Friday, July 27, 2012

WELLNESS DO'S AND DON'TS

FWR Says:  The do's and don’ts of Family Wellness

Eat together - as often as possible
   Discuss what a new rule means
      Parents aren’t pals – respect for parents is vital
         Listening is often a rare event
          ______________________________

Family councils are a must - everybody has a share
    Cut the teen’s umbilical cord – over dependence is lethal
        A community service project brings the family together
            Arguing is OK; pouting is not
              ______________________________

When one fouls up or is hurt, all have a job to help
   When push comes to shove, parents are in charge
      Family devotions strengthen the spiritual lives of all
        It is more important that parents are together than always right

FWR Says: Wellness comes when the family works together for it

Friday, July 20, 2012

WELLNESS - FAMILY'S SURE WAY

FWR says: The family has its own wellness crisis

These are tough days for families. These days are made tougher because families aren’t doing their wellness job. Instead they have the habit of looking to someone else to solve their problems.

Only families can raise kids. Only families can ensure their wellness. Three trends are making families dependent on others.

The first is their access to community agencies for a range of problems. As good as these agencies, schools and hospitals are at their own professions, they have neither the experience nor the know-how of family wellness.

Second, families are now relying on increased state subsidies for a whole range of family needs and conditions. There are special grants for special conditions. There are cash subsidies for families for welfare and unemployment pay.

Third, families still have easy access to money. With loans and credit cards families can have what they can’t afford. This is primarily the family’s doing.

These three powerful trends have distracted families from their prime job of raising kids to be well, trained and ready for adult life. There is no wonder our communities are facing daily tragedies. This is why our streets are run by young people who don’t know who they are or what jobs they should be doing.

FWR says: Only families can strengthen the wellness of their children.

Friday, July 13, 2012

FOR WELLNESS, KIDS NEED GRANDPARENTS

FWR says:  These are days for Grandparents

Parents are on a dead run, barely keeping up. They have no time for themselves and little time for the children. This brings big opportunities for grandparents and not just for baby sitting.

The wellness of children flows to them from the family. There is a generational river with precious gifts flowing from the older to the younger generations. Children need a rich array of wellness traits as in the Rainbow. From that river, children choose their wellness traits from the family members who attract them.

Here is a good example. Cecil was raised in families with neither religion nor music. Yet, in his early twenties he turned avidly to both. That started a life-long growing devotion to both. Where did Cecil’s taste for these come from? Answer, from Buffalo, where there were annual family visits. There he got glimpses of Grandma praying bedside and Uncle Frank playing popular piano pieces.

This is a case showing how casual contacts with family members generate lasting images of important wellness traits in children. Today’s children are in great need of these opportunities. It is the parent’s job to see that children have access to all the choices among those in the wider family.

FWR says:  These days, parents need all the help they can get from the whole family to assure the wellness of their children

Monday, July 09, 2012

IS OUR FAMILY OKAY?

FWR asks: How well is our family doing?

The family is the keystone of our society. Wellness is the keystone of the family. The Rainbow is the keystone of the family.

Many community forces are fragmenting the family because the family is not the first priority with business, the media or the governments. The local commercial and professional services reflect that lack of focus on the family.

All this leaves the family largely on its own to build its own wellness. Here are their questions from the six key areas of the Family Wellness Rainbow:

     Is fitness important to our family?

     Is caring at the heart of our family?

     Does our family encourage learning?

     Does our family look out for each of our members?

     Is community service a key family job?

     Do we share our beliefs with each other?

The family that is working to get answers to these questions is the family growing in wellness for all the adults and children.

FWR says: Wellness is free but requires steady, hard work and prayers by the whole family