I can never choose a favorite Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. quote, but this one ranks high on the list,

and it’s appeared a few times in Parent Pages over the past 23 years.

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

I bought this notecard when visiting The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia many years ago.

•  “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

•  “There are two ways of exerting one’s strengths, one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.”  Booker T. Washington

•  “Anger is the only thing to put off till tomorrow.” Slovakian Proverb

•  “Life is like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope––a slight change, and all patterns alter.” Sharon Salzberg

•  “While we have the gift of life, it seems to me the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die––whether it is our spirit, our creativity, or out glorious uniqueness.”  Gilda Radner

•  “Life consists of what a man is thinking of all day long.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson•  “You have brains in your head, and feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”  Dr. Seuss

•  “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”  Nelson Mandela

Pumpkin bread, banana nut, zucchini––yum, makes your mouth water. And with butter on top, any type of bread can’t be beat.  Here’s a great way to impress kids and keep them busy for a few minutes––let them make them make butter!

If you haven’t tried it, you’ll be amazed at how fun this simple activity is for kids.  What you’ll need:  A glass or plastic jar with a tight fitting lid, 3 or 4 marbles, washed, 1 -3 cups heavy whipping cream or double cream, and a pinch of salt.   Place the marbles, whipping cream and salt in the glass jar.  Screw the lid on tight.  Now the fun begins––kids get to shake, shake, shake.  That’s all there is to it.  When butter solidifies, remove the marbles and spread on bread.  Kids will marvel at what they’ve accomplished!   In the next few days, I’ll be sharing some recipes for flavored butter such as, Maple Honey, Cinnamon,  and Orange Marmalade.

I love Halloween––it’s one of my favorite holidays.  Try these halloween riddles out on your kids.

What does a monster chew?  Booo-Ble Gum.

What does a ghost use when he plays guitar?  Sheet music.

What should you use to fix a hole in your pants on Halloween? A Pumpkin Patch.

I had it all planned out so it would surely go smoothly.  I had the apples, the caramels and the pan for making gooey, chewy caramel apples.  Umm we (my grandsons and I) could almost taste the melt-in-your mouth caramels as I ripped open the bag.  Patiently we removed the wrapper from each candy and then tossed them into the empty pot.  And there they sat while we washed and dried the shiny red, Gala, organic apples.

Now it was time to turn up the heat. The first caramel made a smudge on the bottom of the pot as it began to melt.  Soon the caramels globed together and then they started sticking to the spoon. We had to hurry, now.  I looked at the empty bag of caramels.  ”Where are the sticks?” I asked the boys.  ”There have to be sticks.”  I smoothed the bag out and looked at the contents––50 caramels––no mention of sticks.  This was going to be a disaster.  ”Kaleb, run into Coen’s room and grab his tinker toys.”  Kaleb ran, I stirred, Coen (he’s 3) looked on. We dumped the tinker toys onto the counter.   The first tinker toy was too long.   The second tinker toy was too short, but the third, just right!  We stuck it in the apple, swirled the apple in the caramel, and placed it on the sugar-coated waxed paper.  The apples looked very festive in their red, yellow and green sticks and the apples tasted great with their tart crispness mingling with the sweet buttery caramel.  Oh yeah, this is divergent thinking at its best, but I’m still a little aggravated with Kraft.  When did they stop putting the sticks in the bag of caramels?  And what if we didn’t have tinker toys?  Oh my!

We have really tall windows in our living room and we look out onto a beautiful view of Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods.  In the fall when the birds start to gather and fly south, some birds inevitably see the reflection of the mountains and clouds and fly straight into the windows.  We hear a thud, we take a look outside for an injured bird, a dazed bird, and oh my gosh, (we hope not)  a dead bird. On many occasions we’ve hovered around as the little guys wobble around after we’ve righted them, look dazed, finally get their bearings and fly off hopefully in the right direction.

Over the years we’ve learned that if we stick something on the windows it tricks them into thinking it’s solid so they better change course.

This year we placed a bunch of post-it notes way up high.  My husband did, actually, because I’m not tall enough.  When my three-year-old grandson was visiting this week, I explained about the post-it-notes or so I thought I did.  We talked about reflections and how the birds bonked their head if they hit the window — on and on for a while as he wisely took all of the information in.  I thought the subject had been fully covered and was fully understood until I heard a little voice,  “Grandma, what do the notes say?”

