I’m a big believer that here in California, WE are Family! And as Honorary Chair of California’s Family Day, I am excited to celebrate Family Day 2008.

Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with Your ChildrenTM is a national effort to remind parents that dinner makes a difference! The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University created Family Day in 2001 after its research consistently found that the more often kids eat dinner with their families the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs.

There are so many life lessons that take place at the dinner table – I know this first hand as a mother of four children. My greatest and most fulfilling role in life is being a mother and the time I spend with my kids is the most valuable gift I can give as a parent. And the time you spend with your children only helps open the door to communication and builds trust.

I encourage families to talk about everyday issues, learn how to be good listeners, ask questions about your children’s friends, volunteer and serve your community, and create a plan for your family to follow in the event of a disaster. And with growing obesity rates in California, eating together is a wonderful opportunity to teach your children healthy habits that will stay with them for a lifetime. Your participation in this worthwhile effort will strengthen our California family – remember, it’s about making the effort to spend quality time as a family not only on Family Day but each and every day.

My Family Day celebration took place on Thursday, September 25th in the San Diego Community during Family Week, which was proclaimed in California, September 22-26, 2008.

The day started in Ramona at a playground build at Camp HOPE, made possible by Safeway and the many community volunteers who came out along with volunteers from Vons, the California National Guard and Intuit.  Camp HOPE serves as a place that offers hope to at-risk, abused and neglected children of the San Diego community -- and also suffered considerable loss during the Ramona wildfire of 2007.  This play space will give the children of Camp HOPE an even greater place to heal and play.

And I was honored to join the hundreds of military families at Miramar Marine Base.  Each and every family member, Marine and spouse that I met are such an inspiration to all of California.  It is a privilege and joy to be able to connect our military families to resources and services that strengthen and support them -- such as providing fresh produce, family products, prepaid phone cards, family disaster kits and information that can impact their lives in a positive way.

I ended the day at St. Paul's Senior Homes & Services and visited their Intergenerational Day Care Program where children and seniors eat together and play together.  I chose to visit with seniors on this day because it's important to spend time with those who are without family not just during Family Week, but throughout the entire year.  At St. Paul's, children and seniors ate lunch together, they read books together and they danced together.  These are just a few examples of many things they do together every day of the week.  And the time they spend together is cherished not only by seniors who are often lonely, but by all the children who consider them friends.
 
Remember - email me to share what you and your family did together during Family Week by clicking here to visit the WE Hear You section of my website.

RELATED:

Click here and learn more about CASA's research

Find out how you can volunteers as a family at CaliforniaVolunteers.org

Click here to start to create your family disaster plan

View the Family Day Post Card

Read Benefit Magazine: California's Voice for Volunteerism

PHOTOS:

WE Are Family! Family Week 2008

See photos of Maria and the Governor from Family Day 2007

OTHER PROJECTS:

Disaster Preparedness

Earned Income Tax Credit

10 Tips to Healthier Living

Military Families

Minerva Awards

People with Special Needs

Playgrounds

School Gardens