Rexanne's Web Review - Issue #31

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OK, everyone who hasn't yet voted in the spanking poll really needs to get in there and pick one answer or the other. There are more than 760 of you and less than 150 votes! This is an anonymous poll, your comments are welcome and your vote really does count! I think to spank or not to spank is one of the most important questions we have as parents today. Having an accurate accounting of your opinions means a lot to every one of us. The information gathered from this poll will be published in next week's web review. I know you're all in vote mode this election year so go ahead ... get used to making your opinion count! Here's the link: Spanking Poll

"One tip I'd like to share with parents, especially of children in the 3-9 age range: read out loud to your child from a book which is 'one in a series'. The children form bonds with likable characters, and look forward to hearing more about them. Some which have been a tremendous hit with my own children:

For the 3 to 8-year-olds: Anything by Cynthia Rylant, especially her 'Henry and Mudge' or her 'Mr. Putter and Tabby' series.

Although the following books were past my kid's reading levels (recommended for 4th-8th grade readers), I wet their whistle for more by reading them the first couple of books from Madeleine L'Engle's 'Wrinkle in Time' series. Excellent! For more info., lesson plan ideas and excerpts, check out: A Wrinkle in Time

Also Lynn Reid Bank's The Indian in the Cupboard series. There is more to this story (and it is very well told!) than the portion depicted in the movie version. Kate, these are excellent ideas for helping our children develop a love of reading. Thank you for your time and effort in sharing them with us!

"I can't wait to get your newsletter every week. I JUST LOVE IT! I am always looking for ways to organize my life so I can spend more time on what counts and that's my family. I wanted to share with you and your readers a really GREAT website, OrganizedHome.Com. They also have a great 'Holiday Grand Planning' to get you organized for the holidays. LOVE THE SITE! Hope you and your readers enjoy."

"On the subject of Halloween, do you know of any place to order a flower costume for a 2T or 3T? Just tried to order one from a catalog and they were sold out. My daughter has her poor little determined heart set on one. Let me know if you have spotted one in your travels. Unfortunately I don't sew, sooooo ... "

Boy, that is not an easy costume to find online, Kimberly. I've looked and looked. The thought of your daughter not having the costume of her dreams this Halloween is driving me crazy! LOL! If anyone knows of a good site, store, catalog or anywhere Kimberly can find a flower costume, please send an email. I'll pass it on.

Quote of the Week: When the typhoon comes, the big tree is uprooted, yet the little grass remains unharmed. -Dao Zi

Get expert parenting advice, up-to-date pregnancy and fertility information and great activities for your kids and family. Not to mention great topics such as home & garden, cooking, health and more from The Homefront! To subscribe send any email message to: Subscribe - The HomeFront

Here's a pleasant subject! LOL! Better to laugh about it than fall to your knees, weeping from sheer panic and horror if and when your child brings this dreaded but very common liability of childhood home.

Yes, my kids have had head lice. No, they are not dirty or poorly groomed nor do they hang out with dirty kids. How these perfectly awful little stinkers found their way into our home was on my older daughter's head, courtesy of one of her classmates. As soon as we managed to eradicate the offense, my younger daughter started scratching her bean, thank you. This went on for 6 gruesome weeks, passing from one kid to the other. I ran more than 90 loads of laundry, destroying most of our better linens, clothes and comforters by boiling them in the hottest water the washing machine could muster. We sprayed every inch of our home with pediculicide. We washed our hair daily with lice-killing shampoo until we had blisters from the strong poisons needed to try to kill the vermin and their precious eggs. We pulled nits from our daughter's L O N G hair for hours at a time, quarantined every stuffed animal and doll with hair for weeks ... all to no avail.

My children were traumatized, I was reduced to a crying, hysterical bug-fearing heap and our 19-year-old cat was tortured by twice-weekly flea baths that he appreciated about as much as a bowl of steamed rice.

I'm sorry ... I wish I had an answer, a cure ... some hope to offer. I don't.

After week 6 of lice-induced panic, we finally set off flea bombs in every room of the house, then fled to my mother's for two hours while the canisters sprayed poison over every inch of our furniture and belongings. Warily, we stepped back into our home where we were greeted by a coat of greasy goop to wipe off every square inch of exposed possessions. I then called my daughter's school and made it very clear that she would not be returning until I was guaranteed the outbreak was completely eliminated from her classroom. She was home for two more weeks before the school nurse assured me she had sent every child with nits home to live the torture we had. We had finally managed to eradicate the plague. This was more than 3 years ago ... can you tell it's still as fresh a trauma in my heart and soul as it was then? Believe it. It is.

I have scoured the Internet, reading every article I could find about head lice. I wanted to be armed and prepared for battle if this horror ever cloaks our lives again. No such luck ... everyone out there is as resigned to the meek inheriting our heads as I am not prepared to be. There are a few ideas floating around that I would have tried had I known about them. I will supply links after I finish venting here! :-)

If you have boys, you can get away with shaving their heads. Yes, this sounds extreme but you'll be forever grateful I gave you permission to goof up your son's hair if he does manage to bring holocaust into your home. If you have daughters, I'm sorry. My heart goes out to you. You can't really shave a girl's head in this day and age, although a family friend who was a doctor from Italy recommended we do just that. I giggled, thinking he was soooo from the old school ... I giggle no more! But we didn't shave our daughters' heads. We suffered untold hell instead.

