Arts and Craft Project

Button necklace. An easy art project for kids four years and over. Collect buttons from shirts and sweaters you are going to discard. Put them in jar. When you have enough buttons your child can string them in a pretty pattern for a necklace. Your child can make button necklaces as gifts for Grandma and their favorite aunt.

Book Review- Chapter book

Chapter book for third to fifth graders, depending on their reading level. "James and the Giant Peach," by Roald Dahl. My brother loved this book as a kid. It's an A 1 book. The author has a very vivid imagination. He's also a great story teller. In this book Dahl's character James lives with his two mean aunts. They are horrible to the little boy. A little old man who knows James is miserable gives him a bag of magic crystals. James is to put the crystals in water and drink it down. An excited James runs to the house. He slips on the way there. The bag of crystals falls on the ground near a peach tree. All the crystals dissolve into its soil. Soon the peach tree starts growing bigger and bigger. It gets so big James is able to climb inside a hole in its side. And this where his adventures begins.

Movie Review

Movie Title: The Court Jester. Comedy. Family movie. A court jester (Danny Kaye) comes to the aid of a king, helping him regain his throne in old England. Danny Kaye's comical antics will keep your family laughing. I highly recommend this movie!

Parent Tip- Toys

Does your child have too many toys in their room? Then rotate the toys. Put extra toys and games away in garage, attic or basement storage area. This will make your child's room neater. Plus, when you bring out toys or games they haven't seen in awhile they are more likely to play with them. Just don't rotate their favorite toy, stuff animal, or game. With babies you can rotate toys, rattles, stuff animals (baby proof ones)… every two weeks. For easy access put items in closet.

Book Review- Picture Book

A book for Parents to read with their kids. "Mommy Works, Daddy Works," by Marika Pedersen and Mikele Hall. Pictures by Deirdre Betteridge. Whether you work at home, you’re a full time caretaker, or you work at an office this book has you covered. It talks about different jobs parents have. Like a mantra on each page it always repeats that there's always time for me (the child). Meaning no matter what they are doing the parent makes times for their child. I like the positive message in the repetition but I'm not so keen on the style of the pictures. They aren't attractive or clever. Or even interesting (at least to me). In fact they are rather flat. Which makes a nice book like this just okay.

Parenting Article

Violence and Pain in Movies, TV and Cartoons.
Is there a Difference? How does it Affect Children?

I am not a fan of cartoons but I did like certain ones as a child. As the youngest child of many siblings I had very little control of the remote. I was subjected to watching a cartoon rabbit get hit over the head with a hammer and such repeatedly and never die. (I could have left, but why? I got to watch TV.) I never thought these situations were funny, but I never thought the rabbit was in danger. I knew it was animation. On that same token as a kid I saw a television comedy where a science experiment went awry and no one was hurt. In a silent movie I saw a bumbling cop fall off a moving police wagon and I never worried for his safety. I did not take it seriously. But I was horrified when I saw a person getting bitten by an alligator in an action/drama. This seemed more real to me. With the popularity of reality shows today and live snippets on the internet if I saw an actual person getting bitten by an alligator I probably would have had nightmares if I was a kid. But if it was a cartoon scene I doubt I would have given it a second thought. So the question is, are cartoons which show violence, like the bombing of a gofer hole or seeing someone get hit over the head with a pan, bad for children to watch? Well, I do not think it is the best thing in the world for them to watch. You do not want your child to get desensitized to violent acts. But even if they did watch them a normal child of ten knows about pretend. He should not be able to get away with whacking another child over the head with a baseball bat and claim, well I saw it in a cartoon and the cartoon character did not get hurt. Note the word: Cartoon. The average child of ten knows the difference between a cartoon and a live human. Likewise, at nine I knew in real life if you shot a gun at someone that person could die, but in a movie an ACTOR would not get hurt. It was make believe.

I liked Abbott and Costello as a kid. I still do. I know they do not really get hurt doing their slapstick routines. They are performers. Characters in a movie. But children should abhor violence and not think actual pain is funny. I do not like any TV show where people turn in home videos where it is an actual situation where an individual falls over something, hits their head and so on. This is not imagery. Reality is not suspended. These are REAL people in REAL situations. Why is this supposed to be funny? It is not. If you watch home video TV shows with your child where people trip down stairs, bump their head, ect. and one day you bang your head and your child laughs whose fault is this? Why was it funny when a real person banged their head but not you? Another point, what would happen if a child who likes attention watched a TV show where a man on a home video slipped off a high trampoline but got up and everyone in the TV audience laughed? If this child did such an act himself for attention I would feel badly if he got hurt. I could see his point if he said, "Well the guy in the video did not get hurt. And people laughed." I would think it was a very unwise thing to do, but I would feel sad he did such a thing for attention.

Now as a child I could not see myself slipping off a trampoline for attention. But I also could not have seen myself jumping off a low hanging roof to show off either. However, growing up I had hyperactive friend who I would not have been surprised if he would have tried either, for attention or for a dare. In both cases he would have known the danger, he just would have dismissed the thought that HE would get badly hurt. He liked to take risks. I believe some children are more prone to engage in risky behavior. Even if you limit what they watch on TV. My friend's parents were careful with what he watched, but he still was curious. He would not think twice about opening up a phone to see how it worked. As far as seeing violent gory scenes on TV, if he could sneak a peek at another friend's house he would. Would this make him more prone to act out aggressively than if he did not see them? I think it depends on the child. If you have a child who tends to be aggressive and expose him to violence, then my belief is yes. But I think he would be more prone to hit if he sees his parents fighting and hitting than if he saw this type of behavior on the screen.

