Raising Kids in America

Third "Set For Success" School Supply Drive Is On

2008-08-16T05:41:00.000-07:00

City Councilor Kate Toomey and Susan Daly, Friendly House have announced the Third Set For Success School Supply Drive. It started on Thursday, August 14 and will continue through Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 6:00 pm.

They are collecting school supplies for kids in Worcester whose families need a little extra help with “back to school” preparations. They are asking everyone who can to help out by purchasing some school supplies that they can distribute to homeless or disadvantaged children and teens.

You can help these kids out by dropping off the following:
Pens, pencils, crayons, rulers, notebooks, highlighters, calculators, etc. and/or a backpack – you get the picture, the stuff any kid would need to get back to school.

Look for the yellow “Set for Success” boxes located at:

Worcester Public Library, Main Branch, Greendale Branch and Great Brook Valley Branch
Webster House Restaurant
City Hall, Second Floor Lobby by the Clerk’s Office
Worcester Police Department Lobby
Worcester Fire Headquarters on Grove Street
Congressman McGovern’s Office, 34 Mechanic Street
Riley’s Restaurant
Fiddler’s Green Restaurant and Pub on Temple Street

OR you can mail a check to them at:
Friendly House—Set For Success, and mailed to:
Friendly House
Set For Success
36 Wall Street
Worcester, MA 01604

Businesses and organizations are being encouraged to participate by holding their own drives. If you are interested, please contact them to register the location. They will help you by supplying posters and fliers.

Contact:
City Councilor Kate Toomey at 508-963-9315 or
Susan Daly, Administrative Assistant, Friendly House at (508)755-4362

Set For Success School Supply Drive
August 14, 2008 – September 12, 2008
Multiple locations – see above

From Kate Toomey’s announcement:
Last year, this successful program, through the generosity of individuals and corporations, enabled over 1,400 students to start the year off on the right track with the tools they need to do well in school. In addition to the students who were designated homeless, there is also a great need for support for students whose families may have a roof over their heads, but do not have the means to provide the school supplies and backpacks.

This program was also able, through the generosity of donors, to meet emergency needs during the school year when the request from a school principal was received at Friendly House to assist a student or family.

The Worcester Public Schools have identified a total number of 2,467 students officially designated as homeless according to State and Federal Guidelines. A significant number of these students, 654, are living in foster homes.

This initiative has become a critical component in ensuring children’s readiness to learn. Three years since the inception of this program, the needs are greater now than ever. The cost of fuel and heating oil are expected to have a debilitating financial impact on family income. Today, the choices between food, heat, and a roof overhead become more difficult, leaving little or nothing in the way of providing these necessary tools for the students, and public support is greatly needed.

We are most grateful to our partners in this endeavor, who have graciously agreed again to be collection sites for the supplies.

Please feel free to link, copy, paste, pass along or otherwise distribute this post. It’s really important to get the word out!

They took steps to end violence and it’s a good thing

2008-05-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

This post was borrowed, stolen, hi-jacked from I’m From Worcester with permission.

Last Sunday we went out to the "Taking Steps To End Violence Against Women And Children" awareness walk. This is an annual event held to raise awareness about the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault and to raise money to help Daybreak, The Rape Crisis Center and Girls Inc. in Worcester.

This is a link to some photos of the t-shirt display, above is the video we shot at the event. I spoke with Kim Dawkins, Executive Director of the Rape Crisis Center of Central Massachusetts. I also got some tape of Linda Cavaioli, Executive Director of the YWCA of Central Massachusetts.

The event had a pretty good turn out. I hope that my small contribution of blog posting and vlog will help them raise awareness and support so the next one is even bigger. Speaking of which; this is an annual event so be on the lookout in the spring. They need everyone out there - that means you too.

If you couldn't make it out to walk this year you can still help. These organizations need support year round. They need volunteers, supplies and money so they can keep helping women and children in crisis. Click on the URL's below to find out how you can get involved in a specific organization. Or, go to the Taking Steps web site for information about this event.

There are hotline numbers and URLs embedded in the video. If you know anyone who is being hurt please help them by getting those numbers and web sites to them.
URLs for more information about the organizations:

The Rape Crisis center of Central Massachusetts
YWCA of Central Massachusetts / Daybreak
Girls, Inc.

AND - I think that AK Consulting Services did a great job organizing the event. They did a good job of making an informative and family-friendly event. Despite the very sad reason for the event, it was a fun day.

So - if you missed it this year, get out there next year!

