A MESSAGE FROM THE PUBLISHER pg. 2 september 2016
MAKE TIME FOR FAMILY MEALS pg. 3 AWASH IN THOUGHT pg. 4 Wichita Family • September 2016 - 1
Message from the Publisher When significant events happen in history, people tend to remember fine details about their interactions with the event. People remember exactly what they were doing and where they were at when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas. Likewise, people remember when the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded 73 seconds into its flight on Jan. 28, 1986, killing everyone on board, including teacher Christa McAuliffe who was on board after being selected to participate in a special NASA proTodd Vogts gram to make publisher@wichitafamily.com
her the first teacher in space. Also, another event permanently imprinted upon the lives of Americans took place on April 19, 1995, when Timothy McVeigh committed a heinous act of domestic terrorism when he detonated a bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 168 adults and children. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, are like that for me. I was a sophomore in high school. I walked into my Geometry class and the television was on. My teacher, Mrs. Hamilton (she was from New York State), sat behind her desk weeping as images of planes slamming into the World Trade Center Twin Towers flashed on the screen. The subsequent fireballs seemed almost too bright to look at. The images of people diving out of the building as they decided it was better to die by smashing into the pavement below rather than burning to death in the inferno is
forever seared into my memory. The rest of the day was somber. In nearly every class we watched coverage of what was happening halfway across the country. My friends and I figured it would start a war, and we were right. We feared it would mean the draft would be reinstituted, meaning we would be going off to fight in a few years. Thankfully, we missed the mark on that. Patriotism soared. Everyone was united against a common enemy. Life changed. Security measures everywhere increased, especially at our nation’s airports. This all happened 15 years ago. Time flies. I hope everyone takes time not only on Sept. 11, but throughout the month, to remember those who died and risked their lives to save others. When it happened, the country vowed to never forget. Let’s not allow the years to dampen that sentiment.
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Wichita Family Magazine is published 12 times a year by Lucky 7 Publishing LLC. Wichita Family Magazine is available free, at schools, stores, restaurants, libraries, retailers and local attractions, as well as other places families frequent. For a complete list of where to find Wichita Family, or for subscription rates, email us at publisher@wichitafamily.com or visit our website at www.wichitafamily.com. Copyright 2016 by Lucky 7 Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. Wichita Family Magazine is not responsible for errors, omissions or contest fulfillment from third parties. Reproduction in part or in whole without written permission is strictly prohibited. Wichita Family is distributed free of charge. The magazine’s advertisers make this possible, so support them! We reserve the right to edit submitted material. All submissions will be considered for publication, but we reserve the right to refuse material. Materials will not be returned. Any editorial content or advertising published is the property of Lucky 7 Publishing LLC. 2 - www.wichitafamily.com
Make time for family meals J uggling jobs, kids and the demands of a busy, modern life often come at the expense of family mealtime at home. Even though life never seems to slow down, now is the perfect time to renew your commitment to creating and serving meals at home that nourish your kids’ brains and help them flourish. Not only is time together around the table an opportunity to catch up and reconnect, numerous studies provide evidence of the positive, lifelong benefits of family meals. Regular family meals are linked to the kinds of outcomes that ensure a bright future for children: higher grades and self-esteem, healthier eating habits and less risky behaviors. For example, according to research published in the “Journal of Pediatrics,” kids and teens who share meals with their families three or more times per week are significantly less likely to be overweight, more likely to eat healthy foods and less likely to have eating disorders. Other studies have shown that children who grow up sharing family meals are more likely to exhibit positive social behavior as adults, such as sharing, fairness and respect. On the other hand, research also suggests that aside from missing out on the benefits, families that share fewer meals together can also experience adverse effects when it comes to certain risky behaviors. A study on the relationship between certain family characteristics and adolescent problem behaviors, published in the “Journal of Adolescent Health,” found that teens who have infrequent family dinners (fewer than three per week) are 3.5 times more likely to have abused prescription drugs or have used an illegal drug; 2.5 times more likely to have used tobacco and 1.5 times more likely to have used alcohol.
