Fit For Life

Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way! Dr. Seuss

Last week I wrote about how a healthy diet is important for kids overall health. A good diet is definitely essential, but a good diet alone is often not enough of a guarantee for good health. To keep physically fit, a good diet should be accompanied by a good exercise plan. The best time to start your kids off with a good exercise plan is when they are small. By starting young it is more likely that your children will carry this good habit with them for the rest of their lives.

One of the best benefits of exercise is that it enhances learning. In a CNN article published on April 12th, 2010 called Studying the link between exercise and learning By Elizabeth Mo CNN Medical News Intern, Wendy Suzuki, professor of neuroscience, discovered a link between learning and exercise. Students, in her course designed to discover the effects of exercise on learning, did notably better on tasks after exercising than they did prior to exercising. While this is only one example of such a study, there are many other studies with similar results. I, too, have noticed that my students who are more physically active usually do a bit better than their sedentary counterparts. And, even if they don't do noticeably better than their peers, the many other benefits of exercise are well worth noting.

In addition to enhancing brain performance, exercise produces endorphins, or in other words, the "feel good" chemicals in your brain. So, it only stands to reason that kids who exercise will probably feel better about themselves, and in general, have a happier outlook on life. Usually the kids who have a positive self image are the kids who strive to do their best, and these kids usually find themselves in the top percentage of their classes at school.

It is relatively easy to get your children to adopt exercise as a way of life. When your children are small, set aside time for them to play outdoors. You will need to monitor them, so it is probably a good time to engage in some activity with them, like playing catch, taking a walk, or old fashioned jumping rope. Think of all the things you did as a child, that kids no longer seem to do because they are glued to video games or television programs. Playing tag, or Hide and Go Seek, or simple games of chase, Red Light Green Light, and Mother May I?, were all forms of exercise when I was a child. I am sure that small children would still find these games fun and inviting. They wouldn't even know they were exercising! If you have older children, they can help the smaller ones to play the games.

As your children outgrow these low cost, low maintenance games, you may need to replace these with things like biking, hiking, swimming, tennis, joining sport teams, or perhaps even a family membership at the local gym. And, if your child is addicted to X-Box, purchase the exercise games, and play these as a family.

Many cities have local swim teams. My daughters loved to be in the water, and they loved to be active. When my oldest daughter was six and my youngest daughter was about to turn four, I took them to join our city's swim team. The one requirement to join the team was that they could swim across the high school pool unaided. My oldest daughter was able to swim across with little or no effort. Not to be outdone by her older sister, my youngest daughter jumped in, and while the swim coach walked along the side of the pool as she "swam", my youngest daughter made it to the other side of the pool doing her own invention of some crazy swim stroke. When she reached the opposite side of the pool, she got out of the pool, and announced to the coach that since she made it across the pool she was now a member of the swim team! The coach didn't have the heart to say no. My youngest daughter swam in the eight and under category for almost five years. She was seeded number one in the eight and under category at championships the year she turned eight. Swimming was an integral part of my girls' lives, and we have so many amazing memories of attending swim meets, camping in the pouring rain at championships, going to Cape Cod to attend US Swim Team meets, and the many people we became friends with along the way. Swimming was a great way for our family to keep active and healthy.

If you aren't sure how to get started with getting your kids to "get on their way" you can look up organizations on line that cater to activities that your family is interested in. The local YMCA will also have a list of the activities they offer each season. Ask your children what activities they would like to participate in, and don't take "I don't know" or "I don't feel like it" for an answer. Remember, you are doing what is best for your child, and sometimes doing what is best for them may sometimes be getting them to try something they are not all gung ho about. I guarantee though, that once they are involved, and you are their best cheerleader, they will find themselves having a great time, whether they like it or not!

So, your mountain is waiting, get on your way!

You Are What You Eat!

"Tell me what you eat and I will tell you
what you are." - Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

I have used the above quote with my middle school students. When they read this quote they laugh and pretend they are cheeseburgers or pieces of pizza. After we are done laughing about their antics, I go on to explain to them that while they may not turn into an actual cheeseburger or pizza, the parts of their bodies that fuel their thinking and energy for movement do become affected by the foods they eat. I talk to them about brain healthy foods, and foods that benefit athletes. The students always have many questions about how our bodies work, and how food plays a role in the way we function emotionally, physically, and mentally.

