Kids R Cool

Ok gang, after two years we decided it was time for a new look!

We have moved to our new site here http://kidsrcool2.blogspot.com/

The new site is a little more clean and less cluttered.

We will not remove this blog because several of you asked us to leave it so you can still reference the old posts.

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We realize that there are so many of you it will take time for the transition, but we hope it will be as seamless as possible.

Thanks so much to the hundreds of you visiting and for all the support and sharing you have done.

Please feel free to leave us a comment on the new site. Pleas tell us what you do or don't like. With the new template we can change things much faster and make it everything you want it to be.

Thanks again, and remember KIDS REALLY R COOL!

The Following family shows go on sale today via Ticketmaster

Disney's High School Musical: The Ice Tour

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

PLAYHOUSE DISNEY LIVE! ON TOUR

Sesame Street Live : Ready for Action

Smucker's Stars On Ice

Sesame Street Live : When Elmo Grows Up

Staff at a Devon heritage railway can no longer help children off trains, because of the risk of being accused of inappropriate behaviour.

It follows a case in which a volunteer driver at another steam railway in Hampshire was convicted of indecently assaulting a six-year-old child.

South Devon Railway, which runs steam trains between Buckfastleigh and Totnes said the new policy was common sense.

But spokesman John Haslem admitted it was "a sad reflection on society".

The policy was prompted by a case in which convicted paedophile George Sully, 73, from Hampshire, indecently assaulted a girl on the Hampshire Watercress Line.

He was given an indeterminate sentence in June this year.

Heritage Railway Association has asked all members to review their procedures and the South Devon organisation has produced new guidelines.

Mr Haslem said: "We encourage parents to get out of the train before their child to help the child down.

"Our staff must not touch a child unless it is in clear view of the parent and the parent can see that there is no inappropriate behaviour.

"However we will intervene if there is imminent risk of injury.

"This simple and robust policy is to make sure that the risk an opportunity of inappropriate behaviour or wrongful accusations cannot arise."

He said that the railway got to know most volunteers well before they were allowed to work with the public.

He said: "We take precautions to make sure that volunteers and paid staff are not allowed to get into a one-to-one situation with any child."

He added: "We welcome thousands of young children to South Devon Railway every year without problem.

"We have never had a child protection issue in the 38 years of the line." SOURCE

Cosby's kickin' it. Again. Three years ago, Bill Cosby ignited brush fires across black America when he excoriated low-income African-American families for tolerating violence, miseducation and failure at a black tie NAACP dinner in Washington, D.C. "The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting," he ranted at the stone-faced crowd of America's black elite. "They are buying things for their kids -- $500 sneakers for what? And won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics!

This was no Mr. Huxtable of "The Cosby Show" fame. The iconic entertainer once known as the jolly Jell-O man was hanging our dirty laundry out to dry.

His critics crucified him for what they said was an elitist, misplaced attack on the black poor, who are, after all, just victims of white supremacy and institutional racism. Don't pick on them, they argued. It's "whitey's" fault.

Still, Cosby was just warming up. He took his tough-love act on tour. Since 2004, Cosby and his longtime collaborator, Harvard psychiatrist Alvin F. Poussaint, have been hosting "Call Outs with Bill Cosby," a series of town hall meetings around the nation, from Panama City, Fla., to Baltimore, Md.

They culminated in the new book, Come on People: On the Path from Victims to Victors, co-authored by Cosby and Poussaint. It is an old-fashioned, eat-your-vegetables, teach-your-children, pull-your-pants-up polemic. The book posits two central questions: Should African Americans talk out of school about the pathologies that are consuming us? Are there any solutions?

Yes, and yes.

Come on People has replaced Cosby's vitriolic speechifying with commonsense essays that reject victimization, violence and despair. If you read this book, you will realize that there is nothing controversial about "what Cosby said."

What is debatable about cherishing your children? What is the argument against going back to school, listening to the elders, abhoring gun violence?

