The Importance of Family Time

WPVI-TV 6ABC Co-anchor, Rick Williams "Sharing the Spotlight" with his family in Moorestown Theater Company's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (for ticket information, visit http://moorestowntheatercompany.org/ )

The importance of family time

With today's busy lifestyles, many parents and grandparents want to spend more "quality" time with their children or grandchildren. But what is quality time? "Quality time" is time spent doing an activity that is meaningful to the parent and child. It is time when family members really get to know each other. Quality time is spent focusing attention on the other person and sharing thoughts and feelings.

Spending time with our children can be fun and educational for us and for them. Much of the child's basic learning takes place in the many informal situations that occur daily in the life of the family. These informal occasions for learning include all the times the family members are together doing ordinary things, such as getting dressed, talking over the day’s happenings, dealing with problems, interacting with people outside the family, taking baths, eating, and so forth.

The activity does need not be costly, but rather one that satisfies both the parent and the child.
Children need to know they are loved unconditionally. The cry of children today is, "Love me for who I am, not what I do. Love me for being who I am, even when I am naughty, not winning, placing, and showing". That does not mean that you have to approve of everything the child does. What it does mean however, is that even though the child misbehaves, we still love and accept the child and provide support.

Community theater, karate classes, art classes, hobbies, or simply taking a walk can be quality family time.
As an education activist and a master teacher at Mount Laurels' family martial arts center, Dinoto Karate, I don't profess to have all the answers but I do hope that families are inspired by Rick Williams' example of quality family time and you are inspired towards making the most of your family's time together.

This blog is part of Peter Liciaga's community activism effort for the Ultimate Black Belt Test Program ( http://www.ultimateblackbelttest.com/ ), which is an undertaking of The 100. ( http://www.the100.us/ ), and a part of Peter Liciaga's Dream 100 Project.

On Leave, soldier and Dad captures robber

An Army staff sergeant and Iraq war veteran on leave from his overseas posting is being hailed as a hero after a would-be bank robber pulled a gun on his family.

This is a great story, with a great ending, with great lessons for everyone. I will share two lessons later. Watch the following video (compliments of NBC News with Mark Potter reporting).

(NBC News)

Lesson Number One: Be Prepared to Protect your children. Our number one priority as parents is to protect our children. Parents, we must do all that we can to stay informed, knowleable and trained to move to action to protect our children. Learn and teach your children the ABC's of Personal Safety (or get a professional help by doing a Google search for Personal Safety in your town).

Lesson Number Two: Don't Panic, Stay Calm. Albeit this Dad is a trained professional soldier with 5 tours of duty in Iraq. However, the lesson here is that we parents MUST do all that we can to be prepared and ready to move to action --and the right action-- to protect our children.

This takes a calm and clear mind. The father stayed calm (by the way he moved the chairs in position to shield his children, the perception could be he did not panic).

This is a learned skill --staying "calm" and not panicking-- which can be acquired through proper training. Training ourselves to remain calm in stressful situations is key. For example, Verbal Self-defense (Verbal Judo) teaches a philosophy of how to stay calm and look creatively at conflict and use specific strategies and tactics to find (peaceful) resolutions.

Martial arts and self-defense programs, or at least the right programs (and teacher) is the key.
For me and my family, it's not an option!

As an education activist and self-defense expert, I highly recommend self-defense and martial arts! For me and my family, it's not an option. Everyone in my household MUST train in martial arts and learn self-defense!

If you do not know of a martial arts school or self-defense program in your community, please contact me at 856-235-0414 (ask for Peter Liciaga!)

Your Mount Laurel Martial Artist,
http://www.peterliciaga.org/

Teen Boys with Autism at Risk of Being Bullied: Study

We are EXPERTS in teaching children to manage stress and maintain emotional control!

"Among teen boys with an autism spectrum disorder, those who are considered high-functioning are confronted with a greater degree of bullying behavior than their "typically developing" peers, new research indicates.

The observation specifically reflects upon boys aged 12 to 18, and refers to the kind of physical aggression, name-calling, intimidation, rumor-mongering and group exclusion that characterize bullying behavior."

Read complete article: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2011/05/11/teen-boys-with-autism-at-risk-of-being-bullied-study

Our martial arts programs are designed to teach children with unique challenges. Gives us a call at 856-235-0414 to schedule a visit to our school.