It used to be that moms and dads used to need a vacation to get over their vacation. If you have children under five and have been on a vacation lately, you probably know exactly what I am talking about. You may be away from home, but you still have to spend 24 hours a day taking care of the kids.  You may find that you aren’t getting the break from life that you thought you would be getting. There are now more and more companies that are gearing their packages towards kids travel to take some of the stress off of mom and dad.

Even Disney used to have a problem with kids travel. They were good for the older kids, but they really didn’t have anything for the younger children who are under five or six years old. They really can’t go on a lot of rides and their needs are greater than that of older children. Disney seems to have gotten a clue and they have things designed for kids travel to take some of the worries off of the parents. They have concerts for the younger set, and they have babysitters and nannies so the parents can have some time to relax.

Hotels are jumping in on the kids travel idea as well. Many of them have babysitters you can hire by the hour and the price is usually not that bad. They will play with the kids and run them through a variety of activities made just for them. Not only do they give the parents a chance to relax, you may find that the kids are pleasantly tired when the day is through. This is a bonus to kids travel. It means you can get some uninterrupted sleep! You might even want to consider a visit to the Nickelodeon hotel, which was made just for kids.

If you are interested in kids travel and kid friendly resorts, destinations and hotels, you don’t have to look that hard to find them. They are popping up everywhere now and your travel agent might be able to find you the best alternatives right away. You can also look up kids travel online to see what pops up in your price range. You should probably be able to find something no matter where you want to go and you may find that taking a family vacation is more fun than you thought it would be.

The sport of floor hockey has grown in popularity over the years, and intramural and other teams can now be found in communities, schools, and even colleges and universities.  It is a unique game in that it evens the playing field for those who may enjoy the game of hockey, but are not be able to play on ice for physical or other reasons. It gives both children and adults who are not skilled in ice or roller skating the opportunity to participate in the game. Floor hockey also provides an opportunity for those who do not live in cool climates or have access to an indoor skating rate the chance to participate in the enjoyable and fast paced team sport of hockey.

As the name suggests, ice hockey is the foundation for the game. Like ice hockey, floor hockey is generally played in a rink. But instead of ice, the rink is usually made of either concrete or wood.  Because it does not require the ability to skate or move about easily on an icy surface, it is an ideal team sport for many athletes with disabilities. Floor hockey has been adopted as a wheelchair sport and it is also the single team sport in the Winter Special Olympics.

Play involves the use of a puck, stick and goals. In most organized games, teams will consist of five or six players. Floor hockey players must be skilled in stick handling and shooting, as well as in passing the puck to their team members. Points are scored the same way as in ice hockey, and floor hockey goalies must be alert and quick to act to avoid allowing the opposing team to score. Generally, floor hockey players use pucks and sticks specifically designed for indoor play. One of the major differences between floor hockey and ice hockey is that players of floor hockey generally do not wear protective gear, so some safety modifications have been made to the game.

It is a sport that is adaptable to almost any location and an activity that can be enjoyed by players of varying skill levels.  Floor hockey has become an increasingly popular activity. Children and adults can enjoy it in a variety of educational and community settings.

A similar game is floorball, which uses sticks made from lighter plastic materials and a ball instead of a puck. Floorball is believed to have originated from floor hockey, which goes to show how the game of hockey in general has been adapted to allow enthusiasts with various skill levels, resources and geographical limitations to enjoy the sport.

One of the most challenging issues that parents of autistic children face is the child’s inability to control his behavior. This challenge is not easily overcome because many autistic individuals have major communication deficits that prevent them from communicating why they are having a tantrum or why they are engaging in aggressive actions. A behavior chart is useful in helping caretakers determine the reason for the child’s tantrums and aggressions.

When I worked as an autism therapist, I used a behavior chart known as an ABC outline. This is an extremely valuable tool for determining the causes of behavior and it may be used to determine possible interventions that can be used to redirect the negative actions like tantrums and aggression.

