Mom 's Solutions

Top Ten Things Your Child Should Learn by Fifth Grade

2008-08-01T19:05:00.000-04:00

1. Manners and etiquette in the classroom is and absolute must. Push in your chair, don't talk when somene else is, personal space etc.

2. Number facts both for both division and multiplication. And I mean know them like the back of your hand, no counting on fingers. Nothing guarantees more success in middle school math then a solid basis in the number facts.

3. Spelling. I don't care if there is spell check, you will always find yourelf in a position where you must write the words yourself and not type them. Nothing looks sloppier and less intelligent that poor spelling.

4. How to use the Library. This is a skill-yes skill-that is invaluable to every successful student. I've worked in some elementary school libraries and it often falls upon the librarian to perform so many administrative tasks that he or she barely has the time to read to the students. Kids need to learn and understand the cataloguing system and how to use it. The key thing they need to learn here is how much information is out there and how to seek out that information in and efficient way.

5. Physical Education is important! Far too mny kids are overweight at this young age and in most cases it can be avoided. But instead of Dodge Ball or emphasis on team sports the gym classes should be running aerobics classes and things like kick boxing or tai bo. Basketball and Soccer should be there also as they involve a lot of physical activiy. The kids need to learn and enjoy moving in their bodies and the importance of staying fit. These days there are a great deal of afterschool sports teams they can play on and they should be encouraged as well both for the fitness and the social beneits.

6. Public Speaking. A huge difference I noticed from when I was in elementary school and now is the amount of presentations or public speaking the kids are required to do. I did very little of it and consequently had a great fear of it. In my kids schools(they each went to two different elmentary schools-both public) my kids started formal presentations as early as first grade. And not just once in a while, quite frequently! Let me tell you both my outgoing one and my shyer one have no problem getting up in front of the class and presenting a report, project or being in a play. Well done and right from the beginning!

7. Read, Read, Read! The reading requirements just keep getting tougher and moved up into the earlier grades. In addition middle school and high school classes assume a level of reading has been achieved when setting up the curriculum. If the skill is not there, the student will continue to struggle in many subjects. The only way to succeed here is to get them to love to read. If they are strugglng get them help right away. It won't clear up on its own. Read to them often and let them see you reading too. Practice sight recognition of key words using flash cards. The teachers will identify the age and level appropriate words for you to use.

8. Community Service. Through things like scouting programs and school activities emphasize the benefits for everyone of participating in community service. Help rebuild the playground, run a food drive, plant a memory garden at the school, whatever is needed. Kids shine in these situations and it will teach them to always contribute and give back and to be more appreciative of what they have.

9. Learn to appreciate Nature. Visit parks, beaches anything outside and appreciate what is natural to the area. As we get older time is not always there to "stop and smell the roses". If they learn about it now it is more likely they will explore it more later. I love a school with an outdoor classroom!

10. Ecology and the Environment. Kids need to be exposed early on to the concepts of balance in nature and the repercussions of an upset in the natural balance of their ecosystem. This will help them gain a sense of respect for the planet and an awareness of how we should care for it.

Obviously kids should and will learn a lot more than this, but I feel these ten points are really improtant to continues success in secondary schools and onward.

Luxating Patella? Does your dog need surgery?

2008-06-26T09:41:00.000-04:00

My lovable dog, a mixed breed of Norwegian Elkhound, shepard and a bit of chow, is a terrific dog. He is healthy, sturdy, well behaved, and as my vet told me...he got the best of all his breed. Everything in him was symmetrical and perfectly aligned. When he was about 2 years old, he came in one day from the yard and he was favoring one hind leg. He would hold it up and then kind of twitch it or "kick it out" and give out a little yelp. I figured he must have a thorn in his pad or maybe he stepped on a tack or something. He would not let me near it to take a look, which is very unusual for him. I took him to the vet that afternoon and I could not believe what they told me. She explained that he had a Luxating Patella which means that the knee cap is actually slipping off of the joint and they were not sure why. Most dogs who have this are smaller breeds that are predisposed to the condition and most dogs will have it in both hind legs. My dog is 60 lbs and only has it one knee. The only other way to get it is injury. She asked me if he had fallen or been injured in any way. I said no but.....my dog is a digger. We have several holes in the yard from his digging for stuff and we surmised that he must have tripped in one of his own holes while running in the yard. The only solution to this was surgery. And it's a big one with a long recovery time. If your dog has been diagnosed with Luxating Patella and they recommend surgery let me tell you what you are in for while you decide what to do.

