A Call for Submissions

Poet, activist, public speaker (and more), Etan Thomas, is spearheading a book project called "Voices of Our Future." Writers ages 13 to 25 are encouraged to submit verse or prose for possible inclusion in this book. He is looking to wrap up the project soon.

You can paste the URL below to learn more about the project.(Could not make my blog link to it for some reason.) I also encourage you to do a search on Etan Thomas Voices Future, and read some of the articles written about and by this man, the project, and about his 2005 collection of poetry, "More Than an Athlete." He truly is more than a professional basketball player. (Currently with Oklahoma City Thunder, previously the Washington Wizards).


http://www.webook.com/project/Voices-of-Our-Future-edited-by-Etan-Thomas

Call It A Comeback?

Hello readers and fellow bloggers. As some of you already know, For Children's Sake has been in limbo due to some health issues and personal concerns that have been all-consuming. Rest assured, I have been gathering info and compiling books, music, and products for review, and please keep checking back now and again for updates. Take care! ~B.

Reading IS Fundamental

The oldest and largest children's and families' literacy nonprofit organization in the U.S. is Reading is Fundamental (RIF). Reading is Fundamental works with kids, their parents, and community members to help reading become a fun part of everyday life.

RIF's focus is mainly underserved children 8 years or younger. RIF provideds 4.5 million kids with 16 million new, free books and literary resources - every year.

If you would like to become a community volunteer or just want more info, RIF's website is www.RIF.org.

Buy in Bulk from the Dollar Tree

I love the Dollar Tree. The store carries such a wide variety of items, and when I am planning for a party, teacher appreciation luncheon, volunteer banquet...whatevskies...it is nice to be able to decorate or give out gifts or goodies bags without breaking the bank.

Everything at DollarTree.com is also $1 or less. AND if you ship items to a local Dollar Tree store instead of 2 your home, shipping is free. Woo-hoo!

My only problem with the site is that some of the sizes of the lots are just too big. I might actually find a use for 48 black frames, though, especially since my daughter loves to create masterpieces for me on the regular!

Anyway, Dollar Tree online already has about 750 products, and they are constantly expanding that.

Happy shopping!

Use iPhone to Name Your Baby

Name That Baby! is a relatively new iPhone application that provides baby name possibilities by the thousands. (Released October 2008) You just choose a gender and a starting letter, and give the iPhone a shake. Name that Baby! makes a rattle sound during the shaking.

You can even save name candidates to a favorites list.

Makes a fun gift for expectant parents and a perfect baby shower activity. At only $3.99, Name that Baby is a bargain compared to most books of baby names.

For more info, visit www.doubletapapps.com.

Shake your iPhone, but never never ever ever shake your baby!

Win Free Sprout Organic Baby Food

Due Maternity (designer maternity clothing and accessories) is giving customers a chance to win one month's supply of free Sprout Organic Baby Food from its partner, SproutBaby.com through the online store at www.DueMaternity.com.

Good taste, good quality, good nutrition, and good for the planet. Awesomeness, right?

Go to www.duematernity.com/maternity-contest.html to enter and to learn more about Sprout Organic Baby Food.

Borders and Waldenbooks - "Super Saturday Smackdown" Trivia Tournament

Borders and Waldenbooks across the nation will host "Super Saturday Smackdown" at 2 pm June 27th. So head on over this weekend for trivia fun ("Jeopardy!" style). Some possible trivia categories are: Dr. Seuss, Encyclopedia Brown, Junie B. Jones, Nate the Great, Magic Tree House, Harry Potter, Fudge, Pendragon, and the Artemis Fowl books. There is a prize for the victor!

In select stores, there will also be an arts and crafts project available and storytime. During the event, kids will be provided with samples of drinks from the Seattle's Best Coffee cafe located in most Borders superstores.

Border's "Summer Reading Challenge" continues through August 31st. Kids age 12 and under who read 8 books and list the books they have read on the "Summer Reading Challenge" form ("coupon") found in Borders or Waldenbooks stores, or at www.borders.com/summerreading, can choose from select books after a parent signs the form. These books are all priced at only $4.99, which is 50 percent or more off their usual price.

If you want to find out if a Borders or Waldenbooks store in your area will be holding a "Super Saturday Smackdown" event, and what other upcoming events are being offered, use the Store Locator function on Borders.com.

Sounds like a fun way to generate excitement for summer reading!

Survey on Dads' Role in Children's Education

Many fathers today are more actively involved with the education of their children than their own fathers were, even during the summer months. Hooray for modern men!

In a recent online survey commissioned by Kumon Math and Reading Centers (April 2009), dads feel one of their main parenting roles is to help their children excel in school. A full 50 percent of the fathers surveyed indicated that they were more likely than their wives to motivate kids to do schoolwork.

