Another Christmas has come and gone and we are now settling back into our everyday normal lives. We had a good time seeing relatives we don’t get to see often enough. We managed to fit a lot into the five or so days that my sisters were here. Christmas dinner was great as usual. We also had a baby shower for my sister who is due in April. After Christmas my sisters, mom and I also went shopping one afternoon, which was really nice. It’s been a long, long time since we’ve all been together shopping.

In the future when we look back at this Christmas we will remember this Christmas as “the one that Torii hit his head.” After dinner we let the boys open all of their gifts first. They went so fast that I didn’t even see some of the gifts they got until we were loading the car up later. When they were done the adults opened their gifts. While we opened gifts Torii was being nice and putting everybody’s wrapping paper in the garbage. Towards the end he was getting a little wild. I guess he was on top of a stool, fell and then hit the side of his head on a chair. It made a big thud, but he got up and seemed ok. Then he noticed he was bleeding. It started to bleed really good. My mom kept telling me head wounds bleed a lot no matter what. I don’t know if she was trying to convince me or herself that everything was ok. Grandpa took Torii into the bathroom to clean him up. He had a pretty good gash in his head. We did have a firefighter at the party so after consulting with him it was determined that he would not need stitches. I really did not want to go to the emergency room on Christmas. That night I let Torii sleep with me. I thought that would help him feel better, but really it made me feel a whole lot better.

By McClatchy Newspapers

TACOMA, Wash. — New mom Christine Chansley had read all about baby bottle tooth decay.

Nearly every baby book on the market warns parents not to put children to bed with a bottle of milk, formula or juice. The practice can lead to tooth decay.

But Chansley, of Tacoma, Wash., had no idea that pediatricians and dentists also recommend that, after every feeding, she wipe daughter Cerridwen’s tiny toothless gums with a clean, damp washcloth or piece of gauze.

Like many babies, Cerridwen likes to fall asleep after feeding. Says Chansley: “I can’t see putting my hands in a sleeping baby’s mouth”

But dental experts are urging parents to start dental hygiene at birth. While conventional wisdom once argued that baby teeth don’t matter because they soon fall out, dentists now know that baby teeth set the stage for what is to come.

The Washington Dental Service Foundation, a nonprofit arm of dental insurer Washington Dental Service, has launched a campaign to draw attention to the care of baby teeth and gums. The foundation is recruiting both dentists and pediatricians as part of its effort. Since 2002, it has offered oral health education for physicians.

Dr. Ovidio Penalver, a Puyallup, Wash., pediatrician, is one doctor who’s on board with the message. “Neglected baby teeth lead to problems with permanent teeth,” he says. “Dental problems can lead to further problems that affect the whole health of a child.”

Dental problems are especially acute among low-income children.

A 2005 survey published by the state Department of Health found that 45 percent of low-income preschoolers in Washington had dental decay, compared with only 28 percent of preschoolers nationally. In 2004, 45 percent of low-income preschoolers in Washington showed signs of tooth decay, compared to 38.3 percent a decade earlier.

Allowing children’s dental issues to fester can result in pain, malnutrition, speech development problems and damage to self-esteem, Penalver warns.

In years past, parents were often advised to have their child’s teeth checked by age 3. But new research has shown that earlier checkups can help prevent dental disease, according to the Washington Dental Service Foundation.

Experts, including the foundation and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, now urge parents to have their babies’ teeth examined by a dentist or pediatrician as soon as teeth appear, and at least by age 1. “When you have teeth, you have to take care of them,” Penalver says.

Earlier oral checkups mean problems are spotted sooner. The exams are also a chance for a doctor or dentist to offer parents advice on caring for their baby’s teeth and offer suggestions on diet and eating habits.

“All children go to their primary care medical office many times before age 3,” says Dianne Riter, spokeswoman for the Washington Dental Service Foundation. “At that time, when the primary care provider is looking at overall health, it make sense for them to also look at teeth and assess the risk of decay.”

Penalver believes primary-care doctors such as pediatricians and family physicians can play an important role. “Most young kids don’t go to the dentist,” he says, so it’s up to doctors to step in and offer care. “You need to emphasize regular cleaning of teeth. And as soon as you can, flossing.”

While the use of fluoride to prevent cavities can be controversial, with some arguing that ingesting fluoride is dangerous, doctors and dentists continue to recommend it.

Penalver suggests that parents learn whether their municipal water supply is fluoridated. Puyallup, for example, does not add fluoride to its water; Tacoma does.

“In areas without fluoride, children should have fluoride supplementation starting at 6 months (of age),” he says.

In addition, Penalver says, “we are starting to use fluoride varnish in our office as soon as they have teeth.”