First of all let me begin by saying we did the surgery and it went perfectly. My dog has recovered perfectly with no signs of the injury at all today. There has been no re-occurrence and I am so glad that we did it.

Now I'll tell you how hard it was. First of all it is expensive. My vet could not do this surgery, they needed to bring in an orthopedic vet to do it. Plan on about $1700.00. The surgery involves moving the patella off of the joint and then sawing divot lines into the bone and then re-attaching the patella back over the joint. The troughs or divots as I call them will keep the patella from ever sliding off again permanently. Tendons and bones need to be moved and reattached etc. As you can imagine this takes a long time to recover from. If you don't follow the doctors orders for the recovery time and take it very seriously, the dog will not heal properly and you will have put him through all of the pain and yourself through all of the expense for nothing. Do it right or don't do it at all.

You need to prepare a small room for the dog to remain contained for a couple of weeks and it needs to be able to go out without having to use stairs. I cordoned off my dining room with gates so that he could still see all of his family but not be in the hustle and bustle of the family room and kitchen. For the first week or so he will not want to move hardly at all. I had it ready with his food and water bowl and his bed.

When you pick up your dog after this procedure, his entire hind quarters will be shaved and a very large incision will be stitched and uncovered. This is not for the squeamish to look at. He will not be able to put weight on that leg for quite a while so you may need to sling a towel underneath his back end to help him with going out to the bathroom. The doctor will give you medicine for pain in the beginning but after a while you need to let it hurt him so that he won't use it. That's the hardest part for me. He will have a cone on his head (which my dog was afraid of) so that he won't pick at it. You need to watch the incision closely for signs of infection (thankfully none for my dog)and he'll need to keep very low key in the closed off area for about two weeks. Stitches come off in about 10 or 12 days. Then gradually your doctor will tell you to start to increase his mobility in the leg, like letting him walk on it to go out to the bathroom, then taking short walks up and down the driveway. The entire process of gradually increasing his mobility took 8 weeks. That is 8 weeks of very closely supervised WALKING ONLY and only on a leash, for a dog that is used to running around in a large fenced yard with no leash. It's very hard and takes real commitment! After about 3 weeks my dog felt great and just wanted to go! I had do be diligent and stick to the plan or he would have re-injured it and what we went through would have all been for nothing. After the 8 weeks he's pretty much good to go back to normal.

He is five years old now and he has no problems what so ever. He walks 2 miles a day with me and then plays with the kids and the cats. Now, if he had not had the surgery, my vet told me he would be severely arthritic in only a couple of years and he was only 2 at the time. I had no choice but to do the procedure or this active healthy dog would have a life of pain and limitations. That being said, if he was a 11 or 12 year old dog, I would not have done it. Chances are he would be getting arthritic then anyway and he would not be nearly as active as a young dog. I would not put an older dog through this trauma. It's a big decision and it affects the way you live for 8 weeks. No trips, you need to be there for him every day and your family needs to help. But the rewards are there for your pet if you do it right. I owed it to him to do it right....and now we fill all of the holes in our yard!

I hope this helps with your decision on what to do and best of luck to you.

