Get the RED towel...

THIS IS COPIED FROM DEAR ABBY. I THINK IT'S SUCH A NEAT IDEA THAT I WANT TO SHARE IT WITH EVERYBODY. BUT I ALSO WANT TO BE SURE THAT EVERYBODY KNOWS WHERE IT CAME FROM ---- AVOID THOSE COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENTS....


DEAR ABBY: My 4-year-old nephew recently cut his finger. When the story was being told by my sister, she mentioned telling her daughter to get out one of the red towels. "Red towel?" I asked. "Yes," she said. "I have four of them that I use only when the kids cut themselves. That way they don't see the blood, and the tears aren't as bad." I thought that was brilliant! -- KURT N., MILWAUKEE



DEAR KURT: It certainly shows preplanning. And it makes sense to me, because a small child who has suffered a minor injury often cries more out of fear than pain.

Dieting to die for

Here is a note that I needed to send to one of the 16yr old girls that plays for the team I coach.

Dear Xxxxxxx

If you come to the field again like two weeks again where you had taken caffeine pills and not eaten all day.
Or last week where you collapsed and then sat huddled in pure pain because you only had cabbage soup for three days.
Or last night where you showed up and your eyes were flickering because your body needed nutrition because you had not eating at all. And then threw up because of heat exhaustion.
I will not put you on the field, just like I did not do last night.

And I don't care what your mom or dad say.
If there is a problem they can take it up with me or the club.

It is dangerous for you and I will not take the risk or assume the liability

You must eat sensibly and healthy.
I understand you want to lose weight but starving yourself is not the way to do it.
It is dangerous and you will do a lot of damage to your vital organs.

There was more to the message but that is the just of what I said to her. The hard part about this is the dad knew this was going on and was angry with me that I would not play his daughter.

I really thought that girls were starting to be okay with their bodies and body image but apparently not. I know my daughter is very balanced and knows this is not acceptable as a matter of fact she gasped when she read what this girl was trying.

Do you know anyone in danger? Would you stand up like I did?

Time

I've read, many times, that you should spend "quality" time with your children. I've also read, far fewer times, that it is the quantity that matters even more.

I put in my vote for quantity.

It is easy for us as adults to get discouraged about doing things with our children - especially the very young. We sometime feel that we have to do "big" things and have adventures: Go to the amusement park, go camping, big shopping trips and spending lots of money.

Not necessary, not even a little bit.

Sure, you want to have big adventures with your kids sometimes, but what they will really remember about you is if you were there every day for all of their little adventures - did you see her when she caught her first lightning bug? How about when she found that beautiful leaf? Or when he rescued the little bug?

Just today, I was planning on a big "daddy date" for Marisa and things went wrong. I lost my wallet, which meant no cash, no driver license, and no credit cards - which in turn meant no special lunch out, no gas for the car and no trip to the mall to the big play place. So, instead, I made PB&J sandwiches and went to the dollar store. We spent a total of $4 on toys that she picked out: Bubbles, plastic maracas, a small rubber ball and a scratch off glitter sheet that she could draw on. For the last two hours we have played with these toys in the driveway and the living room. She has giggled and laughed and had the best time doing what, to us big people, is so very minor and little.

Spend lots of time with your kids and don't worry so much about if you are doing the big stuff. Just make sure that they grow up remembering that you were always there for them.