W.A.T.C.H., Human Values and Storytelling at Community Baby Shower

On July 19, 2025, the Sri Sathya Sai Center of Fort Lauderdale participated in the annual Deerfield Beach Community Baby Shower, Florida, USA. This event, organized in partnership with Deerfield Beach Community Cares and the Broward Healthy Start Coalition, hosted and served about 200 expectant new parents.

The W.A.T.C.H. Parenting Initiative

The Sai Center sponsored a booth focused on effective parenting, specifically highlighting the profound importance of story time and choosing human values-based books.

Sai volunteers introduced the mnemonic “W.A.T.C.H.” (Watch your Words, Actions, Thoughts, Character, and Heart) to emphasize how a parent’s behavior serves as the primary model for their child. The booth activities linked this W.A.T.C.H concept directly to reading:

Words: How language in books benefits reading development.
Actions: The benefits derived from the Action of reading together.
Thoughts: The positive Thought processes promoted through story time.
Character: The value-based Character development through choosing inspiring books.
Heart: The necessity of Heart-to-Heart connection forged during story time.

To make the interaction more exciting, we hosted a ‘Jeopardy-style’ game focused on the W.A.T.C.H. content from the flyer. Mothers who participated received token gifts, including pacifiers, bibs, bottles, baby wipes, and clothing. Most importantly, each mother received a values-based children’s book as a gift to encourage family reading.

This special opportunity to serve expectant parents unified volunteers as they experienced the joy of giving love to those who embody it as mothers and fathers. They experienced how even small acts of kindness, like sharing a book or offering a gentle reminder to “watch” our words and thoughts can plant the seeds of transformation in families.