Whole Kids Project

Ready Kids: Preparing for Emergencies

With several large scale natural disasters in the news, now is the time to make sure that your family is prepared.

The US Department of Homeland Security has a website focused on emergency preparedness that lays out 3 steps every family should follow:

1. Get a Kit: Here's a List of Basic Supplies
2. Make a Plan:  The Family Emergency Plan
3. Be Informed: Local agencies to help you in case of an emergency

There is also a section designed specifically for kids that follows the same three steps- get the whole family involved and BE PREPARED!

Helping Kids Deal With Disasters

Dr. Robyn Silverman offers helpful advice on how to cope with disasters.  This is a very timely post with the cyclone in Burma and the earthquake in China in the news.  Closer to home, we are entering tornado season in which tornado warning sirens and trips to the basement are not uncommon.

Among Dr. Silverman's tips:

• Stay Calm
• Be Available
• Reassure Them
• Let Them Know They're Safe
• Comfort Them
• Limit The Media Onslaught

Click here to read all of Dr. Silverman's tips.

The Power of Words

This passage from Bob Greene's book, And You Know You Should Be Glad, reminded me of how powerful words- both kind and unkind- can be to a child:

We were on our way to his old house, and he said, "I think this is almost the exact place where Jerry Hockman said hello to us." Every step he took, every direction he looked, he was finding something. He was touring his past, he was an archaeologist on a deadline not of his own making, excavating long-lost joy. I was probably the right person for him to have with him; I was the one person in the world who wouldn’t have to ask him about his references, including the Jerry Hockman reference.

It’s funny how a kind gesture from someone can stay with you—how the smallest choice a person makes can resonate over the years. The reverberations of cruelty and gratuitous meanness, we often hear about—absence of mercy tends to make the history books. Yet it can work the other way. Fleeting moments of kindness can echo forever. We were little elementary school kids walking down this same sidewalk when, coming from the other direction, we saw Jerry Hockman.

Jerry Hockman, that year, was the high school’s star athlete—older than us, living in a different solar system than us, accustomed to hearing cheers. He had no idea who we were. We were young, invisible. So here came Jerry Hockman, in his blue varsity letter jacket with the white B on the chest, and to us it was like we were seeing Johnny Unitas, to us it was like we were seeing Mickey Mantle. He had that kind of celebrity, in that town, in that year. And our paths were about to cross.

What were we supposed to do, at a moment like this? Get off the sidewalk, to let him pass? Offer him words of praise? Ask for his autograph? We hadn’t planned this encounter—what were the rules for such an occasion? What we did was look down at the sidewalk and avoid his gaze. What we did was fall silent and feel small.

What Jerry Hockman did was speak to us. "Hi, guys," he’d said. Just that—he acknowledged we were alive. We looked up and he gave us a smile and a nod of his head as he walked past.

Tiny choice on his part—ignore the two kids or make them feel special.

Tiny choice—and here, at fifty-seven years old, Jack was remembering it.

Choose your words carefully- what you say, and what children hear, may have an impact that lasts for the rest of their lives.

Action Alert: Keep Disguised Ads Out of Children's Books

From Commercial Alert.org:

Harper Collins Children’s Books recently announced plans to publish a new series of books targeted at 8- to 12-year-olds featuring a character called "Mackenzie Blue." Although touted by the publisher for teaching kids about protecting the environment and promoting global understanding, the Mackenzie Blue series actually aims to be a vehicle for delivering commercial messages, through product-placement hidden advertisements, product tie-ins, and affiliated multi-media corporate sponsorships. The author of the series, Tina Wells, is chief executive of Buzz Marketing Group, which specializes in marketing to children and adolescents.

Book publishers should not be exploiting children for commercial gain. Books should educate and entertain children — not encourage them to buy a particular brand of shoe or soft drink.

Tell Susan Katz, publisher of Harper Collins Children's Books, not to publish "Mackenzie Blue" unless all product placements and tie-ins with external advertisers are removed.

Please follow this link to the Commercial Alert website and send Harper Collins a message letting them know that you oppose this commercial exploitation of our children.