 Diet has become synonymous with losing weight, however, diet is actually a word used to describe the types of foods that you ingest each day. As a middle school teacher, I am able to observe the types of foods that students eat on a regular basis. Last week one of my female students, who does struggle a bit with her weight, was downing a two serving bag of potato chips. As I do with all of my students who try to sneak eat during class, I instructed her to put the snack away. At the end of class, as the students were filing out of my classroom, I asked this girl to remain behind. I told her to look at the nutrition information on the back of the chip bag. I asked her to read how many calories there were in a single serving of chips. She informed me that there were 250 calories in a single serving of chips. I then asked her to tell me how many servings of chips there actually were in the bag. She looked at the back of the bag again and told me that there were a total of three servings in the bag that she had almost eaten in its entirety. I then asked her to do the math to calculate how many calories that she had ingested by eating this bag of chips at 9:00 in the morning. The grand total, of course, was 750 calories. This didn't really make much of an impression on her, as she had no idea what the daily recommended amount of calories for a girl her age was. To give her some perspective regarding caloric intake, we searched Google for the daily recommended amount of calories for a 13 year old, semi-active girl. She was shocked to find out that she had just consumed nearly half of the total amount of her daily allotment of calories. The next morning as I got out of my car, I noticed this girl waiting by the back of the school. Since it was chilly out, and she was there quite early, I invited her to wait in my classroom for the bell to ring. She agreed, and came upstairs. When we got into the room she asked me if she could show me something on my computer. She went to a web page that had pictures of extremely obese women, and told me that she had spent the evening looking up articles on healthy eating.

As a girl who struggled with the "battle of the bulge" for my entire life, it is my hope that through my modeling good eating habits in front of my students, and discussing good eating habits and exercise, that I can hopefully get these students to hear my message about an all around healthy life style. I often mention the effects of fatty foods, or unhealthy habits as we discuss the human body. In addition, I open class discussion to questions about good eating and exercising habits. Many of my students think there is only one food group ..... the junk food group. The amount of cookies, cakes, candies, sodas, and energy drinks that they consume are appalling to me. The most disturbing sight I have ever seen is students spreading mayonnaise on their already greasy and cheesy pizza. When I tell them what mayonnaise is made of, they argue that it tastes good, so it is good for you. I ask my students if they were going to drive from Massachusetts to Texas, what would they fill their car with? Obviously, gasoline is the resounding answer. I ask them would they fill the tank with sugar? They look at me as if I have lost my mind. "NO!", they reply. "So." I ask them, "Why is it before you start out on your daily voyage to school, you fill your "tank" with sugar?" "It will ruin your engine!" they reply. This sort of makes some sense to them, and they begin to get the message. Even though nutrition is a health class topic, I find that it is important to spread the nutritional good health message to all of my students.

So, parents, what can you do to ensure that your child has the good health advantage in life? When your children are small, and just beginning to eat solids, offer more fruits and vegetables that cookies and cakes. Sugar is addictive, and offering sugary foods as rewards or comforts only serves to set your child on the path of craving an unhealthy diet. Make sure that your child fuels each day with a healthy breakfast that doesn't contain tons of sugar. Just because it is cereal, that doesn't mean it is void of sugar. Anything that ends in ose, such as glucose, fructose, etc.. contains sugar.  At meal time, think of the dining plate as a clock, from 12:00 to 3:00 is a good size for the protein portion of the meal. From 3:00 to 6:00 is a good carbohydrate size, and  6:00 to 12:00 should be filled with fresh fruits and vegetables.  Cut up carrot sticks, celery, cucumbers, or any of your child's favorite veges, and have them on hand as quick snacks. Use small amounts of peanut butter as a dip, or fore go dips at all. Join a food co-op and take your children with you to select fresh, pesticide free, locally grown fruits and vegetables. Look for fun recipes for your children to make that are filled with healthy ingredients. These are just a few ideas that may have a positive affect on your child's diet.

In addition to watching what your child eats, be aware of what your child is drinking, as well. Sodas, fruit juices, and power drinks are filled with sugar, caffeine, and calories. These kinds of drinks can add extra empty calories to your child's daily diet. Drinking skim milk, or low in sugar fruit juices are better alternatives, however nothing beats the benefits of good old fashioned WATER! Yes, water is a key and essential ingredient to digestion at the cellular level. Food can not be properly digested without adequate water. All cells require adequate water to function properly. As your food is digested and Oxygen is absorbed, cells need water in order for your body to turn the food you eat and the Oxygen you breathe into a form of energy that your body cells can use. The recommended daily amount of water varies from person to person, but eight, eight ounce glasses a day is a good place to start.

