Keep kids safe with smart costume choices

From Nemours/KidsHealth.org

(MCT)

KidsHealth.org, the most-visited Web site for children’s health information, offers these safety tips to help make this year’s Halloween festivities a trick-free treat:

TROUBLE-FREE TRICK-OR-TREATING

— Accompany young children under the age of 10 on their rounds and try to go early before it gets too dark.

— For older kids going out on their own, be sure they carry a cell phone, if possible, go in a group and stay together, only go to houses with porch lights on, and carry a flashlight with new batteries.

— If kids want to visit neighborhoods other than your own, be sure to stress the...

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Trick or treat at the mall

Two area malls are hosting trick-or-treat on Wednesday night.
Midway Mall in Elyria will open its doors to costumed little ones 6 to 8 p.m. Radio Disney will be on hand to make the event festive, and there’ll be candy, games and prizes awarded.
That same night, Westfield Great Northern will host trick-or-treat 6 to 8 p.m. as well. More than 60 stores will serve as treat stops, and fliers are available in Center Court listing them.
There also will be a sing-along with Miss Tara from Beck Center for the Arts, performances by the Rock City Dance Studio, fingerprinting by Child Protection Education of America, a craft project and a photo opportunity....

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Is extra credit worth the battle?

Is it ever appropriate to force children to do extra credit school work unless it is to prevent a failing grade? Our oldest does very well in school so I lean toward the “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” school of thought.

On the other hand, he’s in the third grade and passing up extra credit assignments because he doesn’t want to do presentations in front of the class. Does he really need them? No, his grades are fine. Would it be good practice? Yes. Should I insist or try to entice him into doing this extra work? I don’t know.

He would probably love the tickets his teacher gives him for the extra work, but so far not enough to actually do them. (Students use the tickets to buy items from the classroom...

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Spending on kids often the hardest expense to cut

By JOCELYN NOVECK  AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Andrea Reynolds, a mother of four young children in southern Louisiana, can’t remember the last time she bought a dress. She also can’t remember her last vacation — unless, she quips, you count those three weeks in a hotel fleeing Hurricane Rita in 2005.

But like many parents, Reynolds will curtail her own luxuries way before she’ll cut back for her kids — be it for new school clothes or afterschool activities. “I’d give up eating out with friends if it meant my kids couldn’t do Boy Scouts,” Reynolds says. “It’s a no-brainer.”

Are kids recession-proof? Perhaps not, but some consumer analysts call them...

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McCain elephants vs. Obama donkeys

By Jackie Burrell Contra Costa Times

After the 2000 debacle with those butterfly ballot chads, maybe FAO Schwarz has the right idea. The toy store chain is tabulating the presidential election based on sales of plush toys. At it’s almost a dead heat between the red elephant (49.3 percent) and the blue donkey (50.7 percent). Buy the toys at www.fao.com.

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(c) 2008, Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.).

Visit the Contra Costa Times on the Web at http://www.contracostatimes.com.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services....

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Coaches help parents get newborns to sleep

By Eunnie ParkThe Record (Hackensack, N.J.)

Sometimes, a bundle of joy can be anything but.

Especially in the middle of the night, when that little bundle starts wailing and wailing for no reason and he … Just. Will. Not. Sleep.

“He screamed in the car, he screamed in the swing, he screamed in your arms,” says Heather Pizzo of her second baby. “He screamed in general, and he didn’t sleep at all.”

After countless nights and days of delirious fatigue, Pizzo of Franklin Lakes, N.J., who has a doctoral degree in psychology, decided to use her research skills to figure out how to make babies sleep. Five years of research...

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Halloween safety tips

McClatchy-Tribune

Follow these tips for a safe and fun Halloween night:

On Halloween night, motorists need to be especially cautious, watching for children walking on roadways, medians and curbs and darting out from between parked cars.

Have children carry flashlights or glow sticks for easier visibility.

Insist that treats be brought home for inspection before anything is eaten. Don’t let children eat anything that is unwrapped or seems unusual. When in doubt, throw it out.

Don’t let children carve a pumpkin unsupervised.

Use facial makeup instead of masks that can hinder a child’s vision.

Only fire-retardant...

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The shadow of the Great Depression

By Lori Landau NEW JERSEY MOMS BLOG

I always used to joke that I grew up in the shadow of the Depression. My father was born in 1929, the year of the great Wall Street crash. He grew up in a sprawling extended family, moved around a lot, and at sixteen, he left home to join the Marines. Later, when he became a successful lawyer, he enjoyed the things that money could buy  — the things he never had as a child. He provided us with a very nice house on a tree-lined street, fine furniture and books, and lots of lessons in things like ice-skating, piano, and art. My mother, on the other hand, came to this country in 1939 to escape persecution, and having already lost almost everything at a young age, grew up with the fear of losing it again....

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Blogging moms … what’s being said on the Internet

McClatchy-Tribune

A weekly glimpse of what moms are saying on the Web.

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“there is renewed worry about “predators” in our neighborhood. emails have been sent out between well-meaning neighbors warning of potential danger. we all watch out for each other and our kids and for that i am so greatful. but i don’t like to worry about these things. be aware yes. but worry. no. there are so many things i could worry about.

“i have gone over with both the girls what they should do if a stranger ever approaches them while they are jumping rope on the driveway. you can say hello. but if you don’t want to say hello that is fine too. call me. or your dad. the front door is...

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Family time … in differing dynamics