| |
|
 |
2009/06/30
I’ve been searching for a pretend play kitchen for Emily who will be 3 1/2 when Kaitlin turns 8 on July 30 (don’t know where the time’s gone). Kaitlin is becoming more independent in her play. She’s moving further away from wanting to spend time with Emily and toddler play. Emily loves to cook. Her favorite is to make purple pancakes…and pretend she’s Mommy or Daddy (he likes to cook, too.) A new, updated pretend play kitchen will provide an opportunity to develop Emily’s creativity and imagination. Who knows? Maybe she’ll be the next culinary arts star of her generation!
A pretend play kitchen is also a great way to develop communication and social skills with her dolls, friends, and family. Children will naturally learn to share, take turns, and to pretend to be mommy, daddy, grandma, or grandpa. (Be aware, sometimes, we learn our “not so nice” mannerisms by watching young children emulate us.)
Pretend play kitchens also advance learning of colors, shapes, fine motor skills, manners, and healthy food groups. For some, play kitchens can be the beginning to a hobby or career in the culinary arts. Pretend play kitchens are so much better for children than a DS pretend cooking game!
What you should consider when deciding on pretend play kitchens is the developmental age of your grandchild, height (remember your toddler will grow fast – find one that will fit for a while), and available storage space. Pretend play kitchens come in many prices, sizes, shapes, and decor styles. (more…)
As a high school teacher, mother, and grandmother, I’ve watched our young people grow with a need to get everything ASAP. They want to learn, be entertained, lose weight, build muscles, and enhance body parts with very little effort. I blame the media for building the impression that their life will be more exciting and rewarding after purchasing (which can also be done with very little effort) and using the products.
With daughters and granddaughters, it is important to teach breast cancer awareness and prevention, yet now advertisements online and in the media are marketing breast enhancement creams. There are claims everywhere that breast size can be enlarged one to three cup sizes without the costs and risks of surgery and with very little effort.
Breast Enhancement Cream
The ingredients in breast enhancement cream claim to stimulate estrogen hormones by using “naturally occurring” herbs and other chemicals. Dr. York Yates, a board certified plastic surgeon in Utah, states:
“They claim to be safe, because the active ingredients are natural and although they cause a modification of the woman’s own hormones, there are no hormones in the product. Reviewing product ingredients, most of these contain one or a combination of saw palmetto, fennel seed, black cohosh, dong quai, Fenugeek, and L-Tyrosine. Some of the top selling brands including Perfect Woman, Breast Actives, Cleavage, and Embrace “work” in this manner. Another common breast enhancement cream, Benefil, claims breast enlargement from dilation of the blood vessels in the skin from caffeine. Also, they claim that their cream tightens collagen which improves breast tone and lifts saggy breasts. This does not work hormonally. I am actually sure that it doesn’t work at all, as this makes no medical sense.”
Safety and Effectiveness of Breast Enhancement Cream
My concern with the use of this product is that it is altering the balance of hormones which, in fact, could lead to the risk of cancer. I haven’t found any long-range studies that have proven this one way or the other. Breast enhancement cream has not been around long enough to be proven safe or not.
The FDA has looked into the claims made by the companies selling breast enhancement cream made from herbal ingredients. Even though they have found the claims misleading, they were not subject to the same standards of the FDA as other creams made from non-herbal ingredients.
Since the number of products using “natural” herbal ingredients to alter the natural balance of hormones is ever increasing and easily accessible to our daughters and granddaughters, I believe the FDA should hold them to the same standards now and not later, after the possible harm has been done. I also call on the media to be more socially responsible in its influence on the health of our daughters and granddaughters.
Let’s make the effort, show our young women that there is great satisfaction in putting in effort and receiving positive results…good diet, consistent body and brain exercise, right choices, and laughter…those are the “natural enhancements” that make women attractive.
——————————————————————————–
Visit http://www.yorkyates.com for additional information about Dr. Yates.
2009/06/29
Fun with Alliteration!
Spending time with the grandchildren sometimes gives grandparents cause to think quickly for ways to entertain them, especially in the car while stuck in traffic on the way to the beach on a summer weekend day. One way we grandparents pass the time and keep our two older grandchildren distracted is to teach them tongue twisters using alliteration. Longer tongue twisters are also known as alliteration poems or verses.
Examples of Alliteration
Alliteration is the use of the same consonant sounds in words that are near each other. It is the sound, not the letter, that is important: therefore ‘candy’ and ‘Cindy’ do not alliterate, but ‘cool’ and ‘kids’ do.
