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Since I became a mom, one of the most startling things I’ve learned is HOW much I learn from my kids – from the very beginning.

 When my oldest, now fifteen, was about five, and I’d get irritated at her, she’d be SO sorry she’d often say: “Mom, can we just have a ‘do-over?’”

By which she meant not so much forget the “crime,” but rather (in her young, unsophisticated, yet unexpectedly wise way)…

“Hey, Mom? Can we just shake off the BS, please, and start fresh? I understand I messed up, and you got your point across, obviously, so is it okay now if YOU stop feeling irritated, and I stop feeling badly, and we move on, feeling more positive?”

GENIUS.

It was tough the first few times. For some reason, we all want to hang on to negativity.

But it was a terrific lesson. We use it to this day, when we can. Especially now she’s a teen: best of all? She thought of it herself, so whenever she goes to pout, I can kind of hoist her on her own petard to pull her out of a slump. 

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Got another idea? LET US KNOW! 

• An iPhone4
• A bag of groceries
• A hot air balloon
• A jellyfish
• A mailbox
• A rabbit in a hat
• A window box of flowers

iPhone4:

 You’ll need:

• 1 sheet of black foamcore board, plus:
• 1 sheet any color foamcore board (for the back)
• large sheets of heavy card stock in various colors (or use thick, Sharpie® – style markers to color in white card stock.)
• white card stock (to print the icons provided) and a color printer,  or colored markers (for you or your child to draw your own icons)
• double-stick tape, glue stick, Glue-Dots® (my new fave), or glue
• wide ribbon and glue (or staples) to join the “sandwich board” phone together for wearing.

You can download a booklet of instructions here, which includes standard iPhone icons, as well as blank icons you can get creative with. If you don’t already have Adobe’s FREE Acrobat READER program to view PDFs (Portable Document Files), then click the “Get Adobe Reader” icon above, and it will take you – in a separate window – to the Adobe web site, where you can easily download the latest version and install it on any system you have.

iPhone 4

Print out this image of the iPhone as a guide. (Click or right-click and choose “save as“)

Avoid copyright infringement; Google your own iPhone image at your own risk – honestly? You can be really creative with your own ideas. Encourage your kids to avoid copyright infringement, which is illegal, and wrong – and encourage them instead to be inventive.

Use a large coffee can to round off the edges of each corner of both pieces of foamcore board.

Decorate the back of the back piece of foamcoare board. This is the “phone cover,” so go nuts.

Follow the instructions in the PDF you can download here for placement of the printable pieces for the front, black piece of foamcore board.

You can each punch holes in the tops and sides of the foamcore boards when you’re done, as shown, to keep the boards on your child, or you can fasten the ribbon with tape. (Holes and knots are FAR more secure.)

DONE!

A Bag of Groceries

• Cereal boxes, oatmeal cylinders: anything packaged in light cardboard will work.

 

• At the grocery store, when they ask: paper or plastic? Ask for paper, and fold it carefully and tuck it away until it’s time for you to make your BIG bag.
•  You might want to consider a trip to the dollar store for some cheap fruit, too.
•  Depending on the size of your child, you may need one to three bags to fit.
•  If you need more than one bag, you will simply cut on the seams and layer the bags together to create one larger bag – duct tape on the INSIDE, for security, but use transparent cellophane tape on the outside to keep things neat.
•  Since you’ll be cutting out the BOTTOM of the bag, to allow your child to walk, use that nice, thick bottom to make secure straps for the shoulders: THAT will be the grocery bag straps.
• Before you make the final duct tape seam? Along the inside, duct tape your (now) lightweight items you’ve bought (and used) from the store. Add tissue-paper lettuces, dollar-store fruits, etc.

…and so on… plastic fruit, tissue paper lettuces.. they’ll be empty, so they won’t weigh down the bag.

• You can even add an old grocery-store receipt dangling from the bag – but not too long. Make sure your child doesn’t trip.

