Burger Bar

by Nora Sherman
May 24, 2009

When the days are long and all you and your grandchildren want to enjoy the backyard, the ultimate kitchen playdate spends as little time as possible in the kitchen. A “burger bar” is a twist on the grill-out, as Lauren Bank Deen explains in Kitchen Playdates  (Chronicle Books, 2007). These recipes for toppings and condiments are ready in minutes, and their exotic, vibrant flavors engage young cooks/eaters. Adding just a bit of cayenne to the bacon, chipotle to the mayonnaise, or jalapeño to the tropical-fruit salsa is an exciting introduction to spices for young palates, but you can always make two versions, one without the heat.

Grill enough hamburgers and turkey and veggie burgers for everyone, and let people add their own toppings, such as sugar-and-spice bacon, chipotle mayonnaise, pineapple and mango salsa, and marinated feta cheese, as well as the traditional ketchup and mustard. Don’t forget the toasted buns!

Deen suggests rounding out the outdoor meal with campfire potatoes(prepared both in the microwave and on the grill) and coconut ice-cream sandwiches for dessert.
Sugar-and-Spice Bacon

“The crispy coating of brown sugar and cayenne here hits just the right note,” Deen writes in Kitchen Playdates. “I usually make a third of the batch without the cayenne for the kids.” A slice or two, cut in half, makes an unusually sweet and spicy bacon burger. It’s especially good on turkey burgers. Sous-chefs-in-training can do the prep work – setting up the foil-lined baking sheet – and the cooking, while little line-cooks can sprinkle the bacon with the flavor.

Ingredients:
1 pound bacon
1 cup brown sugar, light or dark
1/2 teaspoon cayenne, or more to taste

Equipment:
Measuring cups and spoons
Baking rack
Baking sheet
Aluminum foil
Paper towels

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Place a baking rack over a foil-lined baking sheet and place the bacon across the rack. Sprinkle the sugar and cayenne over both sides of the bacon. Bake for 15 minutes, or until crispy. Drain on paper towels.
Chipotle Mayonnaise

Add just a bit of the canned chipotles to start and encourage children to taste before adding more. Little line-cooks can do the measuring and mixing, while sous-chefs-in-training can do the chopping.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon or more (to taste) of canned chipotles in sauce, chopped
2 cups mayonnaise

Equipment:
Measuring cups and spoons
Chopping knife
Serving bowl
Mixing spoon

Combine the ingredients in a serving bowl and mix well. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Pineapple and Mango Salsa

If a sous-chef-in-training is doing the chopping, be sure she washes her hands carefully after handling the jalapeños and avoid any contact with her eyes or face. A little line-cook can juice the lime with the help of a citrus squeezer or juicer, but you should leave the zesting to a sous-chef-in-training (with more kitchen experience). If young children will be eating the salsa, you may want to reserve some for them that omits the jalapeño.

Ingredients:
1 pineapple, cut in 1/4-inch dice
1 mango, cut in 1/4-inch dice
1 red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeño, diced
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Equipment:
Measuring cups and spoons
Chopping knife
Serving bowl
Mixing spoon
Zester
Citrus juicer

Combine all ingredients in the serving bowl and mix well. Store in the refrigerator until about 20 minutes before serving.
Marinated Feta Cheese

A welcome alternative to Cheddar cheese, this marinated feta cheese elevates a basic burger to something worthy of a grill by the side of the Mediterranean. Little line-cooks can crumble the feta and mix the ingredients.

Ingredients:
1 pound feta, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup olive oil

Equipment:
Measuring cups and spoons
Chopping knife
Serving bowl
Mixing spoon
Zester
Citrus juicer

Combine all ingredients in the serving bowl and mix well. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Source: Grand Parents

Garry Marshall vs. Lori Marshall: On Decorating

by Garry and Lori Marshall
May 24, 2009

 

 

 

The veteran Hollywood director and his daughter argue over intelligent design or a waste of time.

MOM LORI: My boyfriend wanted to see a picture of me as a teenager and I showed him the famous one.