Eating right is just one of the ways to ensure a healthy life style. Look for my next blog on getting your child to get up and go! Exercise is a healthy diet's best friend.

So, grab a healthy snack for you and your children and start talking about ways your family can enjoy healthy eating together.

For extra information regarding a healthy life style visit:

http://www.b-simply-healthy.com/



Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting....So, Get on your way! Dr. Seuss

Every year, schools all across America celebrate March 2nd, Dr. Seuss' birthday, by participating in a national reading event called Read Across America. This is the perfect day to introduce life-long reading to your children. What child doesn't love Dr. Seuss? How can anyone pass up Green Eggs and Ham,  or The Cat in the Hat ? As a child, I always looked forward to Dr. Seuss specials on television. These short, clever cartoons made his books come alive for me. I remember reading Hop On Top of Pop, and wishing there was a cartoon made about that book, too. And, I always wished my mom would, just once, make green eggs and ham.

So, to get your kids to enjoy reading, here are some ideas for using Dr. Seuss books with children of all ages:

          1. Read the cat in the hat to your child. I read this to a group of seventh graders today, and they had a blast finishing the sentences and rhymes. This book lends itself to discuss how to handle someone who asks your child to do something that they know their parents would disapprove of, and if they should be honest enough to tell their parents the truth about what they did.

          2. Since many of Dr. Seuss' books deal with social issues, read one of his books with your middle schooler or high schooler, and use this book as a way to discuss social issues that may be part of an underlying theme in the book you read.

          3. Talk to your child about their favorite scene from their favorite book. Ask them why they chose this particular book as their favorite, and how the scene they described, from the book, influenced them.

          4. Start a reading "club" with your children. This works especially well if your children are close in age. Read a book as a family, and then discuss the questions or parts of the plot that were especially interesting or appealing to them.

          5. If you have small children, ask them to draw a scene from their favorite book. Once they are done, ask them to tell you why this book and this scene are their favorite.
  

If starting a discussion with your child is sometimes difficult, sometimes using the story line in a book is an easy way to get the conversation flowing. A few months ago, at a small coffee shop in Springfield, I over heard an amazing conversation between a grandmother and two grandchildren. It was obvious that conversations regarding recently read books was not a novelty for this family. I over heard the grandmother ask her grandkids what genre of books they had recently read. At this point, the granddaughter replied that she had been reading a scientific fantasy about time travel. The grandmother asked her granddaughter why she chose this particular book, and the granddaughter replied that she loved science, and that this particular book was of interest to her because of how realistic and probable the idea of time travel was. Now mind you, this granddaughter was all of ten years old. I was amazed at the quality of conversation that these three people were having. As I was leaving, I heard the grandmother ask her grandkids what books they would recommend  that she read. By now I could not stand it any longer, I had to stop by their table to tell them how amazing it was for me to hear such an amazing conversation about reading!

Today is your day to get on your way of starting this invaluable habit with your children. You will be amazed at the results.

So, Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss. Thank you for sparking an interest in reading for so many children across America!

Travel To New Places, Read a Book!

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

 

Dr. Seuss was born on March 2, 1904. Living just three blocks from his old home on Mulberry Street in Springfield, Massachusetts, and having grown up reading every book he ever wrote, I am compelled to write this blog in honor of this famous literacy visionary. In addition, I am currently employed just a few blocks from Mulberry Street, at a school in the South End of Springfield; a literacy based school. In other words, every teacher at the South End Middle School is comitted to teaching reading in every class.

 

Teaching at this particular school is the perfect fit for me, as I wholeheartedly believe that without the ability to readit  is impossible to ever reach your maximum potential. My dear grandmother, born in 1903, just a year before Dr. Seuss,  was deprived of the chance to learn to read. I remember, as a small child, learning to read myself, and at the same time trying to teach my grandmother to read, as well. I will never forget how she pretended to learn, but a few weeks later she said, "I am just too old to learn to read!" I was devastated. How could anyone be too old to learn to read? It was at that moment that I realized that I would become the best reader I could possibly be. Since then, not only do I devour books, but I encourage and teach middle school children to do the same. In fact, when I see a student reading a novel or some other book unrelated to science, it kills me to tell that student to "Stop reading, and do your science work!"  I even apologize to them for asking them to stop reading.

