HUG YOUR KID DAY

By Diane Forrest

Last week was Make a difference to a Child Day.  We talked about spending time with your child and the activities you can do with your child.  Being a young parent can be very stressful.  You have long hours of working, not enough time to spend with family or friends, and lists of chores to get done.  It feels like there isn’t enough time in the day to get all you want to get done.  Sometimes in all the hustle and bustle of daily life, kids can be pushed back, placed on the back burner.  These are the times that we as parents need to stop, take a breath, and grab our children and hold them tight. They need to know that no matter what else is going on around them, there is nothing more important to you than them.  It doesn't take long to give your child a hug, kiss them and tell them you love them.  All too quickly they grow up into the dreaded teenagers, who don't want to be seen with you.  My baby will be 26 this year.  I don't get to see him often; he lives in a different city.  He was home last month, and when I saw him I gave him a hug.  No longer is he the sweet little boy I used to pick up and hold, but he is now a man twice my size who’s hugs squeeze the life out of me. But there is no better feeling than the hug from your child.

Today is Global Hug your Kid Day and was founded in 2008 by Michelle Nichols, a 25-year sales veteran and longtime Business Week columnist whose son, Mark, died suddenly at 8 1/2 years old from brain cancer in 1998.  This made me think of another family who recently lost their 15-year-old son to pancreatic cancer, and countless other parents who have lost children due to diseases or accidents.  I was reading about a sweet little 4-year-old boy who was helping his father at work, taking pictures in a cemetery, when a tombstone fell on him and crushed him. These parents will never have the opportunity to hug their children again, so don't waste another minute giving your child or children hugs. If you don't have any children, hug your brother, sister, grandchild, niece or nephew, any child.  I would be wary of hugging stranger's children though, they may think you are a creeper and hit you over the head with an umbrella.  But today, and every day, never passes up an opportunity to hug your child.  Hugs are free, but they last a lifetime.

(Photos from Google) 

Recess – why did they stop them?

By Terry Orr

Remember in elementary school we had recess twice a day – to go outdoors, run around, get some fresh air and exercise our bodies for 15 or 20 minutes?  Seems to me all these years later that we should have continued having recess throughout our educational and work years. Remember The 4 ‘R’s: reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmatic and recess!

The world celebrates “Global Employee Health and Fitness Month” each May.

What is Global Employee Health & Fitness Month?

Created by the National Association for Health & Fitness (NAHF) and ACTIVE Life, Global Employee Health & Fitness Month (GEHFM) is a national and international invitation to workplace wellness. The goal of GEHFM is to promote the benefits of a healthy lifestyle to employers and their employees through worksite health promotion activities and environments. GEHMF is held during the month of May every year. Throughout GEHFM employers will challenge their employees to create Healthy Moments, form Healthy Groups, and develop a Culminating Project. Participants will be able to log these activities on the GEHFM website throughout the month, allowing employers and employees to track, share, and promote their individual and group activities. (Source: healthandfitnessmonth.com)

It is my belief that our work place needs to take a proactive, leadership role in encouraging all employees to participate regular health and fitness programs.

References and Links:

http://healthandfitnessmonth.com/uploads/EH.pdf

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/healthy_kids/The-4-Rs-Reading-Riting-rithmatic-and-RECESS.html

http://www.physicalfitness.org/nehf.php

Child Nutrition

By Nurse Diane

There has been a lot of information lately about childhood obesity, and the quality of school lunches, with the emphasis on more fresh fruits and vegetables and less junk foods.  However, there are some children in other parts of the world that don't have the option of fresh fruits and vegetables.  In some countries, they are fortunate just to have one meal a day.  I am sure you have seen the commercials asking you to send money to help the children, and if you are like me, you may be skeptical about these organizations.  Which ones are legitimate, which ones are not?

April is Global child nutrition Month.  According to gcnf.org, Global Child Nutrition Month is observed annually in April to heighten awareness of childhood hunger. In 2009, the World Food Program estimated that as many as 350 million of the world’s children suffer from poverty and hunger. The goals and ideals of Global Child Nutrition Month are to acknowledge that global hunger can be overcome by combining the will and resources of individuals and organizations. Freeing children from hunger allows them to become self-supporting and contributing citizens and is a step toward building a stable and peaceful world.

Their website offers several ways that you, or your community can raise money to help end this global problem, and feed the children.  Some of their suggestions include:

1. The Great Bottle Battle: Each class should decorate a container to be kept in their homeroom. During the contest period, classes will race to see which room can fill their container the fastest. The homeroom that collects the most money is the winner!
2. Help Serve: Every student has his or her favorite teacher. Students can “vote” on which teachers they want to help serve lunch on a specified day. Students can “vote” by placing money into jars decorated with participating teacher’s name/picture. At the end of the designated voting time, count the money and the top three teachers will help in the cafeteria, serving students.
3. World Food Day: Volunteer your time to prepare special foods from around the world and host an event in the cafeteria or at a school function. Students, parents, and staff can sample different foods from around the world.
4. International Night: Work with your local parent organization to host a “discover the world” party where a foreign film or a documentary on world hunger is shown. Parents can “buy” their tickets by making a donation.
5. Teachers vs. Students: Coordinate with a parent organization or student group to host teachers vs. student’s basketball game. Have the cafeteria staff and parents volunteer their time to host a concession booth to increase fundraising.
6. Community Milk Money: Wash empty milk cartons and band them with a creative Change Our World milk label. Take the containers to area businesses and ask them to place containers next to registers to collect change from customers during a set amount of time. Collect the change-filled milk cartons after the allotted time has expired.
7. Chain Builders: Have different classrooms and grade levels compete to see who can build the largest paper chain. Sell strips of paper for 25¢ each. Allow students to buy strips for a predetermined period of time. At the end of the donation period, count the links and display the chains to see which class wins bragging rights.
8. Pizza for the World: Have the students or staff build the largest pizza in your community by making a circle (chalk, rope, etc.) that they toss coins into, creating a “pizza” made with money that can be donated.
9. Car Wash: More than good clean fun, a car wash is a great way to spread the word. Work with student organizations or cafeteria staff to work the car wash and hand out information about your fundraiser, global hunger and GCNF’s vision.
10. Make A Match: Visit area businesses and ask them to match the funds collected at your school.

For more information about child nutrition and how you can help, visit this website http://www.gcnf.org/

(All images from Google) 

World Communications Week

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By Terry Orr

“Communication is the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information by speech, signals or writing.”

Means of communicating were rather simple when I was born: post cards; letters; telegraph; telephone, sign language; smoke signals (didn’t work to well in the city); radio and the beginning of television; of course – telewoman (big smile) and best means face-to-face.  Sixty some years later each has improved and digital communications is leading to way to new and improved means of communicating with others.

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Last year at this time - Cherie Burbach wrote in her article on World Communication Week: Communication problems can affect every area of our life, from our jobs to our friendships. You might think that "better communication" just means talking more, but the reason definition has to do with effectiveness. This includes listening, paying attention to non-verbal clues, and speaking clearly so that both your intent and message is obvious.

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While our tools and methods of communicating have vastly increased over the past few years – our ability to effectively communicate has become more challenging and often finding ourselves less effective.  While I am here sitting in Bob Evans finishing my breakfast writing this article and wondering just how we got ourselves into this rut of being poor communicators in general. Here are some thoughts to consider:

• Short Hand;
• Abbreviations
• Lack of understanding between generations;
• Lack of patience;
• Audiences have dramatically changed;
• We have gone from local to regional to national to global environments;and
• Diversity.

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Dennis Rivers at NewConverations.Net recently updated his “A Guide to Listening,, Self-expression, Creative Question Asking, Gratitude, and more” is available for free in PDF format and contains lots of good information. Dennis focuses on seven communication skills challenges and a brief description of each follows.

Communication Skills Challenge One: Deep Listening. Listen more carefully and responsively, acknowledging the feelings and wants that people express in word and mood. Actively acknowledging another person’s experience does not have to mean that you agree or approve.

Communication Skills Challenge Two: Explaining your conversational intent and inviting consent by using one of 30 basic conversational invitations such as, “Right now I would like to take a few minutes and ask you about… [subject].” The more involvement a conversation is going to require of the other person, the more you will benefit by sharing your conversational goal and inviting the conscious cooperation of your conversation partner.

Communication Skills Challenge Three: Expressing yourself more clearly and more completely how to express yourself in a way that gives your listeners the information they need to:

Understand (mentally reconstruct) your experiences more fully

Empathize with what you are experiencing.

One good way is to use “the five I-messages”: What/how I …

Observe;

Am feeling;

Because I interpret/evaluate/need, and now I;

Want to request; and

Envision/hope for from request.

Communication Skills Challenge Four: Translating your criticisms and complaints into requests for action and explaining the positive results of having your request granted. Do this for both your own complaints and the complaints that others bring to you.  Focusing on the positive outcome shows respect to the recipient of a request as having a positive contribution to make, and shifts focus from past mistakes to present and future successes.

Communication Skills Challenge Five: Asking questions more “open-endedly” and more creatively.

“How did you like that movie?” is an open-ended question that invites a wide range of answers. “Did you like it?” suggests only “yes” or “no” as answers and does not encourage discussion. Sincerely asked open-ended questions can open up our conversation partners.

Communication Skills Challenge Six: Thanking: Expressing more gratitude, appreciation, encouragement and delight in everyday life.  In a world full of problems, look for opportunities to give praise. Both at home & at work, it is the bond of appreciation that makes relationships strong enough to allow for problem-solving and differing needs.

Communication Skills Challenge Seven: Adopting the “living-as-continuous-learning” approach.  Make the practices described in challenges 1 through 6 important parts of your everyday living and learning. Pay attention to each conversation as an opportunity to grow in skill, awareness and compassion.  Work to redefine each of your “opponents” in life as a learning and problem-solving partner.  Assist the processes of change in your world by personally embodying the changes, virtues and styles of behavior you want to see in others.