The varnish is a substance that is painted directly onto a child’s teeth. A study published in 2006 in the Journal of Dental Research found that fluoride varnish treatment could cut children’s cavity rates in half. Children in the study ranged from 6 months to 3 ¬Ω years old.

“It’s something primary-care doctors can do in their office,” Penalver says.

TIPS FOR PARENTS

–Beginning at birth, wipe your baby’s gums with a washcloth or piece of gauze after feeding.

–As soon as you see baby’s first tooth, at around 6 months of age, start brushing it with a soft toothbrush made especially for babies.

–Use a rice-sized amount of fluoridated toothpaste. Try putting your child’s head in your lap to make brushing easier.

–Avoid constant snacking on sugary, sticky or starchy foods.

–Don’t let your child sip sweet liquids throughout the day.

–Offer healthy snacks such as cheese, fruit or vegetables.

–If you put your baby to bed with a bottle, fill it with water. Formula, milk, juice or other liquids can increase your child’s risk of cavities.

–Watch for white spots on the teeth or changes to gums. These can be early signs of problems.

By McClatchy Newspapers

MODESTO, Calif. — At 8 a.m. on a recent Wednesday you might have spotted Rebeka Willett on the Modesto Junior College campus. She was the 18-year-old in a Raiders T-shirt and jeans, giggling along with her classmates as she practiced arabesques in a dance class. You would have seen a student like any other: sleepy, but learning and enjoying herself.

This isn’t the way some people thought Rebeka Willett’s life would turn out. She is the child of two disabled parents. Her mother has cerebral palsy. Tammy Willett is confined to a wheelchair. She needs help to eat and to use the bathroom. Rebeka’s father, Clarence, is developmentally disabled.

Some questioned whether the couple could raise a child. A public health nurse once told the Willetts to give Rebeka up for adoption. She said Rebeka would never learn to talk because Tammy can’t talk.

This year Rebeka more than proved the critics wrong. She graduated — on time — from Davis (Calif.) High School. Now she’s studying to be a preschool teacher. If Tammy could track down that public health nurse today, she would say, “You didn’t think I could do it? Look at us now!”

Tammy developed cerebral palsy, a disorder of the central nervous system, at age 10. Doctors believe encephalitis — inflammation of the brain — brought on the condition. She fell into a six-week coma. When she woke up, her mind was intact, but her body was held hostage by muscles she could no longer control.

When she was 26, she met Clarence at Modesto’s United Cerebral Palsy Association center. Clarence is mildly mentally retarded. His voice and demeanor sometimes seem like that of a little boy, with social skills to match. He’s worked over the years at menial jobs, but doesn’t work now.

The two married in 1989. Tammy’s pregnancy a year later was a “surprise miracle,” said Tammy in an e-mail interview. The first doctor they visited told them to leave — he didn’t want to treat Tammy. They found another physician. Rebeka was delivered by Caesarean section in May 1990, a healthy, normal baby.

Not everyone saw the birth as a blessing. When Rebeka was about 2 months old, a woman on a Dial-A-Ride van saw the young family and said, “People like that shouldn’t be allowed to have children.” Clarence still smarts from that wound. He’s hoping the woman who made that comment will read this story. “That way they can see that we did OK with her,” he said.

MOM’S NOT ‘DIFFERENT’ TO REBEKA

When Rebeka was a baby, Tammy was stronger than she is today. She could get out of her wheelchair and wriggle alongside Rebeka as she crawled on the floor. She could cradle Rebeka in her arms and feed her.

By the time Rebeka was 4 or 5, she could drive her mom’s wheelchair. By age 6, she could do it without running into anything.

Back then, a mom in a wheelchair was a fun novelty. In fourth grade, Rebeka took her mom to school for show and tell. She showed her classmates how the chair worked and told the story of her mom’s disability.

“They thought it was really cool,” remembered Rebeka. When she started having friends over after school, Rebeka would explain in advance what to expect so they wouldn’t stare at Tammy.

For Rebeka, there was no “a-ha” moment when she suddenly realized Tammy wasn’t like other mothers. She said she’s never thought of her mom in those terms. She recently learned something in a child development class that she feels explains her bond with her mom: a newborn can identify their mother’s face as soon as they come out of the womb, even if there are other people around. “I think since then I just never thought of her as different.”

When she was little, she would sometimes look at other kids and their parents and feel left out. If her mom wasn’t disabled, it would have been easier to go places together and do activities like bowling, said Rebeka. She wouldn’t have had to explain so often that no, she’s not adopted.

But ask Rebeka how her life would be different without disabled parents and the first thing she says is: “I would probably be like any other teenager. I’d still be immature right now.”