 

Years ago, while working at a Catholic school in Chicopee, and in fact the same school my girls were attending, I had the pleasure of hearing Jim Trelease, author of The Read Aloud Handbook, (born March 23, 1941),and an educator who stresses reading aloud to children as a way to instill in them the love of literature, speak. We hired him to speak to our students' parents about the importance of reading. Mr. Trelease encouraged parents of children of all ages to continue to read to their children. Mr. Trelease believed that all children enjoy being read to, and this enjoyment would eventually lead to their desire to read, too. I have carried that advice with me throughout my teaching years, and yes, it is true, my middle school students LOVE when I read to them.

 

Last year, our entire school read the book FOUND, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and the students would sit there listening to me read much in the same way they would sit and watch their favorite television program. During group discussion it was evident that they had been paying attention, as their responses were right on target. This year, at the new school I am teaching at South End Middle School )I am teaching many of the same students from the school I workd at last year, and these same students are beginning to read books, lots of them, on their own!

 

One student in particular, that attended the school that I worked in last year, hated reading, hated school, hated everything about learning. This year, in our literacy based school, we discovered that even though he is in the eighth grade, unfortunately his reading ability hovers somewhere around the second or third grade level. No wonder he hated reading so much! This semester, the eighth grade class is reading a book called Maus A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman. This is a biography of the author's father, Vladek Spiegelman, a Polish Jew and  Holocaust survivor. The students can't put this book down. In fact, during the aforementioned boy's last basketball game, (he had been benched for the first half due to low grades), the reading teacher from our school happened to look over at our team's bench. She nudged me and told me to look across the basketball court. There this boy was, slouched down in his chair, holding up his Maus  book and reading it. When he saw us looking over at him, he broke out in a big grin, nodded his head at us as if to say, "Yeah, I'm reading!", and continued reading his book. Of course, as soon as the coach told him to suit up he threw the book behind him and got ready to play hoop!

 

"Those who can read but don't are worse off than those who can't read."..Unknown

 

So, this week, develop a new habit, read to your children, read with your children, read in the same room as your children. Model reading for them, read to them, and read with them. This priceless skill will prove invaluable time and time again for the rest of their lives. It will open new doors of opportunity for them, doors that you may never have thought possible.

 

I have compliled a list of books that will appeal mainly to middle school children. I have done this just to get you started with some tried and true titles of popular books for this age group. I have not included books for younger children, as books for this age group are pleantiful, and I purposely did not include books for the highschool level either, as older students, by now, have probably identified the genre that appeals to them most.

 

If the books listed below do not appeal to you or your child as appropriate choices, take them to the library or a bookstore. Browse the appropriate age level sections in the bookstore or library, and  spend some quality time discussing the various book titles and genres. Discussing various book summaries can lead to some interesting discussions between you and your child, and may lead them down the path to life long learning and reading.

 

Suggested Readings:

 

1. Oh The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss - A great book for anyone moving to the next level in their lives, for example entering high school, going off to college, or leaving home.

 

2. Flipped by Wendelin Von Draanen - Two next door neighbors, Bryce and Juli form a relationship that blossoms in eighth grade.

 

3. Coraline by Neil Gaiman - A fantasy involving a girl who explores an alternate reality through a mysterious door in her own home.

 

4. The Lightning Thief - by Rick Riordan. A fantasy/adventure based on Greek Mythology about an adolescent demigod.

 

5. The Secret Life of Bees - by Sue Monk Kidd. Historical novel set in mid 1960's in the South. A fourteen year old bee keeper learns the secret of mother's death.

 

6. A Wrinkle In Time - by Madeline L'Engle. An adventure involving 3 children who travel through a cosmic loophole.

 

7. Black Beauty - by Anna Sewell. A story about a horse, and the very first book I read aloud to my girls. They loved it, and they even took turns reading some of the paragraphs. We discussed various parts of the plot together, and my girls even decided to take horseback riding lessons shortly thereafter.

 

8. Little Women - by Louisa May Alcott. (My favorite childhood book!) A story about the Alcott family during the Christmas their Papa was away at war.

 

9. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. A boy is raised by wolves in the jungle.

 

10. Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Three friends think they are adopted, and technically they are, but the circumstances surrounding their adoption are out of this world.

 

While this is and extremely short list, I do hope it is enticing enough to get the ball rolling. Make reading a top priority in your home and the rewards will be everlasting. Happy reading!

 

 

          

 

With Hope Anything is Possible!

