Science Day- Sunlight Experiment

Science Day: This is a simple science experiment to show what happens to plants or grass when they don't get sun. You need two small potted plants, one of which you don't mind if it dies. Put one potted plant in a place where it can receive sun. But not in a place where the sun will burn it. Put other potted plant on a shelf in a dark closet where it can't be knocked over. Keep plants in both places for five days. After five days observe plants. The plant that didn't get sunlight should be wilted and dying. The other plant which did get sun should be thriving.

Alternative: Put a Frisbee or an empty clay pot over a patch of green grass. If you have gardeners do it right after they mow the lawn. Don't move Freebie for seven days. On the eighth day lift up the Frisbee or pot. Notice how the grass underneath is brown and dying. It didn't get sun. Plants need sunlight. This is why it's hard to plant grass under large shady trees laden with leaves. The sun can't reach the grass blades. Even in the forest baby trees can die if the large trees next to them have wide branches. The branches block out the sunlight.

Book Review- Picture Book

Book for Parents to read with their kids. "Do Little Mermaids Wet their Beds?" by Jeanne Willis. Pictures by Penelope Jossen. The book is an easy reading, rhyming book. It's about a four-year-old girl who does lots of things well, but she also wets her bed. One night she has dream about a mermaid who wants her to come and play. So the little girl goes off with the mermaid. By morning, after a whole night of romping around in the sea she curiously has a dry bed. At the end of the book, in fine print, there is a page about bed wetting with advice, which is nice to have. The book helps little kids realize that at some point they will not always have a wet bed.

Summer Tip for Plants

Going away for a long weekend or a five day holiday this summer? If so, and you have indoor plants here's an idea. Use a glass blub water stake for watering. You put the glass bulb in the soil for slow-drip watering. You can find them at garden stores. First see how fast your plants drink. Some bulbs can water for over a week. My sister has such a bulb for her indoor ficus tree. When I housesat for her, I didn't have to refill her bulb for almost two weeks.

Movie Review

Movie Title: National Velvet. Horse movie. Rated G. An English girl (Elizabeth Taylor) with the aid of a friend (Mickey Rooney) races her beloved horse, Pye, in a race. A sweet film. Movie rolls along at a good pace. You don't get bored. Great movie for girls with horse fever.

Doggy Tip

Dog Tip- On hot days do NOT park your car and leave your dog in it. Even for a short period. Do NOT think, well, it's okay I've cracked open the windows some. It gets hot inside a car fast! Some cities give tickets to people who leave dogs in cars. So before leaving your dog in the car to quickly just get milk, even in winter, check to make sure what your city's laws are.

Book Review- Chapter book, Award Winner

Chapter book for nine to twelve-year-olds, depending on their reading level. "Ginger Pye," by Eleanor Estes. New Newbery Medal winner. Basically the book is about the lives of Jerry and Rachel Pye and their dog Ginger. It was an okay book. Not a super great, must read. The most interesting part in the book for me was when Ginger goes missing. I asked one grade school boy who read the book what he thought of it. He voiced the same opinion as me. It was all right, but not the best book he ever read.

Happy Father's Day! Family Activity.

Family Activity. Beat the summer heat. Pack a picnic. Put it in a backpack. Take a walk through a shallow stream with your kids (for sensitive feet wear rubber soled sandals/water shoes). Bring a pail to collect crawdads and pretty rocks in. Play Twenty Questions or I Spy using the nature around you. Example: What you choose is a fish. Your child asks, "Is it bigger than a tree leaf?" You say yes or no. Other questions- "Is it brown?" "Is it a mineral, vegetable, insect, bird, mammal or reptile?" "Does it live in the water?"
Later in the shade eat your lunch and ask your kids if they have any questions about nature. If you don't know the answer then when you get home go online (or go to the library) and find out the answer. Questions might be, "What do crawdads eat? Do crawdads sleep?" "Why is the sky blue?" "What causes streams?"