And the old red herring of blaming "whitey" can't hack it anymore. "Blaming only the system keeps certain black people in the limelight, but it also keeps the black poor wallowing in victimhood," the authors write.

Cosby's detractors drone on about the "victims," but they never get around to asking the folks who are toiling, suffering and, yes, striving. We need to find more ways to include them in the conversation, as equal partners, rather than grist for the despair mill.

In the book, black parents, professionals and activists offer up passionate, nuts-and-bolts advice to salve the community's myriad ills. It quotes a Nation of Islam Minister Tony Muhammad at a "call out" in Compton, a black city in South Los Angeles. "What we have got to stop doing is looking outside of our community and look within our community . . . All I want to know is, do you have a program that's saving our children?

"I went to Koreatown today, and I met with Korean merchants. I love them. You know why? They got a place called what? Koreatown. When I left them I went to Chinatown. They got a place called what? Chinatown.

"Where is your town?"

Muhammad urges his "brothers and sisters" to take back their communities. "I'm getting with every pastor because the religious men and women, it's our fault that the streets have gone wild. You hear what I said? It's our fault."

Back in the day, the happy Mr. Huxtable probably didn't play well in Compton, and Cosby's new shtick is a little bourgeois. But like Cosby says, no more excuses.

Cosby's detractors drone on about the 'victims,' but they never get around to asking the folks who are toiling, suffering and, yes, striving. SOURCE

Hot topic: At Thanksgiving, when do the kids move up to the adults’ table?

At Thanksgiving, when do the kids in your family get to move up from the kids’ table to the adults’ table?

66.7 percent — No one is too old for the kids’ table. I just sat there last year.

25 percent — When they’re old enough to drive, marry or carve the turkey.

8.3 percent — When they’re old enough to cut their own food.

Zero — When they’re old enough to start a food fight. SOURCE

I was told today, by a close friend, that if you get canker sores, it is your bodies way of punishing you for lying. What?! Have you ever heard that? Me neither. Isn't just the feeling you get after you lie to someone bad enough? All these old myths and wives tales are not working for me. In fact, they are not working in our society...

Today, kids are smarter than they ever have been, and telling them that if they make a funny face it will stay that way, no longer works. Granted, it worked on me and you, but it is no longer a good way to get a kid to stop making funny faces. Same with the canker sores one I got from my buddy. I give that one more generation and then its toast.

Now, thinking about this a little more in depth, these old sayings is how i was raised and taught not to lie, cheat, or steal. But nowadays, that stuff doesnt cut it. What result will this have on our youth? Kids running around kicking and screaming is going to be a sad teachers career. And what about the parents?

Parents have a hard job as it is, but forcing them to innovate new ways of raising their children puts them over the top. Everything is trial and error when raising children. "Lets try this, lets try that" = Stress. For the most part, a new parent would raise their children the way that they were raised. Now, when I decided to have kids, the way that I was raised will not work. And that is the same for all of you out there.

But wow, what a tangent that was. The purpose of this article was to say "Lets get some new material!". Rather then continue to use the sayings and ideas as our forefathers, lets create some of our own becuase hey - it will be easier on the parents. Todays society is like a comic with only one joke. Lets get some new stuff out before they bring out the cane and pull us off stage.

Tyler Brooker is the owner and operator of Canker Sores Help - http://www.canker-sores-help.com, which is the best site on the internet for all canker related information.

Although many parents become frustrated as they try to maintain an open line of communication between themselves and their children, regardless of age, there are three quite simple ways to attempt to achieve this goal effectively.

1
Talk to your kids. Every day. More than once a day. Every morning before school. Every afternoon after school. Every evening (preferably as you sit down TOGETHER at the dinner table). Every night before they go to bed (preferably as you ARE THE PERSON who tucks them in, says goodnight, sees them get in bed in their pajamas etc...)

