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Effort: Easy - no sewing required Materials: Box that is evenly square on both sides Glue Black paint and paintbrush Construction paper (in various colors) Scissors Dark colored sweatsuit Tape or Velcro? Rubik’s Cube (optional) Face paint (optional) Instructions: Paint outside of box black and allow to dry. If you want, use Rubik’s Cube as guide to glue pieces of construction paper to box around four sides. Paper should be in six different colors of equal size squares for each side, using three rows per side....

What do you know about this dog’s background? Do you know why this dog was turned in? Has he shown any behavior problems since he’s been here? Has he growled at anyone since he’s been here? Has he bitten anyone? Does he appear to be friendly with other dogs? Do you know whether he’s housebroken? Does he appear to have any obedience training? What health tests and vaccinations has he had?...

Bless the Internet for taking the pain out of college-shopping. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to know that practically every college and university in the United States maintains a Web site. All you have to do is log on to an on-line provider like American Online or CompuServe and type in the URL (Universal Resource Locator) or Web address to instantly call up the school’s home page – the main point of contact for the outside world....

Homeschooling can be a real asset if you have a gifted child, allowing them to receive individual attention and a gifted individualized education plan (IEP) without the red tape of getting your child special services. However, homeschooling is not easy and parents should consider several issues before making the decision to homeschool. Temperament Perhaps the first consideration is temperament—of both parents and children. It takes patience to homeschool children. Keeping up with housework and perhaps a part-time job in addition to teaching a gifted child can be stressful....

Digging into the health history of your family, and even your partner’s family, can be a daunting task, but if it’s important to you and your partner, it’s certainly something to discuss with an OBGYN or a geneticist. Does diabetes run in the family? Cancer? Schizophrenia? These are questions you may want to ask your own parents and/or grandparents. More: 5 Reasons to Get Carrier Screening Tests When TTC I had some genetic testing done recently because I had some questions about my kid’s overall health; but mentally and physically, especially since my older child has Celiac, which is oftentimes hereditary....

Effort: Quick and easy - no sewing required Materials: Sky blue sweatshirt Green pants (stretch pants work best) Any type of shoes White felt or fabric paint Glue Green fringe Blue face paint Fuzzy white earmuffs Multicolored regular paint Yellow hair dye (wash-out) Instructions: Cut out cloud shapes in felt and glue them to the front and back of the sweatshirt. If using fabric paint, paint clouds onto sweatshirt and let dry....

The majority of states require smoke alarms to be used in both new and existing homes, and more than 90 percent of homes have at least one. The early warnings these devices provide are a big reason why the nation’s fire fatality rate has been dropping. Unfortunately, many homes have alarms that aren’t in working order, and the danger here is clear: Approximately 90 percent of child fire deaths occur in homes without working smoke alarms....

Slivers of soap you have saved Double boiler Juice can or muffin tin for mold Heavy yarn or twine For this project, you need to save bits and pieces of soap—the more colors the better.

Listening to sounds in words is important. Knowing where sounds of words begin and end is also important to reading. What you need: A list of two- or three-syllable words What to do: Tell your child that you will say a word and clap for the main sound parts in the word. For example, “The first word is Mama. I’ll clap and say the word again. Ma-ma. (Say Ma-ma and clap as you say each part of the word for two claps....

According to a new study published in The Lancet, physical punishment is not only harmful to children, it worsens their behavior rather than improving it. The results stand true across gender, race, culture, and parenting styles. Furthermore, the study debunks common myths about spanking. Study authors hope to alter public policy on physical punishment against children as a result of their research. “Parenting is incredibly challenging, but it is even more challenging if we keep doing things that research has clearly shown does not work and harms children," says Elizabeth T....

According to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, about 15% to 25% of women have some amount of bleeding in early pregnancy (the first trimester). Bleeding is less common—and more concerning—if it occurs in the second or third trimester. What Spotting Looks Like Generally, the discharge you’ll see if you experience spotting is brown, red, or pink in color and has a slightly gummy or stringy texture (because the discharge consists of a few drops of dried blood that’s mixed with cervical mucus)....

Hula hoops Jump ropes Pool noodles (no pool necessary) Sidewalk chalk Cardboard boxes Or, if you have a dog, make it a project to teach him a new trick!

The complete list of state car seat laws is provided below. You’ll also find information about the phrases that commonly appear in the laws and what those might mean for you and your baby. “And/Or” Requirements There are many state car seat laws that have lists of requirements joined by “and,” which generally means the car seat or your child should meet every item on the list to comply with the law....

As with private agencies, advantages and disadvantages exist to adopting through a government (public) agency. Here are some key advantages: The adoption should be free of charge or nearly free because it is supported by tax dollars. The biological parental rights are clearly terminated. The child may be able to retain public medical insurance, even after adoption (Medicaid). The child may be eligible for a monthly subsidy. (Don’t factor that out....

Babies can sign before they are developmentally able to express themselves verbally. So BSL lets infants as young as 6 months ask for things like milk or a diaper change, reducing overall fussiness and enhancing the infant-caregiver bond. This article explains how to teach your baby sign language, the benefits of BSL, and which signs are most helpful as you begin. Types of Sign Language BSL is a specific form of sign language developed for use with preverbal infants....

The object of Poker is to form the cards into “structures.” The structures consist of card combinations of two or more cards of one rank or sequences of cards of the same suit. In Straight Poker each player is dealt five cards. (Five cards are also dealt in Five-Card Stud and Draw Poker while seven cards are dealt in Seven-Card Stud.) The object of any Poker game is to take the cards you are dealt and make them into the best possible card combination in an effort to beat the other players....

Don’t get too upset about these badges of motherhood, there’s nothing much you can do about them and you probably won’t be wearing a bikini anytime soon anyway. Some women rub on special creams made to minimize these marks. The rubbing might make them feel better, but no cream currently on the market has been medically proven to effectively reduce stretch marks. Most stretch marks on light-skinned women fade on their own to a silvery white color....