There Are So Many Good Reasons To Send A Child To Camp

I will make this piece short since the most important reasons are summed up quite easily.

When children go to camp, they are on their own, sometimes for the very first time in their lives. They have to decide what to wear, what to eat, which activities to participate in. Of course counsellors are deciding this with them, but in essence the campers soon learn that they can make decisions on their own and as a result they develop self confidence and become self-reliant.

As self-esteem develops from learning to be on their own, children continue to try new activities and also engage in one's that they are familiar. In school, children do not experience success in the same way and can often think of themselves in a lessor light. Camp can be a school without failure because just having fun makes you a success.

Often parents call to say that they can not believe how their child's grades improved as a result of camp. Or how they now clear the table or help out more around the house. A well directed camp will focus on trying to make every camper experience a success and it is that feeling of success that translated into self-esteem.

Of course one of the greatest benefits of a camp experience is that children develop social skills. In a camp setting, a good counselor will make sure that every camper is included in the activity and that each child interacts with the others in a positive way. They learn the give and take of group living, they learn how to work and even depend on others and more importantly that others will depend on them. Something as simple as clean-up, is not only there to get the cabin clean, but to foster a team atmosphere of working together which in turn results in friendships.
The obvious benefit of camp is that Campers make long lasting friendships. These friendships can often be more unique and extra special because campers are living with each other and see the true personalities. Because campers and staff come from all over the world, or even from a different school, children learn to see others from a different perspective. Children tend to be accepted for who they are and do not have to be as concerned with what they wear or what they are good at, or how they look. This is because in a camp setting, respect and caring ultimately win out over materialistic or short-sited objectives.

And of course learning skills at each activity is a great benefit for campers. By being exposed to so many arts, sports and outdoor recreation programs campers have fun and develop self-esteem. They also learn skills that they can then pursue and enjoy for the rest of their lives. Because they have 30 different activities to chose from, each and every camper can feel special enjoying a craft, sport or outdoor activity. So as we tell our staff, yes camp does give children fun, friends and fulfillment. by Mark Diamond

Recipe Of The Month - Swedish Nut Cake

For the Cake you will need:
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 (No. 2) can crushed un-drained pineapple
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine sugar, flour and baking soda. Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir well, needs no beating. Bake in greased and floured 9 x 13 pan at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

For the Icing you will need:

8 oz. cream cheese
1 box powdered sugar (or 2 cups)
1 stick butter or margarine
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup chopped nuts
Beat first four ingredients together, spread on cooled cake, then sprinkle the nuts on top.

How to Clean Your Kitchen

The room where you cook can also be a prime mess zone. Here's how to get it sparkling, fast.

Your Strategy

• Clear counters, empty dishwasher


• Do the takes-time-to-work stuff first: Set a coffee mug half-filled with water in the microwave and cook on high for two minutes to steam-clean the inside. Then apply a degreasing cleaner to the stove top and stove hood.


• Spray counters, surfaces and appliances with an all-purpose cleaner, then work your way around the kitchen, wiping down everything you sprayed.


• Wipe out the microwave, stove and oven.


• Clean the sink with an all-purpose cleaner (a squirt of dish liquid on a sponge works fine).


• Sweep or vacuum the floor, then mop or hand-wash using a mild cleaner and a damp rag.
  

Trouble Spots

Fridge: Use warm soapy water to clean the inside of the refrigerator and freezer. Or blend your own cleanser by mixing 2 Tbsp. baking soda in a quart of hot water. A toothbrush works wonders on the rubber seals.

Stove hood: Borrow Lysol Basin Tub & Tile Cleaner from the bathroom and spray directly under your greasy stove hood, let it sit, then wipe with a damp sponge. Cover your stove top with newspaper to catch any messy drips.

