The crowd is hushed.

The runners’ feet step to the starting line.

Suspense builds…

BANG! The gun fires.

A mob of runners dash forward;

the crowd cheers wildly.

Runners sprint,

Beating record time

To the finish line!

Dylan raced up the apartment stairs to the box waiting by the front door.

“What is it?” asked his friend Max.

“My birthday gift from Dad,” replied Dylan as he tore at the cardboard. “I don’t see holes in it for air. It’s not the puppy that I wanted.”

“Wow!” Max cried. “A Wilson official-sized basketball! You lucky dog!”

Dylan wasn’t as thrilled as Max. He slumped down on the concrete steps.

Max left for home, and Dylan picked up the ball and scraps of cardboard. Holding his homework under his chin, he pulled the door open and stepped into the empty apartment.

Dylan had been alone a lot since his parents got divorced. He and his mom had moved to the city, and she was working two jobs. His only contact with his dad was on the telephone.

Dylan’s new school was large. Being shy, he hadn’t made any friends besides Max. Why had Dad sent the basketball? Although Dylan played basketball at this last school, he didn’t plan on playing here. There were too many kids. He would never make the team.

If Dad had gotten him a dog, Dylan wouldn’t be so lonely. He would always have a friend to play with.

Dylan sulked through dinner and the rest of the evening. His mother thought the ball was a great gift and reminded him to call his dad to thank him.

The next morning, Dylan waited until after Dad would have left for work to call him.

“Hi Dad,” Dylan said to his dad’s machine. “Thanks for the ball.” Then he hung up and went outside to meet Max.

“Hey, Dylan,” said Max. “How are you and that ball getting along? Can you dunk it yet?” Max laughed at his own joke.

Dylan glared at Max. “I didn’t want a dumb ball!” he shouted. “Don’t you see? I don’t have a brother or sister like you to play with. I just wanted a dog.”

“Wow,” said Max. “You must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed today. You can have my brother and sister. I’d gladly take your basketball any day.”

Afraid of what he might say, Dylan stuffed his hands in his pockets and didn’t speak the rest of the way to school.

Dylan’s mood wasn’t any better after school, but he was relieved to see Max waiting for him. He was afraid he might have offended him. At home, there was a message on the telephone. Dylan pushed the button to listen to it.

“Hi Sport,” said his dad. “You didn’t sound very thrilled with the basketball. You and I used to watch the Bulls on TV all the time. There’s concrete all over the city to bounce the ball on and a court in every park. Give it a try. Love you!”

Dylan felt worse than before. That night he tried to watch a ball game, but it wasn’t the same without Dad. He shut off the TV and went to bed.

The next day, Dylan stopped at the park on the way home from school to watch a basketball game. Some of the players were from his school. Soon, one of the players had to go home. The three players left on the court headed for the sidelines to gather their belongings.

“I can take his place,” Dylan called out.

The other players stopped and turned to him. Dylan had no idea where his sudden confidence came from. Before anyone could reply, he dropped his books, shed his jacket, and was on the court. They played until the sun started to set.

Joey, one of Dylan’s teammates, tossed him the ball. “You’re new here, right?” she asked Dylan. “You play a good game. You should try out for the boys basketball team at school.”

“Thanks. Maybe I will,” replied Dylan.

They all made plans the next night, and then Dylan started home. He was going to bring his basketball to school with him from now on. First, he’d have to call his father again and thank him properly.

A baby sheep is called a LAMB,

A baby pig, a PIGLET.

A baby dog is called a PUP.

An eagle is an EAGLET.

A baby cow is called a CALF.

A rabbit is a BUNNY.

A baby deer is called a FAWN.

My mama calls me “HONEY.”

Siena Brown

Does your family have a tradition? My family does. My mom sings to me every night. I think she has the most beautiful voice in the world. No matter how hard her day has been she will always stop to sing me a little melody. Her songs are the best thing to relax me at the end of the day.