Car Sickness and kids-what you must have with you

2008-02-17T15:29:00.000-05:00

Here is a super important tip I will pass along to any of you that are going to travel a long distance with kids. Always take two trash bags and a roll of paper towels with you. Keep them within arms reach of yourself so you can grab them quickly. I keep them right under the drivers seat. I recently took a ski trip with a bunch of 11 year old kids and one of them got sick... and I mean sick. I was in the left lane of a 4 lane busy highway that was merging into another one. Needless to say it was going to be a few minutes before I could safely pull over. I grabbed the bag for him to use until I could get safely off of the road. When we pulled over I could throw away the bag, clean him up with the paper towels and I still had another bag left in case he needed it again. We still had 2 hours left to drive. This travel tip totally came in handy again when I was driving my kids into New York City over the holidays. The traffic was as heavy as it could be and the exhaust backing up made one of my sons queasy. Sure enough, the bag came out. We were on a bridge and there was no way for me to pull over. If I wasn't prepared it would have been a mess. My son handled it all so well and I'm sure it's because I was calm and cool because we were ready...just in case.
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Panini Dinner

2008-02-15T06:51:00.000-05:00

The Panini maker has to be the best kitchen appliance I own. I had the George Forman grill and it was ok but very difficult to clean. I had the quesadilla maker, and we had a lot of fun with that but everything you made really wasn't that good for you. Well this Christmas I recieved the Cuisinart Panini maker as a gift. It is the best. My family is hardly ever eating dinner at the same time let alone lunch so I just have all kinds of ingredients ready and the Panini Grill on the counter and everyone can help themselves.

Let me give you some examples. Buy your favorite lean deli meats and cheeses. I also use a store bought pesto and I also use my homemade Italian Salsa, which you can also find the recipe for on this website. Pastene roasted peppers if you like them, a nice italian or french bread and spray oil and you are good to go!

If your family needs things simplified like mine does, just slice up the bread ahead of time and put it back in the bag to stay fresh. I like to make turkey and swiss with pesto sauce and sliced tomato, or the italian salsa with roast beef and provolone. Make whatever sounds good to you and just spray oil on the grill and then right on the top of the sandwich. What I like about it is that your really not adding any fattening butter to do the grilling. The bread comes out toasted just right and the cheese is all melty inside. A nice Kosher dill on the side and its like you have your own deli! Best of all everyone is not eating fast food but still eating fast!!

If you don't have a Panini grill....Get one! I think you can also make them in some grill pans with the grill lines.

Premier Youth Soccer Clubs...What to expect and is it worth it?

2008-02-13T20:10:00.000-05:00

Are Premier soccer clubs worth all of the expense and time needed to participate? Do they really make a player better? There are two ways to answer that, yes and no, but let me give you some insight into the whole experience. My 12 year old son is very athletic. He is one of those kind of kids that gets noticed everywhere he plays. He had been playing soccer since he was 2 1/2 years old with our local town rec league and by the time he was 6 yrs old he moved onto the travel division. When he was 9 he played against a team that had so much talent on it, that after a game in a tournament he actually went over to some of the players who were in the arcade and asked them...where do you guys get all that footwork? They told him that in addition to playing for their town travel teams they also play for a Premier club. Well my son's response to that was..Mom, how do I get on that team?

Having done it for two years now, I can tell you some of what a Premier team will offer your player. There are three main differences between a Premier team and a town team.

First of all the biggest difference is that the coaching staff of the team is experienced and PAID!! That is a huge plus because you no longer have "little Billy's dad" coaching the team and all of the inherent problems associated with that. The "politics" usually associated with town teams run by volunteers is gone. Usually the coaches are current or ex-college players and/or ex-professional players.

Second, there are no favorites or requirements for playing time. Kids play by there ability and skills and their desire to learn and achieve more. That is not to say that the less skilled players ride the bench, but when games are clutch, your key players will be on the field more. All players will play and be developed to the best of their ability.

Thirdly, The players who will be there really want to be there. The costs involved can be high so parents don't just sign kids up for this unless the kids are serious about it. The commitment to the team is elevated.

