Rexanne's Web Review - Issue #10

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Hope everyone had a terrific Mother's Day! I know I did! :-) First thing Sunday morning, I thanked my daughters for making me a mom ... they're faces lit up like little beacons. Love those kids! We took my very own mother to a really spectacular brunch at Ca' Del Sol, a verrry shi shi Italian restaurant here in Los Angeles. Oh my, my, my ... we ate like royalty! I highly recommend this restaurant for anyone in this neck of the woods or if you're planning to visit the Los Angeles area. Bring lots of cash ... ;-)

A BIG thank you to all who wrote to wish me a Happy Mother's Day! You are the best!

New reader Zoe sent in a story about spanking. Here's an excerpt from her story:

"I do not approve of spanking children. It is wrong. Spanking hurts. Nobody wants to hurt. I think spanking is also sad. No one wants to be sad either. Sadness and hurtness are wrong for children. Parents who make their children sad are wrong."

If you'd like to read Zoe's story in its entirety, drop me an email and I'll be happy to send it to you!

I've sort of fallen into a pattern of creating a topic of the week with each newsletter. I like it. What do you think? This week's topic is toddlers, with all the complications and joy they bring!

"Be the Change You Want to See in the World." - Gandhi

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I always found the notion of toilet *training* a toddler to be a bit much. I didn't feel right about pushing my girls to do something I felt would eventually come naturally. At three years old, both my girls were potty *trained* ... not because I read books and raced them to the porcelain each time I suspected they *should* go. They knew what the potty was for. They knew when they had to go. They'd figure it out on their own! Well, by golly, they did!

Sure, we went a little stupid each time they were successful users of the throne and they got rewards and accolades just like the kids who were put through a regimen of potty training tactics fit for Patton's soldiers. But we never made it a big issue in our house and, consequently, it never became an issue.

I've heard from moms who felt they had to *train* their babies at 2 or even younger to get them into pre school. We, instead, found a great pre school that took kids in diapers. Their philosophy was that the children who were still in diapers would naturally learn to go on the potty by watching the other kids go. Thank you Patty and Gail! I suppose it worked. I never really gave it much thought. Potty eureka just sort of happened around here on its own.

I've heard that little girls are easier to potty train than little boys. Any readers out there care to comment? We'd love to hear from you, especially if you've trained both a boy and a girl.

This first link is to an excellent article by author Lisa Julian on toilet training. There are many tips to help you and your toddler make the most of this developmental milestone, with sound advice on making potty training time happy time. Toilet Training

This very informative article, written by Dr. Alan Greene, explains in easy-to-understand medical terms why some kids just can't help wetting the bed at night. It seems these precious ones are NOT emotionally unstable, torn apart by low self-esteem or any other old-wives-tale rationale. They simply do not have the capacity to hold their urine AND they are deeper sleepers than most.

If you have a child who cannot stay dry at night, there IS a remedy. Please read this!

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Rexanne Mancini is the mother of two daughters, Justice and Liberty. She is a novelist, freelance writer and maintains an extensive yet informal parenting and family web site, Rexanne.com – http://www.rexanne.com -Visit her site for good advice, award-winning Internet holiday pages and some humor to help you cope. Subscribe to her free newsletter, Rexanne’s Web Review, for a monthly dose of Rexanne: http://www.rexanne.com/rwr-archives.html

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This article is available for reprint at no charge providing the resource box with the writer's information is included and remains intact.

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I don't know one kid who doesn't love popcorn. This is a good thing! Popcorn is a healthy snack that can be as inexpensive as you want it to be. I'm the lazy type ... microwave popcorn all the way! LOL! A more spending-conservative kitchen boss can get a gallon of popcorn kernels for a few bucks. And then there are all the delicious toppings and flavorings invented for popcorn through the years. Oh yum!

Our Food & Cooking site of the week is dedicated to the toddlers in our lives. This is the Popcorn Board's Recipe page, with many delicious variations on this favorite snack of the diaper set. From Apple Brittle Popcorn to Yummy Yogurt, there are many amazing flavors here. Any of these would be a wonderful "bring-along" to a play date or a super addition to the class picnic. Ask your kids which popcorn recipe sounds good to them. You might be surprised!

Lil' Fingers is a computer storybook site for toddlers. Each adorable storybook is illustrated and designed for little eyes and mousie pointers! ;-) Lil' ones can make the pictures in the storybooks *move* and older tots will be able to test their reading skills with the easy-to-read words and dialogue. Author David Lumerman is Daddy to toddler, Sam, so his intuition and stories are right on target!

Lil' Fingers also has some pretty cool parenting and kid links so do browse around before of after you let the kids take over the computer.

"If you are painting and have to use a second paint of coat on a wall for the next day, put your paint roller, and rolling pan in a trash bag. Then freeze it. You won't have to do any clean up on them that night. The next day when you have to paint, just let it defrost and paint away.

Take a hammer and nail and poke four small holes on the rim of the paint can. All the paint will drain right back to the can. Less mess and the lid will not stick.

If you are painting from the can, put a large rubber band or string across the middle. Just wipe your brush on that, no paint drips on the side of the can to worry about.

Don't use masking tape on the windows when you are painting by the glass part of the window frames. Use strips of wet newspaper. They stick great. Just make sure to remove them before they dry. They are easier to remove that way.

Also if you are painting cabinet doors and don't want them to stick to the frame of the cabinet, clip a clothespin at the bottom of the door. It helps keep the door open enough so it won't stick. Sure there will be a tiny spot at the bottom, but that is easy enough to touch up when everything else is dry."

Wow! Thank you, Deneen! These are excellent tips. You can visit Deneen and tell her thank you at her web site: Sonshine

Got a tip or trick your fellow readers would enjoy or could use? Please send it here for possible publication in one of the next issues: TIPS

InfoBeat delivers the latest entertainment news and Hollywood gossip straight to your e-mail box. And its always FREE!

OK, get ready to waste some valuable time digging through trivia! This site has various "useless" information pages to explore such as Word of the Day, Quote of the Day, Celebrity Trivia, trivia quizzes, facts and very clever cartoons. You can even send one of these off-the-wall cartoons as an online greeting. Very fun place to hang out and lose yourselves for a day or two ... Remember to feed the kids first. :-)

Oh LOL! This is the way to lose weight, guys! Someone figured out that toddlers are almost ALWAYS skinny and no wonder ... their diet consists of one bite to the mouth, three to the floor! This is parenting wisdom at its finest. Also on this page, lots of LOL stories, jokes and funny inspiration for parents with young children.

Click on the "home" button at the bottom to visit more family friendly pages at Patti's Country Shack.

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The fine print: This newsletter is copyright - 2000 - in its entirety. Please pass it on, but also please leave it intact. :-) You are receiving this email because you sent a specific message asking to be placed on the mailing list for this newsletter. If you wish to be removed from this list, see the unsubscribe notice above. This is NOT SPAM, nor will you ever see a recipe featuring SPAM in this newsletter! ;-)

I have personally checked out the links provided here but they could possibly lead you to any number of bizarre and/or offensive sites. Surf at your own risk. The DIRECT links on this page are all family friendly unless stated otherwise. While this newsletter is family friendly, it is not necessarily intended to be read by children. Parents should always monitor their children while they are on the Internet.