She’s learned a lot from her mom: Be independent. Take care of yourself first so you can take care of others.

“She’s taught me how to express myself for who I am and not try to be somebody else,” said Rebeka. “Even though she has her disability, she’s herself 24-7. She doesn’t try to be somebody else and I idolize that a lot.”

She’s also learned survival skills and compassion, said her Davis High School counselor Rob Steves. He said Rebeka struggled academically, but didn’t run from challenges. When she had trouble passing the high school exit exam in math, she got extra tutoring and went to summer school. She also benefited from plenty of support from home. Clarence spent his school career in special education. Other kids teased him. He didn’t want Rebeka to suffer similar troubles, so Clarence and Tammy always have kept close tabs on Rebeka’s academic progress.

“Rebeka was more of an inspiration for me than I ever was for her,” said Steves. “Going through school was a little more difficult for her than everybody else, but you would never have known that. She didn’t make excuses.”

DAUGHTER ALSO A CAREGIVER

Along with her grandparents, her father and other family members, Rebeka has helped care for her mother since she was a child. Now she’s paid for the work through a county program that provides in-home care to disabled people. She gets her paycheck, about $260, near the end of the month. It comes in handy because that’s when Clarence and Tammy’s funds run low. Their main source of income is $1,524 in government aid for the disabled.

Rebeka provides what’s called “respite care,” relieving Clarence when he needs a break. On a Thursday afternoon in November, for example, Clarence set out for the library in his electric scooter (a variety of health problems makes walking long distances difficult for him), leaving Rebeka and Tammy at home in the family’s Pelandale Avenue apartment.

In the living room, Tammy sat in her wheelchair, a blue and yellow plaid adult-sized bib tucked under her neck. Rebeka sat facing her mom, spooning whipped cream from a Starbucks drink into her mouth.

Tammy’s head tilted and rolled involuntarily; Rebeka aimed the spoon for the back of Tammy’s mouth. Some of the drink spilled down Tammy’s neck. Rebeka wiped it clean. “Are you still hungry?” Rebeka asked. “What did you eat this morning? Oh, yeah, you had oatmeal.” Tammy dropped her head into a half-nod and made an “Aaah” noise. That means yes.

Next the two looked through old photos from previous Bee stories about the family. “Where did we live then?” asked Rebeka about one picture. “This place doesn’t look familiar to me. When did we have grandma’s mirror?”

Tammy slowly uncurled the fingers of her left hand into a sign language response. Rebeka narrated: “V … I … S … A” Tammy tried again. “V … I … S … I …” Rebeka broke off. She’d figured out what her mom was saying: “Visit. We were visiting grandma.”

The two usually communicate in this sort of telepathic shorthand, said Rebeka. “Most of the time I can read her mind,” said Rebeka. “I guess it’s just a bond that we have. She’ll start to spell something and I’ll know exactly what she’s trying to say.”

Rebeka had school work to do. After Tammy finished her drink, the two settled down in front of their respective computers. Tammy sat at her desk, which is decorated with an Elvis Presley lamp in honor of her favorite singer. She checked her e-mail, then played word games on Pogo.com. To move her computer’s cursor, she used a handheld clicker hooked up to software called EZ Keys. Rebeka sat in a nearby easy chair with her laptop propped on her knees, working her way through an online quiz for her theater class.

This afternoon was typical. Sometimes they’ll watch a movie together, or Tammy will help Rebeka with homework. Rebeka will read Tammy essay questions she’s struggling to answer, then Tammy will type a few words to point Rebeka in the right direction.

Rebeka doesn’t consider the care she provides for her mom as work. When she was younger, it sometimes felt like a burden. But now she sees it as “little stuff,” a routine part of the family’s daily life.

A TRIED AND TRUE ROUTINE

After Tammy and Clarence get their food stamps each month, they head to the O’Brien’s Market on Dale Road. On an early November afternoon, Clarence pushed Tammy down the aisles in a purple wheelchair, a smaller, sleeker model than the motorized chair she uses at home. They didn’t use a shopping list. Instead Clarence asked Tammy a steady stream of questions. “Do you want cereal? What kind of bread do you want? Do you want juice? What kind?”

Tammy’s answers were tiny motions and sounds, easy to miss if you didn’t know to look for them. A finger uncurling toward the dairy section was Clarence’s reminder to buy American cheese slices. A tiny wail-like cry, “Eeee!” is the signal to stop and pick up some cream soda.

A stranger passing Tammy would see this: a tiny woman in clean white sneakers and a magenta sweatsuit strapped into a wheelchair. Bird-stick legs, thin arms glued to her sides, hands curled inward, head tilted at an odd angle, big lively blue eyes. She weighs about 100 pounds. Clarence can scoop her up like a rag doll. Sometimes people assume Tammy is Clarence’s daughter.

