MOVIE REVIEW: ‘SECRET LIFE OF PETS’ pg. 6 august 2016
NEW (SCHOOL) YEAR, NEW YOU pg. 4 MORE TO CHILD’S PLAY pg. 7 Wichita Family • August 2016 - 1
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Wichita Family Magazine is published 12 times a year by Lucky 7 Publishing LLC. Wichita Family Magazine is available free, at schools, stores, restaurants, libraries, retailers and local attractions, as well as other places families frequent. For a complete list of where to find Wichita Family, or for subscription rates, email us at publisher@wichitafamily.com or visit our website at www.wichitafamily.com. Copyright 2016 by Lucky 7 Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. Wichita Family Magazine is not responsible for errors, omissions or contest fulfillment from third parties. Reproduction in part or in whole without written permission is strictly prohibited. Wichita Family is distributed free of charge. The magazine’s advertisers make this possible, so support them! We reserve the right to edit submitted material. All submissions will be considered for publication, but we reserve the right to refuse material. Materials will not be returned. Any editorial content or advertising published is the property of Lucky 7 Publishing LLC. 2 - www.wichitafamily.com
Message from the Publisher I did it. I went without Facebook on my phone for a month, and it was incredibly freeing. In June, I came to a realization. I was a slave to the notifications on my phone. Every time I heard the sounds or saw the notifications glowing red on one of my apps, I had to check it. I was compulsive. I decided I need to break myself of this, or at least become less addicted to checking what those on my Friends list had posted. So, for the month of July, I vowed to run an experiment with myself and delete the Facebook app from my phone. This stemmed from a speaker I heard. He talked about connection versus presence . . . being connected to social media versus being present in the moment with actual humans. I was much more connected to social media than present in the moment. My absence from Facebook wasn’t complete, though. I kept the Facebook Messenger app installed. I view that as a communication tool, one some family members and prospective dj clients (yes, I am also a dj on the weekends; I provide music Todd Vogts publisher@wichitafamily.com for weddings
and birthday parties and other events) use to reach me almost exclusively. I also be kept the Facebook Pages Manager app since I am an administrator for multiple pages for various organizations. Also, the app was on my iPad, and I checked in from time to time when I was on my computer. The point was to simply eliminate the easy access I had because I am on my phone more than any other device. This experiment was beyond rewarding. I found myself more connected with my wife and other family and friends. Instead of constantly having my phone in my hand, I had conversations with those around me. Sure, I checked Facebook on my iPad from time to time, but it was only sporadically. Even when I did, though, I didn’t spend as much time scrolling as I had on my phone. Instead, I cleared the notifications, looked at a few friends’ postings, and then I got out of the app. I was free. This came in particularly useful during my wife and I’s recent trip to St. Louis to celebrate our one-year anniversary. Instead of constantly being on my phone, I enjoyed time with her as we watched a St. Louis Cardinals game, toured the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, walked through the St. Louis Zoo (it was free and a spectacular zoo), and went to the top of the Gateway Arch. I still checked in on Twitter and Instagram, my other go-to social media
apps, but I didn’t spend an inordinate amount of time there. For Instagram, that’s easy. I don’t follow too many people, so it doesn’t take long before I see the same posts I saw the last time I was in the app. For Twitter, I follow a lot of people, so I become disinterested quickly unless something exciting is happening in the world and Twitter is buzzing about it. I equate this experiment to removing a shackle. I performed a digitial detox, and I feel healthier than I did a couple months ago. I don’t feel anxiety tightening around my chest because I haven’t checked social media lately. It even gave me time, and almost a sense of permission, to take part in one of my favorite passtimes — reading. I read two books and started a third in this time. So, how will I move forward? Facebook is staying off my phone. I will continue what I did during the month of July for the conceivable future, and if Twitter or Instagram become a burden, I might just drop them too. I’m suggesting anyone else should do this, but if you are like me and feel Facebook, or any social media for that matter, is an opperssive presence in your life, give a digital detox a try. At the very least, no longer being a slave to social media will be a wonderful result, and, if you’re lucky, you will be more connected to those around you too. Wichita Family • August 2016 - 3
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F
orget Jan. 1. Parents know the real new year begins when you can smell the fresh pink erasers and hear the clatter of brand new pencils on still-smooth notebook covers. Even if you don’t have kids in school, the end of summer and the beginning of fall is a great time to reassess, realign, hit the restart button and make resolutions that will help carry your family smoothly through until next summer - or at least until the holidays. Here are some tips from parents about resolutions they’ve made for the coming school year:
was a lot of yelling, a lot of missing socks, a lot of arguments about eating a good breakfast - it was just not the way to start a productive, happy day.” Luther decided to turn the first and worst - hour of her day into one of the best by waking up earlier, exercising and turning on music. Luther also changed the way she looked at breakfast. “It doesn’t have to be from scratch,” she said, “but it does have to have protein - and be fast. We love frozen breakfast burritos, for example.”