POP GARRY: Of you standing by the concrete slab?

MOM LORI: Not many people have that kind of a photo.

POP GARRY: What did he think?

MOM LORI: He was surprised. He thought the photo was extremely princess-y of me.

POP GARRY: And you are not that way anymore?

MOM LORI: Nah. I hung up my teenage tiara for good.

POP GARRY: Not many teenage girls have the audacity to instruct a contractor to make her new bedroom six feet longer than it was supposed to be. Without discussing it with her parents first, no less.

MOM LORI: Mom was kind of mad at me back then.

POP GARRY: If my memory serves correctly, I believe she tried to strangle you when we got home from the cruise and found out.

MOM LORI: But I thought the room was going to be too small.

POP GARRY: Clearly.

MOM LORI: But then the room turned out to be way too huge when it was done.

POP GARRY: Reminiscent of a football field with a canopy bed on the 50-yard line.

MOM LORI: But why did the contractor listen to me anyway? I was only a teenager.

POP GARRY: Ah, you’ve hit upon one of the most difficult problems in the history of Western Civilization: How to win an argument with a teenage girl? Impossible.

MOM LORI: Teenage boys aren’t as difficult?

POP GARRY: Not particularly. And they certainly don’t scream, throw purple eye shadow, and flip their hair around as ferociously.

MOM LORI: But to a teenage girl, your own room is the most special place you have. A private space. As Virginia Woolf wrote – “A Room of One’s Own.”

POP GARRY: Teenage girls should find a way to personalize their private space without spending too much money. A nice area rug. Something in shag.

MOM LORI: Remember when we used to have hardwood floors until Kathleen fell out of the top of the bunk bed?

POP GARRY: Carpeting is definitely better for breaking falls. And what about signage? That’s cheap.

MOM LORI: Like “No parents allowed?” or “Knock before entering?”

POP GARRY: You used to have a funny one that said, “I only talk during TV commercials.” Signs are affordable and so is painting a bedroom.

MOM LORI: What’s a good color for my teenagers, your granddaughters?

POP GARRY: I read some place that red is a stimulating color and yellow is good if you have asthma or want to sleep a lot. So I would steer clear of yellow. Teenagers sleep enough.

MOM LORI: What about everything else? Where do you draw the line? At chintz? At leopard? At fur and leather?

POP GARRY: Definitely at concrete.

MOM LORI: There’s all of this pressure in the catalogues – like Pottery Barn Teen and Children’s Ikea – to give your kids the coolest and hippest room. How can people afford it?

POP GARRY: I like Ikea.

MOM LORI: You’ve never been to Ikea.

POP GARRY: No, but I want to go. I hear everything there is very peppy and cheap. I think Virginia Woolf would have liked to go to Ikea to decorate her room.

MOM LORI: It is a fun place. And they have good Swedish meatballs there, too.

POP GARRY: Let’s take a field trip to Ikea.

MOM LORI: Okay! How much should the overall budget be?

POP GARRY: Is $100 enough?

MOM LORI: Sounds low, Dad.

POP GARRY: Yes, but you gotta start with some kind of budget and work within it.

MOM LORI: I like that idea. Very Suze Orman of you. Never leave home without a shopping list to guide you and your wallet.

POP GARRY: And I think teens should do what I did in the old days in the Bronx. Decorate with junk.

MOM LORI: I think today they would refer to it as “slightly worn” or “vintage.”

POP GARRY: Exactly. Vintage is cheaper than new stuff. Get creative. Put up pictures of sports heroes. Rock-and-rollers. TV stars. Charlotte should hang up posters from her favorite television show House, for example.

MOM LORI: But I won’t let her use tape or put thumbtacks up because it will ruin the walls.

POP GARRY: So frame them or find another way.

MOM LORI: Lily is into local politics and I can decorate her room with framed pictures of local politicians.

POP GARRY: Very PC of her. You see, you are officially over being a princess.

MOM LORI: I’m trying. But please don’t tell my daughters that I was ever a princess.

POP GARRY: It’s okay. If you ever feel like getting princess-y again, call me and I’ll send you some concrete.