2
Make time for your children. Not just the above mentioned time to talk - but actual time WITH them. Go to their soccer games, school events, and other extracurricular activities. And DO NOT just show up at their games half-way through and leave before they end. Take them (and their friends) to their after-school activities. Talk to them (and their friends on the way there and on the way back). Stay for the whole game, talk to your children after the game is over about the game, their friends, their coaches, the involved people....

3
Be honest with your kids. Children can spot a liar a mile away. They relate and respond to HONESTY. They rely on you to tell them the truth. If you do not deliver this basic necessity, how can you expect them to reciprocate? If you HAVE to work late and will not be able to attend their game, be at dinner, help them with their homework etc... TELL THEM WHY you have to work late.

Resource Box - © Danielle Hollister (2004) is the Publisher of BellaOnline Quotations Zine - A free newsletter for quote lovers featuring more than 10,000 quotations in dozens of categories like - love, friendship, children, inspiration, success, wisdom, family, life, and many more

Are you a frustrated parent who sometimes finds it is easier to take the garbage out yourself than to keep nagging your son? Do you wonder what kind of employee he will become since he doesn't always follow through at home? Is it worth the effort on your part to insist that he do his share? The answer is a resounding Yes!

The lessons of life and self that we want our children to learn in our homes are not only the practical ones, such as making a bed, sewing on a button or cooking a meal. They include intangible benefits as well; it is equally important for children to learn the art of cooperation, the satisfaction of finishing a job, the ease in following a schedule and the value of sticking with a task. Children need to learn those lessons in order to cope successfully with the problems and challenges they will face in life.

The seeds of good judgment, thoughtful consideration for others and self-reliance in all areas of dial family life are most easily planted during a child's pre-school years, but it is never too late. These values can be reinforced until the child leaves home. It is the responsibility of the parents to teach our children to be contributing citizens. Schools, churches, Girl Scouts, YMCA and other youth organizations only supplement the lessons children receive at home.

A positive identity hinges on positive life experiences. If positive experiences take place in a safe and supportive home, then so much the better. The more success a child experiences, the better he feels about himself and his place in the world, and the more courage he has to try new and different things. When we "en"courage our children to contribute to the good of the family, we give them the gift of courage to make mistakes and to take risks. We focus on their assets and strengths in order to build their feelings of self-worth.

As we teach our children to work, the whole family wins. Children feel greater self-esteem, independence and a sense of belonging. Parents feel relieved of some of the work load, and they feel more confident about their child and his ability to function in the real world. Everybody feels more a part of the team, and the garbage gets taken out!

Judy H. Wright Author, Speaker, Life Educator ph:406-549-9813 JudyWright@ArtichokePress.com Website: http://www.ArtichokePress.com Sign up today for FREE tele-classes and ezine The Artichoke-- bite sized articles on parenting,family relations, wellness,self-publishing, writing memoirs and care-giving.

Potty training fears, often called toilet terrors, are common among toddlers and small children. Look at things from your child’s perspective. He is giving up the security of a diaper for a big, cold thing with a giant hole that might swallow him. Up until this point, your child has been able to go in his diaper. He didn’t have to control himself until a potty was available. He could go anytime and anywhere, knowing that someone would always be there to change his diaper. The idea of having to go to a specific location means he will have to stop what he’s doing to use the potty. To top it all off, he looses the warmth of his diaper and must now go potty naked where other people might be watching!

Common potty training concerns and solutions:

Fear of Making a Mistake – Your child is just beginning to control his bodily functions. He won’t be perfect at it, and might worry that he will be punished for accidents. Throughout the potty training process, assure your child that you are there for him and he can come to you if he’s afraid or worried about something. When accidents happen, don’t make a big deal out of them. Simply clean up and tell him that you know he is trying. Potty training is often a good time to build a trust between you and your child that will last throughout your lives.