Learn to love mornings
Luther said that another thing that made mornings exhausting was that she tried to do everything herself, from finding socks and brushing hair to heating up healthy breakfasts.
My Life and Kids blogger Anna Luther said she used to hate mornings. “It was a disaster,” she said. “There 4 - www.wichitafamily.com
Empower the kids
But kids are eager to help, she said. Just like adults, they feel empowered when they can do things for themselves. Luther decided to empower her kids and simplify her life at the same time by creating “Get Ready Buckets,” which hold everything they need to get moving in the morning, from hairbrushes to socks. That same message of empowerment can simplify and improve other stressful times of day. Do the kids walk in the door hungry and cranky and leave you feeling the same way? Stock the freezer with hearty snacks, such as El Monterey Taquitos, that kids can heat up on their own. Appreciate others Blogger Kristyn Merkley of Lil’
Luna, has resolved to show the teachers in her life how much she and her family appreciate them. “Our teachers put so much time and effort into their jobs,” Merkley said, “and we’re so grateful for that.” While she usually gives teachers a gift card at the end of the year, she doesn’t wait until then to send notes and emails with a simple, “Thank you.” She also makes sure to say thanks in person - and in front of her kids. Make fun a priority
in the kitchen to keep her away from her family. So, this year, she’s resolving to focus on what’s important: real ingredients. “Sometimes I’ll buy the ingredients myself to cook from scratch and sometimes I’ll look for foods I recognize on the label,” she said. “When I pick up El Monterey Signature Burritos, I see ingredients like fresh-baked tortillas, real cheddar cheese - foods I would buy anyway for my family, so I feel great about that.”
There are plenty of must-dos on your list every day, but is fun one of them? Merkley said it should be, and she’s making family fun a resolution this school year. She collects activities on her blog that kids and adults can do together and plans family fun nights around them. “When we laugh and make things and learn things together,” she said, “we’re making memories. I want my kids to remember their childhoods as more than just getting to school on time and cleaning their rooms.”
Make snacks work hard Jess Kielman, who writes the blog Mom 4 Real, said that snacking can sometimes be a problem in her house. Kids (and adults) sometimes snack because they’re bored - or just out of habit, so she’s reining in snack time and making snacks work just as hard as meals. “Protein and real food - that’s what I’m going to look for in afternoon snacks,” she said. “Something that fills the kids up and gets them ready to get back out the door and play, or buckle down and do their homework.”
Be a team
Cheer on #momwins
Kristy Denney, of the Boys Ahoy blog, is raising three wild boys, as she calls them. But even the wildest of kids wants to know that you’re on their team - and they’re on yours. Denney and her husband, Brett, chose a family motto for the school year so that everyone on their family team knows what they’re working toward. As their motto, the Denneys chose, “Work hard and be nice.” It’s simple, succinct and sums up what they want for their family.
Kielman said that this year her resolution is to start giving herself a little more credit for her “mom wins,” big or small. “Checking off every last thing on my spring cleaning checklist is a win, for sure,” she said, “but so is a good, smooth morning with my family. So is a sit-down dinner that didn’t stress me out. So is feeling good about what we’re eating. So is every little hug. Those are all #momwins, and I’m going to give myself a little pat on the back for every one.” For more breakfast, snack and dinner ideas to help you keep your family resolutions, visit ElMonterey.com.