Ok, I'm done telling you what to do with your weekend now. Thanks for listening :-)

***My thanks to Claudia Snell for letting me post this here!***

Papamoka

Technorati Tags:
Rape Crisis Center, YWCA, Girls Inc, Battered woman, Battered Children, Keep kids safe, Worcester Events, Im From Worcester, Protecting Children, Child Abuse, Broken families, Defense of Woman, Saving kids, Awareness Walk, ending violence

Blogging for the environment - opportunity for conversations

2007-09-27T03:07:00.000-07:00

On October 15, thousands of bloggers will unite to blog about a single topic - the environment.

If you're a blogger you might like to check it out.The concept is a pretty simple one, just blog about the environment on October 15. Anyone with a blog can participate. Click the graphic, follow the link - you'll see what to do.

Our family will hopefully post video blog entry for the online-event. I thought it would be a great way to share some time together. We're trying to plan what we'll do right now and will hopefully start shooting this weekend. (the weather needs to play nice - please!)

I've decided to use this as an opportunity to start conversations with my daughter about the environment and what we should all do to make it better. "The environment" is a pretty broad topic so it presents a lot of interesting ideas - think politics, personal responsibility, consumerism (and all the other -isms wrecking the planet), culture, spirituality, conservation and endangered species; there's a lot there. I've found it interesting to hear what my 10-year-old has to say about it all. I'm hoping we can make an interesting vlog of it ;-)

Kids cooking with Dad

2007-09-08T18:01:00.000-07:00

Most people including the little ones in our lives we like to call our children love meatballs. I've found that my kids love meatball hamburgers with cheese. Making the burgers with them is half the fun. I have to admit that I love the million and one questions that they seem to have a never ending curiosity about the process of cooking.

Same drill as before, everyone washes their hands as if going into surgery. Kids need to learn this little life long lesson early and what better time than the present to do so. You want their hands clean because they will be mixing the ground beef up and making the hamburger patties.

To make about eight burgers you need three pounds of ground beef. You decide the fat content but I usually get 85-15% at the old supermarket. Dump the beef into a big bowl and add about a quarter teaspoon of salt. Let the kids measure it out or just sprinkle it in from the salt shaker. Same amount of pepper. Same amount of Celery salt and Garlic powder. If you have minced garlic from the jar you can use a tablespoon. Adjust the quantities to taste as you see fit.

Everyone gets a turn mashing the meat to smitherenes. Grab a stool for the really little ones and let them have it too! Let them make their own burger patties. Kids appreciate the learning time with Dad or Mom and cooking with the kids is always a great time. Make sure they all wash their hands after the patty making process! Mom or Dad will not be to happy if they find raw hamburger on the couch... been there... done that.

Dad or Mom can toss the burgers on the grill or in the frying pan with a little butter on low heat and cook them for about three minutes on each side. Let the kids peel off a piece of American cheese and hand it to the cook for placing on the burgers. Serve up on hamburger rolls with whatever toppings you know that they will eat and watch them gobble it down.

Be prepared for the unexpected and children asking for a second burger!

Papamoka

Kids with an Attitude

2007-06-18T20:27:00.000-07:00

Recently, we have noticed that our nine year old has an attitude and thinks that it is okay to just say no to Mom or Dad when asked to help around the house. As a middle child of five sisters she is testing the waters as to what Mom or Dad will put up with. Pick a topic and she tests it.
The easy route out is to give in and that is the wrong thing to do. As a parent you need to set levels of acceptable behavior and allowing your child to know that telling your parents to screw is not acceptable at any age and it is a tough lesson for both of you to learn.

Take this situation as just an example of how the mind works in a nine year old. Dad says you need to help clean up the living room. Children will leave a debris field of belongings like a sinking luxury liner if you let them think that Mom or Dad will always pick it up and put it away. Placing a value on all of the debris is where you want to go with the mind of a child that refuses to pick up their own things.

Telling your child that if you have to pick up their toys, homework, clothes or anything they consider theirs and tossing it in a trash bag will instill a sense of urgency in that child. That is what you have to do. It may take a minute or twenty minutes if you start to clean up before they decide if they need to save their things from the everlasting pit of the trash bin.

This is the hardest part, you have to follow through. If you have asked and demanded that their belongings be put away and they do not answer then you have to toss them away. It may take several times of prized possessions to be tossed before they understand that toys, books, homework from days gone by or school projects that earned a high score have a place to live other than the living room or dining room. The larger the family the easier this lesson is taught. Then again I might be wrong on that theory. Far too many accomplices to blame.

Kids need to know that the family space is not their space and that is a tough road to teach. Using the threat of trashing anything with their name on it is a better alternative than threatening violence against the child. Violence is easy, making the child think is a life long lesson.

