The following information comes from my sophomore daughter's World History class: "What year were the following statements made?"

"The average American always walks as if he had a good dinner before him and a police officer behind him" and "American eating habits can best be described as "gobble, gulp and go." My daughter guessed the year would be 2003, however these statements were actually made in 1830 during the Industrial Revolution!

What new word did the Industrial Revolution introduce into our vocabulary? "Punctuality"!

Posted by Susan at 10/29/2003 04:18:25 PM | Link

 
See this week's Time magazine article, titled Ready, Set, Relax! Fed up with the fast track, people are banding together to find ways to slow things down. Here is an excerpt:

"Frantic families equal fragile families."

"That message stirred up parents in the Twin Cities suburb of Wayzata, Minn., when Doherty lectured there five years ago. His talk sparked a communitywide initiative called Putting Family First. One project: a book, written by Doherty and coalition organizer Barbara Carlson, filled with such advice as making family vacations a priority and strategies for finding time to talk with kids about their day. The group also launched a website and published a Consumer Reports — style guide to local after-school activities, providing analyses of the time and travel demands involved in pursuing each undertaking — not exactly a laid-back approach to overscheduling, but at least a nod in that direction. Nearly 5,000 families in the surrounding eight-city area snapped up copies. "

Posted by Susan at 10/22/2003 12:37:50 PM | Link

 
This week is Take Back Your Family Time week and I find it ironic that a new business is counting on the busy lifestyles of suburban families by launching a new children’s transportation service. The business, here in the Twin Cities, gives rides to children whose parents don’t have the time or who have a scheduling conflict.

I wish success to everyone who faces the challenges of starting their own small business. I also think it is sad that our community needs such a service. My husband and I occasionally find ourselves over-extended with commitments that conflict with the kids schedule. When this happens, we compromise by saying no to one of the conflicts. If it can't be resolved by simply eliminating one of the activities (permanantly or on a one-time basis), then you may want to take a deeper look into your schedules.

If you think a shuttle service would solve a lot of your problems, this may be a good time to evaluate the real "needs" of your family.

Posted by Susan at 10/20/2003 07:58:01 AM | Link

 
On page 1A of today's StarTribune newspaper: Family Ties: Trying to Reclaim Time Together.

Some Twin Cities parents were astounded a few years ago when their worries about their children's hectic lives caught the nation's attention. Their rethinking of school, sports and music activities that sent their kids -- and the family minivan -- hustling from one appointment to another seemed to speak to tired families everywhere. Putting Family First is the group that grew from that early concern about overscheduled and underconnected lifestyles. And those families were not alone. Across the country, other people were using words like "time famine" as they fretted over bad eating habits, work-family pressures and anxious parenting. Web sites were born, bestsellers written. Now, "Take Back Your Family Time," a series of events next week in the Twin Cities, will be part of a nationwide effort to help people reclaim their leisure time.

Among those featured in the piece is the family of fellow PFF blogger Sue Kakuk.


See also their sidebar pieces:

Family time: What's going on in your life?
National Take Back Your Time Day

Posted by Griff at 10/14/2003 02:58:30 PM | Link

 
Since October is National Eat Dinner Together Month, we have been focusing on ways to make meal time more successful. For some people, it is simply finding and making the time.

What helps me most is to look at the calendar once a week, evaluate everyone's schedule and plan our meals around it. Some days my time is limited for meal preparation so I plug in the crockpot. Other days I make sure there is a healthy snack after school, because we eat later, after everyone is home from the days activities.

Every week, I actually make a "menu", listing dinner time, the meal, and post it on the refrigerator. I then prepare my grocery list and shop for the week's menu. Some weeks I am not so organized and it shows by our fast food choices or the countless trips to the grocery store. I quickly realize all the time I have spent driving and waiting in the check out line, that I vow to be more prepared next time. It really works, but just like most things in life, taking some extra time to plan ahead is full of rewards.

Posted by Susan at 10/14/2003 06:07:30 AM | Link

 
Our middle school Family Consumer Science teacher offered extra credit to students that cooked dinner for their family on Sept 22; Eat Dinner With Your Children Day. She said the amount of students participating doubled from last year and that many parents wrote very positive remarks about how meaningful and enjoyable the meal was for them!!

Posted by Susan at 10/09/2003 05:12:14 PM | Link

 
October is National Eat Dinner Together Month. When meals seem ho-hum, try eating in a different place - on a picnic blanket in the middle of the floor, at the park or athletic field before a game, or meet at the office.

Eat the meal backwards: Eat dessert first, the main meal, and end with a salad. Wear your clothes backwards, sit on the chair backwards, eat with the opposite hand and sit in the opposite spot.

Create a Theme: Pick a letter and prepare foods that start with that letter. Pick a color, and prepare foods all of the same color. Choose a country and prepare foods native to that country. Research their customs, check out music from the library, draw a map of the country or a picture of their flag and create placemats.

And . . . . have FUN! For more ideas on making family meals worth having, read Putting Family First; Successful Strategies for reclaiming Family Life in a Hurry-Up World or click on our Links page.

Posted by Susan at 10/07/2003 03:17:42 PM | Link

 
"Current research shows that eating meals as a family makes a huge impact on children academically, socially and psychologically." 

Need some help starting those conversations? Keep Talking-Conversation Starters for the Family Meal is a flipbook with over 250 questions to keep the entire family thinking, talking, listening and laughing around the table.

Sample questions include: If you are at a friends house for dinner, and they serve food you don't like, what do you do? At a school dance your best friend is talking to a different group of kids. When you approach the group your friend ignores you. How do you react? If your dog could talk, what kind of voice would she have? What would your dog say to you? How would she describe living with your family?

While this book and our Links offer many conversation suggestions, you can also be creative. Have your kids write their own list of "Table Topics". Whoever has to set the table, gets to write or choose the topic!

Posted by Susan at 10/02/2003 02:11:32 PM | Link