Parenting 101

Ok, where do I begin?

Can I start by saying that I feel parents have lost complete control of their children? Was anyone watching the weather last night? Looking at the news this morning when our meteorologists were letting us know that there is a wind chill bringing temps to well below ZERO??? Can I tell you that as I drop my four "bundled" children off to their appropriate schools in sub below temperatures I still see kids outside in barely a sweatshirt, never mind a hat or God forbid... gloves and a scarf!!!! OH NO! This is of course, why parents who actually want to do the right thing, have such a hard time. Their children are looking at all these other kids who have no rules.

I'll have to go back to my old adage... What happened to the Good Ole Days? When parents actually ran the home and when children listened and showed respect for their parents as well as any other authority figure. Where is society going when children are able to make the decisions in the home, not to mention some of the other little tid bits I hear... like students swearing at the teachers during class and deciding for themselves they would rather go to the office since this class is too boring for them? Where is it going? When will it stop? What is going to happen to our future if it doesn't??? My friends, that child would have been escorted right out of school if it were up to me, and I know... it isn't, however I do believe that if we had good old fashioned standards... LIKE WE USED TO, we'd ALL be better off!

We all should be concerned! Very concerned! This is our future people... WAKE UP! What is going to happen when little Johnny and Beth are the ones teaching in our schools? What about running all the businesses that are supposed to keep our economy going? Hmmm? What then? Are we just going to keep lowering the bar? Is that what we really want to do?

I can't imagine that we all want to see our future basically being flushed down the proverbial toilet, yet... What are we doing about it??

We need to take charge again folks!! We need to actually give a damn about our future, and we have to have the foresight to do something about it!

If you are a parent that feels you have absolutely lost control, and are ready to gain it back, give a call. (413-732-9355) or email kids@ bewellkids.org We will help you back on the right track. We need the wherewithal to take charge; it's never too late!

Securing our future... one child at a time!

Mary-Anne DiBlasio
Founder, Be Well Kids, Inc.
and this morning... a very disgruntled parent!

MAKING LIFE "EASY" FOR CHILDREN USUALLY MAKES LIFE "HARD" FOR THEM IN ADULTHOOD.

Del Smith, the millionaire founder and chairman of Evergreen International Aviation, has often said, "Thank God I was born poor; I learned how to work." Like many others who made it to the top on their own, Smith believes that the greatest gift that can be given to a child is to teach him or her the value of work. It is a gift that can never be lost or stolen. It’s a natural desire of parents to give their children material things they didn’t have as children. Such generosity, however, often deprives children of the greatest gift you can give them: confidence in their ability to take care of themselves. When you make life "hard" for your children by requiring them to learn the value of work, they will have a far greater likelihood of success as adults.

- Napoleon Hill Foundation - Thought for the Day - January 19th, 2010 - naphill.org

Six Year Old in Hospital After Alleged Beating in Westfield

By Justine Judge

Story Published: Dec 11, 2009 at 10:03 PM EST

Shocking news in the town of Westfield. A 6 year old boy is hospitalized after being found injured and unconscious at the Boys and Girls club

Almost 300 kids walk through the doors of the Westfield Boys and Girls club everyday. Most of them expecting to to have fun at the Club's after school programs.

That all changed around 5:00 Wednesday afternoon when a club member found a 6 year old boy lying on the locker room floor unconscious with signs of blunt force trauma to his head.

The 6 year old was rushed to Baystate Medical Center. where he is being hospitalized.

Boys and Girls Club Executive Director Bill Parks says, "Anything like this is a shock and it's something, you know, you don't ever want to have to deal with. But we are dealing with it right now and will hopefully have some answers as soon as possible."

Westfield police say they have been unable to question the 6 year old who is still recovering from his injuries. But - they say it's clear the boy was assaulted and believe a male teen member of the club is responsible and plan on questioning him
.
For now the teen in question will not be allowed back into the club.

Parent Kim Baber says, "When my kids went there they were always very concerned and if there was an issue they addressed it right away. So, I'm sure they had no idea what was going on and I'm sure it's a big surprise to them too."

But other parents we spoke with say they're not surprised and say often times the kids in the club are unsupervised and have free rein throughout the club. Club officials say that is not the case.

Parks says, "I would say that kids are supervised and programs are available to them and there are many choices for them to pick and choose from on a daily basis. And I would say no, they don't run wild."

Club officials went on to say that this is the first time this kind of violence has taken place at the Boys and Girls club.

Enrollment not high enough to open in West Springfield Schools.

After extending the deadline of enrollment for an after school program option for West Springfield families, we unfortunately do not have enough full time slots filled in order to begin our January 2010 Session. It looks as though there are a lot of families that would be needing financial assistance in this immediate area, and in order to be able to apply for the grants needed to offer families financial assistance, we needed to be an existing program. Without enough enrollment, we were not that existing program. Additional options would have become available to us after actually opening the program.

Be Well Kids will remain a community partner of the West Springfield School Dept, in hopes of offering potential programs in the future. Keep posted to the site as always for information about children's health, wellness and wellbeing, as well as any future information regarding upcoming programs offered.

Be Well Kids will remain a division of Western Mass Wellness and will still be able to offer local school districts options for enriching programs offered either after school or as during school workshops.

