Mini-post

Hi there-
Bck from Mobile but off to get one munchkin from her camp 2 hours away.  Will try to post later today. Sorry. :-)

Focus on Fostering: Treehouse Foundation

Well, today is the next- last of the written ahead entries... God willing I will get home from Alabama around midnight tonight [Tuesday]. Thanks for checking in even while I was away.  Hopefully I may have some new and exciting things to share about fostering after my time at the National Foster Parent Association's conference! If I have gotten a chance to write an entry while I am down there you will see a Soapbox as usual tomorrow.  If not, I will repost one of the popular Soapbox posts of the past so that I can sleep in [maybe?].

Creative approaches to foster parenting communities:

I read an article in one of the first issues of Rosie O'Donnell's magazine years ago about an experimental Intergenerational community designed to support and include foster families.  It was on a decommissioned military base in out west somewhere, but I remember few details.  In looking for current information about it I found the Treehouse community in Massachusetts.

Treehouse Foundation is only about nine or ten years old and opened the Treehouse Community only five years ago. Treehouse intends to be a unique intergenerational community that invites active seniors [55 years or more] to join their community and help improve the lives of children in the public foster care system.  They offer living spaces from one bedroom to five bedroom.  Income guidelines are considered and preference for younger families goes to those who are interested in providing permanency for foster children through adoption, kinship care, etc.
I have not been there yet myself, but am hoping to maybe make a trip there this fall to see what it is like.  I admit I am intrigued by some of their ideas.   [http://www.treehousecommunities.org/]


Check it out... reactions anyone???  Has anybody been there?
Here is the founder discussing the beginnings of Treehouse:

Check out their latest newsletter celebrating their fifth anniversary, or earlier ones.

School Bell: Summer websites...pt 1

I know summertime is for being outdoors.  But computer time can be a good compromise on rainy days for combining fun and keeping their minds moving and stretching.

For lovers of bugs and beasties:
     The Natural Wildlife Federation  -- This site has all kinds of info, pictures, videos and more for famillies and kids to explore.  Though too text heavy for young ones, they can look at pictures while you tell them some of the facts and tidbits.  You can learn how to listen for wildlife in your area... AND then submit your story to the national site!   You can find out how to adopt a wildlife acre. You can read all kinds of ideas for outdoor activities. They can participate in the national FrogWatch project too.This is a wonderful site, especially for your critter lovers.  [http://www.nwf.org]

For puzzle lovers: 

    The Kidz Page  -- I found this site when one of my two legged critters ws home for a week with the chickenpox.  It was a lifesaver!  Online coloring pages, jigsaw puzzles, online games, kids clip art and much much more. Some are deliberately educational and some "just" keep their brains moving.  They also have free shareware and other downloads. The jigsaw puzzles come in 6, 12, 25, and 40 piece puzzle versions complete with options for picture and shape hints. [http://www.thekidzpage.com]

    HighlightsKids--My granddaughter recommended this because she loves all the online puzzles that she used to love in the wonderful kids magazine.  She considers herself "too old" now for the magazine but she still loves the hidden picture puzzles and more!  And the  science pages are outstanding as well. [http://www.highlightskids.com] click on the current magazine for pages

Out of this World enthusiasts:
   Nasa for Kids  --  With Buzz Lightyear and more there are games, photos, and all kinds of activities for kids to explore worlds beyond our own and learn about our space program and space history.
[http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/index.html]
 Kids Astronomy --With everything from kids astronomy games to online classes this site will take visitors all around our galaxy if not to infiinity and beyond. [http://www.kidsastronomy.com/]

Image credits: mouserunner.net, animals.howstuffworks.com, onlyfree.org

Caring Heart: Learning to Say Goodbye

School ends for my kiddos this week. Some of their friends are moving away.  Soon they will meet, make new camp friends, and say goodbye to them. I am reminded of this meditation. I hope it helps some of you.

