Well, summer is a distant memory we are back to the school day routine.  Casual barbeques and picnics at the pool during the week will have to wait for next summer.  Re-adjusting to the structure of the school year is always difficult for me.  With my household up and buzzing at 6:00 a.m., throwing chicken on the grill at 7:30 p.m. is not an option, and dinner becomes more of a chore than a pleasure. 

With this in mind, I would like to share an essay by my colleague, Susan Kurlander, Health Educator with Jewish Community Services’ Prevention Education program.  This piece put getting dinner ready during the hectic school year in a whole new light for me.  I hope that, after you read it, making dinner will seem more appealing to you as well. It’s called What Your Kids Really Want at the Dinner Table is YOU!

Research has consistently found that the more often kids eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use other drugs.

According to CASA (the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University), the importance of eating dinner with your kids cannot be overestimated.  A 2006 CASA survey concluded that “the average risky score of teens having dinner with their family less than three nights in a typical week is 75% greater than that of teens having dinner as a family five to seven nights a week.”  As an antidote to that overwhelming statistic, CASA has instituted a yearly “Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with your Children.”  Through national observance of this day, CASA hopes to raise awareness among parents that they possess powerful tools to keep their children substance-free. 

This year, the national observance of “Family Day” coincides with the completion of Yom Kippur.  The tradition of “Break Fast” has always encouraged families to share this important meal together.  So how about extending the significance of “Family Day” throughout the holiday season, as well as into the rest of the year!

Since the destruction of the Second Temple almost 2,000 years ago, Jews have deemed the traditional family table the focal point of family and spiritual strength.  We can now add yet another critical reason for sharing Shabbat and holiday meals, as we recognize that dinner time is a valuable opportunity and tool to help guide our children to make choices that will keep them safe and healthy.

For many of us, given our crowded schedules, the goal of eating dinner with our families five to seven nights a week is unrealistic.  But if we can strive for sharing family meals a few times each week, we are investing in the total well-being of our children and our families. 

Visit http://www.jcsbaltimore.org/prevention for helpful resources for families.  For more information about Family Day, visit http://www.CASAFamilyDay.org.

Jewish Community Services offers a wide range of supportive services and resources for you and your family.  To learn more, call 410-466-9200, or visit http://www.jcsbaltimore.org.  Questions about parenting?  Send an e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), and check out the Parenting Tip of the Month at http://www.jcsbaltimore.org. 

I am feeling more like an ATM than a mom these days.  It’s time for school supplies, school clothes, a haircut, activity fees.  Seems like all I’ve been doing is schlepping here and there for my son to get what he needs to go to a place he’d rather not be at. Oy Vay.

To make matters even more expensive, we have to buy art supplies.  Art supplies are consumable and we spend hundreds of dollars a year on them.  Why do I do this?  In my mind’s eye, the paints are there, the canvas is there, the assignment is due and my child is pacing back and forth in a panic because he cannot think of a topic for his assignment.  I know I’m projecting as the school year has just begun, but if history repeats itself, I will be in this position shortly.  Worse, it usually occurs late at night after I have worked all day and really, really want to go to sleep.

While steeling myself for another year of “artistic agony,” I read with interest a recent article by Carol Sorgen in “The Beacon” (August 2009).  The article was about Debbie Phelps and how she has maintained her passion for education while supporting her son Michael’s passion for swimming.  She candidly discusses the highs and lows of supporting Michael in his quest for success.  The Beijing Olympics were definitely a high point.  In fact, I remember being as excited for her as I was for her son.  Michael’s well publicized marijuana incident was clearly a low point, but she has always maintained her loving, supportive relationship with her son.

Sorgen’s article helped me to remember why I spend that money on back to school “everything” and why I will stay up with my child when he has “painter’s block.”  I will be there for my child even if that means feeling more like an ATM than a mom at times.  My guess is that I am not alone in feeling as if all I’m doing right now is spending money when I really need to be saving as much as I can.  Love encompasses so much, and our support for our children can be emotional, physical, and yes - within limits - even financial.

By Donna Kane, MA, Jewish Community Services, Baltimore, MD

Jewish Community Services, an agency of THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, offers a wide range of supportive services and resources for you and your family.  To learn more, call 410-466-9200, or visit http://www.jcsbaltimore.org.  Questions about parenting?  Send an e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), and check out the Parenting Tip of the Month at http://www.jcsbaltimore.org.