In our experience the Premier coach will offer your player a much higher lever of skill development and conditioning during training sessions and the sessions will go all year long, not just during the spring and fall. In addition they will probably offer Futsol ( a slight variation on indoor soccer that is great for training) during the winter in addition to a regular indoor soccer season. So you see there will be potentially 6 seasons...Spring outdoor, fall outdoor, 2 or 3 indoor seasons and 2 or 3 futsol seasons concurrently. Now that's a lot of soccer so this type of program is for the kid who really loves soccer and any other sport comes second. The team will compete at a state and possibly interstate level. They have different leagues for all of the premier teams to compete in so the level of play will be much more intense and sophisticated and frankly a lot more interesting and fun to watch. The down side to this is that frequently you must travel two hours or so just to play one game. But we looked at that as reading time in the car or sleep time or just catching up time. In addition to the playing seasons there are some great opportunities for the team in the way of tournaments. Some are local, but you can plan on traveling a good distance to at least 3 or 4 tournaments per year. You need to plan on hotels, and airfare if necessary. There is usually a team manager who will coordinate the team's travel so the team will be together. The experience your player will have traveling this way with their team is invaluable to them, regardless of whether or not they win the tournament. They love to play both on the field and in the hotels and they start to get to know all of these other teams from the region and elsewhere. Its a blast for the whole family as many tournament are held in places where there are usually other good tourist attractions so you can make little vacations out of them.

When my son took the spot on this team I didn't know if soccer was really his favorite sport and neither did he. But he knew he wanted to get better. I told him to try this out for a season. If you love it we can keep going, but even if you don't you will have the experience of raising your game to the next level and what you will learn from that you can take with you to any other sport you pursue. He had great success here and he developed into a terrific player, a primary midfielder and forward for this team.

The costs associated with premier soccer at this age of u-12 or less is about $1200-1500 per year. For the kid who really has ability and want to just play soccer this is the only way to go. When the kids reach the u-15, u-16 level they start going to college showcasing tournaments and become ranked teams and players. If you want to play in college you really should look into trying out for a Premier team.

As for my son, he played with this team for two and a half years and then decided he wanted to play football, lacrosse, basketball and baseball more. He just did not want to give up his other sports to only play soccer. And let me tell you, that is just fine with me. He knew he was not ready to dedicate himself to just one sport at this age. That aside, his experience on this premier team was so well worth it and what he learned about sports, teamwork and competition has been invaluable to him . I see what he learned from his coaches here coming out in everything he plays now. He loved being apart of a special team and he really enjoyed the success the team had. If your player loves the sport of soccer more than anything else and you can afford this, then yes....Premier soccer is the best way to go to get your child the maximum experience in the sport and have them the best prepared to go on and play in college.

The Baseball Hall of Fame/Cooperstown New York

2008-01-27T16:59:00.000-05:00

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown New York is a must see for anyone who loves the game of Baseball. It was especially fun for my sons and I as we are HUGE Red Sox fans. You may not think this is a good time of year to go, but it is! Lets face it, the museum is an indoor event and without all of the summer traffic there is parking everywhere. We drove up and stayed at the Best Western, they have great rates this time of year...ask about the winter family special rates. We went up with my family (dad, sisters and their families also) and made a little party of it. They have a pool and a jacuzzi, a small game room and good restaurants right near by. Plus, if your also into soccer, the soccer hall of fame is located here too. We didn't have enough time to see that but I've heard it's really good too.