Learning to Say Goodbye [when it isn't forever]

Help him say goodbye.  He needs to learn that all goodbyes are not forever.  That sometimes a goodbye is a sad moment for a happy reason. You say goodbye to one teacher because you are going to the next grade.  You say goodbye to another because she is getting married and moving to another school.  You say goodbye to a friend who is heading off to college.  This child lives with so many goodbyes to his family.  A family that is broken.  And so, goodbyes for him bring nothing but memories of sadness and loss  Help him learn to say goodbye.  Help him learn ways to stay in touch when it is reasonable and good.  Help him live with the loss when staying in touch is not realistic.  Help him see the celebrations hidden within some goodbyes.  Help him separate the goodbye that forever changed his life from the ordinary everyday goodbyes of daily life and of growing up.  Help him learn to say goodbye.

Excerpted from "The Caring Heart Speaks: Meditations for foster, kinship, and adoptive parents" by Gail Underwood Parker   Artwork by Anna Parker David from the book cover. 

Quick Takes: Camping Quirks

OK, I couldn't resist taking a little poke at the whole camping thing, since I already supported the idea of the Great American Campout yesterday.

Here are a few fun images I found..

You can find fun and adventure camping anywhere:

There is real jungle camping.....

And there is urban jungle camping:

And you can go camping with your best two-footed friends:

Or even......friends with more than two feet!

No matter where or with whom...
Have a happy Great American Campout everyone!

Image credits:  mallduck.edu.ms, sunaj-home.org,ehow.com.  1 funny.com, 

Anything Can Happen: Great American Campout !

I am writing this  and the next few entries ahead because I leave at 4 a.m. today to fly to Mobile to the NFPA Annual Conference and will be gone until late Tuesday. So, I am borrowing today's entry for the NWF website that told of an exciting event I commend to all of you.  I know, some of you think.."Me? Camping?" but think about it.  Think of the magic it can bring your children.  Check out the website for details and give it a try! With thanks to the NWF.....

It is almost here !!!

There is still time to join National Wildlife Federation's Great American Backyard Campout^® June 25 for a night of old-fashioned fun outdoors. If you can't camp on the 25th, register and get outside on any night that is convenient for you. Just open the door and sleep under the stars!

Register your "team" of campers, join a "team" of campers who have already registered near you, or simply donate to a camper, a team or make a general donation to our mission.

Not only will your family experience the wonders of the great outdoors, but you’ll raise funds for vital NWF programs to get American kids outside — one night can make all the difference.

It's family fun with a purpose: helping American kids benefit from outdoor time. The clock is ticking, so   Register Now! >>>

Credits: National Wildlife Federation [www.nwf.org]

Parenting Tips: Summer Wishes

So, the summer weather is making the kids cranky yet? Are they already complaining that they are bored?  Are they ambushing you daily with requests/pleas for sleepovers, movies, fast food trips, and more?  You know the phrase "getting your ducks in a row"??? Between their behaviors, their begging, their whining, and more I sometimes feel that instead of a family of ducks to manage I am overrun by ducks. I have found this strategy helps me confident that by the end of the summer each child will have gotten to do at least some of what they wanted.

Start lining up all the voices, and requests... the ducks. 
1--Label a set of index cards for each child [Family Time, Just Me, Friends]
2-- Gather the children [if you can] into one place.  If not, talk to them individually or in smaller groups.
3-- Give each child the three index cards. Explain to them to list 2 things on each card that they would like to get to do this summer as a family, alone, and with friends.
4-- Have them star the most important thing on each card. Then have them sign each card and give it to you.

Note: If your kids are young, do it in a family discussion, you do the writing but still have them sign their choices with their name or thumbprint. 

Get your ducks in a line: [or close to it]
--Use these cards to guide your family planning and scheduling.
--Depending on the kids' ages I sometimes posted the cards or put up the lists.  Other times I just made a big "star" or "rainbow"
--Each time an activity takes place from someone's list put up a star or a sticky note or write it on the poster to show a "wish" come true.

