Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
JUDY STARKOn the home front, there are simple ways to get a little R&R from the daily news.
By now, CNN correspondent Wolf Blitzer is such a familiar face at your dinner table that he ought to take his turn doing the dishes. By now, the map of Iraq is as familiar as that of North Carolina or the Keys, and you know the way to Baghdad as well as you know the way to International Plaza. The war has woven its way into our daily life.
The fearmongers may suggest you stockpile a generator or buy an air filter for your safe room or store enough food and water to last a couple of weeks. News junkies may be thinking about installing a bank of TV sets to watch several networks and cable channels simultaneously, the way sports bars show several games at the same time.
Maybe not. Maybe it's time for some R&R.
We are not, after all, in a state of war as we were in World War II, when citizens were asked to conserve, when rationing was the order of the day, when there were meatless Tuesdays and scrap-metal drives and our homes were decked with blue stars and blackout curtains.
"All of the things that we know about (during World War II) that challenged people's lives at home won't occur here," said Char Miller, chairman and professor of history at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. "Unless this is a very long war, and that's no one's anticipation."
Assuming the conflict will continue for some time, here are some suggestions for keeping the home fires burning without getting burnt out.
n Turn off the war coverage for an evening. If something major happens, you'll hear about it. A night watching Emeril or Will & Grace may be the relief you need to dispel anxiety.
n Keep children away from television news, and even television, period, recommends Dr. Alvin Poussaint and Susan Linn in an essay, "Talking with Kids About War: Pointers for Parents," at the Web site www.familyeducation.com "Commercial programming may be interrupted by frightening news bulletins. Horrific images can cause nightmares and may awaken other fears and anxieties and they may need comforting."
n With older children, this is a good time to discuss other wars. Talk about what it was like to live through Vietnam, Korea, World War II. Are there family albums with photos of Granddad, young and trim in his uniform? Think about recording an oral history of family reminiscences of those eras.
For more advice on what to say to kids about the war, visit www.pbs.org/parents and click on "Tips for Talking about War with Your Child."
Let anxious kids bring their sleeping bags into the parents' bedroom for a family sleep-over.
If you've got a fireplace, use it. It's a symbol of comfort and warmth and can dispel anxiety as well as chills. (Okay, so it's warm again; you could crank up the air conditioning.)
Rent a nonwar-related movie.
Or rent a war classic. Recent films such as Saving Private Ryan and Apocalypse Now may be too close for comfort, but consider that unforgettable drama of war and romance, Casablanca. Or try Patton, The Longest Day, The Manchurian Candidate or The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Don't be reluctant to show your patriotic pride. Go ahead, fly the American flag. (Go get an American flag.) Or tie yellow ribbons to a porch post or mailbox. Or fly a peace flag.
Join with friends or family members for a comfort-food dinner. Get together and prepare a meal of favorites.
Create a space for quiet time, a room for prayer, meditation, yoga, music. Then use it.
If anxiety makes family ties more important, put together a display of family photos.
Contribute to a charity that supports military families, or to one that provides humanitarian relief in Iraq. Visit www.networkforgood.org for suggestions.
Dig out the old record albums (remember them?) and spend an evening enjoying the music that was popular during previous wartimes. This can be anything from Bob Dylan to Glenn Miller.
Add something red white and blue to your home: a wreath on the door, a plaque, a throw pillow. Those colors never go out of style, says Leatrice Eiseman, director of the Pantone Color Institute, but after 9/11, they came to the forefront of fashion.
Coldwell Banker has started running a warm-and-fuzzy TV commercial showing images of a multigenerational family and a dad in military fatigues playing with the kids. The ad ends with the line, "It won't be home till you get back."
Some brokers say the war could produce a post-traumatic real estate response, the Wall Street Journal's Web site www.wsj.com reported recently. "Real estate is comfort food," says Donna Olshan, owner of Olshan Realty Inc. in New York City. "When there is a war on, people want to nest." And if the war ends quickly, she said, buyers currently sitting on the sidelines may flood back into the market. "What we will get," she said, "is a Baghdad bounce."
- Information from the San Antonio Express-News and the Chicago Tribune was used in this report.