Reading Time: The Sheep of the Lal Bagh

Unfortunately, this book is out of print, but there's a good chance you can find it at your public library.

Ramesh is a sheep who lives in the Lal Bagh, a public park in India. His job is to keep the park's grass "mowed." He does a good, creative job of it, but he's best at is loving the people who come to the park. In an effort to modernize, the village scrapes up enough money to buy a real lawn mower, and Ramesh is out of a job.Will the park be the same without Ramesh there to give kids rides on his back and crop the grass in interesting patterns?

The kids in your co-op will like this book. It's a soothing book, perfect for times when you need to get everyone back under control.

Frozen Snacks for Kids

Beat the heat with do-it-yourself frozen snacks. These are easy, cheap, and highly customizable. You can use whatever fruit is on sale this week, or you can skip the fruit altogether. Below is a sample recipe, but you can add or subtract ingredients to suit your taste.

4 cups ripe strawberries, rinsed and hulled
1/3 cup powdered drink mix (like Kool-Aid)
6 paper cups
6 small wooden popsicle sticks

Blend the strawberries and powdered drink mix in the blender until smooth. Pour the mixture evenly into the paper cups. Freeze for 1 hour. Insert a popsicle stick into the center of each cup, and return the cups to the freezer until the pops are firm. To eat, peel the paper cups off the pops and enjoy!

Other ingredient ideas:

Buttermilk
Yogurt
Bananas
Tang
Mangoes
Peaches
Avocados
Soda
Powdered milk
Raspberries or blackberries

Kids' Olympics Activities

Celebrate the Olympics in your babysitting co-op with some fun outdoor activities:

Hammer Throw. Stuff a smallish paper bag with newspaper. Tie it off with a 12" string. Have the kids hold the end of the string, spin around three times, and then let go. Watch how far the "hammer" travels. The longest distance wins.

Javelin Throw. Tape four drinking straws together end to end, and set a wastepaper basket about 5 feet from the starting line. Throw the straws into the basket. Each player gets 5 turns. Whoever gets it in the basket most wins.

Shot Put. Make a ball out of aluminum foil, and teach the kids how to hold it near their ears and then push it away by extending their arms. Tell them that they can't move their feet. The longest distance wins.

Discus Throw. Use a frisbee for your discus, or if you don't have a frisbee, tape two foam plates together. Have them throw the frisbee as far as possible. Longest distance wins.

Water Balloons. Water balloons are obviously not an Olympic sport, but it's a hot summer, and you'll need a way to cool off at the end!

For Your Back Pocket: 5 Helpful Babysitting Discipline Strategies

Every babysitter needs some good discipline strategies up her sleeve, and these five tips will help you get through your babysitting shifts with grace and ease. Try out one or two of them at a time until you know instinctively when to use them.
1. Verbal warnings. Children you babysit may not be familiar with your own household rules, so give them the benefit of the doubt with a verbal warning. Go beyond telling them what not to do by explaining the "why" behind your rule: "Don't pull the dog's hair because it hurts him." Also explain that if the child breaks the rule again, he'll have to go to timeout.
2. Timeout. Timeout may be your most powerful discipline strategy because it teaches kids that they can't disobey your rules without consequences, and it also temporarily removes the troublesome child from the others. Use a bottom stair or a small chair for timeout, and make sure it is far enough away from the other children that the child in timeout can't continue to influence their play. The child in timeout will soon wish she could be back with her friends, and she will have learned to be obedient.
3. Use a firm voice. Don't correct a child in a sing-song voice and end your correction with the word "okay," as in, "Please don't sit on Aiden's face, okay?" You're not asking permission to correct the child's behavior, and your sweet baby-talk voice may send a confusing message to the child you're correcting. Don't bark or yell; just use a serious, warning voice when you give corrections.
4. Remove the trouble-making object. If two or more children continually fight over a toy (or a bean bag or a pet rock or anything else), tell them that the object has to go to timeout because they haven't yet learned how to share it. While the object is in timeout, help them to come up with a plan for sharing. You might bring out an egg timer and suggest that each child gets to use the toy for a certain amount of time and no one else can touch it until their turns.
5. Strenuous play followed by rest. If there seems to be something in the air and the children are out-of-sorts, introduce them to a strenuous activity like tag or an obstacle course or a run around a field or your backyard. After they're thoroughly tired, get them all a drink of water and then "let" them rest. You could read them a story or put on some quiet music and suggest they close their eyes. It's good for them and for you.
Practice these strategies, and then keep them in mind for those babysitting shifts that aren't easy breezy. You can get everyone back on track and keep your cool.