"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."  Albert Einstein

During the many years I have spent educating middle school children, I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet with numerous parents regarding the status of their child's education. Very often these parents are coming to a parent-teacher conference as somewhat of a last resort. Most of the conferences take on a common underlying theme having to do with their child's lack of interest and participation in their own education. The team of teachers will begin the meeting with some positive observations about the child, and before long we will be knee deep in examples of how this particular child falls short in the learning department. It is usually at this point that the parent offers up the types of encouragements they have provided to help their child excel in school. At the end of this little list of consequences, (lists of rewards are rarely mentioned), the parent usually, exasperated by this time, exclaims "And he/she must go to his/her room every day right after school without any television, computer, or cell phone."

I can't help but cringe at this statement everytime I hear it. At this point in the conference, as my team teachers will readily attest to, I usually begin to ask the parent what hobbies, or outings their child responds best to.  I want to know the kind of experiences that their child thrives on. I believe Einstein said it best.  

"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."  Notice he said "hope for reward". Once that hope for reward is missing from the picture, apathy sets in. Apathetic children, who see no hope for any change in their inprisoned condition, will often give up on themselves, their future, their learning, and participating in school. It is usually this type of child that teachers struggle the most to teach. 

 

Once I am able to get the parent thinking about "free" rewards, like spending extra time with them at the park, or maybe playing that basketball game with them that they have promised in the past, I then talk about how without any hope of their living conditions improving, children have a difficult time seeing why they should try to improve themselves at all. I often ask the parents why they go to work each day. The number one response is to earn money. I then ask the parents if they would stop working if they stopped receiving a pay check. Of course the answer is always yes. To assist the parents in monitoring their child's success, I introduce a point sheet for their child's teachers to fill out everyday. Depending on the child, I may suggest that we look at this point sheet either on a daily or weekly basis. I then suggest that the parents set up small rewards in return for their child bringing home positive comments on their point sheet. These rewards may be as simple as allowing their child to watch 1/2 an hour of television for every category they scored a total of 4 points in. This could amount to 1-2 hours of television that weekend. My main message with these parents is that without hope of achieving some minor rewards, we are likely to see such a loss of hope that it will negatively affect every area of their child's life.

 

When parents are consistent with requesting to see point sheets each day/week, consistently provide positive rewards when their child meets their academic goals, and consistently provide balanced consequences when the agreed upon number of points are not achieved, I always see marked improvement in that child's academic performace.

After all, who wouldn't want to be appropriately recognized for doing well by the people they look to for guidance and love?

 

 

Listen My Parents, and You Shall Hear!

A child seldom needs a good talking to as a good listening to.
~ Robert Brault ~

"You NEVER listen to me!" Are these words familiar to you? It is not uncommon for children to feel as if they are not being heard by their parents. As both a parent and an educator, it was very easy for me to fall into the trap of telling, rather than listening and actually hearing what my girls were trying to tell me. When my youngest daughter was in seventh grade at an area Catholic school, she would often come home sad, uncommunicative, and somewhat  depressed. I would talk to her and tell her how to feel better about going to school each day, and fill her up with good ideas and ways to feel better about her school experience. What I overlooked, however, was the nonverbal, and sometimes verbal messages she was sending. Had I only really listened to what she was trying to tell me in the best way she knew how.

During her seventh grade year, just before the Christmas holiday, Katie began to tell me that one of her teachers started to reprimand her for trivial and insignificant things. As a teacher, familiar with some students who refuse to own some of their negative behaviors, I kept telling Katie that I was sure that her teacher had more important things to do besides dream up ways to reprimand her for no reason at all. In early April, after watching what used to be my bubbly, giggly, happy daughter transform into a sullen, withdrawn, non-communicative teenager, my husband and I finally made an appointment with this teacher, with the hopes of working together to help Katie through this difficult time at school. When we arrived at the school, we received a very cold greeting from three of Katie's teachers. We were invited to sit around the teacher's classroom desk. They asked us to express our concerns regarding Katie, and I began by describing the severe change in Katie's entire demeanor. I mentioned how Katie felt singled out sometimes for what she perceived as trivial situations, and that she felt that often times other students, guilty of much worse infractions were often excused, where Katie was more often than not given a consequence. It was at this time that the teacher in question stopped me, and began to lecture me about how children behave one way at home and yet another way at school, and perhaps Katie wasn't really the same girl we thought she was. To prove her point about Katie, this teacher, and I still to this day can't believe this comment, said, "In addition to her talkative nature, Katie looks at me like she wants something bad to happen to me." Struggling to comprehend how this woman could read Katie's mind, or so she thought, I asked her how she could be so sure of what Katie was thinking by merely looking at Katie's facial expression. I knew exactly which expression the teacher was referring to. When ever Katie got upset, she would screw up her face so that she could prevent herself from crying in front of anyone. I began to try to explain this to the teacher when she cut me off stating that obviously we were there to just defend our daughter and that the meeting was a waste of time. By this time I was boiling mad, and as politely as I could, I excused myself from the meeting, went to the Principal's office, and told her that Katie would no longer be a student at her school.