Jellyfish

You’ll need:

• A smallish, on-the-thin-side, round pillow
• Silk, or silk-like, shiny fabric
• Shiny pajamas (to match)
• Shiny ribbon (wide) from the dollar store, or any craft store
• Safety pins

::-::-::

• If your child is into the ocean blue? Then a trip to the thrift store for a round pillow and some silky stuff is the trick here.
• Bag up the pillow and bunch it into a silk pillowcase. (Or, more accurately, if you’re budget-conscious: “silk-like.”) Rubber-band or use a ponytail holder to tie it together, and you’ve got the beginnings of the headpiece.
• Safety pins, judiciously located on either side of the “hat,” will allow you to tack on a below-the-chin ribbon to keep it fastened onto the head. (Make sure the pillow isn’t too heavy.) Use more safety pins to add “tentacles” to the jellyfish, which will dangle down from the pillow.
• Add pajamas to match, and you’re good to go.

Mailbox

 You’ll need:

•  A rectangular box, longer than wide, and big enough to fit your child’s head, but still sit on their shoulders. You should be able to get this by asking around at your local grocery stores, which dump boxes of varying sizes away every week.
•  White poster board
• Red construction paper
• Glue or staples. (If you go with staples, pick up some masking tape to cover the staples for safety.)
• Optional: gold-colored paper fasteners, to use to secure the red flag and make it also moveable.

•  Cut any flaps off the box, so there aren’t any hanging off.
•  Get the box, and cut out a hole in the front, so you can slide the box from the back onto the child’s shoulders.
•  Take the semi-circle you cut out, and save it aside.

•  Pick up the large white poster board, and cut it the length of the box.

•  Secure one edge of the poster board to the bottom of the box; glue or staple to the side. Flip the poster board over the empty top. It will form a curve, like the top of a mailbox. Do the same to the other side, securing it, finally, at the other bottom edge. (Do not forget, if using staples, to cover the staples with a thick tape – like masking tape.)
• Once you’ve cut the red flag out of construction paper, you can either glue it on, or you can use the gold paper fastener to affix it – if you use the fastener, your flag will be able to go up and down.

::-::-::

Rabbit in a Hat

You’ll need:

• Hair band (hard, not stretchy)
• Bunny ears, downloadable here.
• Fluffy cottontail, made from cottonballs.
• 2-3 sheets Black posterboard.
• Black duct tape.
• Black ribbons or large-size, soft black yarn
• Shiny, black, blue, or other bold color ribbon – enough to fit around the perimeter of the giant hat.
• Two mismatched socks
• White school glue
• Bag of cotton balls and old or disposable bowl
• Newspapers to pick up glue drips

NOTE: For a quick and easy rabbit?

Download this ear pattern, which can be easily attached to any hard (as opposed to the stretch kind) hairband. (BONUS: Cat ears, too.)

Make up the face like so:

You need a headband. NOT the stretchy kind. The hard kind.

Attach the downloadable ears to the headband.

Add a pink circle to the nose with lipstick or lip gloss.

With brown or black eyeliner, or eyebrow pencil, draw the muzzle and whiskers.

For a quick and easy rabbit’s tail?

(Here’s a good use for some mismatched socks, too.)

• Take the smaller sock, ball it up, and place it in the toe of the other.
• Tie off the toe of the first sock.
• Dip or cover the toe of the sock in glue. (Make sure you’ve laid down the newspapers to catch the glue drips.)
• Now: after all the drips have stopped, dunk the sticky (roundish) sock end in the bag of cotton balls. You should have a nice, fluffy tail. With a convenient “tail end” to attach to your child’s costume.

::-::-::

To make the hat?

• Make a cylinder out of 1-2 sheets of posterboard – make sure it’s wide enough and short enough for your child to take a step and they won’t trip.
• As long as the perimeter of the cylinder, create a 4-inch (approximately) “brim” for the hat: basically, a long, long strip. You’ll probably need to tape together several strips. For the sake of planning, though, keep in mind: if you want a 3-inch brim, cut a 4-inch strip. A 4-inch brim? Cut a 5-inch strip.
• At one end of the strip? Cut one inch into the brim, every couple of inches or so, until your strip looks a little bit like a fringe.