• Rely on the resources available at your local grocery store. Even when you don’t feel like cooking, there are countless meal-planning solutions such as pre-prepped fresh ingredients, delicious ready-made entrees and wholesome heat-and-eat dishes. • Make meal planning a family affair. List each family member’s favorite foods in each of the main food groups and see how many combinations you can create. Then ask your children to accompany you to the store to help select the ingredients (and use the trip for age-appropriate learning, such as comparing prices, reading labels, etc.). • Save time by engaging the whole family in meal preparation. Even the littlest hands can help with tasks like setting the table. • Set a regular meal time so you can plan other activities around it. Sit around the table, turn off the TV and put away phones and electronic devices. Keep the focus on each other. Learn more about the positive impact regular meals at home together can have for your kids’ emotional, intellectual and physical well-being at nationalfamilymealsmonth. org. — Family Features
Meal planning Planning for family meal time can be tough, but it doesn’t have to be. Promoting one more family meal each week is an educational program created by the Food Marketing Institute Foundation and the nation’s grocery stores. Take the stress out of planning and preparing family meals with these tips and begin reaping the benefits of more time together around the dinner table: • Commit to having one additional meal with your family each week at home. It doesn’t matter whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner. The benefits are the same. After a month, you may be surprised by how easily your new commitment has become a habit for the entire family.
@wichitafamily Wichita Family • September 2016 - 3
~ A Technology Essay ~
Awash in Thought By Ian Anderson My family and I moved over the summer months, and our square footage was decidedly decreased. The downsize is difficult overall, but increasingly so because we left our trusty dishwasher behind. Add to this the fact that counter space has also been reduced considerably. We knew it would be difficult to adjust; we knew the walls would cave in as the boys whooped and fought. And we were right. What I didn’t expect was that the new routine of handwashing dishes would become such a blessing. I realized long ago that we relied quite heavily on our dishwasher, but the recent change has forced me to think about the role of technology in our country and in our homes. The business of invention isn’t monopolized by the U.S., but it’s hard to have a conversation on the topic without mentioning American inventors. It may be that innovation has even become synonymous with America itself — at least, that’s my train of thought when I hear words like light bulb, Model T, or democracy. However, in our day and age, new technology is much more immediate and constant, which is changing the way we think and talk about our lives — especially the way we spend our time at home. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for air conditioning and coffee grinders, not to mention dishwashers. Those machines are welcome in my home. Yet, over the last month or so, I’ve had fewer hours to burn because the sink needed to be cleared, and because I’ve had to relearn the patience it takes to scrub forks, I’ve regained something: slowness. It’s odd because this is one of the main things all our machines exist to eliminate. Ovens and microwaves, washers and dryers, cars, phones, computers,
watches — all of them function to speed the job up, to take an ordinary task like getting to work and make it more efficient. Perhaps the promise of more time convinces us that efficiency will lead to ease, and ease to quality experience. What I’ve found lately is the opposite. The slow, tedious scrubbing has offered a new time of day for me, or, more accurately, many times of day. Because there’s no other way for our kitchen to function — and the children must eat — and there’s no other way for cups and pots to be cleaned except by hand, the job has opened its ordinary arms and has welcomed me to more of our lives, not less. The family with no car has to deal with the stress of walking to the store and carrying groceries, all the while monitoring children, but perhaps that walk and exerted effort opens up a new time for conversation, for teaching, for bonding. Maybe the people who have to walk miles to fill buckets for washing and cooking have things to show us, things we’ve stopped looking at and have completely forgotten. Maybe the weekend is actually a break from work for the dad whose two year old just dropped his work phone in the toilet. That’s one observation we’ve stopped making — new technologies take away as well as give. I know I’ll be glad to have the convenience of our dishwasher back one day, but I’ll also remember how thankful I am to be forced to slow down for a while. And while my fingers remember what elbow grease is, I’ll reflect on my family and how good it is to be with them.
That’s one observation we’ve stopped making — new technologies take away as well as give.
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Ian Anderson is a teacher, a husband, and a dad. He lives with his family in Central Kansas. Occasionally, he tweets here: @ian_writes.