Award winning book- Chapter book for fifth to eighth graders.

"The Giver," by Lois Lowry. This book was awarded a Newbery Medal. It's on the reading list of some schools. "The Giver" is a thought provoking book. Before I read it people had a hard time explaining the premise to me. They just said read it. I'm glad I did.
A boy named Jonas and his family live in a perfect community, metaphorically, a living bubble. There is no sadness, fear, or pain. Everything is safe and under control. Rules are hard to change. When Jonas turns twelve he has a special ceremony where he is given his assignment in the community. He is given special training from The Giver. The Giver can give you memories of pain and pleasure. Jonas fractures his leg, he can't have medication. He feels pain. But he does get a nice memory after his daily work. After some time Jonas learns that the memory of love is nice, but he believes if you felt love all the time it could come with a risk. It could cause you pain. But Jonas learns that erasing things you don't like, like pain, doesn't make you or your life better. Living in a fantasy lie isn't all that is cracked up to be. The part in the book where a baby cries and what is done about it is interesting. It makes you really think about problem solving. And how people avoid unpleasantness at any cost.

Movie Review

Movie Title: Night at the Museum, Battle of the Smithsonian. Rated PG. Maybe it got the PG rating for the non-bloody battle scenes between the museum wax works. Maybe it wanted a PG rating. I don't know. I saw it with two boys and their eight-year-old cousin. She wasn't scared in the least. Now I was a little worried about seeing this movie. I heard it wasn't nearly as good as the first. When you see a movie without high expectations and it's not as bad as you thought it might be, you consider yourself fortunate. This is how I felt about this film. In this movie there are some amusing dialogs; the tiny Roman Emperor and his tiny cowboy friend were fun to watch; and King Tut's evil brother was absolutely hilarious. He stole the movie. However, the ending was a bit too pat. And not very believable. Maybe Mr. Stiller should have asked kids if they thought the ending was plausible. Two kids I know agreed with each other that they wouldn't give up being super rich just to be a night guard. All in all, don't be afraid like I was, about renting this movie. It's worth renting.

Movie plot: Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is no longer a night guard at the history museum. His simple minded inventions have made him rich. He visits his old hunting ground, the history museum. He finds out the wax works are being put in deep storage at the Smithsonian for more modern technology. Larry takes it upon himself to do something about this. When he gets to Washington DC he sees the wax works have come alive at the Smithsonian. Larry must keep King Tut's brother, Napoleon, Al Capone and a Russian noble from taking over the Smithsonian and possibly the world. The wax work, Amelia Earhart, helps Larry accomplish this.

Back to school idea

On the first day or week of grammar school put a note in your child's lunch bag saying, "Have a great day at school!" If they are in preschool or kindergarten draw a smiley face then a heart signed Mom or Dad. You can also put a note in your wife or husband's lunch if they take one to work. You can write, "Honey, you're terrific! Have a wonderful day at work." It will brighten their day.

Last Dog Tip

Here is the last Dog's Day of Summer Dog Tip- Make sure your dog has plenty of clean water. Give them new water everyday. Recheck water bowl on hot days to make sure your dog still has water. Do not leave their water in a metal bowl in the hot sun. The metal can get really hot and it could burn your dog when they go for a drink. Use a ceramic bowl. My thoughts: If humans nowadays are not suppose to drink water out of plastic bottles that have been in the sun too long, or in the hot car, then a dog should not drink out of plastic water containers which are placed in the sun.

Picture Book Review

For Parents to read with their kids. "First Day," story and pictures by Joan Rankin. With a main character named Haybillybun you know this book will be fun. It's a quirky story about a pup's first day at school. It has corresponding pictures. Kids will laugh at the odd names given to the puppies. Story Line: Haybillybun is nervous about going to Puppy school. The pup is worried because he has a long name and he thinks he has scary eyes. But when he gets to school other pups have just as long, and even stranger, names. Things work out and he likes school. Great book for kids who are just entering school.

Movie Review

Movie Title: My Dog Skip. Rated PG. Dog movie. It's a drama with some funny moments. I saw it with a nine-year-old girl and we both really liked it. However, and I don't mean to be a movie spoiler, but the little girl I saw it with was sad when the dog died in the end. (A deer also dies in the movie.) Some parents need to know this because some kids just don't like seeing movies where dogs and other cute animals die. The movie takes place in Mississippi during the 1940's. A lonely boy gets a small dog for his birthday over the objections of his stern father. He names the dog Skip. Skip gives the boy someone to play with. The boy learns the joys and sorrows of owing a dog. One great thing about dogs are they love you for you. They don't care if you're young or old, fat or thin, white, brown or black. As long as you're nice to them they will stand by you. The movie takes place in the segregated South. Dogs like Skip can teach humans a thing or two.

Science Day

Science Day: Have your child cut a clipping of a favorite rose bush or plant in your yard. Cut off any flowers. Put desired clipping in a cup filled with water. Leave in shade and make sure it always has water. After a month when the clipping has grown roots, plant in POT with good soil. Keep out of hot sun. When cutting gets bigger you can plant it in the ground. Clippings don't always grow well, depending on the plant. Try it with different greenery you have in your yard and see what works. I've had good luck with roses myself. You can call your local nursery and ask them what plant clippings work best in your area.