TV Turnoff Week Wrapup

Well, overall we did a good job of staying away from the TV this week.

First, I'd say that ordinarily we average less than an hour per day of viewing- so decreasing our viewing even more wasn't a huge sacrifice.

Even when the TV is on, it quickly becomes background noise as the girls get busy with reading, crafts, coloring or just good old-fashioned playing.  I found that several times when I sat down in the evening and grabbed the remote, I remembered that it was turnoff week and grabbed a book instead.

High-points for the week:

• We were blessed with great weather which allowed for a lot of outside play.
• I was in LA from Monday-Wednesday and only watched about an hour of the PA primary coverage on Tuesday night. Fourteen hours of flying time allowed me to catch up on some reading that I've wanted to do.
• Sunday was gorgeous here- my oldest daughter and I went for a nice bike ride and did some treasure hunting (geocaching).

Low-points:

• Saturday. I attended the Columbus Catholic Men's Conference during the day and Karol attended another meeting in Akron until late in the night.  In my exhaustion (big excuse here), the girls watched two DVDs Saturday night and I watched Supersize Me after they went to bed.

That's my short report. Overall, a pretty good effort. I caught myself a few times and picked up a book instead (which is always more worthwhile) and slipped a few more times (did I forget to mention that I also watched an episode of The Office Friday night?).

2nd Annual TV-Turnoff Week

Lisa, of Corporate Babysitter fame, alerted me to the 2nd Annual TV-Turnoff Week.

The challenge is to see if you can go TV-free for the week of April 21-27.  All the details can be found on the Unplug Your Kids blog.

Of course I'm traveling and will be in meetings for most of the week so much of the burden will fall on Karol and the girls. They know that they can count on me for moral support!

Matthew Kelly: Building Better Families

We recently decided to personally support Matthew Kelly's 1,000 Friends Project.  Matthew has been a positive force in our lives and had a huge influence in how we articulated the Whole Kids Project's mission.

So, we were excited when we received an advance copy of Matthew's new book, Building Better Families.

This looks to be an amazing resource for parents who are striving to bring out the best in their children.

From the Amazon description:

In Building Better Families, Kelly explores important issues by raising evocative questions: What makes a successful parent? Do you realize that your children are in the middle of a cultural war? What are the five things children really need? Are you asking your children the right questions? What are you teaching your children about work, money, food, exercise, body image, and sex? What are the priorities of your family culture?

Every page of this book is filled with examples that can be applied to your daily experience of parenting and family, while at the same time illuminating the broader and deeper significance of family for society and the future of humanity. “The family is at once a deeply personal experience and the cornerstone of all great societies,” Matthew Kelly tells us. Allow this book of classic wisdom and practical insight to help you build a better family.

Two recommendations:

1. Consider becoming one of Matthew's 1,000 friends.
2. Pick up a copy of Building Better Families. (available for preorder now- in stores Feb. 26th).

Colbert's "People Destroying America"

The Colbert Report has an hilarious segment featuring the CCFC's Susan Linn and Florida parent Suan Pagan and their campaign to stop McReport Cards.

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Whole Kids Project Background

Over the course of the next week or two we will be focusing on the research that is the basis, and in many cases the inspiration, for the Whole Kids Project. This information creates the framework for developing what we refer to as Whole Kids- a generation of children that are physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually strong.

Unfortunately, much of the information that we will be presenting is disheartening.  Overall, we believe that society is failing to provide all that our children need and deserve.

Still, there are individuals, organizations, and companies that are advocates for our children.  We intend to showcase these groups and expose their good work to as many people as possible. Too often their work goes unnoticed.

We encourage our readers to help us build a community of positive role-models and advocates. Please do not be shy about communicating with us when you find something that you feel we should be aware of.  A link to our email address is near the upper-left side of every page.

A good way to stay current with our efforts is to subscribe to our RSS feed. This is very easy to do and will ensure that each of our messages reach you.

Please help us to give our children the love, encouragement, and protection that they so deserve.