GREETINGS DEAR PARENTS
At this time of year many of you are thinking of vacation time. It is a great opportunity for us to grow as a family and have some treasured memories in spite of the little rifts that get in the way.

So, let us, as parents try and make a great vacation time for our families with lots of bonding, love and fun times for all! Ok, now that sounds easy, let's just do it, right? Wrong! If your family and children are like most you will have the usual little problems like sibling rivalry, bickering, etc. etc. 'She touched me', 'he put his foot on my side,' 'she took my computerized game without asking,' 'I'm hungry, and the best one of all 'how long until we get there? '

Dr. Jones says that family vacations are an oxymoron ¨C do you agree? Here are some ideas for family vacations taken from our daughter that are really super.

Our daughter plans ahead and does some preliminary work before a long trip whether by car, plane, train, etc. A bit of time spent before can prevent a lot of major headaches and stresses on the trip. She gets envelopes and puts into them the ideas for games, treats, fun ideas and then brings along the games, coloring books, treats, games, etc. They get to choose an envelope every half hour or whatever and then do what the paper says. She monitors the envelopes according to their abilities, interests and their fatigue, and the treats are spread out. Put in ideas for family interaction such as 'I spy something' (green outside or inside) and such, the first person who guesses is the next to say I spy.

Count the license plates from the different states, the trucks and trailers with sleepers on, the cows, etc. The first one to see a horse gets 50 cents. There are many, many ideas you can invent, let the children help you get this ready.

One really different thing our daughter did one time on one of the l-o-n-g trips to see Great Grandpa was to bring along a glue stick and some art paper strips and we made a paper chain for each time someone spotted a certain object.

One of the greatest things you can do in traveling, camping, staying in a motel, etc. is to SING SONGS together, make some of them silly. Start a story line and let each person continue the story, tell your children STORIES of when you were little, etc. Our one grandson likes to hear stories from his dad's and dad's siblings stories of when they got 'busted' for doing things that were not acceptable to the parents. Oh, do they love this!

Try some of these and other ideas you come up with so you won't be tempted to: "if you don't be good Johnny, I am going to pull over and let you out and we will go on our way!" At times does that seem tempting? Actually, I have not met parents yet who do not truly love their children!

DAD'S CORNER
"IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO LOOK BACK ON SOMETHING AND LAUGH ABOUT IT, YOU MIGHT AS WELL LAUGH ABOUT IT NOW."

MOM'S CORNER
In the Mini Page in our local newspaper for Mother's Day the publishers had some really neat 'advice from mothers' and I would like to put some of these down here and in the next newsletter. These ideas are those sayings that have been passed down over many generations and would do well to be passed down to many more generations. They are some of the ideas we all have had put into our souls from our parents that have helped us in our quest to live a good life.

TRIED AND TRUE SAYINGS
If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all.
Put yourself in somebody else's shoes. Feel what he or she would be feeling.
BE TRUE TO YOUSELF!
Two wrongs don't make a right!
Don't insult anyone, it will come right back to you.
this too, shall pass
IF YOU WANT A FRIEND, YOU HAVE TO BE A FRIEND.
It's all right. Just think of the glass as half-full and not half empty.
NOTHING IS BETTER THAN YOUR BEST.

Children need love, support, hugs, fun and YOU, not material things.

HUGGING:
When words are not enough, when it hard to talk and say the words, when you want to share in joys, sorrows, support and when you want to show someone you care hugging is one of the greatest gifts we have.

We all need to have the experiences of human touch in our lives. Think of the new born baby and how we shower our love for this little baby with all our touching, feeling, hugging and kissing. This is why they grow so delightfully wonderful to us and why they progress so well in their mental, physically, psychological and social development.

Recently we attended a family funeral and as I sat watching during the viewing before the funeral services, I was very much aware of all the many friends and family who came to greet the immediate family and how these people gave many, many hugs to the bereaved husband and the children. The hugs were saying, (I think,) 'we support you, we feel for you in your sorrow, we love you and we are there for you. What a great experience hugging and becoming completely connected to another human being is to us in this mortal life!

Let's take time to think of the hugging we do in our families and perhaps even plan and orchestrate some great hugging each day. We as parents need it and our children surely need it ¨C they need to feel of our love and support as they go out into the world and into the many walks of life they are experiencing. THE HUGS TELL OUR CHILDREN THAT WE LOVE THEM, ACCEPT THEM, AND THAT WE ARE THERE FOR THEM!!!!

God bless you all in your great endeavors at parenting. Let us hear from you with great stories, questions, etc.

Love,

Lillie