MANY YEARS AGO, before ice cream learned how to melt, “It’s a WellinWorld” was published as a book-audio tape series. The children we served back then have grown up happy and well.   Whether as parents, teachers, coaches, or concerned neighbors, today, many are facing new challenges:  How to help their kids manage the “Tsunami on Negativity” they face in their neighborhood, school, online, social media, across the family dinner table, and more.  I do not want to distract you with the painful negative data that create drag in the life and developmental activities of our children.  I want to point us in the direction toward SOLUTIONS! 

NOW, more than ever, parents face the challenge of providing a safe, nurturing environment for their children to grow AND prosper. To achieve SUCCESS, SATISFACTION, HAPPINESS, AND WELL-BEING, not one at the expense of the others.  Families also have never been so challenged by TOO MUCH and TOO MANY of the “good things” in life.  Kids face super-sized meals and humongous sugar-charged beverages where MORE IS LESS when it comes to healthy nutrition. Instead of supporting strong, responsive, growing bodies, these EXCESSES create overweight, fatigue, and ill-health.  

Further, children do not play like they used to.  More is done indoors than outdoors, sitting and staring rather than running and throwing.  Television, computers, digital games, tablets, and cellphones connect, entertain, and educate kids.  These devices are wonderful educational and entertainment instruments…as long as they do not kidnap our young ones.  These marvels can numb innocent minds and create screen addiction, lethargy, and asocial behavior.  It is not unusual to see two friends sitting next to each other, texting rather than talking.  The dazzling digital feedback that moves so magically in breathtaking colors and rapid mystical mirages can shrink a child’s world from a socially interactive, physically interdependent community to an introversive and isolated world where “touch” is between child and machine versus a community of friends in healthy competitive engagements. 

Our goal is NOT to teach, lecture, and point our young ones in a specific direction.  We trust that with the support and encouragement of their family, they will know how to find their path, mission, and purpose when we help remove the barriers they face along the way: distress, criticism, and mixed messages that interfere with self-development, self-esteem, and self-confidence.   

PLEASE, don’t roll up your sleeves and prepare to go to work.  We want our adult partners to join us as co-leaders in fun ego- and relationship-building adventures.  Like an orchestra leader, our adult partners do not have to “MAKE THE MUSIC”.  Their job will be to listen, observe, and interact.  Our active stories are an opportunity for adults to experience their own inner child!  Hey, it’s never too late to have a happy childhood…for some, a blessed do-over!  For others, a time to help heal damage from their early years.

Sebastian Seaworthy Featherduster III, our unique neighborhood grandfather—the kids call him “Pockets”, opens most stories fumbling and searching for the “you know what” in one of his many jacket pockets.  “Dad” OR “Mom” will interrupt what they are doing and engage Pockets in a dialogue that will set up a story… Later, a lesson learned will close the adventure.                                                             

As a successful working adult, you already know what to do in difficult business situations.  You’ve either learned the hard way, that is, by the mistakes you’ve made and opportunities you missed on the job, ones that slam the door in the face of recognition, reward, and promotion.  OR, you’ve learned how to add a few zeroes to your bank account and move one step closer to a corner office with your name on the door by utilizing LEADERSHIP 101 PRINCIPLES that translate into cultural norms that build partner-relationships and team spirit.

My question and concern are: Do you bring your “EXECUTIVE MOJO” home?  Or do you leave it behind when you close the office door and cross the portal from work to home whether by automobile, train, or merely turning off your lights and computer in the room down the hall?

It has been my experience as a Psychologist, Life-Coach, Leadership Facilitator, Parent, and Old Guy on his way…that many individuals slip out of effective team building protocol, attitudes, and behaviors like they slip out of their formal business attire into something more comfortable.  But in this case, “comfortable” may be better defined as less than warm and fuzzy.  My concern is that sound parent-child management principles often get transported into threats that begin and end with “BECAUSE I SAID SO!” 

Adults are invited to visit what we call “AHA CORNER”—Conversation Starters, where they will be encouraged to embellish upon the lessons to be learned, as well as, guided to build deeper parent-child bonds and act as healthy role models. We hope to make parenting a never-ending game of “Tag, You’re It”—each individual raising the bar on the “How To’s and What-If’s” of raising a WELL child.  

A wide variety of themes are embedded in the stories, including those that build self-esteem, competitive performance, confidence in the face of chaos and conflict, healthy nutrition strategies, stress management, relaxation techniques, and more.  While we model these messages in the adventures, we always remain focused on our primary goal—HAVING FUN!”

Please join us in our WellinWorld Adventures.

Dr. Joe Currier