ABC stands for antecedent, behavior and consequence. This behavior chart simply collects data on these three aspects of the child’s target behavior. Once the child demonstrated unwanted actions like tantrums and aggression, the therapist or caregiver collects objective information about the event. After a number of instances, the data on the behavior chart is evaluated and a course of action is determined by the autistic child’s treatment team.

The ABC behavior chart first section involves the antecedent to the child’s behavior. The antecedent is simply what happens immediately before the behavior occurs. This does not involve any subjective interpretation of the behavior. For example, instead of writing, “The child was hungry,” the data collector would write, “The child was waiting for dinner.” This is all that the antecedent involves. The child was waiting for his meal.

The next data that is collected on the behavior chart is the behavior. It is important to remember that this needs to be an action. What did the child do? For example, instead of writing, “The child became angry,” the data collector would write, “The child threw his silverware and cried and screamed.” The action is the behavior and it describes exactly what happened, not the data collector’s interpretation of the child’s emotions.

The final part of the behavior chart includes the consequence of the child’s behavior. The consequence is what happens immediately after the behavior. It is essential to keep this section objective as well. Sometimes a child will engage in a negative behavior in order to get a certain response. For example, a child is in a classroom and his teacher is talking with his parents. He throws books all over the floor and his mother and teacher run over and say, “What’s wrong?”

In the last example, the behavior chart would clue the treatment team in on the child’s negative behavior because it provides clues to the cause. The child wanted attention and the consequence was that he got the teacher’s and the mother’s undivided attention. But, the behavior chart has to be consistent. The attention seeking behavior has to be demonstrated a number of times before any conclusions are made.

A behavior chart is a valuable tool for helping a treatment team to determine which interventions to use when dealing with difficult behavior. The behavior chart may also be used for normal children who have trouble controlling their behavior as well. The chart usually takes weeks or even months to clue caretakers in on the causes of negative behavior, but it is often worth the wait.

When I was a kid, I had many beloved hangouts.  I loved to hide in the town park at the end of the block. Although it doesn’t look very big nowadays, when I was a child it looked like a huge forest. I loved to go to the children’s room in the library and be surrounded by beautiful books. I loved to go to the municipal pool in the summer time, where I could splash around with my friends to my hearts  content. My favorite place of all was our backyard basketball court.

In first grade, I moved to a better school district with my parents. Where we came from in the city, there weren’t any backyard basketball courts. They were big outdoor basketball courts in the parks, but you had to be good to play. I was a slow bloomer at almost everything. One day, I got good at basketball but when I was just starting out I was terrible. I never felt comfortable playing at the outdoor basketball court because all of the kids made fun of me. No one wanted me on their team.

When we got the backyard basketball court everything started to change. At first, I was a little bit scared to even try to shoot hoops, but when I realized I had some privacy, I gave it a go. It took me awhile, but soon I was shooting baskets like a pro. Although my ball handling skills were not great, I could out shoot almost everyone I knew by the end of the year. Spending hour after hour after school in the backyard basketball court really made a difference. Without the basketball court backyard, I never would have discovered that I could play sports. I would have always felt clumsy.

It took me a while to get involved in the sports teams at school. At first, I would simply invite my new friends to the backyard basketball court. Backyard sport courts were very popular. If you had one, it would make your friends really quickly as long as you were willing to invite people over to play with you. Soon, I had pickup games of outdoor backyard basketball almost every afternoon. I knew that I had to take it beyond backyard basketball courts and see how well I could really play on a team.  When I made the school sports team on my first try and became a starter during the first season, my parents were really proud of me. To think it all started on the  backyard basketball court!

Do you have children? Well, the fact of the matter is when you have little ones there is a definite entertainment issue. Now I’m not talking about how much they entertain you, but rather how well you can keep them entertained. Believe me, kids need to stay occupied or they basically get bored. That boredom kicks in after about two minutes. So, the big question now is, what are you doing to keep your rugrats busy. We all want our kids to enjoy themselves and have a wonderful childhood. Therefore what would you say to custom playhouses? Ah ha, I’ll bet you never pondered this particular concept. Sure, you may have considered swing sets and tricycles, but did you ever really give much thought to custom playhouses? These are a brilliant way to keep your children entertained.

