Tip for Parents of babies and toddlers

Do not let your baby or toddler fall asleep with a bottle of milk or juice in their mouth. It's not good for their teeth. Ask your pediatrician or dentist about brushing your toddler's teeth. Ask your pediatrician about wiping your baby's (five month plus) gums everyday with a wet washcloth before they get teeth. Use room temperature water on washcloth.

Book Review: Age group 5 - 7

Picture book for ages five to seven. "Nice Try, Tooth Fairy," by Mary W. Olson. Illustrated by Katherine Tillotson. I liked the pictures, but I was rather confused with the story the first time around. The confusion had to do with the written letters to the tooth fairy. I had to read them twice to follow the story correctly. Which makes me wonder if a child would have the same problem. Due to this I would not buy this book, but it's worth a check out from the library. But the basis plot idea is good.
The story basically goes like this, a little girl wants her tooth back from the tooth fairy to show her grandfather, but she ends up with other teeth instead (a hippo and an elephant). She finally gets her own tooth back to show her grandfather.

Craft- Bird Feeder

Make a bird feeder out of a cardboard milk carton. Buy a half gallon of milk in a cardboard carton. When your family is done with the milk clean the box thoroughly with soap and water. Cut most the top off, leaving only three or four inches on the bottom. Get some string. With scissors, poke hole in the middle section of the bottom. Pull string through. Tie on underside, then make loop on top. Place on hook under patio. Or find a tree and loop it through a branch. Once feeder is in place put bird seed in and wait for birds. This is meant for light weight birds. I like this type of feeder because squirrels don't like the light weight box as much as the sturdy ones.

Movie Review

Movie Title: Madeline. Children's movie. Based on the children's books by Ludwig Bemelmans. Rated PG. (I'm not sure why to me it was mild.) A sweet impish little French girl, Madeline, attends an all girl's boarding school. Since she is very happy there she tries to save it from being bought. Chaos follows. Cute movie. Little girls should enjoy it. I did and I'm not even so little.

2 in 1, Science Day and Household tip

Combination science experiment and household tip. I had a friend who hated to polish her silverware. (Which is something I'm not keen about doing either.) She tried different products that promised easy silver cleaning. None worked to her satisfaction. Due to this she was going to give away a silver tea set a friend gave her to a school rummage sale. Since she was just going to give it away I suggested she first try a polishing tip I heard about. With her child present we did this experiment. This experiment is for older children since it involves a pot of hot water. And use only silverware and silver cups that if ruined in any way, even slightly, you won't be upset. In other words don't try this first on your great-grandmother's silver coffee pot. Some people like this polishing technique, others do not, saying it's too harsh on silver. Due to oxidation tarnish appears on silver. Sometimes you can wipe it off with hard wiping with a soft cotton cloth. This baking soda technique helps take tarnish off without all the hard work, but wiping is safer for silverware you cherish. I take no responsibility for the outcome of your silver with this experiment. Thus, if you're worried about your silver, buy an old cheap silver plated spoon that you don't care about at a garage sale and try this experiment with it.

Put aluminum foil on the inside bottom of a two gallon pot. Fill with water. Heat to a boil. Mix a quarter cup of baking soda with the two gallons of water. Using a tong, you as the parent, ease in silver tea cup and saucer in the pot and any silver forks and knives that fit. Remember: Dip items down, fully. You will see the foil darken and the tarnish disappear on the cup, saucer and silverware. "It's like magic!" my friend's child exclaimed. Once tarnish is off (do not leave in pot too long) take items out with tongs and put in sink to wash. The silver will be hot so let cool before washing with dish soap.

Book Review- Award Winner

From time to time I will list award winning books.
Chapter book for forth to seventh graders. "Island of the Blue Dophins," by Scott O'Dell. Winner of the Newbery Medal. A grand book. Story taken from an actual fact that an Indian girl spent eighteen years alone on an island. This book is about an Indian girl, Karana, who's unintentionally left behind on an island. She waits year after year hoping to be rescued by her people. Until then she has to do a lot to stay alive. Using her wits she makes her own shelter, obtains her own food and makes weapons to keep off the island's feral dogs. A truly inspiring and amazing book. Karana is a real life, Survivor.

Parenting Article - Eye rolling

Have you ever caught your child rolling their eyes at something you said? If so, let's take a look at reasons why they could have done it.

Think back to a time your child rolled their eyes at you. Was it when you were telling a joke which they did not think was funny? Was it when you told them to eat their vegetables? Or when you were correcting them in front of a friend of theirs? Now think about this. Did they do it out of blatant disrespect or out of embarrassment? If they rolled their eyes while you were correcting them in front of a friend they could have done it out of embarrassment. They were embarrassed by what you were doing in front of a peer. No, it was not appropriate that your child rolled their eyes at you while you were correcting them, even in front of a friend, but do be sensitive when you correct your child. It can be very embarrassing to announce in front of the class just before your child gives an oral report, "Do not slouch, James!" If James rolls his eyes it is an emotional response based on social discomfort. He is rolling his eyes in defense. A plea. "Please leave me alone, Ma. You are embarrassing me." Do be mindful of your child's feeling. If it is not critical that you correct your child at that very moment in front of other kids or even in front of other adults, do it later.

Another situation where I believe you should have some leniency with eye rolling is when you are telling a joke. A child should not have to find your jokes funny. As long as their body language is not overtly rude and they do not say something mean to you about your joke, you should not make a big ta-do of their eye rolling. Now if you tell your child to eat their vegetables and they look at you defiantly, cross their arms and roll theirs eyes, this is being disrespectful. This should not be tolerated. You should not brush it off as kids just being kids. You should tell them they are being disrespectful. With this in mind, when watching a child roll their eyes look for corresponding body language and facial expressions. I believe this is important. If a parent tells their child to please clean their room and the child gives them an impertinent look while rolling their eyes this is being disrespectful. On the other hand, if a parent tells their child, "Lucy, you need to do your homework over. Your handwriting is atrocious!" and Lucy looks to the right or quickly rolls her eyes down while blushing or slumping her shoulders in a defeated manner she is not being disrespectful. I have seen upset parents react too fast to their child's emotional response and accuse them of "rolling their eyes" and being disrespectful when the child was in fact not doing this. Their manner was not defiant, they were showing humiliation. There is a difference. Make sure you don't jump to the conclusion your child is being disrespectful.