It's not a perfect system, but it helps the kids think about choices, make priorities, learn to take turns, and helps them enjoy the summer, and helps you make sure that you are putting your effort into what matters to them. And remember.... be realistic... you may never get all you little ducks in a row but two out of three in a row is far better than the chaos at the beginning!


Image credits:  treehugger.com, wilson-jaycees.org, foxnews.com

Soapbox: Buy Local

One of the big trends today is "Buy Local."  I have bought local for decades.  Only rarely a big box grocery store for me. I have always paid the extra for the local grocery store.  Yes there are fewer products, but I kind of like that. Yes, it costs a bit more, but I save on gas and time because it is so close by. I also tend to buy less because I am not "stocking up." But the best part was that the people knew me and knew my kids.

As the single parent of a large family I rarely could afford the luxury of grocery shopping alone. I  could bring my tribe there and they understood.  When I was had unexpected surgery they knew I was a single parent and offered to drop off groceries if I ever needed them and couldn't find someone to pick them up for me.  When I commented this year that the only thing I ever have to go to the big store for is to get Diet Coke with Lime [my drug of choice] they asked me how many I need a week and next thing I knew they had ordered it and stashed it aside for me.  Try that in a big box store. Two of my children even had their first work experience in the safe environment of that local, independent store.

So, with summer gardens working their magic you will hear a lot about buying local.  What they say is true.  You should buy local.  Buying local the food is fresher.  Buying local does support the local economy. Buying local does support family farms and independent stores.

But the biggest reason I buy local is the people.

Image credits:  creativegiant.co.uk, thegazette.com, oneclearpoint.wordpress.com, syracuse.com

Focus on Fostering: Tiny Table Tip

No this isn't a tip about small tables.  Sometimes it is the small victories that get us through.  Here is a small tip to help your kids set tables well.  I know, that is not a skill that will earn college credit, or even qualify for a school science project. But, it is a skill that will help them fit in, and will give them a way to help someone out, pitch in, and fit in.  Does your older child still mix which side of the plate holds the spoon, fork, knife, or glass?  For younger children I still recommend table-setting placemats [see my April 14, 2011 blogpost]. But...  here is a repeat of the tiny tip for today for kids old enough to spell:

Left is spelled with 4 letters:  L-E-F-T
On the left side goes:
.. the fork ...spelled with 4 letters: F-O-R-K.

Right is spelled with 5 letters:  R-I-G-H-T
On the right side goes:
.. the spoon ...spelled with 5 letters:  S-P-O-O-N
.. the knife ...spelled with 5 letters:  K-N-I-F-E
.. the glass ...spelled with 5 letters: G-L-A-S-S

I told you it was a small tip.  But remember... small victories build the courage for steps to larger victories.

Image credits:  host.madison.com, 

School Bell: Time Flies

One of the funny things about kids that any parent will tell you is that each stage seems to take forever... while you are going through it.  But when you look backward it seems the child grows from stage to stage each time you blink your eyes.  Nine months seems to drag on and then suddenly it is over and you have an infant. [blink] You think they will neeeever be in kindergarten, [blink] then you question if they will make it through middle school [blink], then you wonder if they will live [or whether you will live] through their high school year [blink].... and then they are collecting their diploma. 

Soooo, the next time you get frustrated with their algebra, or get that dreaded call from their teacher, or, or, or.... take a moment to celebrate the problems and challenges of that age or stage... but don't blink or it will be gone!

Since summer vacation starts now, School Bell is going to be more like summer vacation too.  Summer school bell will be a collection of ideas and things to do in the summer that can also help next fall when they return to school. If you like it, enjoy it, if not... it will end as quickly as summer vacation... so watch those blinks!