You know what I always wanted when I was growing up? Do the words “custom playhouses” mean anything to you? Yes indeed, I wanted my very own home away from home. You know, that place where you can retreat to in order to ditch the folks and or siblings for a while. Back then I did not come across too many custom playhouses to choose from. My father did eventually aid me in constructing a tree house. In fact, we put one up just behind the back yard, in the woods. It didn’t remain private for too long. Before I knew it, every friend I had was asking to play in my tree house. Oh well, at least it was a blast, even if it wasn’t exclusive.

This hand built playhouse lasted me for years to come. It wasn’t until I finally outgrew it that I stopped hanging out in there. Now you can purchase custom playhouses. Don’t know where to start browsing? No problem! You have a home computer with Internet access right? Then it’s time to get jacked into the World-Wide-Web. Hop online now and browse through a vast array of custom playhouses. With the world at your fingertips, the possibilities are endless. You can acquire pricing and building expenses via the web. In addition, you can find out how long it would take to have custom playhouses built for your children. Find that ideal playhouse to suit your family. Let those little ones have a blast in their own little home.

When school lets out for the summer many teenagers find themselves facing a few months with nothing to do. The first few weeks of summer vacation are usually spent lounging around and sleeping in until noon, but even a lazy 17 or 18 year old will grow bored of that routine. Many kids are now looking for summer job opportunities that allow them to get outside and enjoy the warm weather while making a few extra dollars.

Any parent of a teenager can attest to the fact that their youngsters need money. If it’s not used for gas for their car it, will be used for clothing. Teenagers are often caught wishing for a new pair of jeans or a pair of sneakers that everyone has. With summer job opportunities they can make their own money which helps take some of the burden off their parents.

Although many fast food restaurants and discount stores are always on the look out for young people who want a job, there are other opportunities available as well. When summer vacation begins many parents are scrambling to find an affordable child care option for their little ones.  If a teenager has training in first aid, this can be an ideal short term job for them. They can place an advertisement in the local paper a few weeks before summer vacation is set to begin. Summer job opportunities in the child care field are perfect for many young people as it allows them to still feel young while building their sense of responsibility. They can offer either in home child care or they will baby sit if the children are brought to their house.

Along the same thread summer camps are often in need of junior counselors in June, July and August. The counselors need to be a few years older than the campers and it’s preferable if they have some experience with a camp setting. Many times these summer job opportunities will be offered to specific people because of their close association with the camp. For a teenager who aspires to be a teacher or a daycare worker this is wonderful experience.

Some communities now also offer a series of day camps for local school age children. These are much like traditional camps save for the fact that the children go home each night. These programs need young counselors as well so this is one of the summer job opportunities that would really appeal to a teenager who wants to sleep in their own bed each night.

Once a child has spent a summer working it’s likely that they’ll want to do the same thing next year. Kids love having their own spending money. It makes them feel proud and it also shows them that they are capable of holding a job and taking care of their own business. This is a priceless lesson that every teenager should learn.

When we were kids we had many chores that we were responsible for around the house. My mom worked, so every morning during the summer she would leave a note detailing the tasks that we were to accomplish during the day. This list usually involved tasks such as dust the living room, vacuum the stairs, clean your bedrooms and put away the laundry. And every day my mother would return home to find our tasks neatly accomplished.

So, now today, as a parent, I am in a quandary when I ask my son to make his bed and he bursts into tears and stomps his feet and acts like I’ve asked him to remove his eye teeth. The other night he wanted a bowl full of ice cream after dinner. We were all gathered in the living room watching a television program when he made his request. My husband told him to go ahead, and went to resume watching TV. With a huff our son stomped to the kitchen and said, “Fine, I’ll just have cookies!!” My husband and I glanced at each other baffled at his outburst.