Book Review- Picture Book

For Parents to read with their kids. "My Adopted Child, There's No One Like You." By Dr. Kevin Leman and Kevin Leman II. Illustrated by Kevin Leman II. In the beginning of the book there is a small printed letter to the parents written to Mama and Papa Bear. Read it, it gives excellent advice about telling your child about being adopted. The pictures in the book are simple, yet they still successfully explain what's going on. Story line in book: Panda bear is given a school assignment. He has to make a family tree. He is bothered by this because he is adopted. His mama puts him at ease.

Summer Activities

Write down a list of places in or around your city where you can take your kids this summer. Find out days and hours of operation. And price if applicable. Put on Frig.

Places to consider: Childrens museums. Science and History museums. Doll museum. Car museum. Wax museum. Civil War museum. Indian museum with Teepees. Newspaper or Firehouse tours. Victorian house tour with costumed docents. China Town. Aquarium. Water park. Working farm. Zoo or Petting zoo. Miniature golf. Arcade. Batting cage. Roller or Ice skating rink. Indoor child play area. Public gardens. Special parks. Dog park. Outdoor concerts. Lake (bring swimsuits and a picnic). Beach with tide pools. Hiking trails. Bike trials. Rock climbing areas. Horse back riding. Chocolate festival. Kids art and craft festival. For older kids: Haunted history walking tour. See if your newspaper carries a section where they write about museums and places of interest. As a nanny I had over 50 different day activities on hand, not including amusement parks.

Movie Review

Movie Title: Eloise at the Plaza. Children's movie. Based on a children's book by Kay Thompson. A wealthy little girl, Eloise, resides at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Because her parents are perpetual travelers she stays at the hotel with her nanny. In the movie, mischievous Eloise is determined to go to a ball being held at the famed hotel and plays matchmaker. Julie Andrews plays the nanny. A very cute movie. Little girls should enjoy it.

Arts and Craft Time

Father's Day Craft: Place Mat.
Note: You'll need to find a store that has a laminating machine. Call school supplies stores and if that fails call craft shops.

Items needed: Colored construction paper, markers, stickers, scissors, glue, picture of child with dad. Optional: Child friendly ink pad. Have them wash hand immediately after using pad.

On a piece of construction paper about the size of a place mat have your child paint or draw a picture of their dad. Next to it have them draw a heart, or below it write a personal message (I love you Dad. Thanks for taking time to play baseball with me. Or: World's Best Dad…). Your child can also cut out designs (bowling balls/baseball/tie…) from colored construction paper. Place along top and bottom of mat. Funny/smiley stickers can be added, or your child can put their hand print in a corner. A nice touch is gluing a picture or two of your child and their dad on the mat as well.
You can also create a theme mat. If your husband is a football fan, have your child draw a picture of their dad scoring a touch down. Put stickers of football helmets around edges of mat. Glue a picture of your child playing football with their dad on the mat underneath handmade picture.
When done making mat, take place it to a store for it to be laminated (plastic coating on front and back). The plastic coating makes it easy to wipe crumbles and coffee off of it.

Book Review

It's a tearjerker week. We had Old Yeller for a movie and now "Sounder" for a book.

"Sounder" is a chapter book for nine to eleven-year-olds, depending on their reading level. The author is William H. Armstrong. This is an A one book. Thus, a Newbery Medal winner. It's not a thick book so it can be easily read in a week. The story is about a poor African-American boy living in the South. What happens to this boy and his dog, Sounder, stirs the reader. The boy's sharecropping father is taken off to jail. Sounder tries to jump in the sheriff's wagon to be with the father, but instead is shot by the sheriff. You keep reading and hoping Sounder will be okay. He survives, but loses an eye and is crippled. After all this he still has faith in human kindness. I have known some grade school kids who had to read this book for class. This isn't a bad idea. Not all kids have near perfect lives. Learning about the sorrows and prejudices that other kids face can make a child more emphatic to others plights.

