Our Kids Deserve Valentines Every Day!!!

There are too many headlines in today's papers about the escalating amount of stress which our kids are exhibiting. I see articles about the percentage of college kids who are on meds for stress relief. I see news that New York State high school graduates don't have the skills they need to survive at college. That's the bad news. And there is some good news. There a program surfacing in elementary school that's been created to teach young kids how to handle the stress that they're facing in their early lives today, as their parents loose their jobs and the family starts wondering if they have to move.

First comes awareness, then comes action which leads to solutions. The earlier the programs start, the more experience kids get in handling their stress, the stronger and healthier they can can become with taking meds. Older, experienced kids can mentor younger kids. What a concept.

Why did I title this, " Our kids deserve Valentines every day." Well, our most commercial holiday ever will be here in just three days. All kids know what valentines are and they want lots. The more they get, the more popular they feel. And sometimes they even get to eat them, the chocolate and candy hearts.

Valentines are also supposed to show that someone cares about them. That's what all the advertising says. So, perhaps if we let our kids know everyday somehow that we do care about them by giving them the kind of attention they need, we can prevent the amount of stress in their lives.

We can be more available to them. We can turn off our televisions, our blackberries and our computers. We can read with them, play with them, walk with them, build castles with them, we can cook together - anything that involves our spending time together and doing something creative together. We can listen to them. We can really watch them play.
By choosing to be consciously attentive, we can extend Valentine's Day from a one day event to an everyday event and watch our kids thrive as they get that we really do care about them!