The story did end well, as I was able to enroll Katie in a public school in a neighboring city within three days time. It was with great pleasure that I watched the Katie we knew and loved slowly return. She was able to reconnect with friends from grammar school, and we got nothing but rave reviews from Katie's teachers for the rest of her school career. The critical lesson that I learned from this experience was that it wasn't enough to listen to what Katie was telling me through her behavior and conversations, I needed to actually hear what she was trying to say. Sometimes kids don't know how to express exactly what they are feeling, or how they are perceiving a particular situation. Learning to read their emotions, behaviors, and being able to read between the lines when they do try to verbally communicate with us are so important to keeping the lines of communication open.

Lucky for us, we were able to turn this negative situation, which had the potential to destroy how we gelled as a family, into a positive learning experience for all of us. So, the next time your child is trying to express anger, frustration, or any other emotion that may be uncharted territory for them, remember, a child seldom needs a good talking to as a good listening to.

In The Good Ole Summertime!

“Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone.”

--Anonymous

As we approach midsummer, and it is officially HOT outside, it reminds me of all the seemingly long summer days I spent with my girls at Cape Cod. We were fortunate enough to have the privilege of using a family summer home during the entire month of July. I know it sounds wonderful, and it was. I also know that it seems like there would have been millions of things to do, and there were, however many of the "exciting" things to do were very expensive. Since we were usually vacationing on a very tight budget, it became necessary for me to seek out interesting and inexpensive (and in this case I mean free) things to do with my girls each day.

If you are a parent facing the "Mom! I'm bored!" complaints from your children, then perhaps I may help you to discover new, interesting, and low cost ways to enjoy the summer months with your child. The first thing I took advantage of was using the local, free access beach that was located at the end of our road. My girls had countless hours of fun looking for hermit crabs, fish, shells, and even rocks of various colors. We built sand castles, (lost car keys in sand castles, but that is another story for another time), we talked about the current, and how to swim differently in a river or ocean than one would in a pool or a pond.. Walking along the shoreline led to many discussions about the variety of wildlife, and why different creatures lived in different environments. I bought books for the girls that helped them to identify the tiny animals, shells, and plants that we found living at the shore. This made the experience more interesting, and they were learning many new things at the same time.

Natural History museums are also a very inexpensive way to entertain young children on summer days. I will never, nor will my girls, forget the day that I took them to the Brewster Natural History Museum on Rt. 6 A, one scorching HOT summer day. When we arrived I noticed that there was a guided tour of the cranberry bogs at 10:00 a. m.  I thought that this would be an interesting and fun thing to do, and it might have been had it not been sooooo brutally hot that day. After the very enthusiastic guide had us follow him all over the edge of the bogs, he suggested we walk out along a ridge across the bogs. My girls had already been whispering complaints to me about how hot and tired they were, but I was determined to press on. Being the good sports that my girls have learned to be, probably because I usually leave them no other choice, they pressed on. After about another 10 minutes of wandering around the bogs and listening to what had to be very boring for two small girls, the guide suggested that we turn around. I could hear them both whispering,"Thank God", to one another. We browsed around the gift shop for a bit before departing, and I thought that the day had been a great one. It wasn't until this past year, when my two daughters and I returned to the Cape (this time in winter) to finalize my oldest daughters wedding plans, and we were reminiscing about the days that we had spent on Cape Cod, when one of them brought up the cranberry bog incident. The both let me know that they thought I had lost my mind that day, but didn't want to ruin the fun so they went along with the idea. I have learned two things from this incident, first of all most children have fun at most things if they aren't having to endure some unpleasant condition; in this case extreme heat, and secondly I discovered how both of my girls had developed tolerance at such a young age.

Not every outing has to be at a beach, or museum. We spent many hours biking, hiking, going to the library to choose our favorite books, getting ice cream at the dairy farm, swimming, and doing fun things together that not only filled our day with pleasurable activities, but built memories to last a life time!

Start planing your next summer outing with your children today, and you will have many good times as a family.