Clarence visits the store at least once a day; it’s friendly territory for the Willetts. Everyone knows them. The workers greet them with smiles, not stares.

Sometimes they encounter people who aren’t as respectful. They remember a nasty Wal-Mart greeter who yelled at them, supposedly for blocking an entrance with Tammy’s wheelchair. Rebeka marched up to the greeter and said, “My mom is independent and she can take care of herself!”

Rebeka has defended her mom like that from time to time, but she said Tammy has her own ways of retaliating against adults who stare too long. She makes a “mean ugly face” at them, which never fails to make Rebeka crack up.

Locked inside Tammy’s weakened body is a hidden territory, where her mind roams strong as ever. Her family knows this place. It’s where an intelligent, light-hearted woman lives. You can glimpse that personality in e-mails she writes or when her eyes crinkle at jokes. You’ll find it in the poetry she’s written. Her favorite is one called “Handicapped Persons We Are People Too.”

It includes the verse, “We may walk funny, we may talk funny. There may be some things we can’t do, but there are a lot of things we can do. Sometimes, better than you can.”

That little joke, written when she was a teenager, still makes Tammy laugh.

TREASURING HER FAMILY

Now that she’s in college, Rebeka says she can picture moving out of her parents’ house. But she’s in no rush. Lifetime TV movies have put scary ideas into her head about living alone. Right now she’s saving money for a truck, then she’ll think about getting her own apartment somewhere down the road. She plans to get her child development degree from Modesto Junior College, then find a job teaching preschool.

But her thoughts these days are on her favorite holiday, Christmas. She bought presents for Tammy and Clarence weeks ago. Her mom got Tweety Bird pajamas, her dad some DVDs, including his favorite movie, “Driving Miss Daisy.” Tammy does all her shopping online. Rebeka’s presents included a Raiders pillow, a Tinkerbell clock and a computer printer.

Recently, Rebeka still was working on a special gift for her parents — a PowerPoint presentation of old family snapshots. Sometimes she pulls photo albums down from the top of her closet. She thinks about what would have happened if Tammy hadn’t been able to have children, or if she had died in childbirth. In the presentation, Rebeka wants to tell Tammy that she’s a great mom and she’s been a big influence on her life.

“I feel that she’s the most wonderful, smartest woman that I’ve ever known in my life,” said Rebeka. “She’s just a wonderful person to be around. I wouldn’t trade her for any other mother, or any other person in the world.”

By the Associated Press

Slide, glide, twirl! Splish, splash, floop!

Rare is the children’s book that begs to be read and tossed aside for a good romp — all at the same time. Rarer still are moving pictures built right in that double-dare kids to do just that.

Meet Rufus Butler Seder — equal parts artist, mad scientist and boy magician who never grew up.

From a studio in Waltham, Mass., Seder created two hugely popular picture books with unique black-and-white images that trick the eye and come alive when pages are turned. The look is a bit like holography — only it isn’t.

“It’s about the magic,” Seder said. “It dates to my days as a junior magician with my Remco magic kit. It’s creating that illusion that fires the imagination.”

To create his moving pictures, Seder uses a layer of multiple images printed on a sheet of paper under a layer of vertical lines akin to a picket fence on clear acetate. When the page is turned, the reader’s brain unscrambles the images underneath and prompts the eyes to see motion.

No electricity, motors or special lighting are required. The books have no external tabs to get bent or torn since the pull is automatic as kids make their way from page to page.

Seder’s latest book “Swing!” was released in September and shows children at play. He sets a young ice skater twirling and a swimmer racing across a pool. The book follows last year’s “Gallop!” that includes a horse running, a butterfly fluttering and a chimp swinging from vine to vine. Action-packed text challenges kids to do the same.

“Are they trapped in there?” nearly 4-year-old Siri Waxenberg of New York City asked after getting her first look at “Gallop!” ”Where are they going?” she wanted to know before dropping to the floor and paddling like a turtle.

Seder calls his patented Scanimation a lesson in “retro-tech,” traceable to the mechanics of the slotted, spinning Zoetrope invented around 1850. The difference between Seder’s method and other forms of animation and motion picture technology is he compacts all phases of an image sequence onto a single page, requiring less distance and speed to create the effect.

“I’m not a technology guy,” he said. “I can’t really add two and two. I’m a visual artist and that’s how I think. There’s no message. It’s all about movement. I try to make it as beautiful as possible and capture the signature movement that tells you what you’re looking at is real.”

