Teach your children how to use both your home phone and your cell phone. This can start as young as 5 by having your children call Grandma. Practice a few times together, then let your child try it on his own. Teach not only the buttons, but also how to talk into the speaker section and hold the ear piece properly.

Once your children are in elementary school, you can teach them how and when to call 911 from both your home and cell phones.

Serves 2 children under 12:

Grind the flax and sunflower seeds in a coffee grinder and keep in the refrigerator.

½ cup old-fashioned, slow cooking oatmeal

1 cup non-fat milk or organic, unsweetened (not plain)* soy milk

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1 tablespoon ground sunflower seed

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

2 chopped dried dates or 1 tablespoon pre-chopped dried dates

2 teaspoons unsweetened powdered cocoa (the type used in baking)

Place oatmeal and milk in a medium, microwave-safe cooking bowl and cook on high for 2.5 minutes. Otherwise, cook on stove top just prior to boiling and transfer to a medium mixing bowl. Do not overcook.

Mix in ground flax and sunflower seeds with a whisk or fork. Mix in walnuts and dates with a spoon and divide into two serving bowls. Sprinkle top of each serving with 1 teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa and serve.

*Plain soy milk is loaded with sugars, salt, and fillers. Only serve your children organic, unsweetened soy products.

Here’s my great-grandma’s recipe for butterscotch cookies. She didn’t do the freezing part, we added that later.

In one large bowl place:

• 1 ¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• ½ cup butter
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

In a different large bowl place and then mix with a fork:

• Sift before measuring: 1 ¼ to 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons double-acting baking powder

Now mix by hand the ingredients in the first bowl (butter, sugar, egg, vanilla) and then add the ingredients of the second bowl (flour, etc.) to the butter mixture and blend well by hand. Yes, you can use a mixer.

Wrap the cookie dough in wax paper and refrigerate, then, after an hour or so mold it into a long rectangular block form, about 12 inches long, wrap in wax paper and a ziplock baggie, freeze. I slice the frozen dough just before baking.

Bake 400 F 8-10 minutes

·         Get different brushes and combs for each family member. Last year we purchased fun colors of brushes for each of our kids and asked them to use only their own brush.

·         Remind kids not to try on or share other’s hats, headbands, hair ties, etc. (and don’t do this at home either).

·         Check your kid’s head weekly, especially near the ears and nape of the neck. Lice eggs are brownish and the adults (rarely seen) are white. These are teeny creatures so go to HeadLice.Org (http://www.headlice.org/) for more specifics.

·         Use a personal baseball cap under the batting helmet your kids wear when playing softball, baseball or T-ball. Wear a personal skull cap under rented ski helmets.

·         Bring your own bike helmet to school during bike, scooter, or unicycle weeks.

·         Remind kids not to put on hats, wigs, etc. during dress-up play.

·         Lavender essential oil rubbed on the neck supposedly inhibits adult lice.

·         If your kids does get lice here are our tips:

o   Do not use chemicals!

o   Make sure you deal with this in a matter-of-fact manner so your child doesn’t feel embarrassed or stressed. The lice picking will be annoying enough for the kids so you need to ensure you are setting an “it’s no-big-deal” tone in the house.

o   Remember, lice are attracted to clean hair, not dirty hair that is too oily for the lice to adhere.

o   Wash hair with a tea tree oil soap to get it squeaky clean before lice picking.

o   Allow the kid to watch a movie or chew on gum ½ way through. Make sure they are sitting comfortably.

o   Be nice and encouraging during the lice pick and tell your kid you are 1/2 way through when you are really about 2/3 way through. It’s a long sit for a 1^st grader.

o   Do a lice pick two times per day on wet hair for no less than 30 minutes.

o   Section long hair and tie up with long, hinged barrettes.

o   Use a super bright light and look at each SMALL section of hair from two different angles.

o   When you try to pull out the lice egg, grasp between two finger nails and deposit the egg into a (preferably) white sink so you can see you got it. When you are done, you can rinse all the eggs down the sink.

o   You will be able to get rid of lice in about 3 days if you are very careful during the lice picks. However, keep checking for a full week as the eggs mature slowly and can be almost microscopic.

o   Resist cutting the kids hair, if you are careful and methodical in your lice picks, you can get rid of them in about 3 days even in long, blond hair (I’ve done it!)

o   Wash pillowcases and bedding the first day. Thereafter, wash pillowcases each day.

o   Check the whole family daily even if other members do not appear to have an infestation.

o   Remove stuffed animals and place in a hot dryer for at least 30 minutes.

o   Keep checking and doing lice picks. The number one reason parents don’t get rid of lice is that they get lax after a few days.

• Antibacterial soap is formulated to prevent spread of bacteria not viruses. The flu and other contagious illnesses are viral.
• Studies have shown that hand washing properly is what is important for clean hands, not the type of soap you use (http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/GeneralInfectiousDisease/6432).