Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/133552
community we do business in a better place because we're there." By Kristin Seaborg SAMUEL C. JOHNSON, FOUNDER OF JOHNSON BANK What? A Cocktail Created Just for A Fund For Women? 1993 ING 20 RAT Y EB RS EA CE L Join us, and the creative staff at the Veranda in Fitchburg as they invent a custom cocktail for A Fund For Women. Start your weekend with your favorite women friends or, even better, meet some new ones. AFFW's Summer Swirl is the place to be! Name That Drink Contest: E-mail us your unique ideas and name our custom cocktail. If your idea is selected, you will win a prize! Summer Swirl The Veranda 2784 S. Fish Hatchery Rd., Fitchburg Friday, July 19, 5:30 p.m. Share this event on Facebook! RSVP: afundforwomen@gmail.com 201 3 W M O At last, summer's here! As we gear up for a new season of camps, sports and other organized activities, I advise families that simple, unstructured play is important—and point them to the good science behind the suggestion. In a 2009 "Scientific American" article, science and parenting writer Melinda Wenner Moyer explains the serious need for imaginative, childdirected free play to help insure normal social, emotional and cognitive development in children. The reasons are simple. If children only take part in adult-directed activities, they have less time to become socially and emotionally independent and develop problem-solving skills on their own. Children allowed to engage in "pretending" and free-play also learn to develop a sense of empathy, fairness and taking turns that comes from role-playing. Kids need to have some time that is not governed by the clock. When overscheduled in activities, they may feel overwhelmed and overstressed and not enjoy any of the activities at all. A study published in the "Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine" in 2005 showed that children's free-play time dropped by 25 percent between 1981 and 1997. Any parent could tell you that this is not only due to increase of structured activities, but also increased use of video games and technology, as well as a changing global environment where parents are more fearful of the unknown. The evidence suggests that letting kids play freely outside helps them develop a variety of life skills that are imperative to adult success. So this summer, keep it easy: When they have free time send your kids outside to just play! Let them roam the backyard, hunt for treasures and create masterpieces with piles of sticks and leaves with no agenda at all. After all, isn't that what summer is all about? N Doctor Mom's prescription for an agenda-free summer "we should make each EN O N A MI IO The Family Downtime Fix SS Kristin Seaborg is a pediatrician with Group Health Cooperative and mother of three. Member FDIC johnsonbank.com June 2013 bravamagazine.com 71