Seder, who spent much of his childhood in Connecticut, taught filmmaking for years while pursuing his animated art that also includes murals using clear glass tiles he kiln-fires himself to help create the appearance of movement. The books require precision hand assembly by 600 factory workers Seder helped train in China.

Interest in the books from parents and children has been swift and lasting. “Gallop!” has been high on best-seller lists for most of 2008, is available in 12 languages and is approaching 2 million copies in print. Seder’s “Swing!” has already made some lists with nearly 800,000 copies in print.

“It was astonishing,” Seder said. “Nobody expected it. I never get used to it. I never take it for granted.”

Seder’s childhood interest in animation was nurtured by his journalist-photographer father, who showed him how to make cartoons on a hand-built light table with a 16mm Bolex movie camera. He dedicates “Swing!” to: “Mom, who made things fun, and Dad, who made things work.”

While he jokes about a Peter Pan complex, the 55-year-old Seder ponders how he wound up with two winning children’s books.

“I like kids and they get along with me fine,” said Seder, who has none of his own. “But I never felt keen on doing children’s books.”

So what turned him around?

“It might be something as simple as the little kid in me saying, ‘Hey, look at me. Look what I can do.’ It might not be anything more than that.”

Seder has no plans to slow down. He’ll put out “Waddle!” next year, followed by a surprise Scanimation kid book soon after that.

“I’m just darn driven by what I do,” Seder said. “It’s the only way I know any artist can get satisfaction out of their work. It’s always better to do what you enjoy doing.”

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

By Armin Brott, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Dear Mr. Dad: My wife and I have been talking a lot about the importance of setting limits for our two children, ages 5 and 7. We know we must do this but we aren’t sure how to go about it, especially since the kids continually challenge us on every new rule. But it’s so exhausting. Any suggestions?

A: You’re absolutely right to be talking about setting limits. Boundaries are essential for raising well-behaved kids, especially in this age of “anything goes.” I wish you would have started your discussions a few years ago (and you probably do too), but it’s never too late.

Why is it so important for parents to set boundaries — and for the children to respect them? Well, start by thinking of your family in a larger context. Every civilized society has rules and regulations. Some may be reasonable and others less so, but just imagine what the world would be like if everyone made and followed their own rules, while ignoring and breaking everyone else’s. (To a child, that might sound like paradise, but as adults, we can hopefully see the larger picture.)

Unfortunately, children aren’t born with a pre-loaded set of rules. So if we don’t teach them the difference between good and bad behavior, healthy and dangerous habits, kind and hurtful actions, how will they ever know what’s positive and acceptable and what isn’t?

Okay, now that we’ve got the philosophy of limit-setting down, let’s talk about how to start establishing rules and how to make sure they’re the right ones for your family. Here are some guidelines I think you’ll find helpful:

–Boundaries should be reasonable and clear to a child. It’s sometimes a delicate balancing act, but you’ve got to find the middle ground between being too lenient and too strict.

–Limits should be age-appropriate. What works now for your 5- and 7-year-old, won’t work for a teen. And in fact, what works for your 5 year old probably won’t work for the 7 year old.

–Be flexible. As your children get older, you’ll need to modify your house rules accordingly.

–Make sure the kids understand why each rule is necessary. You may say, for example, that they’re not allowed to go to a friend’s house alone because they’re too young to cross the street by themselves. Explaining the reason behind each boundary will show them that you don’t make the rules arbitrarily just to curtail their freedom, but, rather, to protect them in a potentially unsafe environment. That said, make sure your children understand that while you’re happy to discuss certain rules, there are some — health and safety issues, for example — that are non-negotiable.

–Establish clear consequences for breaking rules. Kids have to be held accountable for their actions so they grow into responsible and trustworthy adults. When — not if — they test the boundaries or break the rules, be prepared to enforce the consequences right away. If you don’t, the kids will learn that breaking rules is okay or that there’s always one more “last warning.” That’s not a lesson that will serve them well in adulthood, when the consequences for bending or breaking the rules will be harsher.

All in all, setting boundaries isn’t going to be easy — we want our children to love us and don’t want them to be mad at us, which is exactly what will happen when they inevitably bang up against the rules. But it’s our job to stand firm. The result will be more respectful, better-mannered kids who will grow into responsible, likeable adults.

I’m 36 and someday I will think of myself as 36. For some reason my brain is stuck on 25, I always think of myself as 25. I don’t have any hang-ups about getting older, part of me somehow stopped counting and I don’t know why.

Occasionally my five-year-old daughter will do or say something that quickly sends the number 36 shooting toward my face, skidding to a stop right before it hits my nose. In the past it has been things like her surprise that she couldn’t view a photo on back of my parents film camera. I’ve since replaced it for them with a digital model. She was also surprised that some phones have a cord and the mention that everything was in black and white when my dad was a kid.