Tomorrow there will a Father's Day arts and craft project.

Doggy Tip

Dog Tip- Some people with long haired dogs routinely every summer get their dog's hair cut at the groomers. The cut looks like a crew cut. But be careful about doing this. Your dog's skin which hasn't seen the sun can get burned. So be careful about how long they lie in the sun and when walking them. And yes dogs with no fur can get sun burned. A vet informed me of this.

Movie Review

Movie title: Old Yeller. Walt Disney Movie. Dog movie. When I was young I didn't know why the movie was called Old Yeller. Dogs bark. Not yell. But after watching the movie again I found out Yeller is for yellow. As in the color of the dog. The movie is moving and it flies by. But it has a heartbreaking part so I have some reservations about recommending it for kids under ten. For adults it's quite good. It's about reality. Disney does a fine job with the ending. It's uplifting. Still the sad event in the movie lingers with you after the movie is done.

The movie itself: A frontier family adopts a stray dog. Or the other way around if you like it. The oldest boy at first doesn't like the dog. The dog caused a fence to break and the boy has to mend it since his dad is away. But old Yeller, the dog, and this boy bond. Old Yeller is definitely the dog to have at home. He saves the youngest boy from an angry mama bear and the older one from a raging mama cow and a bunch of wild hogs. At one point in the movie Old Yeller's owner comes for him, but the youngest son swaps the dog for a toad and a home cooked meal. Now for the sad part: While saving the womenfolk from a wolf, Old Yeller gets bit. And gets rabies. The oldest boy, who has grown to love Old Yeller, now has to put his best canine friend down. You don't actually see the boy do it. You just hear the shot. But nonetheless it's still heart wrenching. As a kid I didn't understand why the dog just couldn't be taken to a vet and given medicine. That's the thing about kids. They have a hard time understanding. So while the movie is top class, you might want to pass on it if you have extra sensitive little kids. In the ending, the family does keep one of Yeller's pups which does brighten things up.

Parenting Article- Prevent Home Invasions

Prevent Home Invasions- Home Safety Advice for Parents

I didn't write this article to frighten anyone. I wrote it to give some good advice. If I didn't already know this information I wouldn't have minded it if someone shared it with me. It's that simple.
Home invasions can be scary. For anyone. Are you at the office when your twelve-year-old child comes home from school? Do you let them stay at home alone during the summer? If so, talk to your child about safety issues. You might not want them using the stove or having friends over when you are not around, but what about strangers who come to the door? Sure you might have told them not to answer the door. But unfortunately I have heard about home invasions during the day when burglars think no one is home. Thus, if your child does not answer the door, a burglar could see your house as a potential target. Let us discourage these criminals. Let us deter home invasions. I have been to neighborhood watch meetings. One police officer said the best home invasion deterrent is a dog. If a burglar hears a dog barking inside a home they might have second thoughts about invading it. It is easier to hit a house that does not have a dog. If you do not have a dog put a big bowl of water out front with a few dog toys. And put a Beware of Dog sign on your side gate. I have seen metal ones with a growling Doberman. Just tell your gardener or pool man, if you have one, not to be afraid of the dog. You can also think about putting a dog dish on the side yard with a big dog bone next to it.

Another idea to keep away unwanted individuals is to make a tape of a friend's barking dog. When scared, your child can play this tape when some unknown person comes knocking at the door. Also, put up a No Soliciting sign to discourage unknown people from knocking. And tell your child there is no reason for a stranger to turn the door handle. Some burglars do this in the off chance you forgot to lock your door. Your child should know about 911. And remember to inform your child about any cable or telephone repair workers who are scheduled to come. This could be an unnecessary scare for your child if you forget. To be extra safe, I suggest you be there when they come. Even if they are only working out back.