What’s Easy to Overlook

The oven: If you’re lucky, you have a self-cleaning oven. If you don’t, and you want to avoid harsh oven cleaners containing lye and ammonia, Mary Findley, co-author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cleaning, suggests making a paste of a degreasing cleaner (like Bi-O-Kleen All Purpose Cleaner-Degreaser or Orange Clean Pro Multi-Purpose Cleaner & Degreaser) and baking soda. Plaster it in a cold oven and leave for a couple of hours. Scrub dirt loose, then rinse with a solution of vinegar and water. Turn oven to 350ºF for five minutes to “bake off” any fumes that might harm your food.

Note: If you do use a chemical-based stove cleaner, it’s especially important to follow the “bake-off” step.

Your Secret Weapons

Dawn Power Dissolver: Perfect for cleaning burned-on grime off your stove backsplash! Spray it on, let it work for 10 to 15 minutes, then wipe the stove clean.

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser: The soft cleaning pad acts just like an eraser — and rubs greasy fingerprints and smudges off kitchen surfaces.

Nature’s Miracle Pick: up this enzyme cleaner at a pet store. To keep your drains clog-free, pour the solution down your drains once a month, where it will gobble up mold, mildew and debris.

Here’s A Way You Can Save Thousands of Dollars In Interest and Pay Your Mortgage Off Years Sooner!

Most people think when you get a mortgage you’re stuck with it for 30 years. What they don’t realize is that using a couple of easy and painless ways to make some extra principal payments can cut years off the life of your mortgage and save thousands of dollars in needless interest costs.

Here are a few easy strategies you can use:

Round Up To the Nearest Hundred.

This is an easy strategy to take advantage of, and the results are dramatic!

Let’s say you have a mortgage of $100,000 over 30 years at 8% interest. The monthly payments would be about $734 a month.

Now, let’s see what would happen if you rounded that payment to the next $100 by increasing your payment by $66 extra each month.

By paying $800 a month you’ll shorten the length of your mortgage by 7½ years. Just this one simple strategy will save you over $48,000 in interest payments over the life of your mortgage!

Use Your Income Tax Refund to Make a One-Time Pre-Payment.

Let’s say you have that same $100,000 mortgage, and you have a $1,000 tax refund this year. (Very possible with your new homeowner deductions.)
If you take that $1,000 and apply it to your mortgage, you’ll save over $8,600 and shorten your mortgage by one year and one month! Not bad for a simple one-time pre-payment.

Start Out With a 15-Year Mortgage.

One of the best things you can do – if you can afford it – is to start out with a 15-year mortgage instead of 30. It’s actually not that much more expensive, and the interest you save is incredible.

With the same $100,000 mortgage at 8% over 15 years, your payment would be about $200 more ($955) and you’d be paying $72,017 in interest over the life of your mortgage instead of $164,160!

By rounding up, using your tax refund, and taking a shorter mortgage, you can save thousands and be free of your mortgage years sooner. That’s worth considering.

Is Your Family Making You Fat?

Jenny Craig’s chief nutritionist Lisa Talamini shares how to keep your home life from wrecking your waistline

Problem: You're always finishing the kids' leftovers. "We're all taught not to waste — eating your kids' leftovers is an unconscious variation of the 'clean-plate syndrome,' " says Talamini. "The problem is, you end up consuming a couple hundred calories of food without feeling like you've even tasted the food or had a real meal."

Solution: “Have a designated eating place,” says Talamini. "Making a rule that you’ll eat only when you’re seated at the dining-room table will help you avoid snacking over the kitchen sink."

Another Strategy: Get your kids involved in your weight-loss efforts. Give them smaller portions and teach them to eat only until they are no longer hungry. (The goal: no more table scraps to tempt you.)Another strategy:Try chewing gum while you’re preparing meals and cleaning up. It's a great trick for keeping food out of your mouth!

Problem: You've picked up your husband's bad eating habits. "Eating is such a social event, and we get so wrapped up in sharing the meal, that we sometimes forget that our husband's nutritional requirements are very different from our own," says Talamini. "Men are bigger, and they need more calories."

Solution: Serve him healthy food, too. If you're giving him the same big salads that you're eating and loading both of your plates with fruits and veggies, then you're automatically going to lower your calorie consumption — even if you sometimes eat man-size portions.