The recent reminder of my age was Danni talking about the now-long-gone 20th century. She simply said “was that way back in the nineteens?” That really made me feel old.

ALEXANDRIA, La. (AP) — “What is the first rule of cooking?” Leslie Parker asked her young students as they glanced at the list of ingredients for their first recipe of the day.

“Wash your hands,” she told them, answering her own question and placing a bottle of hand-sanitizer on the table.

Parker then asked for volunteers to help prepare dough for cookies.

Attentively watching the table full of the ingredients as the class began, the group of 12 students soon became 18 as more parents brought more girls and boys to the city of Alexandria’s first Holiday Cooking Camp.

“They are still coming,” said Jeffery Franklin with a smile as he brought in more chairs for the students, who ranged in age from 9 to 12 years old.

Franklin, who is the city’s Youth Programs coordinator, said the camp’s goal is to give children in the community an opportunity to do something educational and fun after Christmas.

Students are out of school for the holidays until Jan. 5.

There are very few activities in the area after the rush and glee of the holidays, and this camp will hopefully fill the need, Franklin said.

“Now we have something to build on for the next go-around, the turnout was better than I thought,” he added.

In class, Parker asked the second question: “Does anyone know why we add salt to the dessering?”

A few hands quickly shot up.

“Oh … I think I forgot,” 9-year-old Bo Wilson murmured after some hesitation.

But that’s OK, Parker said. It’s to help balance the sweetness of a dessert.

Bo, who loves desserts, was particularly interested in this part of the lesson. He said his interest comes from helping his mother and grandmother bake during the holidays.

“I help my grandma make sugar cookies, pies, and I help my mom cook chocolate chip cookies and muffins,” he said.

The young boy was offered an opportunity to join the class by his parents after they saw it advertised on television.

“I want to learn how to cook by myself,” the boy said.

Rania Kholy, one of the parents dropping off her daughter for the class, said she was pleasantly surprised her oldest daughter, Jana, was interested after reading a flier at the library.

“She always liked cooking and she tries to watch me,” but it’s hard to explain when you are doing it fast, said Kholy, who is originally from Egypt.

While Jana will not get a chance to learn about Egyptian culinary arts, her mother said she will be happy to see her daughter getting into Louisiana’s unique cooking tradition.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

 If you feel drowsy during the day, even during boring activities, you haven’t had enough sleep.

If you routinely fall asleep within five minutes of lying down you probably have severe sleep deprivation.

 Sleep is necessary for survival. It affects our daily functioning and our physical and mental health. Sleep deprivation is dangerous.

 Reducing you nighttime sleep by as little as one and a half hours for just one night could result in a reduction of daytime alertness by as much as 32%.

Sleep deprivation results in memory and cognitive impairment..

Sleep deprived people who are tested by using a driving simulator or by performing a hand eye coordination task perform as badly or worse than those who are intoxicated. Sleep deprivation also magnifies alcohol’s effect on the body, so a fatigued person who drinks will become much more impaired than someone who is well rested.

 Driver fatigue is responsible for an estimated 100,000 motor vehicle accidents and 1500 deaths each year. The National Sleep Foundation says that if you have trouble keeping your eyes focused, if you can’t stop yawning, or if you can’t remember driving the last few miles, you are probably too drowsy to drive safely.

 For most adults, 8-9 hours of sleep appears to be the right amount. The amount of sleep a person needs also increases if he or she has been deprived of sleep in previous days.     Eventually, your body will demand that the debt be repaid. We don’t seem to adapt to getting less sleep than we need; while we may be used to a sleep-depriving schedule, our judgment, reaction time, and other functions are still impaired.

 Tips for a Good Night’s Sleep

· Set a schedule – go to bed and get up at the same time each day.

· Exercise 20-30 minutes a day, try to do 5-6 hours before going to bed

· Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol –caffeine acts as a stimulant, smokers wake up early in the morning due to nicotine withdrawal and alcohol robs people of deep sleep

· Control your room temperature – extreme temperatures may disrupt sleep or prevent you from falling asleep

· See your doctor if you have trouble falling asleep night after night, or if you always feel tired the next day.

By the Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — What seems like an easy question — Will you be my friend? — is not necessarily so for teachers who have joined the Facebook phenomenon.

The social-networking Web site, whose popularity has grown from the college crowd down to teens and up to boomers, poses a prickly question for teachers who want to connect with their tech-savvy students yet maintain professional boundaries: Should teachers become virtual “friends” with their students?

Opinions are mixed. Opponents fear innocent educators will be branded sexual predators for chatting with students online, while proponents caution against overreacting to a powerful communication tool.