Image credits:  templebaptistyork.com

Caring Heart: Good Fathers

Here in Maine yesterday there was a funeral for a beloved kindergarten teacher and her two elementary school children..all three killed by a separated husband who was about to go on trial for previous spousal abuse.  He then killed himself.  It has left a community reeling, an elementary school and its students shaken to the core, and our whole state desperate to find a more meaningful way to both reduce domestic abuse and protect its families. I know it is not just men who abuse, but since it is Father's Day today I have been unable to shake this story, so... I offer this meditation.

In praise and search of good fathers

Dear God,  the father of us all, we need good fathers.  We have many good fathers.  But we have others who are not.  You designed "father" to be a model of what it means to be loved and cared for with unending compassion, instruction, guidance, and love.  Yet, so many families are left without that model in their lives.  Sons who have to look outside their family for a model of what kind of father to be.  Daughters who are too little or too much the apple of their father's eyes.  We thank you for all the wonderful fathers who are a blessing in their families.  We thank you for all the men who step up [regardless of genetics or age] to be father figures for children who are desperately needing that guidance... just because they are needed.  We thank you for mothers who are trying to be both mother and father to their children. We thank you, and yet we dare to ask for more men who are fathers in your image.  We ask that men who are not may learn to change, to be more, to be better.  For the wives, for the children, for the world... we search for and we praise good fathers.  

"The Caring Heart Speaks: Meditations for foster, kinship, and adoptive parents" by Gail Underwood Parker   Artwork by Anna Parker David from the book cover. 

Quick Takes: Father's Day Gift Craft

Any of the tips for Mother's Day can often be applied to Father's Day, and some of the teeacher gift ideas can also work so check back on the posts about those. But I thought today I would offer a quick craft idea for family fun that also makes a great Father's Day gift if you are still looking for ideas.

1. Use poster paint or any regular acrylic paint that will wash off the kids. [You can even use leftover wall washable wall paint or the little paint samples.]

2. Use a barbecue apron, or a plain T-shirt, or even a poster board.

3. Write something like "Give a Hand to the World's Best Dad"  or "Give a Hand for Our Dad" or "Hands up for a Great Dad"  with a permanent marker or small brush. [See the option note below for special situations.]

4. Have each child "paint" their hand in a color and print the apron, shirt, or poster with their handprint.
To make it more colorful use a different color for each child if the paint is available.

Options:
--You can do it one at a time or overlapping
--You can make a design by printing over something, see circle at right, or a heart, or a house, or anything you want.
--You can use a permanent marker and label each handprint with that child's name.
--You can also stencil or paint a heart in the palm of each hand and use that space to write the name.
--For foster children: Use whatever name they call their foster dad if giving it to him.  If giving to a bio dad... you can just put the handprints and "Happy Father's Day" or even just the prints with the names and the year.  Choose whatever is the best for the situation.

Image credits: d118.org, detroitmommies.com,  zazzle.co.uk

Extra Post: Calling Alabama?

Hey, this is a quickie extra post today calling all Alabamans and NFPA members.  I am presenting three workshops at the upcoming [June 25-27] annual National Foster Parent Association conference in Mobile Alabama.  I am staying an extra day so that I can see a bit of Alabama, taxis permitting.   I suppose I could sun myself by the pool or write on  my upcoming chapters... but since I am not likely to travel from Maine to Alabama again I would like to see a bit of it.

 Has anyone reading this been to Mobile or know Mobile? If so I would welcome any suggestions on where to go or what to see. I have a couple of evenings on my own, plus one extra afternoon, evening, and morning.  I have looked online some, but don't know which things are really good, and which are just tourist-y Thanks!

Anything Can Happen: Celebrate Dad

Catch photos of him playing
with the kids...

My anything can happen today is a collection of photos chosen from those I found online of Dads.  My suggestion is to start today to make a collection of photos yourself of the dads in your life or your kid's lives.  Think of the fun photo album you could give to Dad next year on Father's Day!

Doing "Dad stuff" like reading to the kids

Halloween often offers funny possibilities

You can plan photos that will look daring.