• This will allow you to bend the brim – and then glue it onto the cylinder part of the hat.
• The brightly colored ribbon will hide the fringy mess.
• Like the other costumes? Punch discreet holes, and use ribbon or yard to make sort of suspenders to hold the hat up on your child’s shoulders.

Window Box of Flowers

 Again: hit your local grocery store for the perfect sized box for this.

You’ll need:

• Colored tissues in all colors – and green, for the leaves.
• You COULD invest in wire? Or you could just save bread ties.
• Acrylic paint, to paint the box a nice white floral box color… OR?
• White card stock, to cut out a cute little fence to glue onto the box.
•  Optional? Floral tape.
• Also optional: floral foam.

::-::-::

• If you’re going to cut out the fence? Fold the cardstock in half, if necessary, and cut the cardstock along the folded half.
• Fold your cardstock into as many even pieces as you like.
• Cut along the folds, and that will give you a nice easy way to get even fence slats.
• Save one or two long pieces to “connect” the fence posts.
• Glue onto the box.

For the flowers:

• Layer two shades of tissue on top of each other, and bunch up, or accordion fold.
• Secure in the center with tape or wire.
• Fluff out again, into flower shapes.
• Repeat until box is full with as colorful a set as you like.

Fill box first with artfully crumpled shades of green tissue. (If box is semi deep? Fill first with something you can’t see, like an old towel or something on the light side… you don’t want to weigh your child down too much.)

Another possibility? If the box has room? Use a cardboard separator: flowers in front, and in back? The candy stash!

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If I were abducted by aliens, I’m not quite sure if I’d be panicked, or if I’d be excited at the idea of a vacation from the responsibilities of motherhood.

I know my kids would not be so thrilled. They’re not even happy when I decide to go to the convenient store by myself.

Below is a list of at least ten things my kids would miss about me, were I to take that Great Vacation in the Sky, where no mom has (boldly) gone before.

1. When they called out: “Mo-ooom,” there would be an echoing silence. Either that, or someone WAY less patient would respond.
2. There would be no one on Planet Earth who knew how they REALLY liked their chicken.
3. Even though they’ve memorized the Burger King menu, there would be no one to remind them what they really want is chicken strips, as they agonize over the choices.
4. Their rooms would become so crowded with dirty glasses, cups, plates and utensils it would look like they were living inside a dishwasher.
5. My teenager would be lost without someone to blame for: her angst, the weather, her lack of the very coolest clothes, <insert problem here.>
6. My youngest would have no one to talk to for hours about Legendary Pokémon.
7. They might not ever change their sheets; I wonder how many crumbs a set of twin sheets can actually hold
8. They would have no one to sing the “How Much Do I Love You ” song to them.
9. Every family has SO many of what we call “location” jokes (you had to be there.) They’d miss those terribly.
10. They might not miss this, but I would: dragging out their baby pictures for all to see how cute they were.

While this is a funny premise There are a too many kids out there who don’t have moms. For anyone looking for a deeper understanding of what it’s like to grow up without one, I heartily recommend Hope Edelman’s wonderful book: Motherless Daughters.

I also recommend the terrific organizations Big Brothers and Big Sisters. They can help fill a void in a child’s life made by an absent parent.

DISCLAIMER:

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

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Any way you slice it, homework is a drag. For your kid, for the teacher who grades it, and for YOU, the parent who has to stand over a resentful kid and be the incredibly NOT-cool person you never imagined yourself being, parroting back words you never imagined yourself saying – words which, when your OWN parents said them, made you sort of want to throw up a little in your mouth.

“Do your homework.”

It IS work, though. We tend to forget, once we don’t have to do it anymore. After all, they don’t call it homePLAY.

