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Creating a Family Identity
CREATING A FAMILY IDENTITY Everyone who has a family has stories to share. Family traditions, quotes and tall tales are valuable tools that can be used to help create a unique family identity. It gives us a sense of where we came from, our values,...
How to Grieve a Tragedy
Bad things happen to good people. Have you lost your job or are facing bankruptcy? Has a cherished relationship ended or you have gone through a divorce? Maybe you received diagnosis of a serious health problem. Or maybe you are mourning the loss...
Successful Holiday Gift Giving Starts with a Plan
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and the clock is ticking down as we grow closer to the holiday festivities. By now, many have either started thinking about what they are going to purchase for those on their gift list – others are in...
Treasure Your Family Memories: Inspiration in Unexpected Places
A Saturday morning expedition with the kids brought me an unexpected surprise. Certainly I had some expectations of our outing to the "Healthy Kids Day" at the local YMCA. Mildly entertained children, yes. Gentle reminders to make healthier...
Winter Blahs Become Family Fun
After spending another dreary winter Sunday with not much to do I decided our family needed an exciting activity. I thought I needed a break from planning dinner so I'd give myself a break and give them an activity. I told my...
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Television - The Great SATAN!
I’ve often thought that in 6 million years, archaeologists will marvel at the devotion the 21st century Earthlings had to their household gods. Excavation will show these deities in virtually every home, obviously objects of devotion, the focal point in a room. The gods were believed without question. Families emulated them, discussed them, and scheduled their lives around them. The parent was secondary in influence to the various versions of these boxes with a glass screen that captivated an entire civilization.
Despite the title of this article, I do not really think that we are all guilty of worshiping the god of the underworld. I am, however, quite turned off by the amount of affection and devotion we give to the unworthy television. Last week I was teaching a class of four year olds, and before the lesson began, one of the children informed me that she had to leave early so she could get home in time for American Idol. As a society, I’m afraid we truly have made television an idol – and not just an American one. Studies disagree on how much we watch per week; studies agree that we watch too much.
My husband I refuse to give others remote control of our home, and have taken several steps to channel our boys away from the seductive and addictive influence of the television. We thank the major networks for loaning us their initials to broadcast our system to you:
CBS – Cut the Box on Schooldays. Consider taking the extreme position of not allowing television on weekdays. This has earned us the title of ‘most unreasonable parents in the school’, but we wear it with pride. To soften our image, we allow television freedom on the weekends, after chores and homework.
MSNBC – Make Summertime Nice. Bribe Children. During the nine weeks school is out, television time can be bought. For every minute spent on reading, we award time on the television or computer. We have an Excel spreadsheet that keeps up with time
earned and spent. (If you’re interested, email me and I’ll send you a copy.)
FOX – Filter Out X#$&%. What children watch is often worthless, at best. At its worst, television undermines everything we teach as it spews foul language, violence, casual attitudes about sex, and disrespect for authority. Our family uses TV Guardian to help with the language. The other negative elements are impossible to remove, which is why the television has an ‘off’ button.
NBC – Note Basic Content. Teach your kids to evaluate a program by its main premise. “Aladdin” is one of my favorite movies, but it quite frankly glorifies being a thief. Gentle “E. T.” leaves the impression that adults aren’t to be trusted, and that dishonesty is justified when its purposes are noble. After watching a show, ask, “What did that movie just say? Was it a positive message or a negative one? How did it try to influence you?”
CNN – Cultivate Natural iNquisitiveness. Try to broaden your world so that your children are interested in more than cartoons and sit-coms. Make friends with those from other cultures. Discuss world events. Travel and visit museums to pique interest in topics explored on The Discovery and History Channels.
BET – Be Exemplary Teachers. A student doesn’t rise above the teacher. Set a good example to your children by developing good viewing habits. Participate in National TV Turnoff Week April 21 – 27, and evaluate how addicted to the television you are.
Kayla Fay is the publisher of Who Put the Ketchup in the Medicine Cabinet and the author of The Spy Party, a cool birthday idea. Kayla and her husband have four sons, and only one television. Visit Kayla at http://www.goaskmom.com/ or write her at mailto:goaskmom@goaskmom.com.
goaskmom@goaskmom.com
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Family.org |
Offers practical help for marriage and child-rearing. Recent magazine articles, letters from Dr. James Dobson, news, and RealAudio broadcasts. |
www.family.org |
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FamilyFun: Fun stuff for Kids, Parents - and More Family Fun |
Family Fun is your online source for arts and crafts, recipes, and parties for every holiday, plus hundreds of ideas for kid crafts, birthday cakes, ... |
familyfun.go.com |
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Family.ca |
Take polls, rant and rave on Canada's family broadcaster site. Full of shockwave games, animation and information about the shows they carry. |
www.family.ca |
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Family.com - closed beta |
Features a to do list, calendar, and recommended sites for health, shopping, and recipes. |
family.go.com |
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FamilySearch.org - Family History and Genealogy Records |
Search for family ancestors. Billions of free family tree, family history, ancestry, genealogy and census records. |
www.familysearch.org |
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Family - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
A family consists of a domestic group of people (or a number of domestic groups), ... Members of the nuclear family use descriptive kinship terms: ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Family (biology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
The concept of rank at that time was still in statu nascendi, and in the preface to the Prodromus Magnol spoke of uniting his families into larger genera, ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Family Guy |
The official Family Guy website with everything you ever wanted to know about the show and more. |
www.familyguy.com |
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Parenting advice, child development and family reference at ... |
FamilyEducation.com provides parents with educational printables, games, activities, parenting ideas, tips, family advice, and information on learning ... |
www.familyeducation.com |
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Family Life Today |
FamilyLife, a division of Campus Crusade for Christ, provides practical, biblical tools to strengthen marriage and family relationships, including the ... |
www.familylife.com |
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WorldVillage - A Family Friendly Portal for Families, Kids, Adults ... |
WorldVillage is for families, kids, adults, parents and teachers. Features include coupon codes, online games, downloads, internet monitoring and internet ... |
www.worldvillage.com |
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Open Directory - Home: Family |
Family Check-up - Provides assessment activities and access to educational materials related to family health with respect to family life, finances, ... |
dmoz.org |
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Free Family Ecards, Family Greeting Cards, Family Greetings, Cards ... |
Express your appreciation to your family/ loved ones for all that they have ... Reach out to your friend/ family/ loved one and let them know how much you ... |
cards.123greetings.com |
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kids and family news articles - arizona education - arizona family ... |
Family News Articles - azcentral.com provides articles and reports on Arizona education and Arizona family events. |
www.azcentral.com |
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Google Directory - Home > Family |
Many articles dealing with a wide range of topics from single parenting, family life, child development and stress management. ... |
www.google.com |
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Family Research Council: Wednesday, December 6, 2006 |
Christian organization promoting the traditional family unit and the Judeo-Christian value system upon which it is built. Provides links, commentary, news, ... |
www.frc.org |
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Sesame Workshop - Home Page |
The non-profit educational organization behind the show and related educational outreach. |
www.sesameworkshop.org |
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National Sex Offender Registry |
Free national US search for registered sex offenders. Map registered sex offenders to see who lives in your area. |
www.familywatchdog.us |
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FHI Family Health International |
Provides the highest quality research, education and services in family planning, STDs/HIV and family health to improve the health and well-being of ... |
www.fhi.org |
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National Family Caregivers Association |
Caregiving advocacy organization with tips and statistics on caregiving in America. |
www.nfcacares.org |
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