If you keep a camera handy you might
 catch them in a silly moment.

Sometimes you can dare them to be silly
and catch the moment 

 

If he is sleeping you can add props to make funny photos!

P.S. Be sure to include some heartwarming ones along with the embarrassments!
You might even include some culled from years past if you are putting together a collection for him.
Remember.... a book like that would be a treasured gift for birthday, holiday as well as Father's Day.

Image credits:  ehow.com, myspace.com, brittanyphotography.com, northshorechildren.com, san-diego.siggraph.org, weird-websites.info, zacklawrence.wordpress.com,
kimandjason.com

Parenting Tips: Student Interviews [Year Folders]

On Monday I talked about helping your child transform their mountain of accumulated papers from the school year into a simple folder representing their year. I promised other ideas for enhancing that folder with memories of the that year in your child's life. By doing these once a year, you can have a lifelong "scrapbook" of their lives in simple folders. Here are my five top ideas:

1. Make a handprint/Trace their hand: 

Nothing fancy. Just trace it or print it AND be SURE to put name and date on it. Add height and weight if you like.  [Later if you are crafty these can be turned into a quilt by using each hand print to make a quilt block pattern, or each one can be copied and made into a book for their children to compare against each year. ]

2. Add 4-5 photos:  

Most families take lots of phone/camera pics that languish on SD cards or in computer folders.  Pick several that feature the child to keep in the folder and represent that school year/age.  

Ideas:

       a. holiday picture of child 

       b. picture of child doing a favorite activity  [sports, playing a game, even reading or watching tv]

       c. child with a favorite friend 

       d. child with favorite toy/object

       e. child with pet

       f. whole family

       g. child and accomplishment [certificate, ribbon, recital, playoff, skill]
h. anything unusual [chicken pox, broken arm, mumps]

3."Interview" your child: You may be able to do it without them, but you will have more fun if you make this part of a you and your child lunch event. Use the same basic questions/categories each year so that later when they look back they [and their future children!] can see the ages and stages they went through. Ideas:

     a. What was the most fun you had this year?

     b. What was the hardest thing you did this year?

     c. Who are your best friends this year?

     d. What is your favorite thing to do indoors?

     e. What is your favorite thing to do outdoors?

     f. What skill or activity did you learn to do this year?  [or get better at this year]

     g. If you could meet any famous person you chose, who would you like to meet?

     j. What is your least favorite thing about yourself?  [If you could change/improve one thing?]

     i. If you could meet and talk to any famous person you chose, who would you like to get to know?

     j. Who do you hope to be when you grow up?

4. Make a recording of your child: If you also record your child's voice you and they [and maybe their children] will also have the fun later of hearing your child's voice change as they get older. Always start with their name and the date that you are making the recording! They can sing a song, recite the ABC's or as they are older you can record the "interview." [Remember to still always write down or type the answers and stick the pages in the folder.] Just be sure that you keep up with the technology or you will have the equivalent of an 8-track recording tape in an MP3 world.  Transfer the recordings to new technology as it develops, while you still can. 

5. Make an evolutionary "chart" of your child.  

Take a photo of them "growing" by taking a picture each year  in front of a standard room door or front door, showing the doorknob in the photo.  Unlike trees or bushes, doors are a standard height so will show the growth year after year. If you have the child hold a sign with the date, grade [or at least the year] each time, it can make a more fun display later.

Image credits: kundhi.com, keep3.sjfc.edu, jeffreyalanmiller.wordpress.com, brokenlaces.net, aclaimimages.con

Soapbox: Special Ed Diplomas

Arrrggghhhh!  I am going to try to be calm as I write this entry.  In my state, in my town, as in many states and towns, there is an increasing demand to hold children to high specific standards of accomplishment.  This is a good thing generally.  However it sometimes shows a lack of sense, not to mention empathy or kindness.  "Someone" decided that receiving a high school "Diploma" would require meeting specific state standards of minimum accomplishment.  Still sounds good right?