Other survey highlights:

3 out of 4 dads were aware of summer learning opportunities
6 out of 10 dads enroll their kids in organized summer learning programs

For more stats from the survey or more info about Kumon (an after-school math and reading program), visit www.kumon.com.

Happy Father's Day!

Turn Your Toilet Green

Ew, right?

Actually, making your toilet "green," a.k.a. "earth-friendly" or "eco-conscious" is a cinch.

Fill an empty plastic 20-ounce or 1 liter drinking bottle with water, then tuck it inside the toilet tank, below the handle mechanism.

Trial and error: anywhere else in the tank, and the bottle gets sucked down with every flush, causing MORE water usage. Oh, and duct tape will NOT hold it in place. But maybe plumber's tape would?

This trick results in less water usage with every flush, and is much less expensive than installing a low-flow toilet if you don't already have one.

The water in my toilet tank now rises to about 1 1/2 inches less depth than before. I have not figured out the volume on that - math was never my strong suit - but it seems like it is probably a significant amount!

An option my mom suggested, which was a popular water conservation trick in days predating me, is to place a brick in the tank.

If you run a business or work at an office with multiple bathroom stalls, or have more than one toilet in your house, implementing this idea has even more of an impact!

Let me know if you can think of other ideas for conserving water in your bathroom!

And This Little Piggy Got the Flu...

Swine Flu is NOT sweeping the nation. Hundreds of thousands of people die of influenza worldwide each year, and yet we are not up in arms. Here's the facts, courtesy of Tulsa Health Department.

-Swine Flu is a respiratory disease of pigs. There are regular outbreaks in pigs. Human infections do not happen often. Person-to-person spreading of swine flu was not sustained beyond 3 people in the past.

-There has been limited reporting of H1N1 (swine influenza A) in the U.S. A case count for confirmed infections in humans in the U.S. is available at http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/investigation.htm.

-Symptoms are similar to regular influenza. Fever, cough, sore throat, aching, headache, chills, fatigue, possibly diarrhea and vomiting. Pneumonia and respiratory failure and deaths have been reported. This is likely because, like seasonal flu, swine flu can cause worsening of underlying chronic medical conditions.

-If you get sick, stay home. Thanks.

-12 cases of swine flu were detected in the U.S. between 2005 and 2009, and no deaths occurred.

-There were over 200 cases with serious illness in 1976 in New Jersey. There was only one death.

-Swine flu is not spread by eating pork.

The moral of the story is not to lick each other and to continue to use soap and warm water and scrub for at least as long as it takes to sing "This is the way we wash our hands, wash our hands, wash our hands. This is the way we wash our hands, with soap and water."

If children or adults seem like they need emergency medical care due to breathing problems, bluish skin color, lack of fluids, inability to interact, fever with a rash, dizziness, confusion, persistent vomiting, etc., go to the ER or an Urgent Care facility. (Stating the obvious.) Swine flu or not!

(If you would like to be mailed a two-page handout with more information on Swine Influenza, please send me your address at ston_bran@yahoo.com. You may also visit the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website, or www.tulsa-health.com.

Free Online Literacy Program

Scholastic's Summer Challenge is a free online program created to encourage literacy in kids between the ages of 5 and 12. A love of reading is cultivated, and Scholastic aims to motivate kids to read a minimum of 4 books this summer.

At the end of the summer, Scholastic will give a contribution to Save the Children on the behalf of all participants in the Summer Challenge.

For more info on Scholastic's Summer Challenge, and for age-appropriate book recommendations, visit www.Scholastic.com/summer.

Tulsa Area Car Seat Safety Checks in June

I went to a children's health and safety fair last month and checked the installation of my daughter's booster seat. It was installed incorrectly, despite the pictured instructions on the side of the model, which I had followed precisely!

For readers who live in my area, here are car seat safety checks that Safe Kids will be sponsoring in June:

June 4th 2-4pm State Farm Insurance 12222 State Farm Blvd (51st & 129th)

June 9th 10am-noon Owasso Fire Dept. 207 S. Cedar (76th St. N & Cedar)

June 20th 9am-noon Creek Nation Tribal Complex 13000 Loop 56 (Hwy 75 & Loop 56)

June 25th 10am-noon Riverside Chevrolet 707 W 51st (I-44 & Arkansas River)

For more info, call 918-494-SAFE, or visit www.safekidstulsa.com.

Encourage Creativity - Publish Your Child's Artwork

Scholastic Parent & Child considers submissions of children's artwork, including drawings, photographs, and paintings, for possible publication in one of the magazine's issues. If they do end up using your mini-Michaelangelo's artwork in a future issue, Scholastic will send your son or daughter a complimentary box of books!

