Rexanne's Web Review - Issue #44

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Rexanne's Web Review
Web Sites & Insights

Issue #44 - May 15, 2001

Brought to You By: Rexanne.com

Email Rexanne

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Welcome All Newcomers!

Did all our moms have a great Mother's Day? I certainly did. Had a lovely day with my daughters, visited an art show, we had a lovely dinner with my mother and relaxed ... a lot! :-)

Memorial Day is May 28. Check the Food & Cooking section of this newsletter for some great barbecue sites. That's as good as it gets for me doing a Memorial Day page. But I did add a new humor page to
Rexanne.com last week! Found it on Martha's Granny Greetings page (site of the week in the last issue of our newsletter). Tell me if you like it: How I Raised My Kids

Next month we'll have a chance to honor our terrific fathers. For a head start on holiday happenings, browse the pages of my Father's Day site. You'll find lots of dad stuff, gift ideas, cards, graphic links for your own web pages or email, food and cooking, kid's Father's Day sites, other good site links and cool home pages. Enjoy! Rexanne's Father's Day

Reader's Comments:

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Cassie wrote about last week's topic, honoring mothers:

"What you wrote about mothers being important to their kids was so nice. I have to work outside the home, but when I'm there, my kids have my total attention. Sometimes they tell ME to leave them alone! So I don't feel guilty about working at all. But you made a really good point ... it really is the quality of time spent with kids, not necessarily the quantity. Although, in a perfect world, I think most mothers would rather be home with their kids!"

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Jan and Ian wrote:

"We had a little girl, Faith Elizabeth Louisa, on 16th April. She weighed in at an eye watering 9 pounds 7 ounces and is beautiful even if we do say so."

Congratulations Jan & Ian! Enjoy her, love her and know how blessed you are to have her!

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Dennis wrote:

"I wanted to write and thank you for wasting my time! I went to that site you featured with all the quizzes and tests (Queendom) and spent about an hour there. I scored perfect scores on many of the tests, but I flunked the Sexy Trivia test - I got an F grade!"

Awww gee Dennis ... glad you did better with the other tests. LOL!

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OK, here's the scoop:

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Quote of the Week: Viewing the child solely as an immature person is a way of escaping comforting him. - Clark Mousakas

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Parenting & Family Topic of the Week: Infant Crying

Infant Crying
By Rexanne Mancini

Infants have very few means of communicating. Crying is one of them. This is their only way of letting you know they're uncomfortable. They could be hungry, sleepy, wet, too warm, too cold, frightened or in pain. Some babies cry much more than others. While this is distressing and exhausting for the parents, it will pass. Maybe not before you collapse in a pile of laundry one morning from sleep deprivation, but the situation does improve.

I am a firm believer in always tending to a crying baby as soon as possible. If your baby is crying, ignoring her pleas for help or reassurance is cruel. There are experts who recommend letting a baby cry it out at times, especially at bedtime or if a baby has awakened at an inopportune time for mom or dad. Guess what? There is no such thing as an inopportune time short of life or death when it comes to tending to an infant under 6 months old. You cannot possibly spoil a baby who hasn't a clue what the world is about. Babies are not born as manipulative creatures. That comes later ...

When we respond to a baby's cries as soon as humanly possible, we are teaching them that the world is a safe place. Babies need to know their needs will be taken care of in order for them to grow and flourish into secure children. One day, they will no longer need us to change a wet diaper or feed them when they are hungry. Responding to their cries of helplessness as infants, when they cannot take care of basic needs for themselves, teaches them compassion and tenderness. This will also set the stage for healthy self-esteem by showing them how important they are. When they learn to trust their caretakers, they learn they can therefore trust themselves to handle life's uncertainties. The example of a caring, safe environment will give them a solid foundation from which to build their own coping skills.

Babies move from a warm, safe womb to a cold, huge world instantly. Helping them feel comfortable and secure in their new surroundings is vital to their well-being. Hold your baby if this soothes him, help him feel
comfortable whether this means swaddling him in a blanket or removing a few items of clothing if he feels hot to you. There are times your baby will want to be held for no apparent reason. Oblige her. With enough love and tenderness, she will blossom into a secure child who appreciates her place in the world and will no longer need constant assurances that she is valued.

