Kids really do say and do the darnedest things!

When I was reading through my e-mails I found this and just had to pass it on.  Kid's really doing say the darnedest things and listening closely can really give us new insight into our world and a good chuckle.

Why do We Love Children?
1) NUDITYI was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, 'Mom, that lady isn't wearing a seat belt!'
2) OPINIONSOn the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. The note read, 'The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents.'
3) KETCHUPA woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the jar. During her struggle, the phone rang; so, she asked her four-year-old daughter to answer the phone. 'Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now. She's hitting the bottle.'
4) MORE NUDITYA little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, 'What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a little boy before?'
5) POLICE # 1While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about six years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, 'Are you a cop?' 'Yes,' I answered and continued writing the report. 'My mother said that if I ever needed help, I should ask the police. Is that right?' 'Yes, that's right,' I told her. 'Well, then,' she said as she extended her foot toward me, 'would you please tie my shoe?'
6) POLICE # 2It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station. As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me. 'Is that a dog you got back there?' he asked.
'It sure is,' I replied.
Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then toward the back of the van. Finally he said, 'What'd he do?'
7) ELDERLYWhile working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my four-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers, and wheelchairs. One day, I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, 'The tooth fairy will never believe this!'
8) DRESS-UPA little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, 'Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit.'
'And, why not, darling?'
'You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning.'
9) DEATHWhile walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his five-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased.
The minister's son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers; and, with sonorous dignity, intoned his version of what he thought his father always said: 'Glory be unto the Faaather, and unto the Sonnn, and into the hole he goooes.' (I want this line used at my funeral!)
10) SCHOOLA little girl had just finished her first week of school. 'I'm just wasting my time,' she said to her mother. 'I can't read, I can't write, and they won't let me talk!'
11) BIBLEA little boy opened the big family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages.
'Mama, look what I found,' the boy called out.
'What have you got there, dear?'
With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, 'I think it's Adam 's underwear!'

Should Sports Be Revised to Keep Young Children Safer?

Emergency room visits for sports-related brain injuries has risen by 60% over the last ten years.   Should contact sports for children under fourteen be motified to stop this growing trend?   Is this spike directly associated with the fact that children seem to be playing contact sports at younger ages than ever before? There is growing support for these changes because young brains under the age of fourteen are more vulnerable due to neck weakness.  The proposed changes will effect the nature of many sports, but the three "biggies" will incur changes that will change these games significantly if they are adopted.  Here are the proposed changes for children under fourteen:

Football-eliminate tackling, adopt flag football, use tackle dummies to teach tackling
Soccer-no heading as most of the head injuries in soccer are linked to this practice
Hockey-no full body checking
Field Hockey & LaCrosse-use helmets,  most of the injuries are due to being hit with the sticks

I don't think many parents would argue that the use of helmets in LaCrosse and Field Hockey is something that they couldn't live with in order to keep their child safer while playing.  However, I think that this group is going to come up against some significant resistance from parents whose children participate in the "big three".  I think some parents will argue that these changes are going to change the nature of these games too much and their children will not be prepared to play theonce they reach fourteen.  Parents argueing for these changes not only make the point about safety but also the effect these injuries have on the health care system.

The debate begins.  Will child safety win out over sports or will sports be the victor?  Only time will tell.  I think that there are going to be some very heated debates between parents on both sides of this issue before any decision is finalized. 

When Will The Madness End? Apparently Not With Outlawing Father Daughter Dances

A school district in Rhode Island is banning Mother-Son ballgames and Father-Daughter dances because they allegedly violate an anti-discrimination law.  The ACLU sent the school a letter on behalf of a concerned parent and the school's response was to ban these activities.

Anyone think that the world will be a better place if we eliminate all activities that have parents spending time with their children one on one?  If we as a nation react everytime one person doesn't agree with something, we will become a nation running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.  Maybe we are already to close to being there if this is any indication.

For all those single parents who are upset about their children's feelings about these activities because the other parent is not willing to participate, learn a lesson from one of my single friends.  Her girls were thrilled to be escorted to the dance by their grandfather.  No grandfather, then an Uncle, Male Friend, or Brother can stand in.

Volunteering with Your Children to Make the World a Better Place: Idea 1

I am starting a new series about ways that you and your children can volunteer and help the world be a better place.  It isn't someone else's responsibility to make the world a better place, it is the responsibility of each and everyone of us to do that.  Isn't that a lesson that we want to instill in our children.  Help them want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.  When I come across ideas for volunteering, I plan to post them here in order to spread the word.  If you have any other good ideas, I would be happy to share them as well.  After all volunteering is not a one size fits all kind of thing.