While the rest of the kids did a quick clean up the nine year old that totally refused to help went the distance above and beyond the call of duty. She broke out the vac and went beyond what was originally asked.

She did it for two reasons, the first was because she respected her parent threat and wanted to protect her belongings from the Dad or Mom with the big trash bag that was filling up quick. Her second reason was because she knew that it was the right thing to do. Huge lesson.

Papamoka

Kids and Memorial Day

2007-05-25T18:54:00.000-07:00

Tradition in a childs life is important because what mom and dad do is what they grow up to do with their own babies. Just like certain holidays we all recall the days of our own childhood where mom or dad cooked certain foods to feed the family to mark the occasion you should consider making your own family traditions that will be duplicated by your own children.

When I was small we celebrated Memorial Day by going out to the family burial plots. This entailed stopping at the local florist to pick up the cemetary boxes that Dad ordered ahead of time and his placing them in front of the graves of our Grand Parents. We would stand still and bow our heads in prayer and remembrance. We would all pack back into the station wagon and travel back home to a meal that Dad would serve up from the barbecue grill when it was fired by briquets of heavy charcoal that we had to hall to the back porch from the garage. Dad was a genious of a chef when it came to cooking on the grill. Anything he placed over those red hot coals turned into a meal where everyone asked for more.

All seven of his children grew up to be healthy adults and we all follow the practices of Mom and Dad at Memorial Day. I pack up the girls and head out to Lowes for the flowers and any last minute tools for the event and we do the cemetary shuffle so to speak. My Mom and Dad and Grand Parents are in a family plot so that is an easy stop. We plant a flower on my Grand Mothers sisters family graves. Then we venture off to Mom's family and where they are buried. Flowers get planted and the girls love it. The questions fly and the answers are some times easy and some times very hard. This is the time to teach your children what Memorial Day is about for them. Who their ancestors and family is. Where they came from is important to them and you will be amazed at how wise they are at any age.

If you get a chance and have a few extra flowers and you have the time show them a grave of a soldier that died that has no flowers. Let them know that everyone needs to be remembered. Plant a flower for a Veteran and you plant a seed of respect for those that they will never know.

When they ask you why they are planting a flower for them all you really have to say is that you are thankful for what they did so long ago so we could enjoy this day as an American family.

Build the memories of your children and you build a fortress that can never be torn down.

Enjoy your holiday and make the kids part of it...

Papamoka

Kids and Sauce Pan Scrambled Eggs

2007-03-20T19:02:00.000-07:00

Cooking eggs should never be boring. Bring the step stool over to the stove and let the kids have at it with this recipe. It's a slow cook and the rewards are simply delicious. Email us at Papamoka@hotmail if you want further instructions but here it is.

Making a big breakfast for the family on the weekend is always a treat for the kids. Let them see how to multi task in the kitchen. Start off with cleaning and making sure the work area is as sterile as an ICU. Get all them kids into the bathroom or at the kitchen sink and wash those little hands with tons of soap. We are making food and not cooking germs here.

We are serving breakfast so we start with the bacon that is cooked in the oven. Take one of those huge cookie pans with edges and line it with tin foil. Saves time on the clean up after all the kids have eaten and lost interest. Layout your bacon strips and put in the oven at 350 degrees. This is a slow cook method for bacon but as it fills the house with the aroma of bacon cooking it also adds to the kids appetite while we all cook the eggs.

Here we go with the fun of cooking with the kids. Take a large sauce pan and put it on the stove on very low heat. Low heat is the key to this recipe. The higher the heat the more chance of burning the eggs to the pan so go with low heat for the entire process. It is going to take some time to cook but the reward is the kids are occupied and the end result is delicious. For every person have the kids crack two eggs. Supervise and scoop out any shells. Have the kids beat the day light out of the eggs with a fork or whisker. I use a fork because the whisker eventually gets loaded up with cooked egg. Add salt and pepper for taste. Add about 1/4 cup milk for every four eggs. Add 1/8 inch slice of salted or unsalted butter for every two eggs. Let the kids beat the daylight out of it in the sauce pan non stop. Turn the light on for the stove and repeatedly tell them to check the bacon. Ask them if it is browning on one side? Let them know that they are the cook and you are just supervising.

The bacon will take about fifteen minutes to cook on one side. Mom or Dad needs to take it out of the oven for the flipping of the bacon. I would not recommend that you let the kids do that! Bacon greas splatters and we do not want any of the little people burned. Drain the grease and flip the bacon strips over. Back into the oven they go and have them check for bubbling of the bacon strips or your own preffered crispy texture.

