abuse prescription drugs, use marijuana or drink alcohol than teens who have two or fewer family dinners per week.
• Everyone in the family will benefit when you give each other the gift of time. Time magazine essayist Nancy Gibbs says we all need to reinvent free time. "One thing technology can't give us is time for serendipitous discovery."