Donating your old cell phone may just save the life of an abused mother or her children.  Where to donate:  women;s shelter, operationgratitude.com or cellular recycler.com.  You and your child may collect old cell phones from friends and family, or start a community campaign to collect old cell phones.

Quit Smoking for You and Your Child!

Here are some ideas to up your chances to successfully quit smoking for your health and the health of your children:

1) Consider that your child's health is being effected by the second hand smoke you are exposing them to.  I am a first hand example of this, as I suffer from aasthma and broncitis even though I never haave smoked.  My mother had a pack a day addiction when I was a child.  I am happy to say she has been smoke free for over ten years.

2)Get up and walk after a meal instead of having that cigarette

3) Hold something in your hand like a straw, a pencil or my favorite one of those hard candy sticks.

4) Make sure if you are going out to a restaurant or bar that it is smoke free.

5) Spend more time with your non smoking friends while you are still in the early stages of quitting.

Some Ideas on How to Maneuver the Battle Zone of the Teen Years

Do you find yourself in a constant battle with your teen or tween?  Are these battles leaving your house feeling more like a war zone then a home?  Getting into a power struggle with your child weakens your parental control and just makes for an unhappy living arrangement.  Balancing your need for parental control and your child’s growing need for independence will help you to avoid these power struggles.  Here are some ideas for maintaining this balance:

*Acknowledge your child’s need for independence.  Begin turning over some of the more minor decision making to them.

*Say yes when you can and if you have to say no, explain why.  Listen to your child’s side.  Remember listening doesn’t mean give in.

*Allow your child ways to “rebel”.  Allowing them to assert their independence in certain areas like how to wear their hair, clothes to wear, decorating their room or what music to listen to may make it easier to assert your control in the more important areas. 

*Pick your battles carefully.  Ask yourself if whether getting things done your way is worth the battle that might ensue and remember that sometimes the answer to this question will be yes.

The FYI on West Niles Virus

The Center for Disease Control reported that, as of August 14^th, so far this year 43 states have reported West Nile virus infections in people, birds, or mosquitoes. A total of 693 cases in people:  26 deaths, 406 were classified as neuroinvasive disease (such as meningitis or encephalitis) and 287 (41%) were classified as non-neuroinvasive disease.  This is reported to be the highest number of cases by the second week of August since West Niles was first found in the US in 1999.  Over 80 percent of the cases have been reported from six states (Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and California) and almost half of all cases have been reported from Texas.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is that you can do things to help prevent your family from contracting this disease.

Prevention:  use mosquito repellent when outside, eliminate standing water in your yard, repair window and door screens so those pesky mosquitos don’t get in, and support community based mosquito control.  Community spraying has kept the mosquito population down in my area in Florida and has probably been largely responsible for keeping Florida off the list of highly effected stateseven though we are arguable the mosquito capital of the world.

Symptoms:  If you become infected with West Nile virus, you probably will experience no signs or symptoms.  Most people experience no symptoms. There is a chance (20% of infected population) that you may experience minor symptoms, such as fever, body aches, skin rash, swollen lymph glands, eye pain, fatigue and mild headache. There is still no need for concern.  Mild symptoms of West Nile virus infection generally go away on their own.  However, some people (about 1% of infected population) develop a life-threatening illness that includes inflammation of the brain.  Severe signs and symptoms include a severe headache, disorientation, stiff neck, high fever, muscle jerking, loss of coordination, convulsions, pain, partial paralysis or sudden weakness.  Serious infection may also include infection and inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord (meningitis), inflammation of the spinal cord (West Nile poliomyelitis) and acute flaccid paralysis.  If you or your children are experiencing any of these symptoms you should seek immediate medical attention. Adults over the age of fifty, and people with weakened immune systems are at greater risk for developing the more serious infection.  So if your child has an autoimmune disorder like my son, they will be at greater risk.  Just be aware and watch for symptoms if they are bitten by a mosquito.   Early medical treatment is key to recovery.

How It Spreads: Typically, West Nile virus spreads to humans via infected mosquitoes. You can't get infected by touching or kissing a person with the virus.  Most West Nile virus infections occur during warm weather, when mosquito populations are active. The period between when you're bitten by an infected mosquito and the appearance of signs and symptoms of the illness ranges from three to 14 days.  There has been reports of possible transmission of the virus from mother to child during pregnancy or breast-feeding, but these have been rare and not conclusively confirmed.