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Teaching Kids About Their Family HistoryPosted by admin on September 23rd, 2009

At first genealogy seemed like such a dry topic with its pedigree charts and shelves of dusty records. When I had the idea to teach my kids about it, I was a little worried. How could I make this topic interesting enough to hold their attention?

But then I remembered something important: family history isn’t really about records and charts. It’s about stories. More importantly, it’s stories about them, where they came from, where they got their dimples or their laugh or their wild streak.

So I fished out some old family photos and invited my mom to help me. As soon as we started, it was like magic. The kids sat in spellbound silence as if they were listening to their favorite fairy tale. By the questions they asked and they comments they made, I could tell they sensed that somehow these people were important to them, an aunt, uncle, or grandparent they hadn’t met before. I was actually amazed at how much they valued the stories. To this day, they like to bring them up and ask questions about them.

If you’ve been aching to share your family history with your kids, how do you plan to do it? If you’ve already done it, what tips do you have for the rest of us novices?

5 Great Family Summer Films of 2009Posted by admin on September 18th, 2009

For a few years there, good, clean family movies were hard to come by in the summer, with the exception of the yearly Pixar flick (thank heavens!). This year, however, we’ve been treated to slew of clean, well-crafted movies for people of all ages. Good PG movies, formerly the territory of weak kiddy flicks filled with flatulence and crotch-kicking, have made a roaring comeback.

With the summer of 2009 mostly behind us, here is a list of the top five family summer films you’ll want to go back and watch again and again:
 
5. Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian – this fun romp through history and pop culture was enjoyed by critics and families alike. Jokes will put a smile on parents’ faces without having to cover the kids’ ears.

4. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – this three-quel to the Ice Age franchise was hailed as the best in the series, taking the Ice Age crew down into a tropical Jurassic underworld to return a clutch of eggs. Oh, and there’s an angry mother T Rex looking for her eggs.

3. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – coming to theaters today, this flick, based on the hunger-inducing children’s book about humongous meals falling from the sky, is already receiving critical praise. Visuals are said to be on par or better than Pixar and jokes are said to be gutbusters.

2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – this movie outperformed any Harry Potter predecessor at the box office. More importantly, Harry Potter fans and families loved it. After a couple PG-13 sequels, HP 4 sported a family-friendly but still intense PG rating.

1. Up – easily the best movie of the summer for children or adults, this Pixar masterpiece about an elderly widower who sets off for South America with a young cub-scout stowaway on board is pure drama and movie magic. Don’t miss it!

Death makes us appreciate familyPosted by admin on September 17th, 2009

It’s all over the news. The Jasper family was told by a liason officer that their son, Sergeant Jesse Jasper, had been killed in Afghanistan. It wasn’t until Jesse’s girlfriend saw the condolence group on Facebook that she called the Jasper family to let them know Jesse was still alive. Jesse called his family and his father said, in an outpouring of gratitude, "Oh my God, you’re alive, I love you, I love you, I love you, you’re alive."

Faced with never seeing his son again, this father’s love and appreciation was amplified. I think love has way of doing that to all of us. In death, even the shabbiest of relatives can become a good guy. Good people become heroes. Death puts things in perspective, puts away the conflicts and disagreements of the past.

Funny thing is, death is always there. It’s in the future for all of us. But we don’t apply it to our lives until it actually occurs to someone close to us. But what if we thought about death more? What if we pondered our loved ones’ absence more often? I am not suggesting we all put on black eyeshadow and recite Edgar Allen Poe, but I am suggesting we look at the brief nature of life and treat our loved ones accordingly.

The other day in rush-hour traffic, I had a waking nightmare about one of my kids getting hit by a car. When I got home, I put my arms around that child and held them for a half-hour.

While I hope we won’t dwell on death and mourning, I do hope we will cherish every moment we have with our loved ones. Ironically, I think being aware of death is one of the secrets to great living.