Let The New Year Inspire Family-Affirming Activities

If there are New Year’s resolutions worth making, they are those whose goals are to strengthen the family and help provide a healthier community in which children can grow.

The beginning of a new year provides an occasion to consider our children and reflect on our parenting.

Whether your family is traditional or blended, consisting of one parent or two, whether you are a grandparent raising a grandchild or a foster parent, take a moment to be inspired by the ideas in Richard Louv’s book, “101 Things You Can Do for Our Children’s Future” ($10, Anchor Books).

Louv gives practical suggestions for creating better lives for the children around us.

“No one raises a child alone,” says Louv, “but too often that’s how it feels for parents. Here is our challenge: to weave a web of support, not just for our own children but for all children.”

Here are a handful of Louv’s ideas for building healthier homes and more promising futures for our kids - New Year’s resolutions worth keeping.

In your home

Eat meals as a family.

Schedule days with no commitments, except to your family.

Create a TV-free zone or limit television viewing.

Encourage all family members to read at least one book a month.

Carry on family traditions and create new ones.

In your extended family

Single parents can form super-extended families with other single parents.

Among relatives separated by distance, encourage communication through e-mail, telephone calls and letters.

Seek out or become a mentoring parent.

Create a parent support group.

Encourage your children to adopt surrogate grandparents.

In your neighborhood

Set up an active neighborhood watch program.

Make the streets safe for kids through road signs, bike lanes and speed limits.

Sponsor neighborhood and park clean-ups.

Organize a neighborhood play group for young children.

In your child’s school

Volunteer in the classroom to expand the children’s experiences of the world outside.

Begin a family literacy program.

Create mentoring programs matching adults with students. Encourage older students to mentor younger ones.

Invite your child’s teacher to have dinner in your home.

Volunteer to help at home on a class project.

In your workplace

Offer classes on parenting issues for fathers and mothers.

Implement pro-family policies and benefits.

Create a family-friendly work environment.

Provide a structure through which employees can volunteer in the community.

Offer support and incentives for volunteerism.

Schedule an annual kids-at-work day.

In your place of worship

Establish a caregiving network, offering short-term support services.

Organize church-sponsored family retreats.

Design worship services for families with young kids.

Sponsor parent-teen dialogues.

In your child-care center

Enlist teenagers to work or volunteer.

Work to improve pay and benefits for caregivers.

Offer parenting workshops.

Team up with a neighborhood senior center.

Give children time to dream: create dream corners.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

MEMO: The Family Track is a weekly column of notes and information for families. Send items to Lynn Gibson, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615, or fax (509) 459-5098.