CBS Morning News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood, June 27, 2005, lead story was titled “Lost Weekends”. See both page 1 and 2

Many people say they spend most of their weekend time doing what they HAVE to do rather than what they WANT to do. The program featured two families; a busy family, always trying to catch up, and our own Peterschmidt family from Plymouth, sharing how they’ve slowed down and found balance in this over-scheduled world.

Be sure to also click on the other links Note to Parents: Slack Off

Posted by Susan at 6/27/2005 11:01:00 AM | Link

Mimi Doe, author of “Busy but Balanced” sends out weekly tips. The following tip is part of a series on how to “De-stress this Summer”

Set up a game table on your porch, deck, or under a shady tree. A picnic table or a simple card table will do. Buy a large plastic waterproof bin with a snug top to store puzzles, games, and a deck of cards. Maybe your house will be known as "the place to stop for a good game of chess or checkers."

To subscribe to her newsletter, visit her website Spiritual Parenting

Also related to the simple pleasures kids can find outside, is a book titled “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder” by Richard Louv.

Bradford McKee, of the New York Times writes:

Doctors, teachers, therapists and even coaches have been saying for
years that children spend too much time staring at video screens,
booked up for sports or lessons or sequestered by their parents
against the remote threat of abduction.

The author Richard Louv calls the problem "nature-deficit disorder."
He came up with the term, he said, to describe an environmental ennui flowing from children's fixation on artificial entertainment rather than natural wonders. Those who are obsessed with computer games or are driven from sport to sport, he maintains, miss the restorative effects that come with the nimbler bodies, broader minds and sharper senses that are developed during random running-around at the relative edges of civilization.

Even if parents think their children get too much screen time and not
enough safari time, many have no idea what to do about it.

We hope our website provides you with enough strategies to discover a more balanced and meaningful family life.

Posted by Susan at 6/07/2005 09:46:00 AM | Link