Family Articles

People often ask about the difference between Modern Woodmen and other financial organizations. Modern Woodmen is a fraternal benefit society that provides much more than financial services, such as the following articles that deal with many family-related issues.

eNews Archive
Search previous editions of eNews for family-friendly ideas and inspiration.

Smart Talk: A street-smart refresher to keep your child safe
As your child dashes to pools, parks and playgrounds this summer, do those “What if” scenarios lurk in your mind? What if a stranger approaches her? What if someone won’t leave him alone? What if her friends pressure her? Refresh your child’s street-smart skills with these topics and answers.

Patriotism on display: Modern Woodmen camp and club members honor U.S. veterans
It began in early spring 1998 as a school social studies project. Teacher Lance VanderVorst, a Modern Woodmen member from Herreid, S.D., was looking for a way to pay tribute to area veterans and teach his students the importance of civic responsibility. After months of planning, fundraising and building, the Campbell County Veterans Memorial was officially dedicated.

Honor the Nation's Symbol of Freedom
The U.S. flag is an important symbol of freedom and pride to millions of Americans who place their hands over their hearts each and every day.  But few Americans realize that unlike any other red, white and blue piece of fabric in the nation's history, the U.S. flag has its own set of rules and regulations that every citizen needs to honor.  Here are a few do's and dont's that even Betsy Ross should have adopted.

Graduation Party Ideas
It's that time of year when the youth of America are getting ready to embark on his or her next chapter in life. Graduation. For the parents, it's also about successfully planning a party for the graduate.

Volunteer vacations: Bring back more than souvenirs from your next family vacation
The rewards of most family vacations are a scrapbook full of photos, some tacky T-shirts and a medley of overpriced souvenirs. But for families who participate in a “volunteer vacation,” the rewards aren’t measured by how much sand is in the suitcase, but by what is forever felt in the heart.

The gift of tradition: A parent’s role in encouraging rituals that keep families connected
From the sugar-cookie-baking party at Grandma’s house to the way the ornaments adorn the tree, during the holidays many American families focus on tradition.

Secret family recipe: Southern families mix faith, family history, traditions and technology to keep connected.
For Southerners, secret family recipes extend to more than Aunt Lily’s famous three-bean salad. A recent study conducted by  Modern Woodmen of America , Rock Island, Ill., finds that residents of the southern United States are more likely than Americans as a whole to say they are very close with their extended family.

Family Values: Why family gatherings are valuable for your health, your happiness and your career
“If you don’t do it, it’s quite easy to forget or just not realize how important it is to maintain family relationships,” says Lanny Owen.

The “it” Lanny refers to is having a family reunion or getting together with extended family. Lanny and his wife Carol, Portland, Tenn., attended one of the first gatherings of the Owen family in many years this past July as a result of winning Modern Woodmen of America ’s 2002 Gatherings Sweepstakes at www.gatherings.info.

A reunion, an anniversary, an engagement: Sweepstakes winner gathers with family for first time in years.
When your horoscope says, “Get your friends together. When's the last time you all had a crab bake, anyway?” you should listen. Patricia Mansker, winner of the 2005 Modern Woodmen of America Gatherings Sweepstakes, read this on the morning of her event and thought it was fate.

Tomorrow’s leaders: 16 simple ways to build leadership skills in kids
Whether they become doctors, teachers or stay-at-home parents, one fact remains.  The youths of today will make decisions that affect all of us in the future.

12 steps to planning a successful family reunion.
Last year you agreed to be your family’s next reunion organizer.  At the time you thought it was no big deal, but now that summer's here you realize you’ve got a lot to do.  Where do you start?  Follow these 12 steps to a less stressful and more successful family reunion.

Despite other technology, American families still call Mom to stay in touch
Greeting cards are great, flowers are fabulous, and email is engaging, but if Mom has her choice, she'll want to hear the sound of your voice!

Winter wonders: Six simple ideas for family fun this winter
The Duracells are dead, and the holiday leftovers have long since left. That’s full-blown winter howling at the door, and your family teeters on the edge of cabin fever. But what seems like the worst of times can become the best.

