I don’t know about your town, but where I live, it’s already consistently pretty hot outside. So I thought I’d break out a few summer fun ideas centered around water (because I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be outside much once it hits 90+ unless there’s water involved!).

Try these silly games with kids aged three to five, courtesy of Kaboose.com:

Bucket blast:
For this game, you need two or more children. Each child or team will need a bucket of water, an empty bucket and a paper cup. The first child fills the cup with water from the full bucket and runs with it to the empty bucket to pour their water into it. Both children (or teams) continue until they empty the original bucket of water and fill the second bucket. The child or team with the most water in the bucket wins. For even more fun, cut a quarter-sized hole in each cup and get the kids to plug it using their fingers or by placing it on their heads while they run to fill the bucket.

Butterfinger ball:
This one is played in the shallow end of a pool. Butter each child’s hand with suntan lotion and then wet a large beach ball, says Penny Warner, author of Splish Splash: Water Fun for Kids (Chicago Review Press). The kids throw a ball back and forth to each other and have a fun giggly time trying to hold on to it.

The site includes suggestions for water games to play with older kids, too. Also, there are always the old stand-bys of sprinklers, kiddie pools, and Slip ‘n Slides (Boy, have they ever expanded their water fun since I was a kid with the basic yellow skid-to-the-end-and-pray model!).

Posted by Sunshine.

I have red hair and pasty white skin. I can walk to the mail room and back (it’s really not far!) and get sunburned. So when I take my kids out, given my long history of painful experiences, I probably go a little overboard with protection.

Inevitably, though, at some point my daughter will get a mild sunburn this summer as she runs around at the park or at the lake. It just happens anyway sometimes. But what’s the best way to treat a child’s sunburn? I don’t want to hurt her more than it already does, but I have to do something!

Well, according to the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, I have several options for her:

* Put a cool compress on the sunburned area.
* Give her a cool bath.
* Apply hydrocortisone cream, a moisturizer, or aloe product. (I’m a huge fan of the green Aloe Vera gel! It’s the only thing I’d ever let my mom use on me when I was sunburned badly as a kid.) Stay away from products with Benadryl/benzocaine, as these are more likely to cause reactions.

If she’s in a lot of pain, I can also give her Tylenol or Motrin to ease her discomfort (particularly handy before bed, when I need for her to feel alright so she — and therefore I — can get some sleep!). If the sunburn blisters, I should leave them alone, and I should keep her out of the sun as much as possible until her sunburn gets better.

The best thing, of course, would be to not let it happen in the first place. Sunscreen designed for kids comes in sprays and all kinds of impressively high-looking SPFs. I’ve started keeping a bottle of it in my diaper bag, for those impromptu park runs after errands and those other times when I might forget to pack sunscreen and need it (oh, and moms? We shouldn’t forget ourselves with the sun protection, either!).

Posted by Sunshine.

I went to a huge family function Sunday (for a branch I haven’t kept up with very well), and was delighted to spot a distant relative who has always been a good friend of mine. But after the hellos and how are yous, I found myself grasping at straws to keep the conversation going. He doesn’t have kids, and I realized with dismay that talking about parenting stuff wouldn’t be nearly as interesting to him as it is to me.

No diaper disaster tales to exchange…no humorous kiddie anecdotes to trade…no parental angst to share…what else is there? Have I really fallen so out-of-touch with the non-parenting world? What on earth did I talk about before?

Then my brain shrugged off its lethargy, and I found myself asking him about his work, about his upcoming marriage, about his plans for the future. And he, in turn, asked intelligent questions about my life (and not just the kid part - about my own dreams and plans). We had plenty of catching up to do, and the hours flew by. What do you know - I am more than a mom, even when I don’t feel like I am!

In a few years, maybe we’ll be able to share parenting anecdotes, too.

Have you ever found it difficult to talk to old friends who don’t have kids, or does the switch from kid-centered to adult-centered conversation come easily to you?

Posted by Sunshine.

It only takes a moment for winter fun to turn into a trip to the ER. Cold weather dangers abound, but that doesn’t mean we should spend the season indoors. It’s important to stay active year-round, so here are some tips for a safer winter play season, from HealthDay:

• Children should wear a helmet when they’re snowboarding, sledding, snowmobiling and skiing.
• Dress to keep warm and safe. Wear layers of clothing and top it off with coats that are wind- and water-resistant. When snowmobiling, make sure that scarves and any loose fabrics are tucked in.
• Parents should always supervise young children and keep them in sight. Older children should always have at least one companion.
• Don’t play on ice, which poses a serious fall risk. When skating, use ice only in areas designated for skating, and check for cracks and debris on the ice.
• When skiing, snowboarding or sledding, always make sure the path is clear of people and other obstacles.
• Only take part in winter sports in areas well-lit by sunlight or artificial light.
• No matter what the winter activity, always think about safety. For example, never pull your child in a sled behind a snowmobile or other motorized vehicle.