In fact, you can talk, talk, talk about putting things off till the last minute, you can TALK all you want about “wouldn’t you rather just get it DONE so you can go out and PLAY ” and you can TALK all you want in general, but unless you offer a real, tangible SOLUTION to your kid, all you’re doing is TALKING, and it sounds like THIS to your kid:

“Talk, talk, talk, talkedy talk talk, <insert kid’s name here>, talk ”

Exactly like YOUR parent’s voice sounded to YOU when YOU sat at the kitchen table, eyes glazing over a worksheet full of multiplication facts while the sun shone temptingly outside.

Remember NOW

Do you also remember that horrid feeling, as if your homework would stretch until now until forever

THAT is what you have to help your kid get over to help them get their homework done.

Here’s how.

The Fifteen-Minute Method works like this – and, by the way, this is a great way to increase your productivity at work, because I’ve thrown it to adults, too, who’ve found it really useful:

Set a timer for fifteen minutes. For that fifteen minutes – JUST FIFTEEN – you’ll work FULL-OUT.

Then stop. Or don’t stop. Maybe you’ll want to keep going. In that case, set the timer again, but ONLY for fifteen minutes.

When you DO stop, take FIVE minutes.

Do whatever you want. Jump around, walk, yell YAHOO!, or slump on the desk.

Then back to short, sweet, high-energy fifteen minute bursts.

Before you know it You’re done.

Works nearly every time.

From Twittermoms: Here’s another article on the topic:
http://livingpower.blogspot.com.

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We all turn to the Web for information. Here are some sites you can head straight for when your kid needs information, fast.

InklessTales.com/ask
I’ll answer any kid’s question. As a former journalist, I’ll go to straight to the top – no matter who they are – to get an answer for any kid who asks.

Discovery Education

Homework Spot

From Math.com: Homework Help – Includes “Everyday Calculators”

VERY comprehensive from AOL: covers all subjects.

MATH

On this site, the “Algebrator” solves the equation – AND “shows all work” as you go.

Purple Math: turns out, neatness actually counts.

HotMath.com – who knew Geometry!

More from math.com

SOCIAL STUDIES

Just when they hate it most, here’s help: middle school social studies help

Time4Kids from Time Magazine offers “Rapid Research.” Nice.

KidInfo is a directory – social studies and MORE.

HISTORY

Indian Child – resources and more resources

AOL again – this time, history from A-Z

Five tips on how to write better papers for younger students at the History Place.

Kidipede: History for Kids. Real history. Real fun to read.

SCIENCE

Kids’ Turn Central – Science and More

Schoolwork.org is funny – their banner reads Schoolwork.ugh!

The Science Page. It’s not pretty, but that’s kind of a good sign.

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There are many resources, all over the web, for parents and kids to turn to for help on nearly every imaginable topic – and those resources will be collected here in another post, soon – but the greatest homework help, any parent or teacher will know, is a parent themselves.

Teachers universally will tell you: a child whose family provides a support system does much better in school than a child with less.

Support includes: a quiet, well-lighted, cleared-away desk or table upon which to work, with no television or radio to distract them. Healthy snacks for energy are a good idea, since today’s school lunches often come as early as 10:30 a.m., meaning your child hasn’t eaten a thing since then.

Sometimes, depending on your child, it’s a good idea to allow them a few minutes to a half-hour to “decompress” and play, chill out, rack up some scores on the Wii as they transition between school and home. Other kids It’s best to swiftly scoot them into that seat and get the work done and over with.

Either way you choose Routine is key for kids. If kids know homework time is always from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., free time is from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and dinner is always at 6 p.m., then not only will they be mentally and emotionally prepared to power down the Wii (keeping a visible clock near the console doesn’t hurt, and neither does a five-minute warning), but they’ll become more efficient at homework – no one wants to lose free time – and they’ll become less resistant to starting it, since it’s “just part of the schedule.”