The eggs will start to congeal and form little clusters. Stirring at that point is more important than ever. Scrape the bottom of the sauce pan to make sure it is not burning to the pan. If brown specs appear then your heat is to high. When they start to coagulate it is time to start the toast. Work in teams stirring and buttering toast. Of course keep an ever vigilant eye on the bacon. The eggs are cooked when there is just a mass of solid egg droplets and not a sauce appearance. Some folks like to drain the eggs from the excess water with a strainer after the cooking process but we just serve it up with a slotted spoon.

Drain the bacon of grease on some paper towels and serve up the eggs, bacon and toast as the best breakfast the kids have ever made with Mom or Dad. Enjoy the time with the kids and praise them for a job well done.

Papamoka

French Toast and your Kids...

2006-12-31T21:54:00.000-08:00

Your kids love to help out with cooking and there is no better bonding experience for them to enjoy than cooking with Mom or Dad. First things first is a supervised washing of the hands by you. The frog in the back pocket of junior has to go. Those dirty fingernails from the mud pies have got to go. Good hygene in the kitchen should be drilled in at every opportunity.

Today we are making French Toast. Feel free to add or delete any ingredients but let the kids mix it all up and have a blast doing it. Kids are funny, you can place a plate of food in front of them if they had nothing to do with making it and they will snub a wet runny nose at it. Get them involved in the cooking process and it becomes their creation. Mud pies that are edible for once.

First off, depending on the age of your kids make sure you have a clean work area that can be cleaned up easily. Get them involved in the cleaning process. I use the kitchen table. All the more little bodies you can get involved in the process. Send the oldest to get the ingredients and let the little ones use the utensiles. We are going to need one medium size mixing bowl, a mixing table fork for the kids and an egg cracking bowl with a spoon for the shell fragments that will inevitably have to be scooped out by you. For every ten pieces of French toast you are going to need five eggs. A half cup milk, one teaspoon of sugar for every egg and a pinch of salt. One half teaspoon of Cinnamon or Nutmeg adds a kick but that is a personal favorite for my girls. Have the kids beat the eggs till the chicken pleads for a stay of execution. Add the sugar and salt and spices. Beat it till the sugar is desolved in the egg mix. Slowly mix in the milk.

Heat up your frying pan on low heat. Low heat is important to let the kids really smell what they are making. Less than medium and a little hotter than low. Add a generous portion of salted butter. Take your store bought bread single slice and dip it in the French Toast batter on one side and with a fork or spoon flip it over to the other side. One or two second soak for each side and transfer to the friying pan. Cook till golden brown for about five or six minutes on the first side and two or three on the second side and serve up with maple syrup. If you don't want the sugar high in the kids from the maple syrup then top them off with some butter or sour cream.

My eleven year old has been making this little treat since she was ten by herself. Granted Dad is watching but she devours breakfast when she can cook for herself and her sisters and parents. Her little sister are learning it as well. That is a good thing. Kids want to be adults. They just have to learn how to do it and cooking with them is the greatest opportunity you will ever have to teach them.

Have fun with the kids in the kitchen.

Cooking with the Kids

2006-09-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

Kids love to cook. Everyone loves to cook. When you get the chance to do it with your kids it is all that much more fun. Tonight we made Italian meatballs. Tons of garlic and spices like oregano and sweet basil and of course all the hamburger. Half the fun with the kids is using your hands to mix all the ingredients together.

You get all the ooos! And the ahhhs as the different items are added to the huge mixing bowl. I let them take over the rolling of the meatballs and supervise. You have to watch them because if you turn away for a momment then sisters will be throwing little tiny bits of meatball mix at one another.

My meatballs are unique to the world and all the kids go nuts over it. Mom likes them hot out of the oven and so do I. That is why we have to bake twice as many needed for the meal. Sampling fresh out of the oven is very important. All the kids love them that way too! Sometimes I freeze a dozen or so for them to nuke in the microwave after school to tide them over.

Pick a family recipe and pick a kid or two and show them the family traditions. In my case I've created several on my own just for them. Making meatballs is fun for them and it builds a lifetime of memories. It also is great one on one time with Mom or Dad that they will never forget.

Camp for our oldest

2006-07-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

Camp for her is tough. It's a camp for kids with mental health issues and it is an awesome place. She is doing so well and is done a one eighty on the camp as far as attitude against it. We went up for family day with all the girls and visited the day before to talk with her and the folks running the camp on what is going on with her.