Methods burglars use to get into your home: A new method burglars are using is to pretend to leave business cards or flyers at the front door. They even carry real cards just in case. They ring the door bell. If no one answers they go to the side gate. If it is unlocked they will go through the gate and break a back window. They will steal cash, laptops, jewelry, wallets, and anything that is easy to move. One neighbor told me her house was hit like this. Her neighbor across the street saw a man running across her front lawn with her small bedroom safe. The police told her criminals will look to see if there are any cars parked in the driveway. If there are not any, they will assume that could be a good house to burgle. She was away at work so her car was gone. She now has a neighbor, who works at home, park her car in her driveway during the day. This could make your child feel safer. If you have a good neighbor you can trust you can tell them when your child comes home from school, or when they will be staying home alone during winter or summer break.

Another trick is what I call the uniform scam. The burglar dresses up as a tree trimmer, electrician, meter man, or DWP worker. They knock on the front door. If no one answers they enter through the side gate. None of the neighbors think twice about this because they look official. If it is a team burgle, one might go to the front door. When the teen or senior opens the door the criminal says they need to look at the trees in back because the back neighbor is trimming their trees. The criminal will be congenial, even make you laugh. They will keep you occupied out back while their partner goes through the front door that was left unlocked. He does the stealing. If an unknown person in a uniform asks to be taken out back, just say no. If they say they are police, tell them you want to call their station first. If they say they are a tree trimmer say you will gladly call your neighbor now and talk to them about the trees. You might see the burglar high tail it out of there if his cover can be exposed. One very sad story an officer told me about was how two men in security uniforms went to a home of an elderly gentleman. They told him his neighbor's house, a few houses down, was just burglarized. They said they thought the burglar could be in his backyard. The nice elderly man was of course distressed. He went out back with one of the pretend security officers. The other stayed out front. That is until he saw they were out of sight. Again, this elderly man did not relock his front door. This time because of naturally being distressed. The second man went though the home stealing cash and jewelry while his partner kept the elderly gentleman busy. The elderly and young are easy targets. Keep your ears open for any neighborhood scams you hear about and notify others. One woman in my area, after her house was robbed, made flyers of what happened to her and what the criminal looked like. She taped the flyers on lampposts.

Lastly, when you take a trip do not announce it to the world. Yes, a couple of neighbors should know just to be on guard if anything fishy goes on. Have them call the police if they see anything odd. Leave a phone number where you can be reached. I had a friend whose aunt's house was robbed during the day when they were on vacation. A moving van pulled up in their driveway and some men took their furniture away. One of the neighbors saw it, but just thought they were moving. It ended up the aunt told their maid when they would be on vacation. The maid innocently told a friend who told a cousin who sadly was a thief. Take this tip into consideration: Make it look like people are living at your house while you are gone. Think about hiring a neighbor kid to pick up flyers and cards off your stoop, and to take the trash in and out on trash day. Plug in light timers. Stop all mail and newspapers or have a neighbor pick them up. Consider having a friend stay at your house or at least stop by at different times.

Book Review- For Parents and their Kids

"The Bully Blockers Club," by Teresa Bateman. Illustrated by Jackie Urbanovic. Picture book with sentences. Do you have a child who is upset because they are being bullied at school? Have them read this inspirational book. It shows ways to overcome it. The best idea is the buddy system, which I've always supported. Five friends who stick together against one bully really helps. The book's story revolves around Lotty, a raccoon who is being pestered by a school bully. Each day of the week she tries different ways to cope with the situation. This book is for first graders (if you read it to them) to forth graders (because I like the sensible ideas in the book).

Movie Review

In keeping with my of Dog Days of Summer (Tips for Dog Owners and their families)I will be reviewing dog movies every so often this summer.

Movie Review: Homeward Bound- The Incredible Journey. Animal movie. Rated G. A family's three pets: an older golden retriever, a young bulldog and a cat are left to be cared for by others when their family goes away. The animals think their owners won't be coming back so they go take a long journey in an attempt to get back to them. Kids who love animals should like this movie. It's very cute. You root for the animals, hoping they make it back to their owners safely.