As kids get older – middle school and high school – they develop a tendency to want to take their homework into their bedroom, amp up the stereo or the TV if they’ve got one, or pop the iPod earbuds in, and sequester themselves in their room. Your call, but this does NOT work for MY teen.

In the past, this has turned into a lot of “I got a good start on it. I’ve only got one page left. Can I come with you to the mall ”

Only to find her at nearly midnight – still with earbuds in – crying over a report that’s 12 pages long still to do.

My younger one, now in seventh grade, has ALWAYS resented the intrusion of homework, feeling like the drills and practice, for instance, of math problems she already understands are a waste of her time.

Nevertheless, we ALL face, in life, chores that feel waste our time, but are necessary to do. So, despite her deep understanding of addition Yep. Still gotta do those twenty problems.

Rather than go at loggerheads with her, I came up with what I call “Homework in Five Minutes.”

She and I made an agreement, since what was happening was this: her reluctance was resulting in her homework taking HOURS, instead of “just getting it done and over with.” (How many times has THIS happened in YOUR house )

We agreed to set a kitchen timer. She would do five solid minutes of homework – full-out, all-energy, do her best homework – and when the bell went off, we’d reset it for another five.

The NEXT five minutes were hers, and hers alone. She could dance, draw, contemplate her navel if she wanted.

NEXT five All homework.

We agreed to try this for twenty minutes. Just twenty, to see if it would work.

I even trusted her to work the timer herself, although I periodically checked, secretly.

Within two days, she came down to my office. “I got so much done in the first five minutes I reset the timer for ten and got done,” she said.

The theory behind this particular system is most kids are used to the quick, grab-your-attention-quickly world of television and other media. It’s difficult for them to concentrate in long spurts in this information age, when everything is coming at you, and you hardly know where to look.

I give them a lot of credit: they have a sort of super-peripheral vision their older counterparts don’t have, because they DO know where to look.

But they ALSO need to develop long-term concentration skills. With the five-minute homework method, it helps them to build it up a bit at a time – and most of all – just like any adult would want – it makes THEM feel in control of their own lives.

While still feeling supported the whole time.

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Using the acronym “BRAVELY” to help you remember these seven strategies, it actually takes more planning than it does courage to help you go about your day-to-day shopping with your toddler. After all, you like your kid, don’t you So why struggle to find somewhere to squirrel them away, when with a little forethought, both of you can enjoy your trip

#1) BRING an Emergency kit. Parents of toddlers should ALWAYS be rotating their toys, anyway – so take advantage of those 99¢ green bags, and stow one in the trunk full of small toys you can hang on the bar of the shopping cart. Bring one out as your toddler gets bored with the last one.

Keep in mind, too, that to a toddler, EVERYTHING is a toy: so as long as it’s safe, can’t be swallowed, and is unbreakable, it doesn’t have to be manufactured by a toy company. Consider attaching “saddlebags” to the grocery cart or stroller, and letting your toddler shred paper scraps, or hold onto plastic containers. You can pick up a few twenty-five cent bouncy balls and duct-tape them into a small plastic container for an inexpensive rattle-type toy that will amuse for a surprisingly long time.

#2) RING-A-DING-DING. Music hath charms. You might think it’s disturbing for fellow shoppers to listen to the tinkling tunes of Old McDonald as you stroll through the Galleria or through the Stop and Shop, but trust me: it’s WAY better than listening to their “how-did-you-learn-to-project-from-the-diaphragm-like-that ” lusty wailing. Tuck a tune-playing toy along – preferably one your toddler can control on their own – and grit your teeth, and learn to love E-I-E-O.

#3) ACTIVITY. Who wants to be belted in, strapped to a chair, and forced against their will to go hither and yon Factor in some running around time to exhaust your little guy or gal, and it will pay off big time.