A tongue twister is defined as a phrase or sentence that is hard to speak fast, usually because of alliteration or a sequence of nearly similar sounds.
On the educational side, it is a great exercise to help our grandchildren learn phonetic alphabet awareness and develop concentration and memory skills. Tongue twisters and alliteration poems can make learning fun and an enjoyable time for grandparents and grandchildren together.
Alliteration Examples in Nursery Rhymes
Betty Botter by Mother Goose
Betty Botter bought some butter,
but, she said, the butter’s bitter;
if I put it in my batter
it will make my batter bitter,
but a bit of better butter
will make my batter better.So she bought a bit of butter
better than her bitter butter,
and she put it in her batter
and the batter was not bitter.
So ’twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter.
(more…) |
2009/06/19
My Dream Vacation
My fellow teachers and I were talking at lunch recently about what our dream vacation would be. What would be my dream vacation? I think taking our entire family to Disney World, staying at a rental property with all the amenities like home but better, more upscale with an inground pool, tennis, golf, and good restaurants nearby. We don’t mind cooking to save money, but it would be nice to have a cook come in once in a while. It would also be great not to have to stand in line for breakfast when the time could be used for more enjoyable activities.
How I Saved Money on Our Summer Vacation
But, for this summer vacation that isn’t how it’s going to be. We live near the beach but we want to get away from the familiar. In order to have a vacation with our kids and grandkids, we needed to find ways to save money on accommodations. In planning our summer vacation, I found it’s actually possible to stay at a summer vacation rental property for less than the cost of a hotel to accommodate 8 people…and another benefit is you have much more space and freedom to do what you want…while saving money. Maybe next year, we’ll be able to take our dream vacation near Disney World after all!
My “Reality” Vacation
But what is my “reality” vacation? For the first time, we’ve reserved a small vacation home for a one week vacation on Long Beach Island with our children and grandchildren. We’ll be between the bay and the ocean, both a short walk from the summer vacation rental. The house is small, but it sleeps 8 and besides we don’t plan to be indoors much at all. There is plenty to do and ways to relax outdoors. That’s why we chose that location.
I went online and searched summer vacation rental properties and was able to easily narrow the worldwide search to the location, price, and sleeping accommodations I wanted. Fortunately, we found a summer vacation rental property that allowed pets so we are able to bring our small dog – which will save us a lot of money by not having to put him in a doggy hotel. The website I used was HomeAway Vacation Rentals. I was able to view the property inside and out, find immediately when it is available, and the summer rental fees. It is also near our son’s father-in-law’s summer home, which makes it extra special for all of us. We’re looking forward to a great vacation – in fact we just rented it for another week later in the summer.
Save Our Summer Vacation Petition to Congress
While searching HomeAway.com, I found they have a petition to Save Our Summer Vacation with a National movement to have Congress declare Aug 7 as National Vacation Day. We all deserve to have a summer vacation day, why not make it a national day of fun and relaxation to relieve the stress – especially in this economy! To help HomeAway.com accomplish this, visit their site and sign the petition – get your family and friends to do it, too. Be a part of the fun!
$10,000 Dream Vacation Contest
I also found they have a contest to win a $10,000 Dream Vacation. If you are the person who is most deserving of a week-long summer vacation ( I know I am!) all you have to do is to submit a short text, video or photo entry explaining why you deserve to have your vacation saved by HomeAway. Be sure to submit your entry by July 2 to be eligible.
Enjoy your summer. I know we will (hope I win the $10,000 Dream Vacation contest, too!) Enjoy National Vacation Day…don’t forget to sign that petition, too.
2009/06/11
My granddaughter, Kaitlin, and I put our heads together and wrote a special Father’s Day poem for her grandfather, my husband, whom she calls Poppy. This poem is for Grandpa because she wanted a lot of grandchildren to be able to use this poem for their Grandpa. She said to tell you that you can replace the word Grandpa with Poppy, Grandfather, Grand Dad, Granddad, PopPop, or whatever loving term Grandfather is affectionately called.
A Poem for My Grandpa
My Grandpa, you are so special to me,
You teach me to be happy and free.
I love spending our fun days together,
We always find a new adventure.
You don’t mind answering my questions “Why?”,
You pick me up and carry me high.
My Grandpa, you take the time to teach,
And let me see things above my reach.
With you, I always feel safe and secure,
I’ll love you forever, ever more.
We say goodbye with a hug and kiss,
As I make a big, big special wish…
My wish for you, Grandpa, please, please don’t go.
Why? Because I love, love, love you so….
~ by Kaitlin and Nana ~
Older Posts » |
|