Another Strategy: Make it clear to your husband that you need his support. "If your husband always eats ice cream in front of you, say, 'I know you love ice cream, but it's easier for me right now if I'm not exposed to it. Can you have it when I’m not around?' " suggests Talamini. This shows that you recognize that he has the right to eat what he enjoys, but you need him to respect your new healthy-eating plan.

Another Strategy: Join him — but give his favorite treat a healthy makeover. If you stock up on fat-free frozen yogurt in a flavor you both love, you can dig in together.

Problem: Eating out with the gang makes it tough to be healthy. "Lots of moms find it hard to stick to their diet when they’re on the go because ‘kid-friendly’ often translates to 'diet disaster,' " says Talamini. “But with more fast-food chains and sit-down family restaurants offering healthier options, you can find nutritious items.”

Solution: Plan ahead so you don’t inadvertently choose the most fattening thing on the menu. "Check out the restaurant’s menu on its Web site ahead of time, and make your selection based on nutritional info," suggests Talamini.

Another Strategy: Ask lots of questions. "Find out how the dish is prepared and look for red flags in the menu's language — such as 'meat lover's' and 'supreme' — that are code words for large portion sizes and extra fat," she says.Another strategy: Always start with a big salad. "Not only will you eat less later in the meal, but you'll also feel more satisfied — and not like you're on a diet!" Talamini notes.

Another Strategy: Be vigilant about portion sizes. "A lot of times, people think they're making a smart choice by ordering the salmon entrée — but the serving can be supersized and then you're eating an entire side of fish," she says. "It should be the size of a deck of cards."

Problem: You're too busy taking care of everyone else to find time for the gym. "This is the number-one excuse I hear from most women. They have such packed schedules that they feel guilty about spending time solo working out," says Talamini.

Solution: Build an active lifestyle instead of trying to "fit in" exercise. Combine natural activity (things that are already a part of your day, like walking the dog), playful activity (fun things that you do with other people, such as playing with your kids) and planned activity (traditional exercise — jogging, yoga, etc.), advises Talamini.

Another Strategy: Break up the recommended 30-minute-a-day minimum workout into smaller, more manageable chunks. "Sneak in a 10-minute walk when you get up in the morning, during your lunch break at work and right after dinner each evening — and you've done your daily exercise!"

Another Strategy: Keep track of your good work. "Wear a pedometer," she says. "It's an awareness builder: Just seeing the number of steps you've taken will motivate you to walk across the hall at work, say, rather than writing an e-mail."

Another Strategy: Don't look at staying fit as something that has to take you away from your family. "Combine physical activity with family quality time," suggests Talamini. "Don't go to a movie. Instead, take a walk or a bike ride with your kids. You'll burn calories while providing them with a positive role model!"

Problem: Your man always discourages your weight-loss efforts. Keep in mind that it's often hard for loved ones when your appearance and behavior change. "It can be threatening because he might assume that you’re asking him to get fit, too," explains Talamini.

Solution: Give him a role in your makeover. "Let your husband know how important losing weight is to you," advises Talamini. Then ask if you can count on him to play a key part in your efforts to shape up. Once he realizes how much you value his help, he'll be more likely to offer support — from praising your progress to watching the kids while you work out.

Another Strategy: Lead quietly by setting a good example. "Positive change tends to be catching," she says. "If he's being difficult, let him know that you'd love for him to join your healthy-eating efforts, but you understand that everyone makes change in his own time." Then remind yourself that even if he doesn't follow suit, he'll still come out a winner. "The healthier you get, the more you bring to your relationships with your husband and kids," she points out. "Everyone in your family benefits!"

Stop These Sleep-Stealers!

Craving a good night's sleep? Don't let these common culprits wreck your rest

Stealer: Your low-calorie diet

Solution: "If you've severely restricted your caloric intake, you may be hungry during the night, which can wake you up," explains sleep specialist Anne Remmes, M.D., a neurologist at Columbia University Headache Center in New York City. Another problem with extreme dieting: Over-the-counter (or prescription) diet pills often contain caffeine, which can cause insomnia.