My mom sings me many songs every night, but my favorite by far is the Girl Scout smile song.  “I’m sure you wouldn’t guess it if you guessed a long, long while, so I’ll take it out and put it on: it’s a great big Girl Scout smile,” my mom sings in perfect pitch. My mom has been singing me this song for over eight years, but I never get tired of the beautiful bedtime ballad. When I was a daisy girl scout, my mom taught me that song. Over the years I have become a brownie, a junior, and finally a cadet. By the time I reached cadet, my mom changed the song to “great big Siena smile.” I’m so glad that my mother has sung to me for such a long time. Sometimes my mom comes home with bags under her eyes. Yet somehow she always manages to keep her eyes open long enough to come down the long corridor into my room. I can’t help but have a good dream when she opens her mouth and a tune soars out. Every night I fall asleep smiling and singing a Girl Scout song in my mind.

My mother has a hard job that requires a lot of effort and work. It’s amazing she can even talk at night, let along sing. I’m so glad to have a mother who puts our tradition before herself. My mom deserves everything this world has to offer. I hope she sings to me forever.

]]> http://www.uskidsmags.com/us-kids-do-activities/home-sweet-home/feed/ 0 http://www.uskidsmags.com/us-kids-do-crafts/turtlewelcome-spring-banners/ http://www.uskidsmags.com/us-kids-do-crafts/turtlewelcome-spring-banners/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:27:07 +0000 t.harshman http://www.uskidsmags.com/?p=19260 You Will Need:

• 6-by-12-inch piece of colored felt, one for each person
• 12-inch piece of yarn, one for each person
• Safety scissors
• Craft glue
• Felt scraps
• Decorations: buttons, glitter glue, sequins

What to Do:

1. Have an adult cut the bottom edge of your felt to form a point.
2. Tie the two ends of yarn together to form a loop.
3. Spread glue along the top edge of your felt. Lay the knotted side of yarn just below the glue. Fold the felt over to cover the yarn. Press until the glue holds.
4. Now you can decorate your banner. To make flowers, glue on strips of green felt for stems and leaves. For the flower heads, glue on circles and squares of felt in different sizes and colors.
5. For extra decoration, glue a button or a sequin in the center of your flowers.
6. Make caterpillars, birds, or butterflies (see page 12) using small circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles. Use your imagination! Now find just the right place to hang your family banners to say, “Welcome Spring!”

But Snore was quite content until the Clanceys moved close by. It seems they had a Siamese cat; they called her Sweetie Pie. Now Sweetie Pie did not exactly live up to her name. She had a temper that would put a lioness to shame!

When Sweetie Pie decided to inspect the neighborhood, she stumbled onto Snore, who lay there like a block of wood.

“Well, pull my whiskers! Guess I’d better check this out,” she cried, “to see if there is life inside that hairy hunk of hide!”

She sniffed Old Snore from head to toe to find some little sign, then raked her pointy fishhook claws down that dog’s furry spine. Poor Snore! He leaped six feet, then took off like a rocket blast! He stunned the neighbors; no one knew that dog could move so fast!

Snore never had a single peaceful moment after that. Each time he tried to sleep, up popped that nasty-tempered cat! She chased him through the park and up and down the playground slide. He could not shake that pesky cat no matter how he tried. She nipped his ears! She grabbed his tail! She jumped upon his back. That cat camped out in Snore’s front yard, just waiting to attack!

“I need some sleep!” Snore groaned. But if he dared to blink an eye, he would soon be pounced upon by good old Sweetie Pie!

Then one fine day, the Clanceys sold their house and moved away. “No Sweetie Pie to bug me!” Snore cried out. “I’ll sleep all day!” He flopped down on the porch and gave a happy, restful sigh. But strange as it may seem, that dog could no more sleep than fly!

“I’m full of energy!” he said. “I feel just like a pup! The exercise from all that running must have shaped me up! I see my muscles! I feel great!” he cried, excitedly. “From this moment on, no silly cat will bother me!”

Well, Snore kept right on exercising every single day, and soon new neighbors moved into the house across the way. Those people had a yellow cat. They called her Angel Face.