Send submissions to:
Samantha Brody
557 Broadway
5th Floor
New York, NY 10012

or

SBRODY@SCHOLASTIC.COM

Happy Mother's Day!

Can't write much...this is time that is practically sacred, but could not let Mother's Day go by without giving a shout out to all the Moms out there.

Not all superheroes wear capes!

Happy Mother's Day. :-)

Stamp Out Hunger today!

Community food banks have been hit even harder in the current economic downturn than our pantries have been.

Today is the Stamp Out Hunger community food bank drive. Donating is as easy as putting non-perishable food items in your mailbox (or in a box or paper bag under the mailbox). The postal carrier and area volunteers will pick up the donations.

Let's not punish the needy because we're feeling passive-aggressive about Monday's postage rate hike!

New Generation of Feminists

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5heUgjHB3X0

There is no embedding available, but this is the URL for Part 3 of 5 of a YouTube video of Gloria Steinem when she spoke at a Lecture series in 2007.

There are 5 parts, and several of my friends asked questions. I can't remember if I ever got questions out of my mouth or just sat there alternately crying and in stunned silence.

The little girl is my daughter, who was allowed to play hooky from first grade that afternoon. After all, Ms. Steinem is 73, and by the time my child is a grown woman, the opportunity to hear her speak may be long gone. There is much life learning to be had outside of school, too.

Although this post is more personal than informational, I share it with you, readers, to encourage you to encourage all the woman in your lives to use their voices. "Use your words" may take them places we could never expect.

Scholastic has April sweepstakes for parents

Scholastic is offering an online sweepstakes for a bundle of Baby Einstein brand goodies this month. Enter to win the Baby Einstein sweepstakes, Thai Kitchen sweepstakes, or "Tale of Desperaux" contest by visiting their home page.

Online Resource for Caregivers of Children with ADHD

Internet savvy moms are now all over social networking sites such as Facebook. All parents need to reach out and create a social support system.

McNeil Pediatrics, a division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., sponsors the "ADHDMoms" group on Facebook. All parents and caregivers of children with ADHD are invited to join the online community. Parents and pediatricians provide insight and encouragement about raising a child or children who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Hear from others what has worked for them in coping with and managing their children's ADHD diagnosis, and share your story.

Celebrate Spring with Snack Mix

Does your pantry look a little bit like a pastel marshmallow barnyard right now? Either the Easter Bunny left a few goodies behind, or you found a great after-the-holiday sale at your neighborhood grocer. What are you going to do with all of them, besides using them in hot cocoa or rice cereal treats?

How about pouring some trail mix into snack bags (make your own with granola, dried fruits, and sunflower kernels) and then including the marshmallows for a touch of sweet with the salty?

We also added yogurt-covered fruit bits (Kellogg's brand Yogos Bits) for more color and a different texture, but you could also use yogurt-covered raisins.

My little one called ours "Hopping Down the Bunny Trail Mix." If you want the mix to be a mouthful but can't wrap your mouth around that long of a name, you could call it "Peter Cottontrail Mix." Or make some "Chicks Mix" for your brood!

Piggies, Pennies, and People Make CHANGE

As a side note, someone once got their cliches confused (He claimed!) and asked what I was thinking about by saying "A penny for your two cents." Hardly seems like a fair trade...

Unbeknownst to my daughter, we are going to be making a piggy bank out of a 2-liter soda bottle and paper towel tubes. Or we are going to make 3 or 4 small piggy banks out of 20-oz bottles.

(For instructions to this craft, Google "soda bottle piggy bank craft" or "soda bottle piggy bank craft(s) project(s)" and use whichever directions work best for your supplies on hand.)

I came across a sidebar on page 116 of the April 2009 Ladies Home Journal that, in combination with the piggy or piglet banks, will help reinforce a few financial and life lessons:

1. One can and does make a difference. One penny, one person, one vote, one kind word.

2. Helping others feels good.

3. Spending money is instant gratification and feels good at the time but may not have long-lasting effects or rewards. Saving money is delayed gratification, which is even more delicious.

These groups were mentioned by LHJ:

Common Cents Penny Harvest
School kids give their pennies to help support community organizations. Kids choose which groups receive the contribution.

Pennies for Peace
Central Asia Institute's Pennies for Peace uses donations to build schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan for kids with few opportunities for education, particularly young girls.

Penny Lovers of America
This organization, in celebration of its 25 years in existence, is sponsoring the National Penny Recycling Campaign. The money collected will be used to fund college scholarships for disadvantaged kids.

Other organizations that I believe have coin-based fundraising include March of Dimes, United Way, and UNICEF. If you can think of any others, feel free to tell us about them by leaving a comment!

commoncents.org
penniesforpeace.org
pennylovers.org