MOM LORI: No. No. I’m blocking out that memory from my past.

POP GARRY: Don’t do that. It’s a good memory. Something beneficial came out of the experience for everyone involved. I bet that contractor never worked with a teenage girl again.
 

Source: Grandparents

 

 

 

Kids Ask Sparky the Fire Dog

by Sparky
May 24, 2009

Here’s your chance to ask me questions you may about safety. I’ll try to answer as many questions as I can, but I receive a lot of mail, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t see your question right away. Be sure to include your first name, your age, and your hometown.

(Q) What is fire safety?

(A)  Fire safety means taking simple steps to prevent fires from starting.
 
(Q) How can I be safe from fire?
(A) There are many steps you can take to be safe from fire, and they’re all easy. Following are ten key tips to stay fire-safe:

•  
  1. In the kitchen, keep your stove clean and uncluttered. Make sure a grown-up stands next to the stove all the time when something is cooking on it.
  2. If there are adults in your home who smoke, they should use large, non-tip ashtrays. When they’re finished smoking, they should either flush the cigarette butts down the toilet or rinse them with water before throwing them away.
  3. If you see matches or lighters, don’t touch them! Tell a grown-up where you found them and ask to have the matches and lighters locked up high and away from all kids in your home.
  4. If your family uses portable or space heaters, make sure they’re at least three feet away from walls, furniture, and anything that can burn. Turn them off when you leave the room or go to sleep!
  5. If your home has a fireplace, make sure there’s a sturdy screen in front of it when it’s being used. Only put kindling in the fireplace to keep a fire going Ð don’t burn wrapping paper or other items in your fireplace.
  6. Make sure electrical cords are in good condition. (Ask a grown-up to unplug appliances before you inspect the cords.)
  7. Keep paint, gasoline, and other flammable liquids stored away from heat, flame, and sparks.
  8. Make sure candles holders are heavy, sturdy, and large enough to hold candles upright.
  9. Check to see that there’s at least one smoke alarm on every level of your home and in or near all sleeping areas. Ask a grown-up to help you push the test button to make sure they’re working.
  10. Keep all the exits in your home clear of toys, trash, and clutter.

 Source: Sparky

Ten Places Find a Babysitter for Child with Special Needs

About.com
May 24, 2009>

A night out, a weekend away, a special occasion with one of your other children. There are times when you really, really need a babysitter for your child with special needs. But it has to be a babysitter who can handle him. Who knows about her health problems or behavioral struggles? Who will show good judgment when your child can’t. Who will keep your child safe against long odds? That’s not a job for the teen next door. Who you are going to call? Here are 10 places to start your search.

1. Your family

There may be many family members who you would no more trust with your child’s needs than you would a stranger on the street. But if there is a sympathetic relative who has a rapport with your child, which may be a good place to look for child-sitting services. Don’t take unfair advantage, but don’t be afraid to ask.

 

2. Your close and trusted friends

We’re not talking about casual acquaintances here. A friend who is close to your family and your child may welcome an opportunity to spend some quality time. Besides taking care of your child-care emergencies, this is a good way to create deep bonds between your child and those surrogate “uncles” and “aunts.”

 

3. Your child’s school

Young teachers may be in the market for a little job on the side, and if there’s one you particularly like, it may be worth asking, privately and in no way that jeopardizes anyone’s job, whether there’s any babysitting availability. Similarly, classroom aides may welcome a chance for some extra income.

 

4. Your child-care provider

The workers who handle your child’s needs at a daycare, preschool, or after-school program would likely be able to do that in your home as well. If there’s a worker you or your child particularly likes, find a discreet way to ask if they’d possibly be available for occasional babysitting.

 

5. Your therapists

Many school speech, occupational, and physical therapists are young, fresh from school, and paying off student loans. Although there may again be some conflict of interest in their seeing a child out of school, it doesn’t hurt to check if they’d be interested in child-watching jobs over the summer if not during the school year.