The issue made headlines this month in Houston after police accused a 42-year-old former high school aide of having sexual exchanges with a 16-year-old former student whom he had contacted via Facebook.

Such rare stories can alarm a community, said Melissa Pierson, who teaches instructional technology at the University of Houston, but educators shouldn’t be afraid to use social-networking sites.

“Outside the classroom, in terms of connecting with students, there are some exciting possibilities,” said Pierson, who also directs UH’s teacher education program. But, she said, “teachers need to keep their educator hats on.”

Most school districts, however, have yet to define the rules of virtual engagement. In the Houston and San Antonio areas, many districts block access to social-networking sites on campus computers, but they don’t have policies addressing after-hours use between educators and students.

Houston high school teacher Lesley Guilmart said she finally caved last year and, at the urging of former students, created a profile on Facebook.

“It’s kind of addictive,” she admits. “I’m interested in my students, and I like to hear from them. I have a couple of kids in college now who have sent messages thanking me for helping prepare them. I had a kid send me a message asking advice about picking a major.”

So far, Guilmart has become virtual friends with several former students and even linked up with an old teacher from North Carolina. She said she wouldn’t mind connecting with her current students — if they asked.

Aware of privacy concerns, Guilmart, 27, said she doesn’t go searching for her students online.

“If they want to ‘friend’ me, they can,” she said. “My Facebook is entirely PG. There’s no cursing. There are no photos of me having a good time on the weekend — nothing like that.”

Pierson, the UH associate professor, cautions teachers against becoming “one of the gang” with their students on Facebook, but said such sites can help humanize teachers, facilitate online learning and provide access to potential guest speakers.

Facebook launched in 2004 as a Web site exclusively for Harvard University students — a sophomore there created it — but now anyone claiming to be at least 13 can join. The site boasts more than 140 million users and has surpassed its predecessor MySpace in popularity. The fastest-growing demographic is people 25 and older.

For Facebook novices, here’s how it works: Users create their own Web pages, or profiles, and can post photos, share articles, and — the main draw — connect with others by soliciting or accepting “friend requests.” Generally, only “friends” can see and comment on each other’s pages.

Mike Feinberg, co-founder of the KIPP charter schools, said he limits his Facebook contacts to alumni. “My personal threshold,” he said, “is not to accept friends on Facebook from KIPP-sters until they are in college.”

But one of his colleagues, Joseph Miller, has found Facebook a great way to keep in touch with current and former students. Miller runs the KIPP to College program, so he’s responsible for keeping students on track once they’ve graduated eighth grade, even if they don’t stay in a KIPP high school.

Miller said he begrudgingly joined Facebook but now jokes he’s a “junkie,” with about 540 friends, including middle- and high-school students, alumni and co-workers. No parents have befriended him yet.

“We always look for avenues to get out and connect with the kids,” said Miller, who has a daughter in elementary school. “It’s a good way to just send a quick note. The kids are there, so why not be where the kids are to get and send information?”

Miller said he always sends friends a virtual message on their birthdays — Facebook provides a daily reminder — and he warns students not to post inappropriate information online because college admissions officers could find it.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

By the Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — They’re only 10 and 7, and already designers are angling to dress them. They’ve been on the cover of People and Us Weekly. And there’s that standing invitation — unlikely though it is to be redeemed — to the set of “Hannah Montana.”

Malia and Sasha Obama are unquestionably the world’s most famous tweens, and they haven’t even moved into the White House yet. When they arrive, do they have even a chance at the normal existence their parents have often said they want for them?

A look at history suggests that the media, at least, will keep their distance. Chelsea Clinton, 13 when she entered the White House, was largely left alone at the request of her parents. Amy Carter, who came at age 9, was allowed to live a fairly normal life. And the much younger Kennedy kids were kept from the public glare by their mother, Jackie, who even set up a school for Caroline at the White House.

But this is a different world, one where photos and video can be snapped not just by mainstream photographers but by anyone with a cell phone, and uploaded to the Web within minutes. It’s also a world where kids, now a powerful consumer force, eagerly devour news about celebrities closer to their own age: Miley Cyrus, for example, or the “High School Musical” bunch.

Are the Obama girls celebrities in their own right? “If you’re talking about people who fascinate the public, then yes, absolutely,” says Larry Hackett, managing editor of People, which has featured the Obama family on its cover three times. “But if you mean celebrity in the sense that we can cover their every move, then no. These are kids.”

Figuring out just how public the Obama girls can and should be, Hackett says, will be a tricky process not just for the media but for the Obama family.

“I think the Obamas are clearly aware there’s a fascination with the girls and how they’re going to lead their lives,” Hackett says. “They’re going to try to chart a course.”