However, no one apparently thought it through in terms of those who are intellectually incapable of meeting those minimum standards regardless of effort, due to  congenital or developmental impairments.  In some committee room somewhere they decided that for those students who have tried their darnedest and worked their hardest but who still cannot achieve those minimum standards a different document will be issued.  In their infinite lack of psychology and motivation they decided to call this document a "Certificate of Attendance."  Their document certifies that the individual attended high school for four years and is finished because they put in their time, put their bodies in a chair for a series of sufficient days to earn this demeaning, demoralizing document.

I have seen kindergarten diploma certificates like the one above. I have seen elementary schools use documents, like the one at right, almost as elaborate as my college diploma. Why can't they label as a "Diploma" the certificate given these children, some of whom put in more daily effort than those receiving "real" diplomas? If they want to distinguish it from the college prep diplomas, then do so.  Make one a "Diploma with Distinction" or "Diploma with Honors" or something! New York State used regular diplomas and "Regents Diplomas" for those who qualified through rigorous standardized state tests called "regents" exams. That was more than 50 years ago!

After struggling to keep my kiddos in school until they could finish high school, I [and they] expected more than an acknowledgement of their attendance in class as recognition.  They are ostracized and isolated and demeaned enough without the administration adding insult to injury in this last parting shot.
Give them a "diploma"....          
Come up with a solution!

Anyone out there have similar problem or other solutions used in their states????

Image credits: ilene.typepad.com, rison-dallas.com,  artweb.org, vaiden.net

Focus on Fostering: Foster Teens??

If you have teenaged foster children I have a resource to offer you and them.

            T H E     F O S T E R    C L U B

This organization is jam-packed full of amazing teens who are or were foster children.  They have lived the life of a foster child and are there to support and encourage other foster children in dozens of ways.  As their "about us" page opens:

"FosterClub is the national network for young people in foster care....

Every two minutes, a child’s life changes as they enter the foster care system. Currently, there are over 513,000 young people in foster care in across America. FosterClub is their club — a place to turn for advice, information, and hope."

On their site www.fosterclub.org  ---

-- your foster teen can take a survey and maybe win a iPod!

--they can read about and be inspired by 100 outstanding foster kids who were recently honored









--they can explore lists of famous people who were once foster children [from Ice-T and Eddie Murphy to Dr. Ruth and Dr. Wayne Dyer]

There is so so so much more.  There is also information for grownups, stats on foster care, and lots of help.  This is a great online place for your kiddos to start to hang out!  Check it out.  Spread the word.

Image credits: fosterclub.org

School Bell: End of Year Paper Pile

As the end of the school year arrives, one last task always awaits students before leaving for the summer break.... cleaning out their lockers!  Combined with teacher's cleaning off their desks of last papers, this means an inevitable smorgasbord of paper that comes home scrunched into folders, straining the zippers of backpacks, sometimes spilling into paper bags, and all erupting into a flood somewhere between the front door and the desks or tables in homes all across the country.  Now, unless you too raised 4 or more children at a time, you probably didn't see piles like these, but I'm sure you still saw many more papers than you could possibly want.

Don't Panic!  Don't throw it all away or one of your children is bound to dissolve into anguished wails mourning treasures lost.  Don't keep it all or by the time they are grown and gone, you will be left with ungainly closetfuls of papers and memorabilia per child.  Even if you have never started this system it is not too late! Here is my suggestion:

1. Prepare: Give each child a separate place to put their papers and treasures. Choose a time and make a date/appointment with each child for a time in the next 48 hours when you will have the child show you all of their papers.

2. KEEP your date: When the agreed time comes, sit down with your child [the one who brought the papers home] and tell them that you are excited to see of their papers. Add that you want to make a special way to save the most special papers from this year to keep and remember as they get older.  Together you are going to choose what papers show what school was for them this year.