 

6. Your house of worship

Asking around among members of your worship community may help you find out about experienced parents who are looking for extra work to help their children pay for college or to supplement family income. Putting an ad in a church bulletin or newspaper may also be a good tactic. Be up-front about your child’s special needs.

 

7. Your nearby college

If a college near you has a special education program, or one for speech, physical, or occupational therapy — anything for which students need to gain experience with special-needs children — call the offices of those programs and see if there are students close to graduation, with some skills in dealing with special kids, who would appreciate the opportunity to work informally with yours.

 

8. Your support group

The moms in your support group are likely too busy taking care of their own challenging children to watch yours, too. But they may have found good babysitting resources in your community that they can share with you. Can’t hurt to ask.

 

9. Your state or local respite services

Respite services provide professionals to watch your child while you get a night or weekend off. The ARCH National Respite Network can help you find services in your area. Click on “Search for Respite” for a form listing your specific needs, or on “State Listings” for information listed alphabetically by state and city.

 

10. Your own tired spouse

It ruins date night for sure, but if finding someone outside the immediate family proves to be impossible, see if you can at least alternate so that each of you gets time off — and time in, being the exclusive caretaker and playmate. A weekly coffee out with a friend or half-hour at the gym can do a lot to refresh and relax you. Take what you can get.
About.com

Calling for help

by BSO Kids
May 23, 2009
 

None of us handle emergencies every day. In fact, even grown-ups aren’t always sure what to do. You can save someone’s life if you do two things: first, stay calm! Second, call 9-1-1 right away.

• When you call 9-1-1, the operator will ask you if you need police, fire, or medical help. If you’re not sure, just explain what’s going on and the operator will take it from there.
• If you can’t remember 9-1-1, just dial “0” for the operator. If you’re away from home and a pay phone is nearby, just pick up the handset and dial. An emergency call from a pay phone is free-you don’t need any coins.
• It’s okay to tell the operator your name and your age. If you are calling from a home telephone, you don’t need to know the address. The address will automatically show up on the operator’s computer screen. If you’re outside calling from a cell phone, the computer won’t be able to tell exactly where you are. So, the operator might ask you if you can see any street signs or large buildings near by. They need that information so they know exactly where to send help.
• Stay on the phone until the operator tells you it’s okay to hang up. They will probably ask you questions while help is on the way. Speak loudly and clearly, and answer the questions the best you can.
• If a fire breaks out at your home, leave immediately and go to a neighbor’s house to call 9-1-1. Never call 9-1-1 from inside a burning building. Your safety comes first!
• You should only call 9-1-1 for life and death emergencies-when you need help fast. Maybe you are seeing a crime in progress, or someone’s very ill or was badly injured in an accident, or if there’s a fire.
• Sometimes when we make telephone calls, we dial the wrong number by mistake. If you dial 9-1-1 by mistake, wait until the operator answers and tell them you dialed the wrong number. If you dial 9-1-1 then hang up without talking to the operator, they will think something is wrong and will send a police officer or deputy to your home to see if you’re okay. If you stay on the line and tell the operator you just dialed the wrong number, they’ll be happy.

Source: Broward Sheriff Office

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

By Mariam El Hasan
May 24, 2009

Remember when history came to life in the hilarious movie Night at the Museum? Well, guess what? The sequel, Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian, will be opening in theaters May 22, just in time for the Memorial Day weekend. The movie is rated PG.

Scholastic News visited the set where the sequel was filmed in Vancouver, Canada, last summer to get the scoop on this upcoming summer blockbuster.

In the movie, artifacts from The Museum of Natural History in New York are moved to the Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. while the New York museum is closed for renovation.

All the artifacts that came to life in the first movie will again take center stage in the sequel. This time, they will be joined by aviator Amelia Earhart, French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, inventor Albert Einstein, Russian Czar Ivan the Terrible, and plenty more.

Ben Stiller returns as Larry Daley, the museum security guard. Amy Adams plays Amelia Earhart. (You might remember her as “Princess Giselle” from the Disney movie Enchanted.)

And do you recall the mischievous monkey named Dexter from the first movie? Well, this go around Dexter befriends the space monkey from the Air and Space Museum. The two of them join forces to double the trouble!

