http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Family_eating_meal.jpg
Everyone knows that having dinners together as a family
is important. What you may not know is that what you talk about during this
time of family togetherness may be even more important than what you eat.1
In his book, The Secrets of Happy Families: Improve Your Mornings, Rethink Your Family Dinner, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much More, author Bruce Feiler discusses a study where Emory University researchers gave children a ‘do you know’ test. Do you know how your parents met? Do you know where your grandparents were born? Do you know what kind of job your grandparents had?
“Children who had the highest scores on the ‘do you know’ test had higher self-esteem and a greater sense of self-control over their lives. The ‘do you know’ test was the single biggest predictor of emotional health.”1
The reason, according to an
article about Feiler’s book in the February 13, 2013, issue of Parade magazine, is that children who know more about their family’s
history “have a strong sense of ‘intergenerational self’ — they understand that
they belong to something bigger than themselves, and that families naturally
experience highs and lows.”In his book, The Secrets of Happy Families: Improve Your Mornings, Rethink Your Family Dinner, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much More, author Bruce Feiler discusses a study where Emory University researchers gave children a ‘do you know’ test. Do you know how your parents met? Do you know where your grandparents were born? Do you know what kind of job your grandparents had?
“Children who had the highest scores on the ‘do you know’ test had higher self-esteem and a greater sense of self-control over their lives. The ‘do you know’ test was the single biggest predictor of emotional health.”1
My Grandpa Bill in his WWI uniform and gas mask
Do your kids, nieces and nephews a big favor: tell them about great-grandpa in WWI; talk about where their grandparents (your parents) were born and where they went to school; discuss old family holiday traditions and disclose stories about family members that had illnesses or problems that they overcame.
My great-grandmother Louisa Kniss died after giving birth to my grandma, who survived and was raised primarily by her maternal grandparents in Chippewa Falls, Wis.
Learning your family’s history is
not only fascinating, it can heighten your children’s
self-esteem, lower their levels of behavioral disturbance, and increase their
belief that they can affect the world around them.2
Do you know where your grandparents were born?
LLet me help you find out what parts of history your family had a role in.
Discover
your roots and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com
For more information on my
Family History Research services, visit TheMemoryQuilt.com and click on Family History Research in the left-hand
column.
“Control The Chaos With 'Secrets Of Happy Families'”
1http://www.npr.org/2013/02/17/171929472/control-the-chaos-with-secrets-of-happy-families
1http://www.npr.org/2013/02/17/171929472/control-the-chaos-with-secrets-of-happy-families
“An ‘Intergenerational Sense of Self’ Is a Source of Strength for Kids and Family Members”2http://www.marial.emory.edu/newsletter/Spring%2006/6.pdf
“The Intergenerational Self Subjective Perspective and Family History”
http://www.psychology.emory.edu/cognition/fivush/lab/FivushLabWebsite/papers/intergen%20self.pdf