“I think,” decided Snore, “I’d better hide out—just in case!”

Aside from sunburn, the biggest concerns most beach-goers have to deal with are getting sand on their pizza or being stung by the occasional jellyfish bobbing around in the water. But there are thousands of sea creatures, including some pretty gross ones, including hagfish, sea cucumbers, and starfish.

The hagfish is one of the most disgusting inhabitants in the world. The reason the hagfish gets this dubious honor is because it is so gross in so many ways. Consider the following:

• It has an ugly eel-like body with a jawless, tube-shaped mouth that is surrounded by tentacles.

• It is both a scavenger and a predator, but has a ghastly way of eating. A hagfish enters its prey through the animal’s mouth, gills or anus and eats its way out!

• Because the hagfish has a preference for bottom feeding, its primary food source is dead animals. That means a dead fish could look like it’s moving as the hagfish eats its guts. Whoa, zombie fish!

• It produces a tremendous amount of thick slime when threatened or startled. The hagfish is able to do this because its skin produces mucus and filaments that absorb large amounts of seawater. Once released, this material morphs into huge globs of thick, gelatinous goo. Check out the following link if you’d like to see hagfish slime in the making:

Because sea cucumbers don’t have lungs, they do not breathe in the traditional sense of the word. However, they still get their oxygen from water, like most sea creatures, and the water they “breathe” enters their bodies through the anus. The reason this occurs is because the animal’s gills are located just inside its rear end.

Seawater isn’t the only thing that enters a sea cucumber’s bottom. A handful of fish, most commonly pearl fish, have evolved an interesting relationship with sea cucumbers. Young pearl fish swim into a sea cucumber’s anus and use it for three reasons: (1) protection from predators, (2) a source of nutrients and (3) a place to hangout until they enter their adult stage of life. Since the pearl fish neither harms nor helps the sea cucumber, this is referred to in biology as a commensal relationship.

The balance between predator and prey is often bizarre. Most starfish live on shelled animals like clams. (The clam’s defensive weapon is its shell.) When it’s feeding time, a starfish surrounds the clam with its strong arms. Then, it uses its arms to pry a tiny opening where the animal’s shells come together. The starfish then pushes its stomach out through its mouth and inserts it inside the clamshell. Now defenseless, the clam can do nothing but lie there while the starfish eats it. Once dinner is over, the starfish withdraws its stomach, “zips up” and goes on its way.

It’s a good thing kids aren’t built like starfish. Imagine sitting down at the dinner table and plopping your stomach on the plate to eat. Of course, there would be one possible benefit: You could “eat” broccoli without having to taste it!

First Published in the Washington Post, June 8, 2009

“Measles spreads so easily that just being in the same room with an infected person can cause an un-immunized person to become infected,” said Dr. Block. “You simply cannot predict when you or your child will come into contact with someone who has a vaccine-preventable disease. That’s why it’s so important to make sure your family is vaccinated. We hope that high immunization rates will protect those in the crowd at Indianapolis.”

The Indiana State Department of Health has now confirmed 13 cases of measles in the state, including the individual who attended Super Bowl festivities Feb. 3.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend children be vaccinated against measles at age 1, and again at 4-6 years of age before entering kindergarten. More than 90 percent of U.S. children meet this recommendation, according to the CDC.

“The vaccine is very effective, which is why we don’t see many cases of measles in the U.S. today,” said Dr. Block. “But the virus is still out there, and people who are not immunized — including infants who are too young to be immunized — are at risk. Measles can be deadly. High rates of immunization in the community help to slow the transmission of diseases like measles, protecting everyone.”

Unvaccinated visitors from other countries can transmit measles virus to unvaccinated people in the U.S. Americans who are not vaccinated have also picked up the virus while traveling abroad, and returned home to infect other people in the U.S. The CDC recorded more than 200 cases of measles in the U.S. in 2011, including outbreaks in Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

More information from the American Academy of Pediatrics for parents on measles and measles vaccine is available at http://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/vaccine-preventable-diseases/Pages/Measles.aspx.

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