Fear of Automatically Flushing Public Toilets – More and more public restrooms switch to automatically flushing toilets. Children who are at the later stages of potty training (transitioned from the potty chair to the toilet) are often fearful of the public toilet flushing while they are seated. These fears can be alleviated with a simple, inexpensive device called the Flush Stopper.

Fear of Falling In – The fear of falling in the toilet is common when your child has mastered the small potty-chair and transitions to the toilet. You can help alleviate this fear by purchasing a potty seat that either fits on the toilet or attaches to the toilet such as the Flip-N-Flush or PRIMO's Ducka. The potty seats will decrease the size of the toilet hole and help your child feel more secure. The Flip-N-Flush is especially useful because it flips down for your child’s use and flips up so that other family members can easily access the regular toilet seat.

Your child’s fears need to be addressed as real and serious fears. If your child knows that you understand and are trying to help, he will feel more relaxed and comfortable while potty training.

About The Author
Danna Henderson started ZIP Baby in order to provide parents with comprehensive potty training information as well as a large selection of potty training products. For more information about potty training, or to browse the potty training store, visit the Potty Training Forum Message Board.

Our children are growing up bilingual in the French part of Canada – Québec. “That’s fine”, says everyone. “Even though they’ll probably start speaking later because they’re learning two languages at once, they’ll catch up.”

Well actually, this well-entrenched idea that bilingual children are slower to acquire language, is actually a myth!

We were surprised and delighted to learn that research is finding that bilingual children do NOT acquire language later than monolingual children. Our first child participated in a language study on babies carried out at McGill University of Montréal, Québec, Canada. There it was explained to us that research is finding that the difference in language acquisition of one child compared to another is very large. Some children speak sooner, some speak later. And the range of language acquisition of bilingual children is just as large as the range for monolingual children, statistically speaking.

Although these research results are relatively recent, I was able to find an article on the internet about it, written by Professor Fred Genesee of McGill University, confirming what we had been told verbally. In addition, instead of seeing bilingualism as the minority exception to the rule, Professor Genesee suggests that there many be as many children growing up bilingually as there are growing up monolingually.

So rest assured that the myths are wrong and the following are true:

Bilingual children do NOT have delayed language acquisition. Learning more than one language at a time is NOT difficult for small children.

Bilingual children DO master both languages just as well as one.

More and more parents are convinced of the benefits of exposing their small children to foreign languages. This has resulted in the recent explosion of videos, books, music and computer software aimed at babies and preschoolers, that expose them to another language. For example, free computer games on the http://www.kiddiesgames.com website allow babies and preschoolers from an English-speaking environment to learn and practice French and Spanish.

The most obvious benefit, and one that is confirmed by research, is that exposing infants to a foreign language can help them master that foreign language later on. In the well-documented but very accessible book on baby brain development “What’s Going On In There?”, the author Lise Eliot explains that babies are born being able to hear the sounds of every language in the world. However, this ability is subject to the “use it or lose it” phenomenon. If the baby is not exposed to foreign sounds, she will lose the ability to distinguish those sounds. For example, on page 368, she reports:

«Infants’ ability to discriminate foreign speech sounds begins to wane as early as six months of age. By this age, English-learning babies have already lost some of their ability, still present at four months, to discriminate certain German or Swedish vowels. Foreign vowels are the first sort of phoneme to go. Then, by ten or twelve months, out goes the ability to discriminate foreign consonants, like /r/’s and /l/’s for Japanese babies or Hindi consonants for English-learning infants.»

Another benefit of exposing children to another language that is starting to be recognized, is that of increasing their proficiency in their primary language. It may be that the brain exercise of sorting out multiple languages gives that brain a deeper proficiency in language and grammar overall.

So the next time your infant has the opportunity to be exposed to a foreign language in a suitably fun setting (which is how all activities should be presented to infants, isn’t it?), then jump at the chance!

The author of this article, Emma Rath, produces free online and purchasable download baby and preschooler software, available at http://www.kiddiesgames.com.