My husband called him back and asked what all the fuss was about. Our son angrily told us that spooning out his own ice cream was too hard for him, basically acting like we were the worst parents ever!! My husband pushed the issue, seeing that our nine year old son was getting just a little too lazy. He insisted that he get the ice cream himself and stop acting so hard. With great reluctance and protest, our son of course managed the task ALL BY HIMSELF, but not without kicking up a huge fuss and nearly bursting into tears. I told him that had I pulled a fit like that when I was a kid, I would be sent to bed with no dessert at all and I wouldn’t even hear the word ice cream for at least a month!

After that display of ingratitude and laziness, my husband and I decided to do something about this problem. In the past I had created a chore chart for our son, with the agreement that he would receive an allowance based on his completion of the chores. Our son took one look at that chore chart and let out a wail, determined that the tasks were too many and too demanding and that was the end of that. With this latest episode, my husband and I realized that it was time to try again.

I pulled out the old chore chart and began working on revisions to better reflect our son’s age and level of ability. In the meantime, my husband signed him up for a flyer delivery route. Our son has had the route now for about a month. My husband still has to regularly accompany him and assist him with the route. We can’t imagine sending him on his own - he’d end up crying with his head stuck in a snowdrift! I haven’t been pushing too hard in regard to the chore chart, because I want to see how much money can be a motivator for our son, or whether more drastic measures need to be taken. My husband plans to let him do the flyer delivery route on his own by the end of the second month. I’m still a little leery of him going by himself, even though it’s a pretty safe and quiet neighborhood. On the one hand we want him to take the responsibility and learn to work hard, on the other I have horror stories of little boys going missing running through my head.

I will likely continue working on the chore chart and I plan to implement it in the near future. Our little girl is four now. Interestingly, she loves doing chores and I can see her taking on responsibility more quickly than her older brother. As parents, it’s difficult to figure out where to draw the line between thinking your kid is plain lazy, and being sure that we’ve instilled proper self esteem and confidence in our kids. In the end, we need to produce highly functional individuals who can survive in our fast paced world. I’m hoping our chore chart will be one step in the right direction.

Everyone in my family looks forward to the summer months for the same reason.  It means taking time off for our annual vacation. We love to load up the car and head out to a national park or a public campground for a week of hiking, fishing and sleeping under the stars. But since my boys are still young, they’re not exactly careful with our equipment, if you know what I mean. It’s not unusual for several essential items to get damaged or lost on one of our trips. That’s why I shop for discount camping gear whenever possible.

The emergence of online stores has really made it easy for me to find discount camping gear. The popularity of wholesale sporting goods websites means that I can buy name brand equipment for a fraction of the price that I would pay at a regular retail outlet. Even when I factor in the cost of shipping, I come out way ahead on all of the discount camping gear purchases I make over the Internet. That means my family will have more money left over for our vacations, which is the most important part anyway.

What kind of discount camping gear do I typically buy online? Anything and everything that my family needs! For example, we always seem to be replacing our supply of lanterns and flashlights. These kinds of products have a tendency to break pretty easily, especially when kids are handling them.  It’s nice to be able to save money on items that I’m buying all the time.

I can also find great deals on longer lasting items such as tents, sleeping bags and cots. Anyone who has ever camped out before will tell you that if you can’t sleep comfortably, it will ruin your entire experience. So I really pay attention to the products I purchase in this category and make sure that I stick with well known brands such as Coleman. After all, there’s no sense in buying discount camping gear if the products don’t perform up to expectations.

Cookouts are another favorite part of our trips, so I also make sure that I buy the best cooking accessories that I can find. Online stores that sell discount camping gear often offer an entire lineup of excellent cooking products such as stoves, burners, mess kits, pots and pans, and food packaging containers. These items help make mealtimes come off without a hitch, which isn’t necessarily a given for my crew. Then, once I have well rested and well fed kids, I know the rest of the day will go much more smoothly.

If you need to purchase new equipment or replace old items before you head to the great outdoors for your next expedition, I recommend that you shop for discount camping gear online. You might be surprised at all of the high quality items you can find at amazing prices!

When a child reaches the age of three or four, they are usually ready to graduate from car seat use. Many parents are unaware that simply placing them in a seat belt is not enough. In order to ensure safety and avoid possible internal injury or even death, many experts agree that booster car seats are necessary for children up to the age of nine!

