Great summer deal: $1 movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays with free popcorn at Regal Theaters

By Doreen Christensen, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Enjoy $1 family movies at 10 a.m. every Tuesday and Wednesday all summer with the Regal Summer Movie Express program. Yahoo and Regal are also giving away a million bags of free popcorn through August.

Economically entertain the kids two days a week by seeing great family films like “Shrek Forever After,” ‘’Yogi Bear,“ ‘’Megamind,” ‘’Tale of Despereaux” and ”Nanny McPhee Returns” to name a few. Go to www.regmovies.com see a list of theaters and films showing at your favorite theater. Click on ”Specials and Values,“ and then scroll to the bottom of the page to find the ”Summer Movie Express” page. Enter your zip code and it...

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Weighing cancer risks, from cellphones to coffee

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer

You’re sitting in a freshly drywalled house, drinking coffee from a Styrofoam cup and talking on a cellphone. Which of these is most likely to be a cancer risk?

It might be the sitting, especially if you do that a lot.

Despite all the recent news about possible cancer risks from cellphones, coffee, styrene and formaldehyde in building materials, most of us probably face little if any danger from these things with ordinary use, health experts say. Inactivity and obesity may pose a greater cancer risk than chemicals for some people.

“We are being bombarded” with messages about the dangers posed by common things in our lives, yet most exposures “are not at a level that are going to cause cancer,”...

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Are today’s teens overconfident?

By MARTHA IRVINE, AP National Writer

CHICAGO — Among academics who track the behavior of young adults and teens, there’s a touchy debate: Should the word “entitled” be used when talking about today’s younger people? Are they overconfident in themselves?

Jean Twenge, author of the book “Generation Me,” is in the middle of the discussion. The San Diego State University psychology professor has made a career out of finding data that she says shows that college students and others their age are more self-centered — narcissistic even — than past generations. Now she’s turned up data showing that they also feel more superior about themselves than their elders did when they were young.

“There are some advantages and some...

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Dear retailers, they’re young girls, not tramps

By Marla Jo Fisher, The Orange County Register

It’s nice to know that we can walk into any mall these days and outfit Curly Girl for her future career as a prostitute. Maybe she’ll meet Hugh Grant while she’s trolling the streets.

Maybe she’ll be a stripper or a call girl who meets a nice married governor from Back East.

What the heck, she’s only 12, she’s got a year or two to decide. And, when she does, every girl’s clothing department in America wants to provide her wardrobe.

I know this because we peruse the racks together.

Need a black lace bustier designed to hold up appendages that aren’t even there yet? No problem. You can find them for 8-year-olds.

Need a padded bra to attract...

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New parenting guide offers the art of roughhousing

By LEANNE ITALIE, Associated Press

NEW YORK — It took an M.D. and a Ph.D. to come up with “The Art of Roughhousing,” a new parenting guide to good old-fashioned horseplay complete with ultra-simple diagrams for a safe “raucous pillow fight” or round of “human cannonball.”

Can the helicopter parents handle it? You could break an arm, put an eye out!

The writers, both dads, think that they can. They consider it crucial, in fact, to kids’ self-esteem and physical development that parents unplug the family, loosen up and let fly.

“Play looks a lot different now. There’s this huge kind of obsession with safety. Nobody’s playing at night anymore. Technology has taken over playtime,” said co-author Lawrence Cohen, a...

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Tips for keeping your dog safe this summer

By SUE MANNING, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Ready for your dog’s days of summer?

Everybody seems to have a list of tips.

Most are no-brainers. Don’t leave dogs in hot cars or let them walk on hot asphalt, play too hard or get too much sun. Apply flea and tick repellents, and if you’re in a mosquito-prone area, talk to your vet about heartworm prevention pills. Take dogs on walks early or late to avoid midday heat and provide ample drinking water.

But there are other risks that come with heat, vacations and outdoor play. Here are some ways to keep dogs healthy and comfortable this summer, with tips from veterinarian Louise Murray, vice president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ Bergh Memorial...

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Keeping the fairness in sport and avoiding athletic burnout

By Jack Perconte, McClatchy-Tribune

I have often received questions that have to do with fairness in sport like the following:

“My husband coaches a 10-year-old travel team and has a player who, after being chosen for my husband’s team, made a travel team in another sport that is played the same time of year. Apparently, the player will only make 1 out of the 3 practices each week and will miss at least 2 games. Should the 9-year-old still be able to play in the games and how often? What is the best way to handle this situation?”

I have seen this situation numerous times over the years when attempting to schedule lessons over the phone with parents for their kids. “No, Monday won’t work because of soccer practice, Tuesday is bad with...

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Doctors say horseplay is good for kids

By Sam McManis, McClatchy Newspapers

Squeals of delight, piercing and persistent, issued from the staircase down the hall.

Some serious roughhousing was under way at this Natomas, Calif., home, but mom Michelle Hewitt hardly fretted. She and husband Dan consider themselves physical and playful parents, and the kids Alice, 5, William, 3, and even 14-month-old Claire crave the contact and closeness.

They normally don’t need some book to tell them how to roughhouse, but they had the new how-to manual, “The Art of Roughhousing: Good Old-Fashioned Horseplay and Why Every Kid Needs It,” on hand, so they took a quick look and found some rousing new stunts dreamed up by the authors, Drs. Anthony T. DeBenedet and Lawrence J. Cohen.

And the new move...

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Vote online to help name Toledo zoo’s new baby elephant

The Associated Press

TOLEDO — The Toledo Zoo is asking the public to help choose a name for its new baby elephant.

The male African elephant was conceived in August 2009 through artificial insemination and was born June 3.

Zoo officials have narrowed the list of choices to three names. One option is Lucas, in honor of voters in Lucas County who have supported the zoo. The second option is Chuck, recognizing the woodchuck that was the first animal donated to the zoo. The third option is Iain for African elephant conservationist Iain Douglas-Hamilton.

People can vote for their favorite choices at the zoo and on its website until June 27. The winner will be announced June 30. ...

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Try to give your child some control when their routine is disrupted in the summer

By Priscilla J. Dunstan, McClatchy-Tribune

Summer break is upon us, bringing the inevitable mix of travel, visitors and changing sleeping arrangements. Children’s bedrooms turn into guest rooms for friends and relatives, suitcases replace closets as families travel, and children go off to camp. Though exciting, this can also be very stressful to children, who lose not only the routine of school, but also their familiar surroundings.

Taste and smell children will tend to become clingy during these types of disruptions. They feel torn between two equally challenging feelings: the desire to please everyone, and their own anxiety over unmet needs. Being children, they will find it hard to express this conflict — resulting in emotional eruptions,...

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