The following link has wonderful tips on calming a crying baby. Terry Woodford, producer of the award winning Baby Go To Sleep tapes, wrote this article. You will find links to buy these tapes on this page, if
you wish. Calming Your Crying Baby: And another brief question/answer article: Crying Babies.

Next week, we'll explore older children and crying. Stick around! :-)

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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

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Food & Cooking Links of the Week: Memorial Day Recipes

Gonna send you scampering through links to some super barbecue recipes in this issue, guys. Enjoy finding a great new treat to add to the coals at these wonderful culinary sites. Fire up that grill ... it's Memorial Day! :-)

All Recipes - Memorial Day
Shaboom's Memorial Day Recipes
Turkey & Fish Memorial Day Recipes
Vernalisa's Memorial Day Menu

Bon Appetit!

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Kids Site of the Week: Z Paradise

Z Paradise is a virtual kid's palace with games, quizzes, homework help, jokes, news, contests and lots more. Easy to navigate and with really good kid friendly content, Z Paradise will have children from six to 106 enthralled, enjoying the fun and educational content provided.

A special feature at Z Paradise is Big Heart, a wise and loving computer whose main purpose is to be a good listener. Kids can pour their feelings out to Big Heart and receive a compassionate, intelligent answer designed to help them cope with life's turmoil and ease their troubled spirits.

Z Paradise is terrific! Get the kids ...

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Tip or Trick of the Week:
Reader's Tips

Big thanks to Daysi who sent in this array of useful tips:

1. Flies or bees bothering you? Spray them with hairspray.

2. Sealed envelope - Put in the freezer for a few hours, then slide a knife under the flap. The envelope can then be resealed.

3. Use Empty toilet paper roll to store appliance cords. It keeps them neat and you can write on the roll which appliance it belongs to.

4. Crayon marks on walls? A damp rag, dipped in baking soda removes them with little effort.

5. Remove permanent marker on appliances/counter tops (like store receipt blue) - use rubbing alcohol on paper towel.

6. Cut SOS pads into halves. A box of SOS pads will last longer.

7. Blood stains on clothes? Pour a little peroxide on a cloth and proceed to wipe off every drop of blood.

8. Spray a bit of perfume on the light bulb in any room to create a lovely scent when the light is turned on.

9. Place fabric softener sheets in dresser drawers and your clothes will smell freshly washed for weeks. Also works with towels and linen.

10. To clean artificial flowers, pour salt into a paper bag and add the flowers. Shake vigorously. The salt will absorb the dust and dirt.

11. If you accidentally over-salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato. It will absorb the excess salt.

12. Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead.

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

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Freebie of the Week: Win a PlayStation 2!

Enter the 'Win a Playstation 2' sweepstakes and receive a special referral ID number, use it to refer friends ... If they win, you win! Enter now it's FREE:

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WEEKLY TIME WASTER: The Easter Egg Archive
Because life is supposed to be fun!

This is a fun site where you'll find lots of hidden goodies. Nope, the Easter bunny hasn't magically reappeared in May. :-) These Easter eggs are the kind found hidden in computer applications, movies, books and other creations.

There are quite a few Easter eggs to find on your computer, including secret games lurking in other game applications, fun surprise screen savers only available when you know the secret code and lots of tidbits about individual programmers and software companies.

In the movie section, you'll find plenty of fun Easter eggs, among them the secret Arnold Schwartzenegger/Sylvester Stallone running joke in their respective movies. There are hundreds of concealed treasures to uncover in other movies, too.

Have fun browsing The Easter Egg Archive. You can also send in your own discoveries.

Feed the kids first ...

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Featured Site of the Week: Wit Words

A little family humor, some political satire, comix, office humor, lots of witty words and expressions make Wit Words a fun and interesting site to explore.

Got a witty word to add to the archives? Send it in and see if your wit word becomes famous. Gee, your own special word might even make it into Webster's dictionary one day! ;-) Enjoy Wit Words!

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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.

All material on these pages: Copyright: - 2000-2001