Inside the hall of Fame you will find something from just about every baseball icon you ever knew. The displays are beautifully done and did I mention there were no crowds! It was easy to wander around the museum and just take it all in. I especially liked the show they run I think every hour or so about the history of baseball. The special effects are really well done. I won't say more because you'll want to see that for yourself. My sons especially loved the actual "Hall" where all of the plaques are for everyone who has been inducted. It's very cool to see and touch all of the plaques. I personally could not wait to see the World Series display. My favorite Jacoby Ellsbury's bat is in there with his picture and everything! Can you believe a rookie from Pawtucket could go that far in one year. It's like Zac DeOssie a rookie from Brown university who is now playing for the NY Giants and is going to the Superbowl! I know I just changed sports but stay with me. I'm just in awe of the rookies going out there and playing so well. Don't forget Dustin Pedroia, he's there too. Another great sight was to actually see Curt Shillings bloody sock. The blood is all brown now and I took a lot of teasing from my Dad the Yankee fan about it really just being ketchup. In the same room as that are all of that are the Rings!! They are awesome to see. The new Red Sox one is not there yet but the last one is really pretty! Oh yeah, there are a few Yankee ones there too. Another cool little exhibit is the one where you can lift up a flap covering any ballpark and it will play the theme song form that park. There are so many displays of records and guys who pitched no hitters etc. There's just so much to see. The town is adorable and plenty of places to shop and eat. Anyway, the trip is a blast and the ride is a long one but an easy one. I definitely say take the kids and get up there before the little league and high school baseball seasons begin. One they start, you'll never find the time.

Take me out to the ball game....take me out to the park................(you know how it goes....)

Family Night...Watch American Idol

2008-01-18T19:39:00.000-05:00

Kids are always running to the playroom to play video games or onto the computer to I.M their friends. Parents are busy with work, dinner preparation, clean-up, meetings, etc. Frankly, spending time together can be really difficult to fit in without everyone just forcing the issue and feeling a bit uncomfortable about it. I sometimes wonder if this is what is all supposed to be. It doesn't have to be that way every night. Try watching American Idol as a group. It is a terrific way to have any generation of family member all in the same room, watching something together, without anyone having to feel uncomfortable about a shows content, or be bored by droning cartoons or countless basketball games. It's on on Tuesday nights and Wednesday nights. One of those nights is bound to work for your family and if not then record it. Especially now, while the show is in the audition stage, everyone gets big laughs out of the most outrageous auditions peppered in with some of the real talent that will prevail through the season. We like to make "Idol" snacks like popcorn, chicken wings or some other fun hour 'derv and sit together in the family room and watch! As the season goes on you'll see everyone gets so attached to their favorites that at the end of the show, we all go scrambling for the telephone to try to log in as many calls for our idols before the phone lines jam up. The next morning the kids at the bus stop are all saying "did you watch idol last night?" "who did you like?" It kind of becomes a bit cult like but in a fun and enjoyable way. I'm not kidding, I've heard many a time at little league fields moms whispering under their breath, "Hurry up and make the last out...Idols on in 10 minutes!!" High School age boys are the toughest to sell this idea to (believe me, I have one) but for the auditions shows he will indulge us with and he seems to really enjoy them. Family accord can be tough to achieve in these busy times with all of our families activities. American Idol can offer a light hearted and entertaining way to just relax and enjoy the evening together...and its FREE! My top picks over the years were Kelly Clarkson...love her. I picked Clay Aiken over Ruben even though Ruben won. I knew right away that Carrie Underwood would win, and I always liked Chris Daughtry and Taylor Hicks. Who will it be this year?

P.S. If anyone watched last night I thought it was terrific the way Paula, Simon and Randy treated Temptress.
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Popular Review

2008-01-16T00:49:00.000-05:00

Popular Review
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Clean Kitchen Grease and Grime or use WAX paper

2008-01-15T14:41:00.000-05:00

You know when you really...and I mean really...clean your kitchen and you try to clean the tops of you cabinets. The grime up there could rival a sandblaster!! Well someone gave me the best tip ever and I will pass it along to you. When your cabinet top if finally clean roll out a long sheet of wax paper and lay it down on top of the cabinet, curl side down. It lays flat and it is the exact width of the cabinet. No one can see it!! Then when you clean the next time, you just carefully take it off...it will be very grungy...and throw it away. Lay down new wax paper and your good to go! Could you find a better way to spend the mere 2.99$ that it costs for the wax paper!!!

Remember that for your spring cleaning