Our daughter uses a booster car seat. It’s not nearly as troublesome as a traditional car seat. It has a regular booster sit with an arm that goes across her lap. The seat belt then wraps around the front of this arm, securing her into the seat. My daughter loves her booster seat. She feels much safer and she is able to see out the window. We find that this serves the secondary purpose of helping to avoid carsickness, since not being able to see out the windows often creates this malady.

Other booster car seat styles include molded plastic support for the entire back, along with comfortable cushioning. These seats have the advantage of supporting the entire spine and neck, and this is also a good option for parents out looking for a new booster car seat. Booster car seats are especially good for older children and is the option we will likely go with as our daughter grows.

One thing to keep in mind when choosing a booster car seat for your child is not to pick out a particularly babyish print or style. If your child is supposed to use this seat for much of their childhood, they are not going to want to cooperate if the booster car seat looks like a baby seat. Try to think long term and opt for a seat with neutral colors and go for a sleek, stylish design that your child won’t be as likely to grow to become embarrassed of. Also, keep in mind that you could have other children down the road, so it’s best to choose coloring and design that is suitable for either gender.

We have found the transition from toddler car seat to booster car seat to be an easy one to make. One of the added bonuses is that when our daughter falls asleep in the car from time to time, being secured in the child seat provides added support and a place for her to rest her head, that might not be available if she was only secured in a lap belt.

Back in the 1980s, I was just a little kid, the oldest of three girls. We always had a lot of toys, many of which my grandmother would pick up second hand at yard sales in the city. I remember a couple of toys that we didn’t get though - toys that occupied my mind and fantasy world, and that I would have given my right arm to possess. The most coveted toys of all, for just about any kid at that time, would have to be the Cabbage Patch Kids.

How these toys managed to capture the attention of millions of children the world over, I’ll never know. They weren’t even particularly cute, with their molded plastic heads, unmoving eyes and hair of yarn. And yet, somehow these dolls held the key to the hearts of kids around the globe.  I think part of the appeal of Cabbage Patch Kids had to be the adoption papers. Getting a doll that had already been pre-named was a pretty novel approach. It must have been more than mere dolly names that caused the hysteria surrounding Cabbage Patch Kids, especially at Christmastime. The crowds of shoppers went absolutely wild! There were even news reports of masses of people stampeding, trampling other shoppers, in the frenzy to get one of these dolls for an eager boy or girl waiting at home.

The marketing behind Cabbage Patch Kids was sheer genius. The world was held captive, enthralled, becoming willing pawns of marketing like never before. To this very day, I even remember the price of one of these dolls, an elusive $34.95, just out-of-grasp for our family to enjoy, as it would have been over $100 to send the three of us to cloud nine, out of sheer joy. This was simply money our family didn’t have.

I think our other grandmother took pity on us. She wanted to buy us the dolls, but between us and countless cousins, she would have ended up spending thousands of dollars buying Cabbage Patch Dolls. So instead, she invested hours on end, painstakingly making dolls for us by hand. These dolls had hand painted faces, were anatomically correct, thanks to a few drinks we suspected.  Each clothed in beautiful handmade clothing.  Sadly, we were all pretty disappointed with this make due attempt by our grandmother. Although we smiled bravely and put on a happy face, we were dying inside. These were not Cabbage Patch Kids at all! The other kids would laugh and know we were poor. This simply wouldn’t do!

In the end though, we came to love our dolls. As we grew older and reflected on our childhoods, we came to understand the real love that our grandmother put in to all of those dolls. Real thought and an exorbitant investment of time and effort. Many of my toys are long gone, but to this day my special doll sits on a shelf in my bedroom, as a testament to our grandmother’s love and a memory of the hysteria of the Cabbage Patch Kids era.

If you go to any department store today, you may well find Cabbage Patch Kids stocking the shelves. This comeback attempt has not even scraped the surface of the success of the original batch of Kids. I don’t know if the marketing is no longer as effective, or maybe the magic has simply been lost, but the Cabbage Patch Kids will always stir up fond memories in my family.