Do you think you really know your child? I don't mean know what he/she likes and doesn't like, but to know him/her well enough to understand his/her challenges, to appreciate his/her strengths and weaknesses and to help him/her develop his talents. Knowing your children can help increase their chance for success in the future and improve your relationship.

As parents, we are constantly looking for ways to improve out relationship with our children, discipline our children and provide proper guidance. How many of us take the time to get to really know our child? Some of us believe that our children are extensions of us and don't have their own thoughts, dreams and goals. When was the last time you sat down with your child to find out what they are thinking? The answers may surprise you. Children, especially during puberty, start to discover and develop their identity. They go through an emotional and psychological identity crisis and question and challenge their parents. At this point, children start to crave support and direction from their parents, but are not always compelled to ask for it. But how can you help your child, if you do not know their needs? Simple, ask them!

You are not a mind reader and your child probably will not voluntarily share his/her personal information with you. When you start to offer unsolicited advice, they feel that you are being intrusive or nosy and get defensive.

There are two simple steps to getting to know your child.

The first step is to listen more and speak less. Let your child direct the conversation and when they ask for your advice, offer it without being judgmental or critical. Lecturing and berating your child for poor judgment or unhealthy decisions will not help you to understand him/her more because you will not be getting to the core reason for the behavior. If you do not have the proper information, how can you give your child the support that he/she needs? By listening, you will be able to help your child understand how their choices and decisions affect their lives and direct them to making healthier and more responsible decisions. By being an active listener, you learn to acknowledge what your child is feeling and give your child the information and advice that he/she needs.

The second step is to ask the questions that will create meaningful conversation. The typical responses to “How was your day?” are “Good” or “Fine.” Ask open ended questions instead of closed ended questions that result in one word responses. Ask specific rather than general questions that will stimulate your child to think. Show your child that you have a genuine interest in what is going on in his/her life. Don't force this process, let it come naturally and soon your child will respond. Ask casually and soon your child will start to volunteer the information. Find out who influences your child. Even ask tough questions such as, "How do you feel about our family?" The point is not to judge your child's responses, but to know what he/she is thinking or how he/she is feeling. Ask your child if he/she has any resolutions for this year. What was his/her biggest challenge or setback last year? Ask the questions without interrogating. Don't bombard them with questions or you may face resistance. Resolve today to spend a few minutes each day getting to know your child better. This is one of the most valuable gifts you can give to your child.

Marie Magdala Roker is an Academic and Personal Development Coach and Certified Breakthrough Parenting Instructor who works with parents to help them unlock and nurture the personal and academic potential in their children and motivate their children to success.

You can find her on the web at http://www.successfulchild.com.

Researchers have estimated that 25-35% of children in the United States have Learning Disabilities. At least 5% have Attention Deficit Disorders. All too many times during the course of their academic careers these children are labeled by teachers (or parents) as being "lazy," or "stupid." Remarks of this type are typically interpreted by the child as, "You're no good," and the self-esteem levels drop.

At least 50% of children will experience the divorce of their parents prior to turning 18 years old. Most children, for whatever reasons too complicated to go into here, will tend to place at least a portion of the blame for the parent's divorce on themselves. Since the parents are typically placed on a pedestal in the eyes of the child, the blame for the divorce cannot be placed on the parents and must be placed elsewhere, most commonly on themselves. This also significantly impacts children's self-esteem levels.

There are other important challenges to maintaining reasonable self-esteem, such as merely being "average" in a world that worships only the good looking, the good athletes, and the well-to-do.

But can too much self-esteem be bad for you?

Let me say here and now that inappropriately high levels of self-esteem may be worse that low levels. Levels of self-esteem that are too high may lead kids to believe that they are more important than anyone else, and that they should never be frustrated by work or challenges in life. It leads young people to believe that they should always have their way. Inflated levels of self-esteem ultimately discourages children and teens from learning how to work hard, and may well lead into criminal behavior (criminals tend to have high levels of self-esteem, not low levels).