3. Set the goal: Explain that your child gets to choose up to 10 items or papers and you get to choose up to 10 items or papers. [Remember to choose papers that represent all the year, not just the very best of the year... maybe something from the early part and something from the end of the year.]


4. Go through the pile:  Ooh and aahh, celebrate progess, achievements.  Emphasize that effort and progress are the key, not perfection. Enjoy the time with the child focusing on them and building both bonds and enthusiasm about their year.

5. Label everything: If you don't get to 20 total, great. Whatever you end up with, be sure that each paper is labeled with the child's name and [if not a full date] at least the school year.

6. Make the folder: Get a fresh manilla folder and on the outside of the folder put: the child's name, grade level, the child's teacher/s that year, and the name and address of the child's school. If you have a photo of the child from that school year add it to the outside of the folder.

7. Start the collection: Put the chosen papers in the folder for this school year and file in a secure place. Repeat with each child, and repeat each year. [Don't forget to throw out the rest of the papers.!]

On Thursday's blog I will share a few simple ideas to make these folders even more treasured keepsakes for years to come.

Image credits: guardian.co.uk, st-yves.pbworks.com,, anniewilcox.blogspot.com

Caring Heart: High School Graduation

In homes all across the country it is the season for this meditation:

High School Graduation

Today she will graduate from high school.  Can it be?  There were times I wasn't sure that we would make it here.  Toes when I thought she might make it, but not with us.  She seemed so determined to fight against herself, against us, against life. It was such a battle to keep her in school and headed toward graduation. So many times that other experiences and activities seemed ever so much more attractive to her than attending class, much less studying.  But she IS graduating today!  Lord, thank you for this day. The past is done and now she will graduate.  Her future is still full of too many unknowns to count, but she has made it to this day, and she IS graduating. High school graduation is such a milestone.  It is a beginning.  It is a door to more possibilities. The past days have been full of tension, frustration, and more. But today we are united in joy, in pride, in celebration.  She is graduating today!
    

Excerpted from "The Caring Heart Speaks: Meditations for foster, kinship, and adoptive parents" by Gail Underwood Parker   Artwork by Anna Parker David from the book cover. 

Quick Takes: Kids List #81-90

This is the ninth installment of "Kids List." My "Kids List" is things I wish all kids could get to experience before they are grown up and independent.   This month has a mix of small folk and bigger folk experiences. Use your grownup judgment to see what fits your child. 

  

Kids List #81-90

81. Make a pie from scratch [including the crust] 

82. Learn to ride a tricycle 

83. Visit a state park 

84. Learn to tie shoelaces 

85. Go to a circus  

86. Learn to do a cartwheel 

87. Carve something out of soap or wood 

88. Climb up into a tree and back down 

89. Ask someone out on a date

90. Find and watch a birds nest 

I try to do one Quick Takes entry each month from my Kids List. Hope you try some of these with your kiddos.  Search for "Kids List" to find #1-80 in earlier posts.

Photo Credit: sitejerk.com

Anything Can Happen: Car Dreams or Dream Cars?

My grandson graduates from high school Sunday and like, many high school graduates would love to have a car.  Hmmm.... not likely to happen.  But when I was thinking about cars I started picturing cars that fit might people's lifestyles, interests or needs.  Which fits you or yours?

Do you like cats?

Fan of scary movies like "Jaws"

Is your closet full of shoes?

Have you never lost your love for your childhood days with your Hot Wheels in the driveway?

Is your teen a bottomless pit?  ----junk food?

or healthy?

Live to ski?

Or are you more of a hiking fan?

Do you long for a time when you can drive alone with no one fighting for the "shotgun" seat?

Or maybe, given gas prices we should find a way to make our cars not a source or stress, but convert them to become instead a source of relaxation?

---sigh---


Image credits: automopedia.com, freshpics.blogspot.com, newfunnypictures.net, crazeforcars, topspeed.com, freakingnews.com,