I’ve been thinking of all of you in the trenches with the kids the last couple of weeks. Many of them probably saw all kinds of footage on 9/11 and are still carrying the images in their minds.  Children certainly are resilient, it seems, and do well through all kinds of trauma, but don’t you wonder what’s really going on in their minds?  It’s not as if images don’t resurface again and again whether in a conscious or sleep state.

Research shows that events that evoke strong emotions are more likely to be remembered.  This is probably because when emotions are roused, hormones are released by the brain.  The hormones act as a kind of fixative.   File through some of your memories and you’ll find that the highs and lows are what come to mind.  You felt some emotion when those memories were cast. As teachers and parents we know that talking though fears helps kids process.  Drawing and coloring pictures also help children make sense of what they’ve seen or heard.

Thankfully, devastating events such as 9/11, hurricane Katrina, or forest fires happen infrequently, but kids also witness or see on TV images of domestic violence, car accidents, and an array of other unsettling, seemingly daily events.  I found a statement on a blog that might be helpful when kids come to you with their troubles.  The statement is from Mr. Rogers.  He said “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.” Leave it to Mr. Rogers to remember those wise words from his mother and to share them with all of us.

Being over-scheduled is a hot topic these days.  It’s tempting for well-meaning parents to want to give their children all the advantages possible. But an over-stimulating schedule can leave the whole family feeling frazzled and out-of-control.

A brand new book, The Busy Life of Ernestine Buckmeister takes a humorous approach to this topic.  Ir’s written by Linda Ravin Lodding and illustrated beautifully by Suzanne Beaky.  Ernestine is a busy child–so busy that Nanny O’Dear has to keep her on a schedule every day of the week.  Will it be tuba with Mr. Umpah, yodeling with Little Old Lady Hoo, or perhaps sculpting with Clay Lumpkin?   There’s lots to do in life that’s lots of fun, but when Mr. and Mrs. Buckmeister try to keep up with the rigors of Ernestine’s day-to-day activities, they’re worn out!  They find out the hard way that too much stuff to do and not enough time for play and relaxation can cause anyone to be a bit frazzled.

This is a charming book to share with kids and parents as the new school year gets underway.  There will be many new things kids will beg to get involved in, but wise parents will make room for lots of “free” time as well.

This would be a great book to add to a school lending library.  We will be giving it away soon in a contest.  Stay tuned!

Those first few days of school can be a little scary. Palms get sweaty, knees knock together, crying happens. This activity is fun for preschoolers and schoo-lagers any time of year, but at the beginning of school it’s an effective ice-breaker and gets kids laughing and talking.  By the way, you can go healthy with bagels and call this activity Biting Bagels if you wish,

To play, tie one end of a string through the hole of a donut.  Tie the other end around a piece of playground equipment or a branch of a tree and let it dangle down to the child’s level. Tell the kids they have to try and catch the donut in their mouth  – no hands allowed.   Winning this game has it’s own rewards!

I observed two little boys at the park the other day.  Everything was peaceful until Jesse started filling up the hole to China the other boy, Micah, had been digging.

Micah doubled over with grief putting his little arms out trying to protect the hole he had worked so hard on.  Jessie, the hole-filler, was not an aggressive type, but he definitely wanted to fill in the hole.  It seemed important to him.   Jessie looked bewildered at  Micahs’ unbridled emotion  When Micah regained his composure and told Jesse he was digging “a really big hole” things settled down to an uneasy truce.  But maybe that’s because the moms were nearby.

I’m often amazed at the depth of feeling children display during these play episodes.  But if play is a child’s work, perhaps I shouldn’t be.

Let’s pretend, Cory, the lead teacher of the Rainbow Class, just hung up the sand painting masterpieces created by her kids.  Just as she steps back to admire their work, Mary, from the Sunbeam Class comes in and starts ripping them down.  That would be shocking and wouldn’t happen in an adult world because Mary would realize what Cory is trying to accomplish and could see it from her point of view.

Point of view, that’s the tricky part.  Young children can’t do it.  They’re in that pre-operational stage of development that Piaget talks about.  Micah wants to dig, Jesse wants to fill.  It’s as simple as that, and that’s what all of the drama is about.  And that’s why some conflicts benefit from a little adult intervention.