Fuel up with real food Kids have to eat, and most insist on eating three or more times a day. Denney said she loves to cook from scratch, but she doesn’t want time
— Family Features Wichita Family • August 2016 - 5
Movie Musings with Todd Vogts
‘Secret Life of Pets’ takes viewers on fun jaunt Have you ever wondered what your pets do all day while you are at work or otherwise away from the house? The folks at Illumination Entertainment, which created “Despicable Me,” took a run at answering that question with “The Secret Life of Pets,” and what they came up with is fun for the whole family. The story follows a terrier named Max (voiced by Louis C.K.) who’s comfortable life with his adoring owner Katie (voiced by Ellie Kemper) is upended when she brings home a stray named Duke (voiced by Eric Stonestreet). Max doesn’t like Katie’s attention being diverted from him, especially by a huge, hairy beast like Duke. The two instantly become enemies and Max attempts to get Duke kicked out of the house, but all of this is short lived because when Duke retaliates while at the dog park with their walker, they end up being chased by bumbling animal control officers. Hilarity ensues as they escape, but the differences they had with each other are fading and quickly go away all together as they encounter more peril, this time in the form of a cute little bunny with homicidal tendencies, in their attempt to get home. That bunny is named Snowball (voiced by Kevin Hart), and he is building an army of abandoned pets, a 6 - www.wichitafamily.com
cult called “The Flushed Pets” to take revenge on humans. At first he takes Max and Duke into his folds, but when he finds out they aren’t abandoned like they said they were. Snowball vows revenge on them as well, so the two new friends begin working together to escape Snowball and his motley crew, which includes a tattooed pig and other discarded animals. Another encounter with animal control leads to Dukes capture, so Max sets out to rescue him. Of course, unbeknownst to him,
between Max and Duke, including a raid on a sausage factor to get some food and Duke telling Max about his past, but the laughs rarely stop as the movie quickly reaches its end, which finds all the animals back with their owners, Max and Gidget being in love, Max and Duke being friends, and even Snowball finding the love of a small girl who finds him and decides she’s taking him home. The storyline was rather predictable. Adults will go into it pretty much knowing how it will all turn out. However, this movie isn’t one you should go see for the inventive plot. No. You should go for the comedy and the animation. The jokes and slapstick comedy didn’t stop. They might have slowed down a bit when Duke talked Courtesy Photo about his previous owner, but it was a momentary lapse in Max’s friends are also looking for him, the laughs. led by Gidget, a white Pomeranian The animation was superb. The aniwho has a crush on Max (voice by mals were talking and demonstrating Jenny Slate). This rescue party includes human-like facial expressions, but the overweight tabby cat Chloe (voiced by animators managed to do this without Lake Bell), hyperactive pug Mel (voiced it becoming weird and the animals losby Bobby Moynihan), laid-back dachsing their animal traits. hund Buddy (voiced by Hannibal Bu“The Secret Life of Pets” is rated PG. ress), and lone bird Sweet Pea (voiced It has a run time of 90 minutes, and it by Tara Strong). Gidget even convinces is a face-paced 90 minutes. The action red-tailed hawk Tiberius (voiced by and comedy speed the shallow storyAlbert Brooks) to help. line along. Children of all ages will love There are touching moments it, and so will the adults taking them.
~ A Create Essay ~
When Play is More Than Play By Ian Anderson
This morning my son came into the living room and, without a word, began to retrieve the Lego blocks he’d put together the day before. For several minutes he searched, snapped pieces here and there, and laid his buildings and vehicles on the carpet in a very specific order. Later, I made the mistake of picking them up and placing them in the toy bin; this evoked tears. Even though I hadn’t broken anything, he was sure he’d have to redo what he’d already done. “If you’re not playing with them right now, they need to be put away,” I told him. He still wasn’t happy. All that effort — for nothing. He didn’t say it, but he didn’t have to say it out loud because his eyes shot it at me. I assured him his time wasn’t wasted. He finally moved on. The summer allows me more time to watch and join my boys in their games, and as I looked over recent Lego developments, I realized what exactly it is they are drawn to: world-building. Whether they’re acting out the latest drama — “Let’s play ninjas!” “We’re driving to college!” — or constructing boats or forts, they are using their imaginations to feed their creative drives with the worlds swirling in their minds.
It was Tolkien, the maker of Middle Earth and Hobbits, who wrote that world-building is what he did when he wrote, and what we all want to do because that’s how we were made — to create. In Madeleine L’Engle’s Walking on Water she writes about her young son’s intense feelings about his blocks. When they fell over, he would become fiercely angry and cry. Watching secretly, L’Engle realized that what she was observing in her son was a mirror version of what adults go through when their efforts fail. Because we act from a deepness within when we do our best work, it’s natural to let anger bubble up when it all comes apart. And it begins at childhood once we are able to create anything, be it blocks, crayons, or story. Perhaps I should have let the Lego city stand a bit longer. It’s clear that my son, like children in general, plays with a seriousness I should appreciate because he’s practicing for larger play. When he’s grown and he’s chosen the kind of work he will do, he will find deep joy in it when he uses his creativity to its fullest. And for any of us our joy in work comes when we do the same, and our creative bent turns work back to play; it was this that was intended for us from the beginning.
And for any of us our joy in work comes when we do the same, and our creative bent turns work back to play; it was this that was intended for us from the beginning.
Ian Anderson is a teacher, a husband, and a dad. He lives with his family in Central Kansas. Occasionally, he tweets here: @ian_writes. Wichita Family • August 2016 - 7
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