Though the Obama girls weren’t constant fixtures on the campaign trail, they were hardly invisible, either. They occasionally appeared at rallies, spoke onstage to a video image of their father at the Democratic convention, and, with their parents, gave an interview to “Access Hollywood,” a move Obama later said he regretted.

“I think that we got carried away in the moment,” he said. “We wouldn’t do it again.”

Yet the girls, who captured many hearts with their poised, joyful, color-coordinated appearance on election night in Chicago, were clearly an asset to Obama the candidate, says Janice Min, editor of Us Weekly.

“These images of the Obama kids have been incredibly heartwarming,” says Min. “No one could doubt that these were great parents, and that they have great girls.”

But now, says Min, “it’s time for business, and I expect there will be far fewer pictures.” Except, of course, for the inauguration — “everybody wants to see them in something super-cute” — and perhaps a flurry of activity whenever their hotly awaited puppy makes his or her arrival.

Certainly, there will be slip-ups, no matter how protective the Obamas try to be. Paparazzi shots of a shirtless Obama on a Hawaii beach were one thing, but those of daughter Sasha in a blue bikini may have been another — at least according to some angry commenters on the photo agency’s Web site.

But once safely in the White House, the girls will be well protected and nurtured, says Ann Stock, who was White House social secretary during the Clinton administration.

“Will there be the occasional photo? I’m sure. But the people around these girls are going to work very hard to let them go about their routines,” says Stock, now at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Can the girls live a normal life, or close to it? Stock, who watched Chelsea Clinton spend her preteen years in the White House, thinks they can. “I know it can work,” she says. “Chelsea went to her ballet rehearsals. Then she came home, did homework, ate dinner with her parents, went to bed.”

“You try very hard to make their lives be a childhood,” says Stock. She remembers the White House ushers setting up a scavenger hunt for Chelsea when she came, so she could get to know the place.

And the Obama family is starting with one huge advantage over the past few years: Dinner together, every night. “Remember, essentially they’re living above the store,” says Stock. “They’ll see each other seven days a week.”

We know the Obama girls like their dance classes, their soccer, their sleepovers. Those will likely continue. And surely we can expect President Obama, like candidate Obama, to never miss a parent-teacher conference at the private Sidwell Friends school.

Former White House curator Betty Monkman recalls the little Amy Carter, famous for once reading a book at a state dinner, engaging in lots of the normal activities of childhood — like hanging out in a tree house designed by her dad, or carving pumpkins with friends.

“I think they had enjoyable lives,” says Monkman of Amy and the other White House children she came to know during 30 years there. “Their families worked hard at it. Their fathers were there probably more than before. The media was not too invasive.”

One author on presidential children has a somewhat more pessimistic view. In “All the President’s Children,” Doug Wead, a former aide to President George H.W. Bush, details the various difficulties he says White House children have experienced later in their lives. Not least of them, he says, is an identity crisis.

“Most White House children live in the shadow of the White House for the rest of their lives,” says Wead. “For all their accomplishments, they are forever defined by something they said or did there.”

If that’s true, it could be one reason why so many White House children decline now to speak to the media, Carter and Clinton among them. But it’s not a problem the Obama girls will be facing anytime soon.

First, they’ll have to make new friends. At school, one can assume that neither Malia nor Sasha will be the odd girl out.

“You’re probably not going to be the picked-on girl,” jokes Min, of Us Weekly. “You’re already going in as the queen bee.”

On the other hand, even that can be difficult, says Carol Weston, an author of books for young girls and the advice columnist for Girls’ Life magazine.

“I don’t think they’ll get left out of anything,” says Weston. “But you want to feel you’re invited because you’re you, not so your parents can get invited to the White House! In New York, we see this all the time with kids of regular old celebrities.”

Weston thinks that if anyone can successfully navigate the pitfalls of newfound celebrity at such a young age, it’s the Obama family.

“I truly believe the Obamas have laid a good foundation,” she says. “You get a sense that there’s a lot of love there, a lot of back and forth. Michelle says she wants to be mom-in-chief — how wonderful is that? And Barack Obama says ‘I love you’ to his kids right up there on the stage. That wins me over.”

Of course, the tricky part comes with adolescence — something Malia, at least, would be experiencing at the end of a first Obama term. With middle school comes all sorts of issues: rebellion, body issues, mean-girl stuff. But there’s plenty of time to think about that. Right now, there are rooms to decorate and lots of people to meet.

And will the Obama girls be treated like celebrities? Weston thinks that’s a given.

“This is America,” she says. “And who’s more famous than the Obama family? We’re curious. Who wouldn’t be?”

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.