There’s an old joke about a young boy who wakes up Christmas morning and, instead of gifts under the tree, finds a pile of manure. Excitedly he begins shoveling through it, telling his bewildered parents, “There’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!”

The first Thanksgiving was all about gratitude. So is the reason we celebrate it today. So one of the topics in this month’s Family Table Time activity kits focuses on the subject of gratitude.

Research has shown that resilience helps children better face disappointment, cope with loss, and adapt to change. Studies have shown that this life skill not only helps their childhood and teen years go more smoothly, but can serve them throughout their entire lives by providing better physical and mental health, making them more likely to graduate from college, and receiving better-paying jobs.

National Family Day is on the Fourth Monday of September - that's September 28, 2020 this year. It’s a great opportunity for families to eat dinner together. Watch this 1 in video to learn more about why you should engage in regular family dinners.

Parents are often surprised to hear that something as simple as eating dinner together 4 times a week can reduce the likelihood that their kids will engage risky behavior. Parental engagement is the single most potent weapon in preventing substance use among youth. Check out our Family Days Activity Guide for ideas on how to turn dinner time into something everyone looks forward.

Informed Families/Florida Family Partnership is teaming up with Family Table Time to help families bond, communicate better and deal with difficult scenarios.

Back to school time is a stressful time for many families. With schools reopening for the first time since March or continuing remote learning, many families are more anxious than usual. Family Table Time’s unique, dinner table conversation starter toolkit can help families better navigate this stressful time together. Conversation starters for the month of August include Back to School and Fears & Anxiety.

Americans continue to celebrate essential workers keeping the country going during the coronavirus pandemic. McDonald's provided essential workers with free 'Thank You Meals'. Starbucks offered all front-line responders a free tall brewed coffee.Give Essential, a new nonprofit that boxes up people's extra household items to donate to those on the front line, was recently profiled on ABC News (see the coverage here). We are continuing to demonstrate our capacity to come together and support others during these unprecedented times.

Informed Families, the National Family Partnership and Family Table Time are also saying thanks and giving it up for front-line workers. While families are away from the office and school, these heroes put their health on the line to keep us safe, happy and healthy.  When you buy a six-month subscription to Family Table Time, the family of an Essential Worker will receive a six-month subscription for free. You can designate the family to receive this gift or select an option to send  it to an essential worker who needs it.

Orginally published in Miami Kids magazine. 

Summer is finally here! We are all ready for a much needed break from homeschooling, and looking forward to some fun. However a less structured day, and minimal supervision can spell trouble for some kids and teens.

“It’s hard to keep tabs on your kids in the summer. Having family rules are essential all year, but perhaps even more so during the summer. They help keep kids, especially teens, out of trouble and give parents a little bit of peace of mind that their kids know guidelines exist and hopefully will be followed,” said Peggy Sapp, Informed Families President and CEO.

Establishing family rules are important. What are your rules? If you want to learn how to set and establish rules, contact Mery Dominguez at mdominguez@informedfamilies.org or 305-856-4886 about joining an Informed Families’ Parent Peer Group.

Spending time together as a family is great too. If you are looking for some ideas, don’t worry we have got you covered. Check out the list of activities of family-friendly summer activities below.

Some well-intentioned parents may think that allowing their teens and their teens’ friends to drink at home under adult supervision will keep their kids safe, and lead to healthier attitudes about drinking. The truth is that underage drinking can lead to serious negative consequences for both parents and teens:

1. Supplying alcohol to underage youth actually increases (rather than decreases) the risk for continued drinking in their teenage years, and can lead to problem drinking later in life.
   
   
2. Research shows that teens who perceive their parents to be more permissive about alcohol use are MORE likely to abuse alcohol and to use other drugs.
   
   
3. A majority of states have civil and or criminal penalties for adults who serve alcohol to minor at home. Under “social host laws”, party hosts are held responsible for car accidents and other disasters resulting from alcohol use at their home.

With parents working remotely, kids learning virtually and extracurricular activities outside the home postponed, Family Day is every day during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most families have not had this much time together uninterrupted in some time. 

Some families are using this time to reconnect. We love to see the cool things you have been doing - picnics in the backyard, themed dinners, bake-a-thons, game night, movie night and more. Use the #FLFamilyDays hashtag in your social media posts so we can continue to promote strengthening family relationships.

It’s National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week, a week focused on connecting teens with science-based facts about drugs and alcohol.

Here are some more fun ways your family can participate in National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week:

• Play Kahoot! E-cigs, Vapes and Mods: What Do You Know About Vaping?
• Take the National Drug & Alcohol IQ Challenge Quiz 
• Play the Jeopardy-style interactive game: Drug Facts Challenge
• Print a "Not everyone's doing it" placard or pledge card and tweet, snap or post a photo on social media! Make sure to include #NDAFW in your posts.
• Join a Twitter Trivia Challenge hosted by NIDA and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) on Friday, April 3, at 3 p.m. EDT.  Follow the hashtag #NDAFW and answer multiple-choice questions about drugs and alcohol.