Inflated levels of self-esteem also are directly at odds with the development of one's spirituality and relationship with God. After all, who needs to develop a relationship with God when he believes that what he wants is more important than what God wants? The ultimate out come of the self-esteem movement is seen in the New Age doctrine that you are, in fact, God. Yes you. The guy who can't balance his check book or keep his car fixed. You are God? So they tell us.

People are cheated in every important aspect of their lives, emotionally, socially, and spiritually, when their sense of self-esteem is over-inflated.

So how can we instill appropriate levels of self-esteem in our children?

Briefly, here are five key thoughts . . .

First, change the way that you look at this area of life from "self-esteem" to "self-confidence." There is a difference as wide as the sea.

To "esteem" someone, including one's self, involves feelings of "reverence" or "awe" or "honor" or "glory." Words have meaning. Let's not get carried away with trying to make our kids feel good about themselves by starting to ascribe to them positions of honor normally reserved for God, and perhaps for Presidents and Kings. The majority of our society's problems are caused by people thinking that they are as important or as powerful as God, or at least that they are more important than anyone else in the world. This is not something that we really want to encourage in our children, or in ourselves.

Instead we do want to encourage self-confidence. This attribute becomes especially powerful and beautiful when paired with the virtue of self-control. Raise your children to have these two character traits, and you will have wonderful and successful children, ADD/LD or not.

Second, give lots of encouragement, praise, acceptance, and teach responsibility.

Encouragement comes when you focus on your child's assets and strengths in order to build his/her self-confidence. See the positive. Even failures can be outstanding learning experiences. Encouragement sounds like this, "I like the way that you did that," or "I know that you can do it," or, "It looks like you worked very hard at that."

Encouragement is NOT giving compliments for work poorly done, but under those circumstances it IS inspiring your child to work harder and do better. "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up, according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." -St. Paul (Eph. 4:29)

Ultimately self-confidence comes from having accomplished things worth being proud of. Reserve Praise for things well done. Where Encouragement is given for effort, Praise is given for accomplishment. Just say, "That's a good start, keep at it," when the work is not yet worthy of praise. Accept your child for who he/she is. If you expected that your baby would grow into an Olympic athlete with an IQ of 148, and instead he/she is "average" then you might be very disappointed as a parent (most children are "average," which is why they call it "average").

Disappointment is often turned into anger, or at least frustration. If your child cannot live up to your dreams for him or her (and why should they?) then please be careful of your emotions. If you are not careful, your own dreams and expectations for your child will become a wedge between you and your child. Please never make your love, encouragement, or acceptance, dependent on their performance or behavior.

Teach Responsibility to your children.

Let them try things and let them fail once in a while. Don't keep bailing them out. Victory only tastes sweet if we taste the bitterness of failure once in a while. Trust me, the dog's not going to starve if he misses a meal or two. The newspaper won't come to publish a story on your family if your child fails to make his bed once in a while.

Just use these occasions to remind your child that if his dog is going to ever eat again, he needs to get out there and feed it (assuming that's your child's job). Remind your child that he or she is an important member of your home and that he needs to be responsible with doing his chores.

Make the consequences for not being responsible fit the crime. And of course be sure to reward/praise your child when he does act responsibly. Behavior that is rewarded tends to be repeated, and behavior that is ignored tends to go away -- so always reward and praise responsible behaviors in your children.

Douglas Cowan, Psy.D., is a family therapist who has been working with ADHD children and their families since 1986. He is the clinical director of the ADHD Information Library's family of seven web sites, including http://www.newideas.net, helping over 350,000 parents and teachers learn more about ADHD each year. Dr. Cowan also serves on the Medical Advisory Board of VAXA International of Tampa, FL., is President of the Board of Directors for KAXL 88.3 FM in central California, and is President of NewIdeas.net Incorporated.