Visiting the Set

On the set in Vancouver, reporters talked to the actors and director. Scholastic News asked Ben Stiller about the craziest job he has ever held.

The director, Shawn Levy, grinned mischievously and rubbed the palms of his hands together like a movie villain when he heard the question.

“Yes… Do tell,” he said in anticipation of Stiller’s answer.

“Well, I never really had any crazy jobs,” Stiller said. “I just had bad jobs. Probably the worst job I had was as a waiter. I was really bad at it.”

Amy Adams was asked who she identified more with, her character Princess Giselle from Enchanted or her character Amelia Earhart from Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

She thought about it for a moment and said that there’s a part of her that always feels like a princess. In the end, however, she decided on the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
 
“I would have to say that I identify more with Amelia Earhart,” she concluded.
 
Art Director Claude Pare gave reporters a tour of the set. He and his art team did an amazing job recreating the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum, the second most popular of the Smithsonian Institute’s 19 museums and galleries. Everything looks exactly like the originals in the actual museum.

The institute was founded in 1846 to increase and spread knowledge about science, history, and culture. The museums have collected more than 136 million items from around the word and outer space, ranging from Lincoln’s top hat to Dorothy’s ruby red slippers from the movie Wizard of Oz to moon rocks.

Scholastic News asked Pare what he would put in the Smithsonian if given the opportunity.

“I would like to take all the information I’ve gathered to prepare this film and all the other films that I’ve made in my life and put it in the box so that people could come and look at it and share it,” he said.

Here’s something for you to think about as you head for the theater to see this movie: If you could put any of your prized belongings on display in the Smithsonian, what would it be and why?

 

Source: Scholastic News Online

Memorial Day Poem

By Dan Samaria
Publisher/YC
May 24, 2009

 

While looking for stories to honor those who have gave their lives on Memorial Day. I came across this poem. That I think shows the true meaning of this special day. It was written by Cadet Major Kelly Strong Air Force Junior ROTC Homestead Senior High School Homestead, Florida 1988.

I hope you will enjoy it. We would like to hear from you on how this poem affected you if it did. You could reach me at dan@youngchronicle.com

 

A wonderful Poem…For Memorial Day and every day…

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young marine saluted it,
and then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform
so young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert.
He’d stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers’ tears?

How many pilots’ planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?
No, freedom is not free.

I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant “Amen,”
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom is not free.

Source: Navy For Moms

Importance Play in Early Childhood

By Maya Pillai
May 18, 2009

 

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” – An old proverb

Playing is a much needed activity in the early childhood. You may have come across a child playing and you are sure he is having a fun time. However, there is more to the picture than meets the eye. The reason is that “play” is the building block of a child’s intellectual skills. The parents should realize that through play, their child develops social skills, problem solving skills and also interpersonal skills.

Parents should ensure that their child plays with other children. This is important because it helps in the emotional and social development and also in learning skills such as negotiation. By playing with the children of their own age group, a child learns lessons in sharing and give and take. You could rightly say, play is an integral part of learning.

A child is born with an innate talent and an urge to learn new things through exploration. For instance, when a toddler starts to walk, he would not like to be carried around. He wants to walk. As a child grows, as a parent you should instill new skills and also teach him/her new things through play. This is when play becomes an important activity in early childhood.

Importance of Play in Early Childhood

Play is important in early childhood because it helps prepare a child for school. Engaging in play activities helps to nurture social and language skills. When a child engages himself/herself in hands-on play activities at home, it helps to refine his listening and reasoning skills. There are many multi-sensory play activities that teach a child to understand and learn through touch, sight and sound.

Play is important in early childhood because it helps in the physical development of the child. Obesity is a common problem among children today. Engaging in outdoor games helps in preventing childhood obesity. Outdoor games also help to nurture and co-ordinate the sensory-motor development of a child.