Apparently, lice have become immune to the various pediculicide treatments on the market. There are quite a few brands of pediculicide shampoo, conditioner and room spray, all with weakening power against the bolstered immune system lice have developed. I've heard that tea tree oil and olive oil are helpful in nixing the little buggers. Hairspray and hair coloring are also good deterrents. Unless you're ready to dye and spray your kid's heads, this isn't an option but you could schedule a dye job early if you color your own hair. Ya know what? I'd color my daughter's hair. What's worse? Bathing their little heads in surefire poison? How bad could a bottle of hair dye be compared to insecticide? If it works, count your blessing and wait for it grow out. ;-)

One recommendation from my children's school is to wash their hair vigorously as soon as they come home from school if there is an outbreak of lice in their classroom. Sounds reasonable. If they did manage to bring home an unwelcome guest, washing their hair and scalp immediately might remove the louse before it has a chance to lay eggs.

By all means, be informed. If you never have this massive nightmare visit your home, you're ten steps ahead in the life of a parent. If you've lived it, you're probably shuddering at the thought of another go-around. If you have head lice breeding in your home as you read this, my heart goes out to you. Know that you have millions of understanding parents who pity you, too! However, the parents of your child's classmates will positively hate you if you knowingly send your kid to school with head lice. Don't even think about it ...

Now, go into click mode and prepare for one of the nastiest battles of parenting:

Link #1 has tips and advice on eliminating head lice. Most everyone giving tips on this page agrees that OTC (over the counter) medications do not do the job. *Sigh* Eliminating Head Lice

Link #2 will take you to the National Pediculosis Association where you will find tons of information and education on head lice: Headlice.Org

Link #3 is a site that offers hope and a sense of humor about head lice. Lots of good information and various articles, books and videos you can purchase to aid in your quest to delouse your kids: HeadLiceInfo.com

And here is something new and promising: An alternative to chemical head lice treatment: Natural Head Lice Treatment - comes with a 100%-Money-Back-Guarantee!

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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.

Have an opinion about this topic or a story to share? Please send it: My Opinion

Does anyone know a person who doesn't like French fries? I don't think I do. Sure, they're not exactly a diet food but they're everywhere and the potato of choice for 99.9% of kids.

The Official French Fries Page is a romp through the land of fries. There is the history of this potato legend, French fry trivia, French fry art and naturally, many great recipes for fries. From skinny fries to the steak fry variety, you'll find the recipe you're looking for.

An especially fun page is the French fry condiment page where you will discover unusual dips, sauces and toppings to tempt your family, friends and guests.

I admit ... I spent way too much time in Squigley's Playhouse, checking out the games, reading the stories and poetry sent in by kids from all over the world and giggling over the silly jokes and riddles. Finally, my younger daughter came in and insisted on "testing" the site for me. Took me more than an hour to entice her off the computer with the promise of an ice cream sundae. She loved Squigley's Playhouse! I think your kids will, too.

This site will entertain kids from 3 to 12 with word puzzles, brain teasers and a really cool game of Joggle, a game much like "Boggle." Kids can play alone or try their word power against other players. Squigley's Playhouse has crafts and coloring pages, too, with lots of current and upcoming holiday themes.

In the Pencil Puzzles section kids will find many fun pages to print and work on, from mazes to word games also with holiday themes. Time to be a good sport and let the kids have the computer for an hour or so. ;-)

You are the best group of subscribers on the planet! Thanks to everyone who sent in more hiccup cures after reading last week's Tips & Tricks section on the subject. Here they are:

Linda, Deneen, Sandy and Janice all swear by a teaspoon of sugar as the ultimate hiccup cure:

"When someone in our house gets the hiccups we give them a well-rounded teaspoonful of sugar. They must try to swallow it without letting it dissolve in their mouth. So far, it has worked every time." (Linda)

"Drink some carbonated beverage to get rid of them. This is an easy one for the kids."

"The best remedy I have found for hiccups is a spoonful of peanut butter. I have used it for my kids and it works every time." (Nancy)

We had the opportunity to try one of last week's tips in our house! My younger daughter got the hiccups and the first tip I remembered was the one about plugging the ears and drinking water through a straw. It worked! We giggled a lot but were amazed at how easy it was to stop those little spasms.

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

Dash.com turns the Web into a virtual mall where you never pay retail. When you download the DashBar for free, you'll get up to 25% cash back every time you shop at more than 100 online retailers, including LL Bean, Barnes and Noble, CDNOW, Reel.com, and PlanetRx. It's the smart way to shop online. With holiday shopping just beginning, this is the time to sign up!

Oh boy ... Web Darts will have you wasting more time than will be good for you but hey, life IS supposed to be fun, right? Come on ... this one's a trip!

Web Darts has all the most popular dart games, like Cricket, 301, 501, etc. The site is Java based, extremely realistic and not too hard to figure out. You'll need a few practice shots to get into the swing of things but after you've figured out how the aiming mechanism works, you'll be tossing darts and high-fiving yourself all day and night. Play alone or try your online social skills with other Web Dart players. Have fun!

This page is a true parent's page, a sweet testimony to kids, their quirks and our adaptation to parenthood.

When a kid in a ratty T-shirt is wandering the grocery store with his mom or dad, chocolate smeared from one end of his face to the other, it's not because he's neglected or abused ... his parents have learned to fight the war, not the tiny battles. Oh, Now I Get It!

An intolerant gaze from the lady across the aisle at McDonalds because a kid is drenching her food in ketchup? What's her problem? The mom has given up on trying to force feed veggies to her picky eater ... let her eat as much ketchup as she can! Oh, Now I Get It! ;-)

This page will warm your heart, have you nodding in understanding and remind us all that kids are special precisely because they are just beginning to find their way in this great big world. Enjoy!

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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.