#4) VORACIOUS. Toddlers are a lot more sensible than we adults. They know it’s healthier to eat smaller portions more often, and they get hungry. Factor that into your planning, and shop around their appetites. Either feed them and THEN go, or bring along hand-held snacks they like. Good examples are chewy biscuits, carrot sticks, red bell pepper slices, etc.

#5) EXASPERATED. Wouldn’t YOU be After all, if YOUR favorite someone in the whole universe took YOU out and completely ignored you, preferring instead to become completely absorbed in stuff you didn’t understand and couldn’t possible be less interested in – like groceries, or clothes – you’d be pretty frustrated, too.

Try talking to your toddler while you shop. Introduce him or her to the excitement of produce, or the marvelous bias cut of the skirt you’re looking at. True, your toddler doesn’t really care about Donna Karan, but they DO care about YOU – and if they have your attention, you can turn the experience into a quality bonding time.

#6) LEARNING. Let your toddler help you, and let your toddler learn where things are in the store, why you’re there, and how they can help you find things. This is also a good opportunity for your toddler to learn boundaries and expectations. Going into a store with a list, making the trip short enough for their attention span helps, also. They can become involved, learn why the heck you’re there in the first place, and begin the foundations of learning responsibility and becoming a part of the family chores.

#7) YAWN. Whether you’re a toddler or an adult, if you haven’t gotten enough sleep, you’re going to be cranky and miserable. Plan trips around naptimes – your choice. Either let your toddler sleep at home, so they’re cheerful and involved during the shopping jaunt, or wait until you know your toddler will sleep their way through your own jaunt through the Galleria, blissfully snoozing in the stroller while you slide hangers around on the clearance rack at Macy’s.

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Elizabeth

FULL DISCLOSURE: By the way: this contest was prompted by a contest on Twittermoms. The winning blog entry receives I Can Read! books from HarperCollins Children’s Books. Just so you know: if my entry should win, my kids are now 14 and 11, so the I Can Read! books will be donated to the UC Davis Children’s Hospital in Sacramento, California.

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There are a lot more ways to get your kids to read than you might think – the same way there are more ways to sneak vegetables into their lives.

The trick Well, if you’re a mom, then you’ve probably dated once or twice in your life. Which means you’ve been handed your own copy of The Secret, Closely Guarded Girl Manual. (Shameless plug for my soon-to-be-published new book.)

Which means you know, like Tom Sawyer so cleverly knew, the more attractive and tantalizing you make something, the more someone wants it.

If your kids get even the smallest whiff that reading is something you want them to do, like cleaning their rooms, or (ew, gross, HOMEWORK), you’re sunk.

BUT: If kids, for instance, SEE Mom and Dad reading themselves

Do I REALLY have to remind you of how many times you yourselves heard the hoary old chestnut: “Do as I say, not as I do ” Need I remind you that NEVER worked, and you copied your parents anyway

The best advice I ever got in my LIFE as far as teaching my kids to read was to simply relax, take out a magazine, put my feet up, and read the darn thing.

Sure enough: my then-toddlers, eager to imitate Mommy, started grabbing their board books (okay, sometimes upside-down) and “reading” as well.

Additionally, here are my top five tips for getting kids to read – and these tips work, too, because as a journalist, I made sure to interview some tweens for accuracy.

TOP FIVE TIPS TO GET KIDS TO READ THIS SUMMER:

#1) Make a trip to the library a regular, fun event – but limit their selections to three to five books.

By limiting their choices, you make it more tantalizing. Your children will have to choose wisely, and if they make unsatisfactory choices, they will look forward ever-more eagerly to the NEXT trip. Another good idea Reward on-time book returns with low-cost visits to the ice-cream shop. This will reinforce reading and rewards.

#2) Let them choose their own books, no matter how stupid the book seems.

I always let my kids read whatever they wanted, even those dumb Barbie® stories, those thinly-veiled marketing books from toy manufacturers, and now that they’re teens and tweens, those endless bloated vampire rip-offs.