English Muffin Pizzas

Whether you need a quick lunch or a substantial snack, English muffin pizzas are always a hit. You can let the kids help make them, or you can assemble them yourself ahead of time. They're easy and yummy, and you can make them very healthy, too, by choosing healthy toppings like vegetables and low-fat meats.

Ingredients:
English muffins
Pizza sauce (or plain tomato sauce)
Mozzarella cheese
Toppings (sausage, pepperoni, green peppers, tomatoes, olives, artichoke hearts, chicken, etc.)

Preheat your oven on the broiler setting. Slice the muffins in half and lay them out on a cookie sheet. Spread sauce on each muffin and sprinkle cheese and toppings on top. Place the cookie sheet in the oven under the broiler, and watch carefully as the cheese melts and begins to brown. If you walk away for long the cheese and toppings might burn. Remove them from the oven and let them cool for a couple of minutes before serving.

Water Activities to Beat the Heat

It's hot outside! It's a great day to slather on some sunscreen and get wet. Here are some fun outdoor water activities to banish boredom and cool everyone off.

• Water Relays. Divide the kids (and adults who want to get wet) into two teams. Each team needs two buckets: an empty one across the yard and a full one at the starting line. Use a marker or piece of tape to draw a line several inches from the bottom of the bucket. Each team must transfer enough water from their full bucket to the empty bucket to reach the line. Give each team a plastic cup with three holes poked in the bottom. The holes will add some challenge, encourage them to run fast, and help them cool off by getting them wet.
• Water Balloons. Kids will think of all kinds of games to play with water balloons, but here are a few activities to get them started. Have them catch the water balloons with something other than their hands, like an empty milk gallon jug or a plastic bucket with a handle. Try playing hot potato. Another fun game is to set a bucket in the middle of the yard and assign one child to be the Bucket Guard. Give the Bucket Guard a plastic baseball bat. Everyone else wants to earn points by tossing water balloons in to the bucket, but the Bucket Guard fends them off by hitting the water balloons with the plastic bat.
• Squirt Bottles. Squirt bottles make for misty water fights. You can also use squirt bottles for a very silly game involving shaving cream. Pair the kids up and put shaving cream on one partner's face. The other partner has to wash the shaving cream off her partner's face with the squirt bottle--no hands allowed! It's a race to see whose face can clean up the fastest.
• Water Bombs. Water bombs are those small sponge-like balls that you can get at dollar stores in the summer. They usually come in obnoxious neon colors. Fill a bucket with water and drop a bunch of water bombs in it so they'll be saturated. Divide up the kids into two teams and have them stand at opposite ends of the yard. Place the bucket in the middle. When you yell "Go," the kids run up to the bucket and throw the water bombs at the opposite team. If you're hit, you're out, and you have to sit on the sidelines. The last person remaining is the winner.

What other games do you know that keep kids happy and cool on hot days?

Reducing Sugar: Reversing the Too Sweet Kids' Diet

The University of Calgary recently conducted a study to investigate kids' diets. They found that more than half of the foods marketed to toddlers contained at least 20 percent of their calories from sugar. Many of these foods are considered staples: yogurt, cereal, and snacks. Turns out, the low-fat craze that began in the 1990s prompted food manufacturers to replace fats with sugar, so now we're seeing sugar show up in places it's never been before: salad dressing, hamburger buns, pretzels, chips.

Sweeteners, from agave nectar to high fructose corn syrup, all behave the same way in the body. The liver metabolizes fructose, and too much sugar puts added strain on the liver. Too much sugar stimulates the liver to trigger fat production, which can boost belly fat and cholesterol levels. This is heavy stuff. What's a parent to do when sweetened foods are all around your child?

Here are some simple things you can do to reduce your kids' consumption of sugar:

• Limit fruit juice to one glass a day. Although fruit juice contains vitamin C, your body reacts to it in the same way it reacts to Kool-Aid; it's a too-quick dose of fructose for the liver to manage well.
• Avoid other sweetened beverages. A can of soda at a barbecue every now and then won't cause much damage, but multiple servings of soda every day leads to obesity and dental problems.
• Look for unsweetened foods. Buy natural applesauce instead of sweetened applesauce, canned fruit that doesn't contain added sugar, and plain yogurt. 
• Keep your kids active.  Exercise slows down the liver's cycle and allows less fat to enter the bloodstream.
• Don't ban sweets. Banning sugar altogether will only make your kids crave it. Instead, aim for moderation and healthy alternatives.