From snow days to slow days, winter provides a fantastic opportunity for some good old-fashioned family bonding. Modern Woodmen of America’s Gatherings Web site is filled with ideas for family fun, including some great indoor activities.

Tried and true: Ideas for connecting with family after the holidays
Many people have a desire to make changes in their lives at the dawn of a new year. New Year’s resolutions abound! For some, a resolution is staying connected with family they see only at the holidays. Families who have managed to keep the connection alive have many tactics.

According to a survey conducted by Modern Woodmen of America, over 90 percent of us still rely on the traditional methods of letters or phone calls to promote contact. The second most popular method was relating stories of family life. Internet for exchanging photos or email got the nod from a little over half of Americans (61 percent). Other popular methods include using scrapbooks or photo albums, home videos or videos of special events, the sharing of heirlooms or memorabilia, and researching family history.

Family traditions: Why families do what they do and why it’s good
When each of Tammy Parriott’s children grew past her shoulder, the Newton, Iowa, family celebrated the occasion.

"We took each child out for a shrimp dinner," laughs Parriott. "It was just our fun way of marking that milestone in growing up. They’re excited when they reach the day when they’re taller than their mother."

Matriarchal mastermind: When it comes to keeping family connected, women take the lead
She’s the granddame of the family – the family matriarch. Tradition paints her as the dignified, commanding and senior female head of the family. She’s the grandmother whose house we will travel to this holiday season for roast turkey and pumpkin pie. The great aunt who knows all the cousins once and twice removed and sends a Christmas card to every shirttail relative in the family.  She’s also the young mom with a camera in hand and a toddler slung on her hip or the baby boomer sister with a flair for fun and a high-speed modem. When it comes to crowning the family matriarch, only one quality is clearly necessary – an undeniable desire to preserve family relationships and keep the family connected.

Just write! Journal writing is much more than a record of life – it’s a therapeutic learning tool!
If you could turn back time to one year ago today, could you remember what transformed your mood, the triumph your child proudly shared, the fear you felt so deeply or the new friendship that was just beginning to blossom?

From Grandma’s house to yours: Establishing your own traditions with your new family
Perhaps one of the hardest transitions for couples and new parents is making that break from being the kids to having their own family with their own unique traditions. New families are often caught between the desire to honor established family traditions with the grandparents and other extended family, yet create new ones for their own immediate family.

Family traditions: For your wedding and for your new life together
Family traditions define who we are and where we came from. From the simple Friday night pizza party in the living room to the elaborate wedding celebration, family traditions are the bedrock of society -- bringing order and predictability into our lives and emotionally nourishing us by building bonds with family both near and far. They make the mundane and everyday special, and they make the special occasions and milestones even more meaningful.

From barbeques to birthdays: Tips and cost-saving ideas for planning any family function
Family gatherings come in all shapes and sizes – the Memorial Day barbeque for your siblings at the city park, a yearly reunion for the entire clan at the VFW or a graduation reception for 150 of your closest friends and relatives in your yard. While every event has its own planning requirements, there are some basic tips you can use for any type and size of gathering that will alleviate your stress without breaking the budget.

Beyond four walls: Americans and their friends and family
From Mom and Dad to Cousin Mary to the family friend known as “Uncle” Joe, family can hold a variety of meanings. Who is your extended family? What exactly is your relationship to the big brother off at college, the older sister who was just married and has her own home, the grandmother who moves in, the cousins on the other side of town and even the college roommate who has been like a sister to you? 

Harris research: Family closeness and communication
Harris Interactive conducted a tracking study on behalf of Modern Woodmen of America focused on family closeness and communication. The study results are based on interviews with 500 Americans between the ages of 25 and 65.

What's in your closet?
So, it’s a Saturday afternoon. You’ve decided to tackle that closet, cabinet, basement or garage that’s been driving you crazy. It’s full of stuff you don’t use and don’t know what to do with. Before you pitch everything in the trash, think for a minute.

It's all in the family
At the last family picnic, your Uncle Fred amused your kids by pulling quarters out of their ears and chasing them in circles around the playground until they collapsed. It’s the same ploy he used 20 years ago to amuse you and your cousins.