Because in between the low-end literature, they also somehow seem to find their way to Pride and Prejudice, and lately, my 14-year-old just discovered Hamlet. Also, because they know I don’t censor their reading, they’re FAR more open to suggestions from me.

#3) Series Books.

I know, I know, some of them make your skin crawl, but reading is reading. Some of the series seem endless, and some of them make you wonder what the heck publishers are thinking – but kids LOVE them, and they swallow them whole. Book after book. Kids have told me over and over again: they’ll read these. So: take a lesson from the 10-year-old army. If you want your kids to read this summer, hook them on a series.

Perhaps you can negotiate a compromise For every series they conclude, they can read a book YOU want them to read.

#4) The old, tried-and-true Reward Method.

You can keep a calendar, or any kind of chart (there’s no need for artistry here, but if it helps, you can download a chart here) to keep track of your kids’ tally of books.

Both of you – or the crew of you – work out between you what you think is fair. Five books equals a trip to GameStop Ten books equals a movie Either way, the idea is reading enough books garners the kids a reward, and teaches them goal-setting at the same time.

#5) The “Long Book.”

In our family, we do what’s called “the Long Book.” My daughters are too “old” for bedtime stories, but we still love to read and be read to at night – so we pick a longer novel, like Watership Down, or Tuck Everlasting – something that can’t be read in a single night. It brings us all closer together – like a mealtime – and we all take turns reading from the book.

NOTE: Keep in mind kids like NON-FICTION, too – a point parents often overlook. There’s a TON of great stuff out there.

NOTE #2: This post was inspired by TwitterMoms, and a discussion started here, prompted by HarperCollins’ Children’s Books “I Can Read!” series – but I would have written something like this anyway, in all honesty.

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Check out these sites for your kids to learn and play this summer.

Primary Games

http://www.primarygames.com/

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Article, Associated Content:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/12673/free_educational_websites_and_games.html

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Apples4TheTeacher

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/

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Selected Science Web Sites for Primary School Students

http://www.ncsu.edu/imse/4/elementaryEd.htm

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Sites for Teachers

http://www.sitesforteachers.com/

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Best Web Sites for Teachers

http://www.wmtps.org/techini/bestsite/bestsite.html

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Best Educational Sites on the Web

http://www.bestedsites.com/

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Ziggity Zoom Useful and Best Kids Sites

http://www.ziggityzoom.com/sites.php

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Quick List of Great Children’s Web Sites

http://www.andersonlibrary.org/ch-links.htm

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By Elizabeth Williams Bushey

www.inklesstales.com

Last week I cleared a bunch of shrubbery for my daughter’s Alice In Wonderland party. The backyard looks terrific, but despite the latex gloves I wore to protect myself, the tank top I wore to keep cool didn’t protect my arms from the poison ivy I failed to recognize, due to my city-girl upbringing.

Yes, yes, NOW I know: “Leaves of three, let them be.”

But if YOU’D seen the mess my backyard was BEFORE I started… you wouldn’t have been counting leaves, either. PLUS: I have a new puppy – Tucker’s new younger sister, Sophie – to look out for, so counting leaves was my last worry.

As a result, I’ve got a wicked poison ivy rash up and down my arms.

Friends suggested Aveeno, which is a terrific product, and also the standard calamine lotion – but the VERY best product out there

Tecnu. Weird name, great product. The sooner you begin to use it, the better it works.

Incidentally, meet Sophie: our new Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy.

You apply it to the affected parts of your body (it’s a lotion) – and it actually sucks the oil out of your skin – the oils that cause the rash, and the itch – and rinses them off as you rinse off the lotion.

If you use it once the rash is full-blown, it STILL works: just temporarily. You just use it once a day or so.

This rash is so nasty I’m not even going to photograph it for you – but trust me, this is the absolute best. And, having sensitive skin myself, I’m not hesitating to recommend it for kids.

Run, do not walk, to the nearest drugstore, and pick some up for your family today. For poison oak, ivy, sumac – it simply cannot be beat.