She is doing awesome and taking care of the little ones at the camp and working in the kitchen. They love her and her attitude of serving the rest of the kids not as fortunate as she is. Our Bi Polar daughter has gained so much from what she has been through and learned how to help others when she is in fact in need of help herself. Outstanding and made her Dad so proud he just wanted to hug her forever. She is sixteen now and that is not allowed. Jerky Dad that I am I hugged her anyway.

The camp is two and a half hours drive from home and Mom wasn't feeling well. Our plan to drive up to the middle of nowhere the day before backfired on us. The beds at the motel were like sleeping on bricks that gave way here and there. The little ones became to over anxious the next day or claustrophobic in the van as we drove around till we could get to the camp at the appropriate time. Four little girls in a van on the road is a recipe for agitated parents and the proper ground for migraines in Mom to set in. You can only tell them to stop fighting one thousand times before it gets to be to much to handle. The only saving grace was the best investment my wife has ever made. Portable DVD for the car! Kept them from fighting for a good deal of the time but there were flare ups when the child in control of the remote pulled a Hitler. Absolute power corrupts even a nine year old.

Lesson learned... Long road trip, get a portable DVD player. Keeps them occupied while the long trips get you from A to Z. Ours was about $160 at Best Buy. OR???? No you can't legally give that much Benadryl to kids.... Can you? Just kidding!!!

Papamoka

Talking to Teens

2006-06-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

My oldest is a very inteligent and people person. She just loves people. She has been through hell and back with a mental illness that has driven a wedge inbetween the family but we are past it. She is okay and back with us for the most part. Teens are never one hundred percent with you. That is a fact of life and as a parent you have to deal with it.

I talked with my oldest daughter out on the deck tonight. Her friend was in crisis earlier in the day and she told me how she talked her down out the situation. I was so proud. She has grown up so much and changed so much in the span of one year that I was dumbfounded. Our oldest is diagnosed with Bi-Polar and extreme other issues and she has spent must of the last year in a locked facility. The people there helped her so much to learn how to deal with her life long issues that she reaches out to others to help them. One year ago we were one breath away from a casket and funeral and today we have our baby back.

If you ever want to talk to your kid, just do it. Take the time, make the time and just do it. The teen years are very impressionable and you need to make sure that you have a say in what they do in life. Even if you think your kid isn't listening to what you have to say then you just need to say it and put it out there. Kids need to know that their parents care. Hell I'm still listening to my older friends and relatives to see how I could do better for my own family. It's all about direction and choice.

Teenagers are tough. They own the world or think they do. But they still take in some of what you say as a Mom or a Dad. Time will only tell if what you said registered.

Papamoka

Bed times

2006-06-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

We have such a vast age difference in kids that the little one that is three thinks she is at the least ten or twelve. Bed time for her is never easy. If we don't get her to settle down early enough then she can be a little blessing from above with a temper all day long. Mom pays the ultimate price if our little one does not get her ten plus hours of sleep. When she doesn't get her sleep it is so amazing to see her talking up a storm one minute and her little batteries just burn out whenever they burn out no matter what she is doing.

Kids need sleep and the younger they are it seems the more sleep they need till they hit their teen years. Our sixteen year old would sleep twelve hours or more a day if we let her. Just for fact checking...we do not let her sleep twelve hours a day. As much as she tries to claim that she is part cat like her sister pet cat Jennifur we still make her get up. We deal with the grumblings as she eats her breakfast and yawns non-stop.

Anywho, set a bedtime no matter if school is out or in. Right now in our household school is out for the summer. Stick to it. Parents need time to be together as well.

Papamoka

Where to begin...

2006-06-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

My wife and I have five daughters and yes we are slowly going insane. In our later years we just might repay the girls for all their special gifts by having them change our diapers! The girls are sixteen, eleven, eight, five and three. Yes the factory is closed but that is another subject for another day.

So this little space is going to be used for daily or weekly tips on how to deal with your kids and get them to the next level of life. Sometimes it is tough to raise kids and sometimes it is a breeze. It's the inbetween times that will get your blood flowing and enjoying them as their little minds grow up to eventually become an adult.

Can you hear in the back of your mind your own mother swearing and cursing that she hopes you have children just like you. BINGO! Your children are you and now you have to deal with the same issues your mother did so many years ago when you were the nightmare on Elm Street. Don't deny your past, you know you were.

I look forward to your comments and feedback. The more the better to help other parents dealing with real life issues that are popping up on a daily basis. I would especially appreciate your comical stories about what your kids did or said. Those are the times all of us as parents can enjoy.

Live Life and enjoy your children.

Papamoka