Posted by Sunshine.

“Watching the leaves change color” by Nadia, 3.

For what it’s worth, a few things I learned on our just-completed adventure flying across the country and back with our two little ones:

• Even if your two-year-old is religious about pooping once a day, he will find the resources to grant you a bonus once he notices he’s on an airplane. The severity of this surprise poop will be in proportion to how difficult it is at that moment to get to the airplane bathroom.
• It’s not smart to play Chad Vader in front of your preschooler, because he’ll pick up on the one or two salty phrases in it and debut them just when the the nice man sharing his row tries to engage him.
• It is smart to bring an extra pair of pants in case your three-year-old has an accident, but even smarter to bring an extra shirt too in case he has a mishap of a different variety and your husband is unable to procure a barf bag in time. Sadly, I am not smarter.
• Those folks who clean airplanes between flights are probably underpaid.
• If you let your three-year-old pick out a replacement T-shirt at an airport store during your layover, he may well insist on the one that says “Friends don’t let friends vote Democrat.”
• It won’t matter, though, because he’ll refuse to wear the shirt you just blew $15 on because it doesn’t say Red Sox.
• After enough legs of a plane journey, even M&Ms completely lose their bribery power.
• All inconveniences of plane travel with little kids are counterbalanced by the fabulous Travelmate by Go Go Babyz. I’ve said it before: Worth every penny.

Posted by MommaSteph.

For the last three days it has been raining every minute of the day. I live on a tropical island where it rains very often, but having lots of water for so much time… it can drive your kids crazy! It is cold outside (it is just 65 degrees but for us that is pretty cold), and there is water everywhere, so the best thing is to spend some indoor family time.

According to the Weather Channel there are many activities you can do to have fun with kids during a rainy day. Here are some of them:

• Paint a picture of a rainbow
• Have an indoor picnic
• Make a bird feeder
• Jump over mud puddles
• Play a rainfall trivia game
• Act out a play
• Do a rain dance
• Make a fort out of the kitchen table

There are many other ideas to have fun with your kids. On Kinderinfo.com I found a couple of good choices that encourage quality family time. Making cookies does not have to be just a Christmas tradition, you can make it an indoor fun activity. Remember that singing, dancing, watching a movie or just playing a board game are simple ways to let your kids know that there is fun inside the house. If your kids still want to go outside, grab a raincoat and boots and have fun in the water.

What we did as a family today? We just got into bed, cuddled each other, had a pillow fight, slept together, ate and got back to bed. Thinking about it… it wasn’t a bad day after all. What is left to say? Grab your family and have some great rainy day fun. Even if it is not raining you can always have a great time with your family.

Posted by Momcrazyforkids.

“Storm” by Henry, 3.

“Reading to my Loveys” by Mark, 2.

I received my Time magazine in the mail today and started to read it right away. I always find it very helpful in keeping up with world news. To my surprise I came upon an article about how eighth graders are being recruited for colleges. You read right. Eighth graders, who have not taken SATs and don’t even know what they want to study, are being contacted by coaches to let them know they count on them. Of course, that will be four years from now.

Apparently, competition is driving teams to search for young possible prospects. According to Scout.com the number of high school juniors committing early to big-college-football schools is up 430% (61 committed in 2003, 323 this year). Men’s ice hockey coaches have recruited ninth-graders, and women’s volleyball coaches are scouting younger and younger girls. Scout.com provides rankings, videos and history of kids who are prospects for professional sports league.

Even if kids are good there are some people that just want to benefit of the great deals and contracts. There are sites that rank kids as young as in sixth grade! Some coaches want the best for their kids, but others… the best for their pockets.

Kids (as well as adults) have many special talents but I think it is important to give them exposure to different things before making decisions. My son loves to swim and he has his mind set on competing for some college. I think that’s great, but if suddenly his shoulder dislocated he won’t be able to keep swimming. That is why I’m trying to let him know that it is important to have options. A career gives you options and stability. Although I think it is important to motivate a child, it is also important to let them know that not everyone will be able to play and become a great sport star. A touch of reality can do wonders for a child’s developing personality.

I’m my son’s biggest fan and I’ll be there to support his decisions. It is my job to give him exposure to different scenarios and to provide a realistic approach to things. But in the end, all we can give our kids are experiences and memories… they will have to make their own decisions regardless of what we think.

Posted by momcrazyforkids.