Who invited Aunt Judy?
Aunt Edna is upset because Cousin Billy is bringing his new girlfriend, and she doesn’t think she should have to buy her a gift. Sue and Harry’s family can only come on the Saturday before the holiday, and Aunt Judy insists that everything be home cooked. Considering the obstacles and opinions, why will Americans mob the airports and highways this holiday season, as they do every year, to attend gatherings with their extended families?

Homeward bound
Grandpa and Grandma may not live down the block anymore.  But according to recent survey findings, many live in the same city, state or just a day’s drive away. For most of us, the lure of new places and faces doesn’t compare to the benefits of staying closer to family.

Recipes of the heart
In this day of cynicism about marriage, we hear a great deal about skyrocketing divorce rates. But many couples have been making it work for decades. How? Like your favorite recipes, good marriages come with ingredients and directions. Consider these recipes from Modern Woodmen members whose marriages have stood the test of time.

Be a sport
When one irate father killed another father over a dispute in an adolescent hockey team practice, people were stunned.  This unimaginable incident is an extreme example of the undercurrent of nasty, violent behavior, which now taints youth sports.  While most of us never take our outrage and fanaticism to such extremes as that East Coast hockey father, our behavior doesn’t have to make headlines to have a negative impact on our children’s view of what it means to “be a good sport.”

The telephone is reigning!
When it comes to communicating with our family, the telephone remains integral. We call when a new baby is born, we call to say happy birthday, and we call to say that Sunday dinner is at Aunt Jean’s at 12:30 p.m. We also call to laugh together, cry together, to say “I love you” or simply say “hello.” More than any other form of communication, and second only to actually being together in person, the telephone serves as a tremendous catalyst for strengthening family bonds.

Ways to save: Tame your long-distance bills
Do you cringe every time you see the phone bill in the mailbox?  Do your monthly payments create your own personal version of  “national debt?”  It may be time to look at some tips and suggestions for pruning your costs, not your talk time, with some creative management.

Family Closeness and Communication Research
Harris Interactive conducted a tracking study on behalf of Modern Woodmen of America focused on family closeness and communication. The study results are based on interviews with 500 Americans between the ages of 25 and 65. The study was conducted by telephone using a random digit dial technique. Interviews were conducted between December 12 and December 27, 2002.

Myths your mother told you: Learn the truth about popular mom-isms
I hated carrots as a child. I refused to eat them, even when my mother warned me my eyes would go bad. I refused to eat them, even when my eyes did go bad.

Beating the disconnect
When Helen Gould first rolled over, her parents Michael and Adonica Gould were proud, and her grandfather Richard Wyatt was there to cheer her on. And like most doting grandparents, he’s also there to experience the latest preschool accomplishments of her older siblings, Ann, age 4½, and Thomas, age 3. The only difference? Richard Wyatt and his grandchildren live 850 miles apart. But thanks to the wonders of modern technology they have an active, daily exchange.

Climbing the family tree
The scenarios may read like something out of a novel, but they are real tales from real families whose descendents have unearthed their stories, proven their truth and recorded them for future generations.

Connecting with family when you can’t be there in person
Like the song says, "there’s no place like home for the holidays." But when time, geography or financial constraints keep you from being with family, a little old-fashioned imagination combined with some of today’s technological conveniences can keep you connected and make you feel … almost as if you’re there.

Legacies of love
Life insurance can help show you care – even after you die. Ever wondered what life would be like without you? Unless you’ve seen a glimpse of the world without you, like George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, you may never know.

Holidays rank as favorite family gatherings
How many of us can imagine the holiday season without our families? For most Americans, gathering with family is the holiday gift they cherish most.

b family ties can mean increased health and happiness
According to a national poll conducted by Harris Interactive/Modern Woodmen of America, 90 percent of Americans agree that spending time with extended family is important. Also, the research found that nearly four out of five of the participants (79 percent) agreed they would like to get together more often with family, but 75 percent also say that staying in touch with family members can be difficult.