So can you stick to your diet and get your rest? Yes, with planning, says Dr. Remmes. "Be sure you have protein every three to four hours throughout the day, and particularly about three hours before bedtime," she advises. Protein-packed foods, such as cheese or peanut butter, help keep your blood-sugar level stable and leave you feeling satisfied longer, she adds. If you're eating a reasonable diet and still waking up hungry at 3 a.m., talk to your doctor.

Stealer: Your stress levels (through the roof!)

Solution: Difficulty sleeping is one of the most common signs of stress. Ironically, seriously stressed-out women need the restorative power of sleep the most. And lack of sleep can make you even more tense and anxious. But there are some easy ways to beat this vicious circle. "Establish a strict bedtime routine, going to bed at the same time every night and arising at the same time every morning," says Dr. Remmes.

So if you need to get up at 7:30 a.m. during the week, keep that as your wake-up time on weekends. About 90 minutes before bedtime, start unwinding (put on your pajamas, brush your teeth, turn off your cell phone and computer) and read something mindless or listen to music for an hour while sitting in a chair. Get into bed at your designated bedtime and turn off all the lights. Never watch TV in bed, and position your clocks so you can't even see them from your pillow.

If this bedtime routine doesn't do the trick, there are other options: Aerobic exercise in the afternoon clears the body of stress hormones; a warm bath an hour before bed makes your body temperature fall, which induces sleep; and light stretching will help relax your muscles before you get into bed.

Stealer: Your growing family

Solution: "New moms have a predisposition to fragile sleep that's heightened by shifts in estrogen levels in the months after delivery," explains Dr. Remmes. "If you've got a newborn, one way to sneak in a little extra sleep is to take a nap whenever the baby does."

Also, try gradually decreasing your child's daytime feedings: Babies who eat more frequently during the day will want to be on the same schedule at night. "If your child is sleeping well, and you're still not getting good rest, it might be caused by the disorganized sleep-wake cycle that often follows pregnancy," she says. Your body might be so conditioned to getting up several times a night that you're temporarily incapable of sleeping straight through. But it shouldn't be too hard to get your internal clock back on track: Try reading a book before bedtime, going to bed and rising at the same time every day, and spending time outside in the morning light.

Stealer: Your night-owl ways

Solution: Carving out "me time" after everyone else goes to bed sounds smart, but it�s not a good long-term plan. "Taking alone time late at night and depriving yourself of sleep is only stealing from yourself," insists Dr. Remmes. "If you are chronically sleep-deprived -- not getting roughly seven to nine hours most nights -- you will not function at your best."

If you like to stay up late to get some good relaxation time in, be prepared to accept the consequences: decreased mental performance, crankiness and sleepiness. "It would be better to get to bed at a normal hour and schedule time to decompress during the day -- even first thing in the morning," she says. If you must stay up late, try designating one night a week as your early-bedtime night, so you can partially make up for your sleep deficit. Also, for women who don't suffer from insomnia, taking a 20- to 30-minute midafternoon nap on the weekends can really revive you.

Stealer: Your husband

Solution: If your man thrashes in bed or snores loudly, "it would be wise to send him to a sleep center to be evaluated, because both nighttime thrashing and snoring can suggest a sleep disorder," says Dr. Remmes. (Both are fairly common: Thrashing can be caused by Restless Legs Syndrome -- RLS -- a neurological disorder that affects as many as 12 million Americans, and snoring is often linked to sleep apnea, which affects an estimated 18 million.)

Treatment for RLS may include iron or vitamin supplements, lifestyle changes and prescription medications. In some cases, sleep apnea might require a surgical procedure, so it's important that he see a doctor. In the meantime, consider investing in a good mattress that doesn't transmit movement (so his tossing and turning won't rock you) and some earplugs or a white-noise machine!