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So let’s all take a few minutes, catch our collective breaths, reflect on the helpful ideas listed above and start working to communicate better in all areas of our lives.

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References and Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication

http://notesdesk.com/notes/business-communications/types-of-communication/

http://www.creativedisplaysnow.com/articles/history-of-communication-from-cave-drawings-to-the-web.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_communication

http://friendship.about.com/b/2011/11/03/november-1-7-is-world-communication-week.htm

http://newconversations.net/

Internet Day

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By Terry Orr

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite (often called TCP/IP, although not all applications use TCP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries an extensive range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the infrastructure to support email. (Source: Wikipedia)

Vint Cerf
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News to me was finding this article The Internet Was Actually Invented in 1934 [Video] on The Inquisitr.  The concept of the Internet was invented by a Belgian Information Expert named Paul Otlet.  Vinton Cerf put together a system for routing data in packet s around the globe called TCP/IP and is often referred to as the Father of the Internet.

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Looking back at the past two decades on how the Internet has impacted our lives – how will our lives be impacted over the next decade?

• Netscape
• Yahoo
• Google
• Smart Phones
• Smart TV’s
• Social Media
• Blogging
• Webinar’s

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It is all so fascinating – learning the new breakthroughs in technology and new and improved means of using the Internet.

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References and Links:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet
• http://www.inquisitr.com/250068/the-internet-was-actually-invented-in-1934-video/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet

World Humanitarian Day 2012

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By Terry Orr

“This year’s World Humanitarian Day presents an historic opportunity to bring together one billion people from around the world to advance a powerful and proactive idea: People Helping People. That is the best way to honour the many fallen aid workers we mourn today, and to celebrate the efforts of others who carry on their noble mission by rushing assistance to those who are suffering.”

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Every day humanitarian aid workers help millions of people around the world, regardless of who they are and where they are. World Humanitarian Day is a global celebration of people helping people.

This year’s campaign "I Was Here" is about making your mark by doing something good, somewhere, for someone else.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) states:

Natural disasters, conflicts and other emergencies threaten the lives and health of millions of people every year. In the middle of such crises, thousands of dedicated humanitarian workers strive to care for those who have been affected and support local authorities to deliver assistance. On World Humanitarian Day, WHO and other international bodies are highlighting the roles performed by humanitarian workers, and remembering aid workers who have been killed or injured while performing their vital roles.

World Humanitarian Day offers the chance:

• for the public to learn more about the humanitarian community, what aid workers do and the challenges they face;
• for nongovernmental and international bodies and UN agencies, to demonstrate their humanitarian activities;
• to pay respect to those who have died or been injured in the course of their humanitarian work.

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References and links:

http://www.un.org/en/events/humanitarianday/background.shtml

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/world-humanitarian-day-2012-and-older-people-helping-them-help-each-other/

Global Hug your Kid Day

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By Diane Forrest

When is the last time you went to a family reunion, or visited an elderly family member?  You will probably hear them tell you how much you have grown since they saw you last, hear phrases like...I remember when I used to change your diapers, or last time I saw you, you were no bigger than a minute. 

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For those family members you don't get to see frequently, time passes quickly.  One minute you are newborn, the next you are beginning school. Before you know it you are driving, in high school, getting married, then having children of your own.  Being a young parent can be very stressful.  You have long hours of working, not enough time to spend with family or friends, and lists of chores to get done.  It feels like there isn’t enough time in the day to get all you want to get done.  Sometimes in all the hustle and bustle of daily life, kids can be pushed back, placed on the back burner.  These are the times that we as parents need to stop, take a breath, and grab our children and hold them tight. They need to know that no matter what else is going on around them, there is nothing more important to you than them.  It doesn't take long to give your child a hug, kiss them and tell them you love them.  All too quickly they grow up into the dreaded teenagers, who don't want to be seen with you. 

(Google Image) 

My baby will be 25 this year.  I don't get to see him often; he lives in a different city.  He was home during the 4th of July, and when I saw him I gave him a hug.  No longer is he the sweet little boy I used to pick up and hold, but he is now a man twice my size who’s hugs squeezes the life out of me. But there is no better feeling than the hug from your child.

(Google Image) 

Today is Global Hug your Kid Day.  Global Hug Your Kids Day was founded in 2008 by Michelle Nichols, a 25-year sales veteran and longtime Business Week columnist. Her son, Mark, died suddenly at 8 1/2 years old from brain cancer in 1998.  This made me think of another family who recently lost their 15 year old son to pancreatic cancer, and counties other parents who have lost children due to diseases or accidents. 

(Google Image) 

I was reading about a sweet little 4 year old boy who was helping his father at work, taking pictures in a cemetery, when a tombstone fell on him and crushed him. These parents will never have the opportunity to hug their children again, so don't waste another minute giving your child or children hugs. If you don't have any children, hug your brother, sister, grandchild, niece or nephew, any child.  I would be wary of hugging stranger's children though, they may think you are a creeper and hit you over the head with an umbrella.  But today, and every day, never pass up an opportunity to hug your child. 

(Google Image) 

Hugs are free, but they last a lifetime.