A $5.00 Wings Center Gift Card...to the first person to respond with the correct answers to these five qusestions! (no WC staff, please)

1. Who was the first president to have a telephone in the Whitehouse?

2. Which president has taken the longest vacation while in office?

3. Who was the first president to be photographed?

4. Which president learned to read when he was seventeen years old?

5. Who's child had a treehouse on the South Grounds of the Whitehouse? 

We'd love to know - Do you have any special ways you show your children that you love and like who they are?  

Few things will be more important in deciding your children’s future than their sense of self-worth. How they feel about themselves will affect who they choose as friends, how they get along with others, and how well they make use of their abilities; in other words, all aspects of their lives. The strategies described below can strengthen your children’s self-worth by let­ting them know you love and value them.

Pay attention to your children. Take time to talk to them, listen to them, and show interest in their activ­ities. Try to find times when you aren’t hurried or tense and can focus just on them.

Express your affection often through physical con­tact. With babies, this means holding and cuddling. As children get older, you can offer hugs, kisses, caresses, an arm over the shoulder, or a pat on the back. Some­times the right words are hard to find, but a gentle hug says it all.

Treat your children with the same respect you show adults. Too often we reserve one set of manners for adults and another for children. We may embarrass our children by scolding or criticizing them in front of others. Or we may get so involved in a conversation we forget their presence. Children are no less sensitive than adults and deserve the same kind of respect.

Tell your children from time to time they are ap­preciated. Don’t wait until they get good grades, or limit your praise to their good looks or manners. Let them know you enjoy them and think they are great all the time.

Respond to your children with patience and under­standing. When children spill their milk for the third time in a row, or hit their siblings over the head with a toy shovel, it’s easy to treat them as criminals. Try, though, to see your child as someone who needs your help in controlling his or her body and emotions.

Respect children’s feelings and abilities. Because of their size, we sometimes forget that children are peo­ple, too. They have a right to privacy and to feelings of their own. We may have to remind ourselves not to carry children when they can get there on their own steam or to speak for them when they can do this for themselves.

According to A. Barbour,  author of Louder Than Words: Nonverbal Communication,  nonverbal cues are the most important factor in effective spoken communication.  The impact breakdown is this:

• 55% body movements, such as facial expressions
• 38% vocal tone, volume, pitch and rhythm
• 7% the words spoken

• There are five key roles that our nonverbal cues play in spoken communication:

  1. Repetition (Demonstrating a golf putting stroke as you describe it verbally)
  2. Contradiction (Condemning profanity but using it yourself)
  3. Substitution (Saying you’re happy but showing disappointment in your eyes and posture)
  4. Complementing (Telling your daughter you love her as you hug her)
  5. Accenting (Pounding your fist on the table as you prove your point)

  You’ll still need to choose your words carefully when speaking to others, but now it’s clear just how important it is to choose your nonverbal  “words,”  too.   Creating alignment in verbal and nonverbal messages ensures that your true intent is understood.  When you are the listener,  be aware that your nonverbal cues support your attentiveness as well.  All combined,  your actions will speak louder than your words,  creating an unconscious bond of trust between you and your children.

Gordon Gekko said "Greed is Good." Well, we say "Free is Good." Planet Kid is giving away a FREE Birthday Party package. Yup, FREE! Just "Like" the Wings Center on Facebook and you can enter to win. The drawing will be held February 24th. Good Luck.