Singing along with your child or engaging in play activities involving rhyming words enhances the language learning. Experts opine, it is necessary to nurture oral language skills in the early years of childhood than teaching word recognition and letter sounds. As a parent, you need to understand that talking to your child would enable him/her to pick up the language quickly. Apart from engaging in talking, singing songs, reciting poems and story telling would enhance language skills in a child.

Play helps to hone math skills in a child. Children grasp the concepts of math at an early stage. As a parent, it is your responsibility to develop this skill by engaging them in play activities such as counting the number of objects in a sack, teaching them relationships like short and long, big and small, less and more and so on.

Through play, children not only learn many new skills, but also develop self-esteem. One thing worth mentioning is, parents must learn to respect the interests of their children and let them take the lead while playing. Play helps in developing a healthy and long-lasting relationship between a child and his/her parents. It also helps the parents to gain an insight into the thought process of their child.

Source: Buzzle.com

May No Soldier Go Unloved

By Thomas Anthony Longo
World Voice News
May 23, 2009

Sometimes, a book comes along that shatters all your expectations and breaks every mold and routine that you use to approach the act of reviewing.

Most of the time when one reviews books, there is a requirement of a certain pedigree; being well read and educated to a certain level, or an ability to discern art in the midst of routine and rhetoric. Often, the reviewing of books is a tedious matter with little reward for the effort. Most of the time it is the practice of reviewers to keep the purely personal out of their reviews. It is in fact the hallmark of an objective review. Sometimes, a book comes along that shatters all your expectations and breaks every mold and routine that you use to approach the act of reviewing.
Soldiers’ Angels-“May No Soldier Go Unloved” is such a book.

When I first picked up this book I had no idea what was in store for me. I knew generally that it was about a volunteer organization that helped out soldiers in the field. As a political writer, who was disgusted at the attempt of the Democrat party to pull funding from the troops, I looked forward to it. I had no idea how quickly it would strip away all hint of ideology and preconception.

By the time I was ten pages into this book I had forgotten all about political squabbles. By the time I was thirteen pages into this book, I was crying like a baby. Without a doubt, this book makes one thing crystal clear. Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, whether you oppose the war or support it, the soldiers who fight in foreign lands on our behalf do believe in their mission. If we do not support them and if we do not go the extra mile to help them to complete their mission, then we are not Americans at all.

It’s true that most of the soldiers in Iraq believe in the cause that they fight for, but that’s not the mission I speak of. I speak of each and every soldier’s drive to do their part and return home safely. I speak of the mission of each member of the military to keep their family back home safe and provided for. In this, I speak of the personal mission of each soldier. This is something that Patti Patton Bader has hit upon, and it’s not surprising that her epiphany and everything that followed became a national movement.

As one reads Soldiers’ Angels-“May No Soldier Go Unloved,” the deep emotion caused by the speed of a single idea, that spreads into a power to move mountains, is overwhelming.   It is difficult to believe that such just happen. Certainly, the snowball effect as one mother’s courage and commitment spread to those around her and mushroom into a national campaign to help soldiers in the field, must be the result of divine intervention.

In many ways, Soldiers’ Angels-“May No Soldier Go Unloved” is more than just the story of one woman’s fight to help her son in a foreign land. It’s more than a chronicle of how sending a few boxes of cookies metamorphed into airlifts of goods on the grand scale. It is a demonstration, once again, that the actions of one person can have a dramatic effect in the world we live in.

Many of the pages of Soldiers’ Angels-“May No Soldier Go Unloved” are devoted to letters back home from the soldiers who are receiving the largess of their adopted “angels.” Of course, the heartfelt thanks is moving, but no less so than the desire to tell the anonymous donors about the things that they are doing and explain how their selfless gifts helped to make life in an unbearable place, more bearable.

There are letters of commendation from officers in all branches of the service, but none of the letters reproduced in Soldiers’ Angels-“May No Soldier Go Unloved” are as moving and as heartfelt as the letters of those relatives of soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

A book of this kind defies a traditional review, and cries out for something more. In the process of requesting a review copy of Soldiers’ Angels-“May No Soldier Go Unloved,” I received a copy of an email from Patti to Jeff Bader by accident. She had seen my request and wrote a quick not to Jeff to tell him that she thought my request was “important.”