Maintaining an Advisory Board that truly cares about the wellbeing of children, we will continue to see if there is anything we can offer that can be of assistance to the children of today, which will become our leaders of tomorrow...

Thank you for all your interest and support.

Be Well
Mary-Anne DiBlasio
President, Be Well Kids, Inc.

ENROLL NOW!

Now is the time to enroll your child in the Be Well Kids After School Wellness Program slated to begin in January 2010. Currently there will be locations at Tatham and Fausey Elementary Schools, with enrolled Middle School children as well as Memorial and Mittineague children attending one of these locations. There will be a small fee associated with busing children from Memorial or Mittineague.

We do need to have enrollment locked in since we will need to finalize the number of qualified staff needed. So, if you are interested, we need to be sure we get your enrollment form no later than November 13th.

Please contact Be Well Kids at 413-732-9355 to enroll your child today. A $50 enrollment fee is due upon enrollment. $25 for administration costs and $25 to go towards your first week of the Program.

Checks can be mailed along with the below form to:

Be Well Kids, Inc.
P.O. Box 775
West Springfield, MA 01090


Child's Name:____________________________________________________

Age:__________ Telephone #: ________________________________

Parents Name:____________________________________________________

School Attending: __________________________________________

Email Address:__________________________________________________

Street Address___________________________________________________

Town_____________________________________________________

Enrollment fee is $75.00 per week and includes an after school snack and beverage. Hours of After School Program are 2:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Open enrollment is for grades 1st through 8th. Additional busing costs may apply for Memorial and Mittineague children.

'Dump the Junk' in Your Kids' Snacks

It’s become a “weighty” issue. Every day seems to bring a scary new report about America’s kids getting fatter. One in five children under age five is now overweight — leading to higher rates of adult-onset diabetes and other serious health problems. And, given that a healthy body costs less to maintain than one that is unhealthy, it’s in you and your children’s best interest to adopt a healthy diet.

So what’s a parent to do? According to the American Dietetic Association, parents play a “primary role” in preventing obesity in their children. The association advises moms and dads to involve their kids in choosing and preparing food.

Some people think it costs more to eat healthy snacks and meals. Actually, junk food can be more costly because it’s heavily packaged and advertised. In Yes, You Can … Afford to Raise a Family, author Sam Goller offers a chapter on how to “Market-Proof Your Kids.” His tips include being a good role model, talking to your kids about advertising and turning off the television — avoiding all ads for salty snacks and sugar-coated cereals.

Here are some more ideas to help you and your kids move toward healthier eating:

* Call a family meeting and talk about the benefits of a good diet.
* Ask your kids to list healthy snacks. They might even have fun researching a good diet on the Internet and sharing their findings.

* Take your kids to the store and let them choose healthy snacks to keep on hand — fresh and frozen fruit, nuts, yogurt, celery and carrot sticks, cheese squares and peanut butter are often popular choices.

* Help your kids learn to prepare healthy snacks ahead of time so they can quickly “grab a bite.”

* Save soft drinks and fruit drinks for special occasions. Encourage drinking milk and water instead.

* Urge your kids to take up a new sport or exercise program. They’ll improve their health and burn calories while spending less time sitting in front of the television or computer.

* Keep track of savings after switching to healthier foods and plan a family activity with the extra money.

The key to success is giving kids the responsibility of making changes. This promotes their feeling of competence and pride — and makes it more likely that they will stick to the plan at snack time and at meals.

As your children grow, you’ll see many benefits of healthy eating. They’ll have good teeth and bone development plus more energy and stamina. And, you’ll be spending less on medical care and more towards reaching long-term financial goals.

Another excellent article by American Century Investments ®

Thank you.
Mary-Anne DiBlasio
Be Well Kids, Inc.

Everything Retro

Everything seems to always come back "in". From the mustang styling to new (old) fads for clothing to even football uniforms...

I say... let's bring "love thy neighbor" back! or maybe good old fashion child rearing... where parents were in charge! Just like it used to be!!

Ahhhh... the good ole days...

Just think... no cell phones or texting, your child actually asks if it is ok to go next door and hang out with Bobby before dinner since his homework is finished. Those were the days right? Not worrying if Janey is pregnant,no. Just worrying whether or not she will be too nervous to kiss Jimmy for the first time at the prom!

That was the life, right? simple, slower than it is today... what seems to be the problem? Society, and what we are becoming, where we are going... Look around, it's not pretty... More responsibility at work for less pay. No employee/employer loyalty. (What's that?) My father worked at the same company for 43 years, that's right 43! started off at the very bottom and made his way all the way to the top. An honest living. Not who he knew, or who he - well... you get the picture. When I tell folks I was at a company for 17 years, at my age, they look at me as though I have three heads! Yikes! I loved that job!

The only way life can get more simple now a days is if we make it so... ourselves. Learn to slow down. Breathe. Deep. The only one that can do it for you, is you... I know it seems impossible. In this technologically savvy world we live... when a businessman could tell a fellow colleague, "I'll get back to you on that." and if it was by the end of the week, that was terrific. Now? If you do not return calls within 24 hours someone out there, without a shadow of a doubt will think you're dead. Trust me, it's happened to me! Sad... but none the less true...

Join the Retro Rage! why not?

Mary-Anne DiBlasio
Be Well Kids, Inc.