How unimportant I am cannot be more evident. I can write this review, and I can do everything I know how to do to publicize Soldiers’ Angels, and get the word out about the good work that they are doing, but it can never be anything but laughably insignificant when compared to the mountains moved by one woman with faith and a will.

I’m not important, Patti. This review is not important. What you are doing and what Soldiers’ Angels is doing.

These things are the very definition of important.

Soldiers’ Angels-“May No Soldier Go Unloved” is something else too, it’s a paean of love and admiration from a husband to his wife-a validation of an effort well undertaken and a life well lived. I cannot recommend enough that you buy and read Soldiers’ Angels-“May No Soldier Go Unloved,”  nor can I encourage you to become involved with the organization with more enthusiasm.

Please, visit the Soldiers’ Angels organization at their web site.

Adopt a soldier. Spend your money. Spend your time. Do anything that you can to help. If ever there was an organization worthy of American generosity, this is that organization.

Source: Soldiers Angel

7 Hints for Kids in Childcare

By Claire Lerner
May 18, 2009

What parents can do to smooth the transition between caregivers for their toddlers.

Q. We are moving and will be switching childcare centers. How can we help our 18-month-old son say goodbye to his current teacher (someone he adores) and transition to the new center?

A. Transitions can be hard for young children, especially toddlers who are, by nature, not fond of change. Being sensitive to the fact that this will be difficult for him, especially because he will also be dealing with the house move, is the most important first step.

Toddlers don’t have a firm grasp on time, so don’t start talking about the change in childcare until a week or two before the change will take place. Talking about the center change too far in advance may just create more anxiety. In addition, while 18-month-olds do understand a lot, and certainly understand more than they can actually say, they can’t begin to fully comprehend complex ideas such as making this kind of social transition by words alone.

Here are some ways to help him accept the change:

1. Ask your child’s current teacher to write some brief notes about your son to share with his new caregiver. Some important issues to cover would be: how he handles transitions (does she do anything special to help with this?); what his routines are for naptimes and mealtimes; how to comfort him; and what his favorite toys, books, and activities are. Sharing this information with your son’s new caregiver helps to ensure some consistency in his life during a period of great changes and can ease the transition into a new childcare setting.

2. Read books with him about making changes. Hearing about the similar experiences of others can be a powerful way for young children to make sense of their own situation and may help them feel less alone.

3. Create ways to help your child remember and hold on to the old center in his mind. Take photos of the teacher, the room, the playground, his friends, his favorite toys, and create a memory book for him to look at.

 

More Ways to Smooth Childcare Transitions

4. Ask his teacher if there is something special she can give to your son — such as a cuddly stuffed animal — that he can take to the new center for comfort when he needs it. This kind of transitional object can help your son hold his old caregiver in his mind and provide the comfort he needs to adapt to his new setting. While some parents worry that these remembrances from the old center will be more upsetting and interfere with the transition, in fact, such keepsakes are very important. They help children remember and honor their experience in a special place. They also give children permission to express their feelings of loss and sadness, which is key to helping them move on and adapt to what comes next.

5. Have a special goodbye ritual for his last day. You can bring in his favorite snack or music tape and have a small party to celebrate his time there. Marking partings like this is important for helping children say goodbye.

6. If possible, take him to see the new childcare center several times before he makes the actual transition. Let him explore the room where he will be cared for and meet the caregivers.

7. During the first week in the new center, stay with him for an hour or two each morning. Gradually decrease the time you stay until you simply drop him off by the end of the week. He will take his cues from you; if you interact warmly with the new teachers and other children, he will know that the new center is a good and trusted place.

Taking a thoughtful and incremental approach will help your son successfully adjust to his new childcare setting. It will also help him learn how to cope with future changes as he grows.

Claire Lerner, LCSW, is a child development specialist at Zero to Three, a national nonprofit promoting the healthy development of babies and toddlers (zerotothree.org).

Originally published in American Baby magazine, July 2005

Source: Parents

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